Chapter 14: Vengeance from a Past Life

The expression of "just as I thought" had not yet faded from Zhang Bai's face; upon hearing this, his expression inevitably turned sour.

"What are your demands?"

His tone was low, carrying a subtle warning for the other party not to overstep their bounds.

The youth knelt on the ground, looking at Liu Yueniang lying in a pool of blood, his expression filled with grief.

"I want to collect my mother's body and arrange her burial."

Disgust rose in Zhang Bai's heart, and he intended to give the boy a stern warning.

The youth's voice was resolute: "I have only this one demand."

"If you disagree, then just kill me."

"I will not go back with you."

Zhang Bai's face instantly turned ashen. He gritted his teeth and compromised: "At the latest, by the hour of Si (9:00–11:00 AM)."

He glared at the youth. "Second Young Master, you'd better look out for yourself!"

With that, he turned and led his men away.

The youth breathed a sigh of relief.

As they left Qingtong Alley, one of the attendants following Zhang Bai couldn't help but ask, "Chief Manager, are we just leaving like this? What about the Master..."

The Old Patriarch of the Zhang family had repeatedly instructed that the person must be brought back to the Zhang residence and settled before the court session adjourned.

"Of course we can't leave."

Zhang Bai glared at him. "In a moment, take your men and guard every entrance and exit to Qingtong Alley."

He looked back toward the direction they had come from. "A smart person won't do anything foolish."

Would anyone really abandon wealth and glory to cling to poverty just for the sake of integrity?

Zhang Bai sneered inwardly, believing such a thing was impossible.

***

The Zhang Estate.

The lights in the main courtyard of the Zhang family's first branch had not yet been extinguished.

On the large heated kang bed by the window, Lady Cui, the eldest wife of the Zhang family, sat with her hairpins removed, her hair tied in a simple bun. Dressed loosely in a sapphire blue *beizi*, she leaned her head on her hand, struggling against an uncontrollable drowsiness.

"...No!"

Lady Cui woke with a start, her entire body drenched in sweat.

"Madam? Are you alright?"

The managing nanny, Mrs. Zhou, who was fanning her, hurried over with a warm towel to press against her face. Once Lady Cui regained her senses and calmed down, Mrs. Zhou handed her a cup of warm tea.

Lady Cui took two sips. The scalding tea slid down her throat, slightly smoothing the panic in her heart.

"Has the person sent on the errand returned?"

Mrs. Zhou shook her head and replied softly, "Not yet."

Lady Cui clutched her chest, feeling the panic rising again.

"Nanny, I have a feeling something is going to happen. My heart is racing terribly."

She was anxious to the extreme.

She had just had that dream again.

In the dream, for some unknown reason, her father-in-law brought back the illegitimate son from Qingtong Alley, claiming he was her biological son. He said Chi'er had been swapped by that wench Liu Yueniang, and that he wasn't her biological son, but Liu Yueniang's.

But she had carried him for ten months and raised Chi'er herself for over a decade; how could she not recognize her own biological son?

Clearly, Chi'er looked so much like his uncle.

Yet everyone said that the illegitimate son Liu Yueniang had raised was her true biological son.

They said that during her childbirth, Liu Yueniang had bribed the midwife to swap her newborn with her own child.

Even though such an absurd thing happened, no one suspected a thing.

And in the dream, she had actually accepted it and believed it.

At first, this returned son was quite respectful and filial to her.

Though mother and son were not particularly close, they maintained a semblance of maternal affection and filial piety.

Until this "true son" won the title of *Zhuangyuan* (top scholar) and, leveraging the power of the Zhang and Cui families, rose rapidly through the ranks to become a first-rank official and a favored minister of the Emperor. Only then did he reveal his true colors, turning his blade against his own family!

Afterward, he even served her a bowl of poison to end her life, welcoming that wench Liu Yueniang into the manor as the Old Madam!

She hated him so much!

Fortunately, it was all a dream.

How could her father-in-law and husband be so foolish as to treat an illegitimate child—one who wasn't even a formal concubine's son—as a legitimate heir to replace Chi'er?

She hadn't expected that Chi'er would offend the Eldest Princess at the Spring Banquet and be sent to the Imperial Prison.

