Chapter 262
Chapter 262
“I am.”
Inside the chamber, “Zhao Wan’s” voice was chilling, steeped in hatred.
Ren Fengjue did not know why Lady Du had suddenly possessed Zhao Wan. He guessed it had something to do with the jade pendant that had just broken.
As he considered how to question her, “Zhao Wan” leaned toward him first and said viciously, “I see this girl and that poisonous woman are both quite fond of you. Since you’re someone they value, I’ll kill you first!”
She reached out and lunged at Ren Fengjue.
But he was already on guard and no poor fighter. With a quick movement, he dodged the attack easily.
He had, however, inhaled too much of the drugged fumes from the red candles earlier, leaving him weaker than usual.
Though he escaped that blow, he was already plainly running short of strength and breath.
He hurriedly asked, “You disappeared without explanation ten years ago. There must be more to it. What exactly happened that night? Why not tell me…”
Lady Du would hear none of it. Giving him no chance to catch his breath, she sprang at him again and seized his throat.
Ren Fengjue’s breath caught. “I know you’ve been wronged. I can help you!”
Lady Du laughed coldly. Before he could finish, she brought up her other hand and tightened her grip…
Just as she was about to strangle him to death, white light spilled from within Ren Fengjue. Lady Du had to release him and retreat from it for the moment.
The light then took the form of a luminous white Jade Sword, shielding him.
Though Lady Du did not fear his Pure Yang Body, the sight of this sword made expressly to slay demonic evil frightened her.
She could not help asking, “Who exactly are you?”
Having nearly been strangled to death, Ren Fengjue coughed for a while before recovering.
Knowing that Little Uncle was helping him, he breathed a sigh of relief and told Lady Du, “Since you cannot kill me, why not tell me how you were wronged? If I can get out, I will make the truth known to everyone.”
Lady Du hesitated, then said coldly, “You can’t get out. I’ve been trapped here for ten years. Even my soul cannot leave.”
“Where exactly are we?”
“Beneath the mansion.”
Lady Du mocked herself. “After so many years in this household, I thought I was cherished and had a lifetime of wealth and honor ahead of me. I never imagined that after I died, there wouldn’t even be anyone to collect my body…”
She sank down beside the huge stone and began recalling her first days at the mansion.
Everyone knew that Prince Wu was an inveterate womanizer, particularly after his military achievements earned him a princely title and a household of his own.
Though he had married Princess Consort Wu, he continued taking concubines.
By the year the princess turned seven, the mansion’s inner quarters were crowded with his wife and concubines.
Lady Du was the youngest of the concubines and the most alluring.
Prince Wu particularly favored her. Soon after entering the household, she moved into Zhenxia Courtyard, the best location in the inner quarters.
At the time, the innocent, carefree Lady Du had thought very well of Princess Consort Wu, Lady Yang.
She always remained quietly in her own courtyard, neither competing for favor nor drawing attention to herself. She treated people gently and never made things difficult for the concubines.
His Highness often praised his principal wife as a “virtuous wife” whom a man might seek but rarely find.
Yet behind that seemingly harmonious facade lay a horrifying conspiracy.
The year the princess turned seven, the princess consort contracted a strange illness for no apparent reason. Around that time, Lady Du became pregnant.
There had been no such happy news in the inner household for a long while. His Highness was overjoyed and lingered in Zhenxia Courtyard all day, neglecting his ailing wife.
Feeling guilty, Lady Du often reminded him to visit the princess consort more.
Soon, the day of her delivery arrived.
That night, Lady Du lay in bed, her awareness blurred by pain, hoping only that her child would be born safely.
Yet when she opened her eyes in a daze, she found that the midwife, maids, and older serving women who had been attending her had all vanished.
Frightened, she hastily called her personal maid’s name.
Just then, the door creaked open, and Lady Du saw a familiar figure enter.
It was Prince Wu.
At that moment, she felt a little calmer, as though she had found a lifeline.
“Your Highness, where’s the midwife? My belly hurts so much. I think the baby’s coming. Hurry and call her in!”
Lady Du urged him to fetch someone, but His Highness showed no haste. He even seemed unmoved.
Only after a while did he pick her up, his voice cold. “I’ll take you to the midwife.”
Lady Du did not understand his intention. But her waters had broken, and the pain left her so weak she could not even speak.
She could only let him carry her out of Zhenxia Courtyard.
After an unknown amount of time, she realized that she had reached Ning’an Courtyard.
Princess Consort Wu sat beneath the covered walkway, watching her coldly.
The atmosphere struck Lady Du as eerie. Bewildered and helpless, she suddenly realized that His Highness was not taking her to find a midwife…
Terrified, she looked at the figure beside her and discovered that the one carrying her was not Prince Wu at all!
More precisely, it was not human.
It was a monster with no facial features!
Lady Du struggled and called to Princess Consort Wu for help. “Your Highness, please save me! Save my child!”
The princess consort beneath the walkway was not merely unmoved. A trace of cold mockery even surfaced on her face.
Then she beckoned lightly, and the Faceless Ghost threw Lady Du straight into a seemingly bottomless underground chamber.
The chamber was pitch-dark. The instant she fell, Lady Du knew that her child might already be beyond saving.
In despair, she felt her belly cramp painfully as her awareness gradually faded.
At last, she used the very last of her strength to give birth, then breathed her last.
Soon after Lady Du died, her soul left her body. Her child was already a dead infant.
Shocked and furious, she became a Vengeful Spirit. Knowing that everything had been the princess consort’s plot, she sought revenge, only to discover that she could not leave the chamber.
Before long, the faceless monster appeared and scattered her soul.
More and more wronged souls accumulated in the chamber. Trapped there with their souls scattered, they gradually lost their independent awareness, with no way out.
“Only after I died did I learn that Princess Consort Wu, who seemed so aloof from worldly struggles, had such a venomous heart!”
“She didn’t want His Highness to have children with other women, so she murdered them cruelly. To keep us from taking revenge, she even colluded with ghosts and trapped all our souls here!”
“She killed so many children. Did she ever imagine that one day her own child would fall into my hands?”
“No matter what happens today, I will kill her daughter!”
As Lady Du spoke, she was filled with hatred and had nowhere to vent it. She wanted nothing more than to kill Zhao Wan at once.
Yet Ren Fengjue said calmly, “The truth may not be as you imagine.”
Lady Du grew more agitated. “Everything I said is true! I saw it all with my own eyes!”
“If Princess Consort Wu wanted to protect her daughter, she wouldn’t have locked her in this chamber with me and given you an opportunity.”
Working through his reasoning, Ren Fengjue asked, “Don’t you think there might be another conspiracy behind all this?”