Chapter 153

Chapter 153

Shen Li was simmering with pent-up rage, his gaze sweeping over everyone present one by one.

In the end, it settled on Xia Ximo.

The woman stood coldly off to one side and had barely said a word.

But those unnerving eyes of hers glimmered with a dark light, making her far more terrifying than any ghost.

The next moment, his eyes met those of his deceased wife, Ling Ling.

“If you didn’t have a guilty conscience, why would you seek out a sorcerer to ‘suppress the soul’?”

“Do you think I didn’t know what you said to the midwife when I was in labor?”

Shen Li trembled all over again.

Ling Ling looked at him with a cold smile. “The baby was in the wrong position. The midwife asked you whether to save the mother or the child…”

“And you told her that if it was a boy, she had to save him. If it was a girl, then forget it.”

At the side, Shen Yue heard every word. Her eyes dimmed, and without realizing it, she clenched both hands into fists.

“I knew that back then, you never intended to let my daughter live. You never intended to let me live either!”

As Ling Ling spoke, resentment surged around her, and her face twisted into something ferocious.

At the sight of his dead wife’s ghastly appearance, cold sweat broke out all over Shen Li’s back. He did not dare look at her and could only defend himself. “Ah Ling, it wasn’t like that…”

“At the time… I only wanted you to give birth to a son. That way… there would have been no need to…”

Halfway through, he finally realized he should leave himself some room, but Qin Shu instantly understood what he had left unsaid.

If the child had been a son, what use would Shen Li have had for him?

A man like him had only ever thought of his own interests from beginning to end.

His wife, his son, his daughter-they had all existed for profit, and for profit, they could all be discarded.

“A son?”

Ling Ling found it laughable. “My father had only me, one daughter. After my mother passed away early, he never once thought of remarrying or taking concubines just to chase after a son for himself.”

“Why is it that with you, a son became so indispensable? Ask your own conscience-without the Ling Family, what would you, Shen Li, amount to?”

“Without me, Ling Ling, where would you even be?”

Shen Li was left utterly speechless.

By then, the time of half an incense stick was nearly up. The Transformation Talisman Yan Zhengchu had attached to Ling Ling was gradually losing its effect.

Seeing her figure begin to fade, she knew she had little time left to speak.

She turned to Ren Fengjue and Yu Lang, who stood not far away, and raised her voice. “My lords, Shen Li was originally a son-in-law taken into the Ling Family, yet his intentions were wicked. Not only did he seize all of the Ling Family’s property for himself, he is also suspected of murdering his wife and trying to kill his daughter!”

“I, Ling Ling, swear to divorce this husband. Though I am dead, I will still sever the name of husband and wife between us. Otherwise, even beneath the Yellow Springs, I will never be able to close my eyes in peace!”

“The divorce letter shall be written on my behalf by my daughter, Ling Yue. I ask you two lords to uphold justice for me.”

With that, her soul knelt on the ground and bowed deeply in their direction.

When she looked at her daughter again, tears brimmed in her eyes, but her figure soon scattered and vanished from the courtyard.

“Mother…”

Ling Yue, whose surname had already been changed back, could not help crying out.

That cry of “Mother” moved most of the people present. As for Ling Ling, a ghost, hearing it filled her with such joy that she wept.

The resentment lingering around her slowly began to dissipate…

Yan Zhengchu watched with a gratified expression. He could not help turning to Ren Fengjue and saying, “Young Marquis, though this is a request from a ghost, that man Shen truly is no good. You won’t just ignore this, will you?”

His words, “Young Marquis,” startled everyone from Yuelai Villa.

Shen Li was shocked as well.

He speculated inwardly that among the four great founding meritorious marquises, he had heard that the Son of Marquis Jing’an served in the Dali Temple.

However, after Marquis Jing’an had been granted his title, he had distanced himself from the imperial court, ignored political affairs, and held no real power. He was not worth fearing.
Even as he thought this, he heard Ren Fengjue sigh softly. Then, deliberately raising his voice in a tone of utter helplessness, Ren Fengjue said, “That may be true, but this is still their family affair. It would hardly be proper for us to interfere.”

