Wang Baochang was a poor student, and as such, he failed the military exam, forcing his parents to buy him a position in the imperial guard.1
On the night of the Flower Viewing Festival in Taiming 28, Wang Baochang's body was found at the mouth of an alley near the pleasure boat crossing in Jinping.1
His body was first encountered by Xi Ping, who found it standing up and holding a storm lantern, blocking the entrance to an alley. Not realizing that Wang Baochang was already dead, Xi Ping pretended to be a female ghost to scare him out of his way. Wang Baochang didn't react, so Xi Ping assumed he'd scared him stupid and shouldered his way past, leaving Wang Baochang at the mouth of the alley.1
After hearing Xi Ping yell, a group of his father's servants found their way to Wang Baochang as well. Seeing his pale face, the lead servant from Yongning Marquis Manor assumed that Xi Ping had upset him and apologized, offering to have the Viscount visit Wang Baochang and apologize the next day. When Wang Baochang did not respond, the servant took a step closer.1
When the servant approached, Wang Baochang's body turned jerkily, and his eyes rolled up into his head. The gathered servants thought he was trying to scare them as vengeance for Xi Ping's prank and briefly considered whether they ought to play along. Then Wang Baochang began to sing a Soul Calling Melody: a funeral song from Ning'an, and his voice came out shrill and unsettling. He walked forward stiffly as he sang until, at the last word, he froze upright, then collapsed onto the ground. A green jade token rolled away from his body, and he did not move again.1
One servant tried to check on Wang Baochang, but when he reached out to touch his shoulder, he fell, dropped his lantern, and backed away in a panic. He'd felt that Wang Baochang was already cold and dead, his body stiff with rigor mortis. There was even a livid corpse spot on the back of his neck.1