Chapter 150

Chapter 150

“You… What do you mean by that?”

Qin Shu’s face was deathly pale. His lips trembled, but in the end, all that fell from them was that one powerless question.

Ren Fengjue paid him no mind. He only stared fixedly at Shen Li and continued to press him. “Old Master Shen, are you not planning to answer that?”

Shen Li did not respond for a long time.

His expression was dark and murky, his lips opening and closing slightly. From the look of him, it was not that he did not want to answer, but that he had no answer to give.

Seeing this, Ren Fengjue knew the moment was nearly upon them.

He turned and spoke directly to Qin Shu. “Young Master Qin Shu, you said earlier that your father is a teacher at Kaiming Academy. Then who is your mother?”

“My mother…”

With Shen Li refusing to speak, Qin Shu grew even more flustered. “My mother has always lived in the countryside. She…”

She was merely a coarse woman who could not read a single character, yet she was also an extraordinarily stubborn one.

Back then, when she was five months pregnant, she had gone alone to Kaiming County to look for her man.

She had traveled such a long road and suffered so much hardship, only to be told that they could not acknowledge each other.

He gave her a sum of money and entrusted her to a kind teacher from the academy.

He also claimed that once he found firm footing in Kaiming County, he would take her away to enjoy a life of wealth and honor.

But she waited and waited.

She waited until her belly began to show and could no longer be hidden. Left with no choice, she could only pretend to marry the academy teacher.

Not long after, the child was born. It was a boy.

She was happy, and the academy teacher was happy for her as well.

But her man never came again. Not even once.

She was also a woman without much will of her own. After waiting all those years, she never uttered a single word of resentment.

When the academy teacher said to her, “Since he is not coming for you, why not settle down here and live in peace?” she tacitly agreed.

Just like that, she accepted her fate and planned to live properly with the teacher from then on.

The teacher was a gentle and meticulous scholar. Life with him was poor, but at least there was food to eat, and he had never mistreated her.

He knew she was not used to living at the academy and feared she would hear all those rumors and whispers, so he simply sent her to the countryside to live a quiet, carefree life.

They treated each other with courtesy and respect, thinking they might support one another like this until old age.

But…

One day, the man from back then still came to their door.

By then, he was already laden with immense wealth. He vowed solemnly that he would fulfill the promise he had made all those years ago.

She was unwilling to leave with him. She only told her son the truth.

And so, Qin Shu learned who he really was.

But he never could have imagined that his biological father would actually be the Old Master of Yuelai Villa.

Compared to the adoptive father who had spent half his life buried in books and writing, what a difference there was between them.

It was like heaven and earth.

So when the other man told him that he would one day become the master of Yuelai Villa, how could he possibly not be tempted?

By now, Qin Shu was already panicking.

From his panicked expression, Ren Fengjue could tell that his own guess was more or less correct.

Moreover, Qin Shu had not been kept in the dark.

He clearly knew what it would mean for him to marry Miss Shen…

“Before your mother married the academy teacher, who exactly was she? And why did she come to Kaiming County? I believe you should know that very well.”

As Ren Fengjue spoke, he glanced at Shen Li again. “Of course, Old Master Shen should know even better.”

Shen Li trembled again.

As their eyes met, killing intent surged in the depths of his gaze.

“Men!”

At his low call, the old steward outside the door immediately understood his meaning.

All the guards of Yuelai Villa gathered in front of the main hall at once. Including the chief guard, there were thirty-six men in total.

In an instant, the entrances and exits were blocked so tightly that not even water could pass through.
Clearly, he meant to leave no survivors.

Yu Lang took one look at the scene before them and immediately barked in fury, “You old bastard, are you trying to murder an imperial court official?”

Shen Li gave a sinister chuckle. “Isn’t this all because you refused to leave me any way out?”

“His Excellency the Vice Minister came to my Kaiming County without any imperial documents as proof. Who would know you had ever been here?”

“Originally, if you had simply behaved yourselves, had a couple of wedding feasts, stayed two nights, we would have treated you with courtesy, and everyone could have lived in peace. That would have been best for all of us.”

“But you just had to investigate this and that, digging up trivial matters that had nothing to do with anything. Truly infuriating. Truly hateful!”

Looking at the dozens of well-trained guards gathered before the door, Ren Fengjue remained perfectly composed, without the slightest trace of panic.

He even sat back down beside the chair, picked up the tea he had just set aside, and took a light sip.

Seeing him so utterly confident, Shen Li began to feel suspicious. Then he suddenly heard Ren Fengjue ask in a low voice, “Old Master Shen, do you believe in ghosts and gods?”

Though Shen Li was startled inwardly, not a hint of it showed on his face. He merely sneered. “Don’t tell me you’re going to use some tale of vengeful spirits to frighten people again.”

“There has never been anyone who died unjustly at Yuelai Villa!”

No sooner had he said this than someone outside the hall deliberately drew out their tone and called back loudly, “Is-that-so?”

Everyone turned to look outside the door, only to discover three more people standing beyond the crowd.

One Taoist priest, and two women.

And one of those women was Yuelai Villa’s young lady-Shen Yue.

“Yue’er?”

Shen Li was taken aback. But he reacted extremely quickly and immediately shouted in anger, “You demon priest! How dare you take my daughter hostage?”

Seeing him lie so brazenly, Yan Zhengchu flew into a rage as well. “Which eye of yours saw me take your daughter hostage? Clearly, you’re the one who held your own daughter hostage!”

Shen Li took a few steps forward, beckoned to Shen Yue, and softened his tone as he said, “Yue’er, hurry and come to Father. They’re all bad people!”

At the sound of Shen Li’s voice, Shen Yue’s entire body could not help trembling. Out of fear, she instinctively stepped back, but Xia Ximo, beside her, gently gave her a tug.

“What are you afraid of?”

The other woman’s voice was icy, yet for some reason, it gave Shen Yue courage.

So she bit down hard on her lower lip, steadied herself, and said, word by word, “I will never believe you again. And you are not my father.”

Those words made Shen Li’s eyes darken even further, though a false smile still flowed across his face.

“What nonsense are you saying? You are Father’s most beloved daughter, Yue’er. Would Father ever harm you?”

“On the contrary, these two are outsiders. How can you believe their words?”

The moment he finished speaking, for some unknown reason, he raised both hands and slapped himself twice across the face with two resounding cracks.

The onlookers were shocked.

Shen Li was also terrified by his own sudden, uncontrollable actions.

Outside the crowd, Xia Ximo curled her lips coldly.

And just then, a gust of eerie wind swept through the courtyard.

Everyone felt a chill run down their backs. Then they heard a faint, ghostly voice drifting in from every direction: “Shen Li, you will die a horrible death!”

At the sound of that voice, Shen Li was even more horrified. In a panic, he staggered back several steps and nearly crashed into Qin Shu behind him.

At that moment, father and son both saw “Madam Shen,” who had been dead for a full fifteen years, slowly walking toward them.

“You-”

Shen Li was thrown into panic. His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed.

“Madam Shen” stared at him with a face full of hatred and cursed him once more: “Shen Li, you will die a horrible death!”