Upon hearing the news, her husband had rushed home, but instead of comforting her or promising to save their son, he told her to prepare herself. He insisted she keep her mouth shut and treat that bastard born of an illegitimate mistress as if he were her own biological child!

At the time, Lady Cui had felt only rage.

Only after calming down did she realize she was covered in a cold sweat.

The events in the dream were coming true!

In her haste, she had only managed to arrange for her personal household guards to rush to Qingtong Alley to persuade the dying Liu Yueniang.

No one saw that a wisp of black aura was gradually fading from above Lady Cui's head.

***

"Great Deity, are you still there?"

The youth's gaze was urgent as he looked around the small courtyard.

An increasing sense of unease grew in his heart.

He suspected the voice he had just heard was merely an illusion.

"Great Deity?"

Song Lan jumped down from a tree and stepped forward quietly, her tone flippant, as if she had heard a hilarious joke.

"Are you calling me?"

Hearing the familiar voice, the youth was instantly filled with joy and moved to look up.

Song Lan stepped on the hand he was using to brace himself against the ground, crushing it with the same force she had used on him in her previous life.

"Ah... De... Deity..."

With pain shooting from his fingertips to his heart, the youth bowed his head low.

"I am no 'Great Deity'."

"And I am not here to redeem you."

The youth did not believe her and raised his head in anger. "You clearly just said you would let me see my mother again... Ah!"

Before he could see the speaker's face, his head was pressed against the ground. The silver-threaded embroidered shoes crushed his right cheek until it felt raw and bruised, causing him unbearable pain.

"That's right! I can let you see your mother—her ghost."

Song Lan gave a light chuckle. "The question is, what are you willing to trade for it?"

"Tsk! Let me guess—who would have thought that on such a peaceful night, a mother and son were sitting by candlelight, chatting about the day's interesting events, how many copper coins they earned, and dreaming of when they could save enough to buy two sets of decent new clothes, only to be suddenly separated by death?"

"How tragic!"

"I imagine your mother likely had many final words she didn't get the chance to say to you, right?"

Song Lan's flippant tone incited even more hatred in the youth.

He struggled, trying to break free from beneath her foot.

But she only pressed down harder and more forcefully.

"It seems you don't actually want to see your mother that much."

"Then again, you're about to become a proper legitimate young master of the Zhang family. Why would you care about a little mother who rushed to throw herself at people as a mistress?"

"You probably wish she would just be wiped from existence so that no one would ever know your past."

Hearing her insult his mother, the youth struggled even more violently.

Yet he could never escape the sole of Song Lan's foot.

"As long as you let me see my mother again, I will do whatever you want."

The youth quickly succumbed, gritting his teeth in compromise. He stopped struggling and squeezed out the words with difficulty.

"Oh?"

"What if I want you to die?"

The youth spat out a single word with absolute certainty: "Fine!"

Song Lan's smile was playful. "You might not know, but the reason the Zhang family wants to bring you back and is willing to give you a legitimate status is because the current Second Young Master of the Zhang family is in prison. To preserve the Zhang family's century-old reputation, they are putting on this play of the 'true and false young masters'."

"Of course, there is an even more important reason: they heard you possess the talent of a *Zhuangyuan*, but were repeatedly sabotaged by the Second Young Master, causing you to regretfully miss your exams and fail to make a name for yourself."

"The Zhang family has declined over the last two generations. They are desperate for a legitimate son who can uphold the family name, bring glory to the household, and continue the Zhang legacy."

"Yet, the younger generation of the Zhang family has failed to inherit any of the intellect of their ancestors in their academic pursuits."

"Thus, you—the illegitimate son whom the former Chief Examiner personally called a talent worthy of being *Zhuangyuan*—have become the object of their high hopes."

"As long as you can pass the imperial examinations in the future, the Zhang family will surely use the strength of the entire clan to propel you to the heights of power."

"To give up such a bright future just to see your mother one more time..."

"Can you bear it?"

Song Lan moved her foot from his cheek and crouched down, lightly tugging at his hair, her voice eerie.

"Once a person is dead, they have nothing left."

The youth's scalp ached from the tugging. He gritted his teeth and spat out every word clearly: "Let me—"

(End of Chapter)