Yu Lang was stunned. “Even if it is a family affair, he’s suspected of murdering his wife and killing his daughter. That is no minor charge.”

Ren Fengjue asked in return, “Where is the evidence?”

Yu Lang froze at the question.

What, were they supposed to have Ling Ling’s ghost take the stand and testify?

The thought alone made Yu Lang break out in a cold sweat.

Shen Li was just beginning to look pleased with himself when Qin Shu, who stood beside him, suddenly stepped forward and said, “I can testify!”

He looked as though he had wrestled with himself for a long time, his expression taut. “Back then, Shen Li once wrote my mother a letter…”

The smugness on Shen Li’s face had yet to fully spread before it instantly vanished.

“You-”

He pointed at Qin Shu, fury all but bursting from his eyes.

Under that pressure, Qin Shu continued, “That letter was written before Miss Ling went into labor. At the time, I had only just learned to read and write. Shen Li trusted me, so he had me read the letter aloud to my mother.”

“But I had only read halfway when my mother began trembling all over and hid the letter away.”

“I never understood why. Later, when I was a little older, I secretly took the letter out and read it again. That was when I learned a secret.”

Qin Shu paused briefly before saying, “In the letter, he said Miss Ling was about to give birth, and he had already bribed the midwife. Once the matter was done, he would bring us to Ling Family Village to live a good life!”

The moment he finished speaking, Shen Li flew into a rage. He raised his hand and grabbed for Qin Shu’s shoulder.

Ren Fengjue could tell from the way Shen Li moved that the man knew some martial arts. He immediately darted forward and pulled Qin Shu aside.

Qin Shu had never practiced martial arts. He stumbled, nearly crashing into the vase beside him, but Yu Lang caught him just in time.

Vice Minister Yu said, “Since you’re serving as a witness to atone for your crimes, I’ll save you this once.”

Qin Shu: “…”

After Ren Fengjue stepped in, he exchanged several moves with Shen Li in the blink of an eye, and surprise flickered through him.

He had not expected that Shen Li, already past fifty, had hidden such skill. Not only were his attacks sharp and vicious, he was genuinely formidable.

After a moment’s thought, Ren Fengjue deliberately exposed an opening in front of him.

A gleam flashed in Shen Li’s eyes, and he struck Ren Fengjue hard on the shoulder with his palm.

Ren Fengjue pretended not to notice, but he gathered his inner force and took the blow head-on.

At the sight, Yu Lang and Yan Zhengchu both instinctively stepped forward, their hearts leaping into their throats.

Beside them, Xia Ximo also frowned slightly.

She had thought Ren Fengjue would be able to dodge it, so she had not secretly intervened.

Yet he had actually allowed himself to take that strike?

What was even more unexpected was that Shen Li, at that very moment, revealed a defensive dagger hidden in his sleeve and seized Ren Fengjue as a hostage.

Yu Lang cried out in alarm and was about to rush forward when Xia Ximo tugged him back.

“Young Marquis?”

“I presume you’re the Son of Marquis Jing’an?”

“I thought you might have some real ability, working in the Dali Temple. Is this all you’re capable of?”

As Shen Li sneered, he pressed the dagger another half inch closer.

Just then, however, the manor’s main gate was kicked open. Ge Chuan, the magistrate of Kaiming County, charged in with a group of subordinates.

When Magistrate Ge saw that Shen Li had actually taken Ren Fengjue hostage, he shouted in fright, “Shen Li, have you lost your mind? How dare you take the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice hostage!?”

Vice Minister of Justice?

Shen Li’s hand trembled, and the dagger fell straight to the ground. “You’re actually the Son of Marquis Renxuan?”

Ren Fengjue looked at him coldly. “Taking hostage and grievously injuring a Senior Third Rank court official is a capital offense. There will be no pardon.”