Qiuli recounted the events of several years ago in detail.
From Wei Hangyuan’s unbridled abuse of the manor’s maids, she spoke of how Shuangniang murdered and discarded the bodies to help him cover up his crimes. Every word dripped with tears and blood, filling everyone who listened with righteous indignation.
Unawares, the dark clouds in the sky grew lighter and lighter, while Qiuli’s ghost gradually turned transparent, until she bowed once more toward Wei Zhiyin and Wei Yunchan, after which she completely vanished from everyone’s sight.
In truth, Qiuli did not vanish; rather, the time limit Fu Jinshu had granted her had simply expired. Human eyes cannot see ghosts, but the spirit-manifestation talisman Fu Jinshu gave her allowed her to be visible to mortals.
Only through this was the wicked conduct of Wei Hangyuan and Shuangniang successfully exposed.
In the blink of an eye, the dazzling sunlight shone down upon the people once more.
Yet the chill in their hearts could not be dispelled for a time. Over a dozen vibrant and young lives had quietly vanished within the Wei estate, and their grievances were only vindicated after many years, how could this not provoke sighs and fierce anger.
Knowing that Sangyu should also be one of those dozen or so deceased maids, Wei Zewen still vividly remembered the little girl’s bright and clever features, yet he found it hard to believe that such a cute little girl had been brutally murdered by his own biological brother and birth mother on some fateful night.
Her corpse was even discarded in the wilderness, an act of sheer brutality.
His figure swayed, and he only managed to steady himself with the support of a nearby servant.
Looking over at him, Wei Yunchan asked, “Now, do you still believe that I humiliated and murdered Miss Shen?”
With an ashen face, Wei Zewen lowered his head and stopped shouting arrogantly.
Since Wei Hangyuan had already passed out cold, Wei Yunchan calmly and without a shred of guilt shifted the blame for the death of Shen Fuer onto him: “Last night, Miss Shen poured her heart out to me about the injustices she suffered at the Shen family, earnestly begging me to let her stay for the night. I played along until Aunt Fentao left before I departed from the east chamber. Last night, because of this matter, Jinshu threw a tantrum at me and even slapped me across the face.”
At this point, everyone perked up, all turning their gazes to look at Wei Yunchan’s face.
Well now, what an absolute rarity, the dignified young master of the Wei family, who always went around slapping others, actually got beaten by his wife?
Looking closely, there really was a small, faint palm print on Wei Yunchan’s right cheek.
Madam Wen and Wei Zhiyin also looked at Wei Yunchan’s face, experiencing extremely complicated emotions for a moment.
Exposing his own shortcomings with total composure, Wei Yunchan maintained his calm demeanor without any emotional fluctuation as he continued speaking to Wei Zewen: “This morning, I had a coroner come to examine the body. 「Miss Shen」 also suffered abuse before death, and the marks on her body were identical to those found on He Pan earlier, you should have an idea in your mind as to who the real culprit is, right?”
Everyone present had witnessed today’s events with their own eyes. Coupled with the fact that Miss Shen was already covered in a white cloth, and respecting the deceased above all else, since Wei Yunchan claimed he had asked a coroner to examine her, and a coroner had indeed arrived at the Wei estate this morning, no one would go so far as to violate her corpse again by stripping off her clothes for comparison.
Given the current circumstances, whatever Wei Yunchan said was believed by everyone else.
Bearing the undeserved blame, Wei Hangyuan lay on the ground, reviled by thousands and shunned by all, with no possibility of ever making a comeback.
Wei Zhiyin had the guards throw Shuangniang and Wei Hangyuan into the dungeons, leaving their punishment for a later time.
One remaining matter was to go and placate the Shen family. Shen Yuanlin had waited and waited, sitting on pins and needles, until he finally welcomed the return of Wei Zhiyin and the others.
He could not fathom why his daughter’s death had managed to drag so many lives from the Wei family into the mix, nor did he know what had transpired over the past hour or so.
Shen Qingzhu had already woken up, and his emotions were no longer so agitated. Sitting in a chair in a daze, he did not know what he was thinking.
Thinking of quickly taking Shen Fuer’s corpse back to be handled and letting the matter be put to rest, Shen Yuanlin knelt toward Wei Zhiyin once more and said, “Lord Master, the weather has turned hot, and this humble person is worried that my daughter’s corpse will begin to putrefy. Please allow this humble person to take her back for burial first.”
Since the truth had already come to light, Wei Zhiyin naturally needed to give his family an explanation, so he said in a deep voice, “Master Shen, the death of your beloved daughter will certainly be met with justice from our Wei family.”
With a look of apprehension, Shen Yuanlin said, “Lord Master exaggerates, exaggerates… It was just my daughter who suffered a sudden hidden illness, it truly has nothing to do with the Young Master, we will take our leave now… Qingzhu, let’s go!”
The Shen family members arrived in a flurry and departed in a rush.
Lingering at the very end, Shen Qingzhu turned his head back to give Wei Yunchan a single glance.
Meeting his gaze, Wei Yunchan locked eyes with him.
Shen Fuer was laid to rest and buried by the Shen family that very afternoon, and not a single word of gossip leaked outside, with outsiders simply assuming that Miss Shen had passed away from an illness.
Until a few days later, when the Wei family posted an official proclamation at the city gates.
“Well, look at that, the Lord Master is expelling the Wei family’s second young master from the clan registry and kicking him out of the household?!”
“What’s so special about that, there is also the Lord Master’s concubine, she is going to be executed by decapitation!”
