"What!? He's dead!?" The merchants gathered around were in utter disbelief. Just moments ago, everyone had been chatting in line together, and in the blink of an eye, someone had died.
Princess Mira was also startled, but quickly snapped, "Dead is dead! Hurry up and move the body—don’t let it block the entrance to Suxin Pavilion!"
The servant shot to his feet, glaring angrily at Suxin Pavilion and Princess Mira. "It’s all your fault my master is dead! He was having a seizure—if you hadn’t thrown him out, he never would’ve bitten off his own tongue!"
The crowd was outraged, echoing the servant’s accusation. Everyone had witnessed what happened—the man had an epileptic fit and was biting on a wooden stick. He wouldn’t have died.
But Princess Mira insisted her attendants throw the man out, and they literally tossed him outside. The stick fell away, and the man bit through his tongue, dying a horrible death on the spot!
Princess Mira, surrounded by the crowd, stubbornly stuck out her chin and declared, "Nonsense! You’re slandering me! He died from his own illness—what does that have to do with me? You rabble are just trying to extort money! Hmph! I won’t pay a single coin for this. If you’ve got the guts, go tell the authorities! Even your magistrate would have to kneel and bow before me! If you dare cause more trouble, I’ll have you all thrown in jail!"
Princess Mira was clearly relying on her status and refused to take any responsibility. Her attitude made everyone furious.
The servant, his face streaked with tears, wiped them away with his sleeve and said, "Yes, we’re nobodies. We can’t fight a princess. We accept our fate!"
With that, the servant struggled to lift his master’s corpse. An old doctor came over to help, and together they placed the body onto the family’s cart. The servant, still crying, drove the cart away.
The old doctor shook his head and sighed, glancing at Suxin Pavilion. He muttered, "Such a sin, such a sin..."
Those who remained dared not speak out. Princess Mira held immense status—she was also the future Princess Consort of Prince Ling. These merchants might have a bit of money, but they were no match for her.
After the death, Princess Mira lost all interest. She instructed the servants, "This is such a buzzkill. Hand out the entry passes and let them disperse."
With those words, Princess Mira left. The attendants came over to distribute the entry passes, but the merchants, holding them, were no longer as jubilant as before.
Everyone stared blankly at the tickets in their hands, their expressions grave and somber.
That same day, news of the death at Suxin Pavilion spread like wildfire, and the gossiping crowd was abuzz with shock.
Since time immemorial, the powerful have bullied the weak, and it's always been despised by the common folk. Now Princess Mira had indirectly caused a death and faced no consequences, living carefree instead—this made everyone furious.
While people secretly condemned Princess Mira, that very night something happened at Suxin Pavilion. A night watchman, passing by, suddenly screamed and fainted. He wasn't discovered until the next morning, lying unconscious at the pavilion's entrance.
When the night watchman came to, he shouted in terror, "There's a ghost! There's a ghost in Suxin Pavilion!"
"What nonsense are you spouting? There are no ghosts!" said the owner of the shop next to Suxin Pavilion, swallowing nervously.
"There really is a ghost! I saw it with my own eyes!" The night watchman recounted his encounter in vivid, chilling detail. The shop owner, listening, turned pale. "Oh my god, the ghost you described—it looks just like... just like that merchant who died yesterday! The face and clothes are exactly the same!"