To divorce his wife, the top scholar preferred being cuckolded to wearing a red hat.

Upon hearing the master's words, regardless of their veracity or lack thereof, the clansmen only wanted to eliminate this scourge as quickly as possible to prevent it from truly harming their people.

"That's simple. Just trap his soul and prevent him from doing bad things, and the problem will be solved."

"Please, Master, help us with this ritual." The clan chief clasped his hands in a gesture of respect: "Master, you can see these problems; you can definitely help us."

"Please help us, Master." The other uncles quickly echoed.

In the village, it is taboo to do anything that is detrimental to the family.

Fu Jingsheng committed suicide outside the village, and now he wants to be buried in his hometown, which the villagers are already reluctant to accept. In their eyes, it's no different from a violent death. If it weren't for the fact that he was the first scholar in the imperial examinations in the clan, they wouldn't have allowed him to be buried in his hometown.

Now that the master has pointed out that someone has died but returned home with resentment, which may bring misfortune to the clan, the villagers are naturally more inclined to believe it than not.

“This matter is actually easy to handle.” The master looked around and finally pointed to a direction: “The southwest has the longest hours of sunshine, making it the most suitable place to suppress ghosts. Moreover, because he committed a grave mistake in his life, he cannot stay in a clean and shady place.”

The villagers followed the direction the master pointed, thinking there was a pigsty there.

"Master, can you really suppress his ghost and prevent him from harming the clan?"

“If you don’t believe me, you can ask someone to come and take a look. See if there’s a black cloud above your village entrance. This black cloud is formed from his resentment. If this continues, something bad will definitely happen to the clan. I was just passing by and it has nothing to do with me. If you don’t believe me, I’ll take my leave now.”

"Master, please wait." The clan chief caught up with him. "We naturally believe what you say. Please, Master, have the mercy to stay and perform the ritual for us." It turned out that Fu Jingsheng was already dead.

He's no longer of any use to the clan, so it's good to perform a ritual to imprison his soul.

“No, that’s a pigsty. My brother can’t be buried there. He was a clean freak when he was alive. If he knew he slept with pigs every day, he definitely wouldn’t be able to stand it,” Fu Jingying belatedly retorted.

His brother said he wanted to be buried in front of the old house, not in the pigsty.

"Your brother suffered too many sins in his life, so let him reflect on his actions in the pigsty after his death. In his next life, he will be reborn and be a good human being." The clan chief ignored Fu Jingying and told the master to perform the ritual immediately.

Fu Jingying could only watch helplessly as the villagers buried her elder brother's coffin on top of the former pigsty. The coffin was lowered, and a master performed a ritual to trap Fu Jingsheng's soul inside, preventing him from being reincarnated for all eternity.

As for Qian's coffin, it was buried together with Fu Jingsheng's father.

Qian was a woman from the Fu family and died of illness. She should be buried with Fu Jingsheng's father.

After settling the burial arrangements for Madam Qian and Fu Jingsheng, the clan chief's wife pulled Fu Jingsheng aside and said, "Jingying, the master has worked so hard all day. You should give him a red envelope. Everyone in the village has put in a lot of effort for your mother's funeral, so you should also show your appreciation."

When Fu Jingying returned to the village, she didn't dare to be too arrogant. She took out a few taels of silver and gave them to the clan chief's wife: "Auntie, my brother left too quickly and didn't leave me anything. This is all the silver I have. Please help me give it to the villagers."

Although she was unwilling to do this to her elder brother, she knew that she couldn't possibly fight against so many people in the clan on her own.

The clan chief clearly requested the ritual, yet she was forced to bear the costs.

The clan chief's wife looked at what she had taken out and was somewhat displeased: "Jingying, so many people have helped you, and you're taking out such a small amount of silver. Who are you trying to disgust? The master will need at least a hundred taels of silver, and the village will help with the funeral arrangements, which will also cost about a hundred taels. That's a total of two hundred taels of silver. Take it."

The Qian mother and daughter had often boasted about their wealth in the clan. Now that the village was helping with the burial, which was a major event, it would be inappropriate to spend less than two hundred taels of silver.

Fu Jingying was startled when she heard the number: "That much?"

"Of course. Every family spends a lot on weddings and funerals. If it weren't for your brother being the only top scholar in the village, it would cost even more. Besides, it's not like your family can't afford it. I remember that a set of clothes and jewelry you and your mother wore before cost more than this. Now that the village has helped you so much, you wouldn't be unwilling to pay, would you?"

Fu Jingying's face flushed red and then turned pale as she thought about how she and her mother had always boasted about it in the village.

That was in the past, not now.

Her voice trembled with tears: "We did have some money before, but after my brother and sister-in-law divorced, there was no income, and we had almost no money left. Aunt, my brother and mother are dead, and now I'm all alone. I still have to live."

"Don't worry, the clan will naturally protect you from now on. It's really inconvenient for you to live alone. I'll look around and find you a good man."

Seeing that she wouldn't budge, Fu Jingying had no choice but to give her two hundred taels of silver.

Well, she never intended to stay in the village long anyway. After arranging her mother's and elder brother's funerals, she would return to the capital.

Putting everything else aside, that house still belongs to her, and no one can take it away from her.

When she returned to the capital, she was dumbfounded.

The original gate of the Fu family was now sealed with two large seals, and the gate was tightly closed, locked with a large iron lock.

How is this going.

The Fu family's property was seized during the short time she returned to her hometown.

No, this is not possible.

This house was bestowed by the Emperor; it cannot be taken back so easily.

She needs to find out.

As she was about to leave, the servants from the Fu family, seeing her appear, quickly surrounded her.

“Miss, you haven’t given us our monthly allowance yet. The Emperor sent people to take back the house; it was the Dali Temple that came to collect it. The officials also said that when you arrive, you should go directly to the Dali Temple to report and move all the belongings out within a day.”

If they hadn't yet received their silver, they would have left long ago.

Fu Jingying bit her lip, trying not to let her tears fall.

how so.

She thought that even if she couldn't live a glamorous life after returning to the capital, at least she would have a place to live and could keep the money her elder brother had left her, so she could live a good life for a while.

"The Fu family is gone, so there's no monthly allowance."

"She's trying to renege on her debt; search her."

Several maids stepped forward to search her body.

"Stop, it's just monthly silver, I'll give it to you." Fu Jingying was afraid they would really try to take it, so she had no choice but to give them the monthly silver.

After receiving their monthly allowance, the group didn't make things difficult for Fu Jingying any further and left.

Fu Jingying went to the Dali Temple, and just as the maids had said, the Dali Temple ordered her to move all her belongings out within a day and even sent officials to accompany her and open the door for her.

Where could she possibly move to if she had to move out in a single day?

On the way, Fu Jingying encountered Song Mingyuan, the heir of the Marquis of Changning. She knelt down in front of Song Mingyuan and said in a tearful voice, "Your Highness, please save me."