“Oh my, what on earth happened here? I can’t read, what else does it say down there!”
“It says that Wei Hangyuan raped over a dozen maids in the manor, and Madam Shuangniang aided and abetted him, murdering the maids to cover up her son’s crimes!”
Once this proclamation was posted, the incident instantly became the talk of the town among the common people of Yunliang. Some people even put two and two together, speculating through the revelation that the Wei family had sent a substantial amount of jewelry and silver to the Shen family a few days prior, deducing that the death of Miss Shen was most likely inseparable from the Wei family’s second young master.
“You fucking bullshit! Wei Yunchan! When the hell did I ever touch that Shen family miss!”
In the dungeon, disheveled and filthy, Wei Hangyuan grabbed the prison bars and cursed furiously. Shifting his footing, Wei Yunchan took a few steps back to avoid getting splattered by the spit he was spewing.
Wei Hangyuan had just learned from Wei Yunchan’s own mouth that he was taking the fall for a framed crime. After finishing his curses, his brows knitted tightly as he sensed something amiss.
Tomorrow he was to be dragged before the Wei family ancestral hall, yet Wei Yunchan had exposed this secret to him a day early, wasn’t he afraid that he would shout it from the rooftops tomorrow and stir up trouble?
Or could it be that terrified, Wei Hangyuan retreated step by step until he was pressed against the corner of the wall.
“You coming to find me to say these things today… what is your intention?”
Discarding his previous expressionless demeanor, Wei Yunchan looked cold and severe, a chilling murderous intent suppressed deep within his dark eyes.
“It is most precious for a person to have self-awareness, how could a filthy and disgusting piece of trash like you dare to harbor such vile thoughts?”
Whenever Wei Yunchan thought about how Wei Hangyuan had fantasized about Fu Jinshu’s face and body in his mind while abusing He Pan, he wanted nothing more than to hack Wei Hangyuan into pieces and throw him to the dogs.
Once he finished speaking, two black-clad guards stepped out from behind Wei Yunchan—the very same group that had subdued him within the manor that day.
The threat of death made Wei Hangyuan’s knees go weak. Understanding all too well what Wei Yunchan’s words implied, he immediately knelt and kowtowed for mercy: “Big Brother, I was wrong! I was wrong… spare my life! I will definitely stay far away from Fu Jinshu from now on! I beg you.”
Turning around, Wei Yunchan dusted off a stray piece of grass that had accidentally stuck to his sleeve. His voice lacked any inflection, yet it made one’s hair stand on end: “I don’t want you to stay far away from him, I want you dead.”
As long as a person lives, they will have desires.
Only when they are dead will they truly “behave themselves” and no longer harbor a single sordid thought.
Wei Yunchan’s footsteps faded further and further away, leaving behind the desperate, frantic shrieks of Wei Hangyuan echoing from within.
The guards stationed outside the dungeon all kept their heads lowered, not daring to make a peep. Only after Wei Yunchan had walked far away did they squeeze out a breath from their chests, cold sweat sliding down their temples as their backs were completely soaked through.
Wei Hangyuan’s cries shifted from frantic shouting to extreme terror. Ignoring the sounds entirely, the guards waited until there was absolute silence inside before taking action.
Opening the prison door, they found Wei Hangyuan lying flat on his back on the floor with wide-open eyes, his mouth agape and his tongue dragged out quite a long stretch, presenting a horrific and tragic state of death.
Withdrawing their gazes, the guards followed Wei Yunchan’s instructions to stage the scene to look like suicide. Ensuring everything was foolproof, they locked the cell door and headed back out.
Returning to his courtyard, Wei Yunchan pushed open the door and, failing to spot Fu Jinshu, walked toward the study instead.
Sure enough, Fu Jinshu was right here.
Holding a brush of peculiar appearance, he was currently writing and sketching away on a piece of yellow talisman paper. Highly intrigued, Wei Yunchan leaned against the bookshelf on the side to watch.
Everything proceeded normally at first, until finally, Fu Jinshu made the brush vanish into the palm of his hand, bit his finger, and traced a few more strokes across the talisman, a flash of brilliant light burst forth, looking profoundly mysterious and full of hidden secrets.
This was an eye-opener for Wei Yunchan, marking the very first time he had witnessed Fu Jinshu’s “magical powers” with his own eyes. Though he had no idea what was being accomplished here, it resembled Daoist sorcery yet far transcended anything a regular Daoist priest could ever achieve.
“Aren’t you afraid of scaring me?” Wei Yunchan walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down. “Or are you planning to silence me, which is why you aren’t afraid of me watching?”
Leisurely putting away the newly crafted talismans, Fu Jinshu prompted Wei Yunchan to notice that he had drawn more than one, and several of them looked completely different from one another.
Finishing up his tasks, Fu Jinshu picked up a brush, grabbed a blank sheet of paper, and wrote: [Playing the role of acting to the point of getting addicted?]
[Why did you come looking for me to get a spirit-manifestation talisman today?]
Putting on an evasive front, Wei Yunchan replied, “Naturally I had a use for it, which is why I asked you for one.”
Giving him a quirky look, Fu Jinshu followed up with a careful, scrutinizing stare.
After a long while, staring until Wei Yunchan felt somewhat uncomfortable and reached out to cover his eyes, the demon asked, “What are you looking at?”
Catching his wandering hand, Fu Jinshu used his other hand to write:
[Just watching how you’ve been getting better-looking lately.]