Xu Jichun lost his parents at a young age and was raised by his aunt.
On the night he achieved the rank of Tanhua in the imperial examinations, he was drinking alone under the moon and fell asleep at his desk. When he woke up, he was shocked to see a young female ghost stroking the top of his head: “Hello Son, I am your mother!”
The female ghost claimed to be his mother, Eighteenth Lady, saying she had missed him for many years and was unwilling to reincarnate.
Now a solitary soul wandering the world, she had no one to provide her with offerings.
She had finally revealed herself today just to let him fulfill his filial duty: “Son, Mother waited specifically until you made a name for yourself on the Golden Bulletin before I dared to enter your dreams. By the way, Mother isn’t picky; an offering of three bowls of pork trotters every day will do.”
Xu Jichun did as he was told. Every morning and evening, he paid his respects and offered three large bowls of pork trotters.
Later, Xu Jichun joined the Ministry of Justice as a Vice Minister.
Bizarre cases involving demons and ghosts occurred frequently in the capital, leaving Xu Jichun at his wit’s end. Fortunately, he had his mother by his side to guide him, leading to the resolution of several cold cases.
As the mother and son spent more time together, his mother grew tired of pork trotters and craved roasted meat; she grew tired of his late father and fell in love with handsome men: “Son, Mother is afraid of the dark. Burn a few handsome paper effigies to keep me company at night.”
Xu Jichun: “If my father knew, wouldn’t that be unfilial?”
Eighteenth Lady: “Your father was the most generous person when he was alive; he often urged me to find more!”
Xu Jichun did as he was told, crafting paper effigies by day and burning them by night.
After he had burned fifteen handsome paper effigies, his mother called a halt: “Son, although you are handsome, there is no need to burn a paper effigy of yourself for me.”
Xu Jichun: “I am willing to let a paper figurine represent me in serving Mother.”
Eighteenth Lady: “…”
His mother was wonderful, except she had too many romantic suitors.
There were three candidates for the position of step-father alone, including both humans and ghosts.
The rain must fall, and a mother must marry.
Xu Jichun fretted and toiled over the matter of his mother’s remarriage.
Another half a year passed, and his aunt arrived in the capital.
Xu Jichun told her all about his mother, Eighteenth Lady.
To his surprise, his aunt’s expression changed drastically upon hearing this: “Jichun, I am your mother! After eloping and giving birth to you back then, I fabricated your life story to hide the truth…”
That night, Xu Jichun looked at Eighteenth Lady, who had come to demand new offerings again—
“My mother isn’t dead, so who are you?”
“Eighteenth Lady… counts as a mother… right?”
A few days after learning that Eighteenth Lady was not his real mother, Xu Jichun went to the three candidates for step-father one by one: “All of you can leave. Eighteenth Lady already has someone in her heart.”
The three candidates asked: “Who?”
Xu Jichun: “That’s right, it is I.”
Since he was looking for a step-father for himself anyway, why couldn’t he be his own “father”?
#A female ghost who claimed a false identity to demand offerings x A Vice Minister devoted to filial piety
