Chapter 13: Is the sweating because it's too hot?

He Jianzhong gritted his teeth.

Seeing that he was still standing there motionless, Madam He shoved him violently. "Speak, damn you!"

He Jianzhong asked, "Is everything you said true?"

"Of course it's true!" Madam He shrieked piercingly. "Think about it! Did everything start happening the very day she entered this manor? Was it because of her that Xu'er quarreled with Lady Zhang? Was it because of their quarrel that we all believed Lady Zhang had a motive to kill?"

"They were in league! They came here specifically to kill! She is Liu's accomplice, and yet you actually want to bring Liu back here!"

"That is two different matters!"

He Jianzhong roared, then paced back and forth rapidly. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"It has only been two days since Xu'er was murdered! I told you yesterday that she was a demon, but you didn't believe me. How much earlier did you want me to tell you?!"

He Jianzhong stopped in his tracks and bellowed, "Where is Lady Lin? Fetch her to me!"

...

When Yuetang returned to the He residence, she was met at the entrance by two elderly servant women.

"Lady Lin, the Master and Madam have summoned you. Follow us to the main hall immediately!"

As they spoke, the two women flanked her, positioning themselves to her left and right rear, looking as though they would strike her to the ground the moment she dared to disobey.

Yuetang recognized them as the primary servants who had struggled with Mother Li yesterday. She did not resist and followed them to the main hall.

The guards at the entrance of the main hall had clearly been changed; the usual servant women had been replaced by house servants wielding clubs.

She merely stood under the corridor for a moment before walking into the room with her usual steady gait.

Madam He was sitting on the bed, and He Jianzhong was sitting on a chair by the bed. Both looked as if they wanted to swallow her alive.

"You audacious wench! Kneel!"

He Jianzhong slammed the table, and Madam He, without a word, signaled the nearby servant to seize her.

But at that moment, the servant woman guarding the door rushed in. "Master! Something terrible has happened! The warehouse is on fire!"

The warehouse held almost the entirety of the He family's wealth. He Jianzhong turned pale with shock. "Why aren't you calling people to put it out?!"

The servant looked hesitantly at the room. "But what about here..."

"Stop your nonsense and go! Everyone, go! Call as many people as possible!"

The servant woman standing in the room followed suit and rushed out.

After He Jianzhong finished shouting, the anxiety that had been gnawing at him for days resurfaced. One disaster after another—it was becoming impossible not to suspect a ghost was at work!

But as the thought crossed his mind, he snapped back to reality. Wasn't the "ghost" they were talking about the Lady Lin standing right before them?

Seeing his expression shift abruptly, Yuetang broke into a smile. "Is General He feeling quite perplexed? How could a perfectly fine warehouse catch fire? But it seems you've already guessed—I set the fire."

He Jianzhong exploded with rage and stood up, slamming the table. Madam He was even faster; she lunged forward and raised her hand to slap Yuetang's face. "You slut!"

He believed he had put twelve parts of his strength into that slap, and it was fast enough to knock Yuetang's teeth out!

But halfway through her strike, her arm was intercepted by an iron-like limb reaching in from the side!

A masked figure in black burst through the window at the exact moment Madam He lost control, stepping between her and Yuetang like a phantom!

Madam He's face drained of all color, and she slumped to the floor.

After a moment of stunned silence, He Jianzhong opened his throat and screamed, "Guards! Come quickly!"

As soon as the sound left his mouth, his face turned white again.

Yuetang curled her lips. "You're a bit late with the call, aren't you? There is no one left in the courtyard. Not only that, but at a time like this, everyone should have run to the warehouse to fight the fire."

"After all, they all know that the He family didn't accumulate much from its ancestors, and how difficult it was for you to acquire this wealth."

"If anything is lost, they will surely have to face your wrath."

He Jianzhong roared in fury, "Where did this insolent woman come from, daring to run wild in my manor?!"

He turned violently, rushing toward the wall to grab his sword!

Xiao Huo raised his sword to meet him, positioning the tip right at He Jianzhong's throat just as he drew his own.

His master, Wei Zhang, had received elite training in the palace since childhood and had been selected as an outstanding talent to be assigned to Yuetang's side.

As Wei Zhang's disciple, Huo Yun was naturally no inferior.

As he faced off against He Jianzhong, Madam He regained her freedom and charged at Yuetang like a madwoman.

Yuetang lifted her right foot and kicked her squarely in the chest!

Madam He fell to the ground, looking at her as if she were seeing a ghost. "You wench! How dare you be so bold? Do you have no respect for the law?!"

Yuetang laughed loudly. "I am a part of the law myself!"

Madam He turned pale and blurted out, "Who exactly are you?!"

Yuetang walked up to her, knelt down, and grabbed one of her hands.

With her other hand, she pulled the golden hairpin from the terrified woman's head, then—*stab!*—she plunged it into her arm!

A bloody hole immediately appeared on the forearm adorned with two or three heavy bracelets.

Madam He screamed in agony!

Yuetang held up a single finger. "Shh." She added, "Who am I? Watch closely."

She pulled out the golden hairpin and, using the blood, wrote the character "Yue" (月) in the woman's trembling palm.

The character written in blood was displayed glaringly before the couple.

Madam He gasped, and when she looked at Yuetang's face again, her soul seemed to flee her body!

*Yue* was the Imperial surname.

"Do you want me to keep writing?" Yuetang asked.

Madam He's entire body began to twitch uncontrollably on the floor!

"A ghost... a ghost... you really are a ghost..."

She shrank back, retreating toward He Jianzhong's feet.

Yuetang stood up, twirled the hairpin between her fingers, and walked toward He Jianzhong. "And you? Do you want me to continue writing?"

He Jianzhong also began to back away!

While there were many people in the world today who bore this surname, at this very moment, looking at this face and this age, they could only think of one person!

A person who should have become a ghost three years ago!

He muttered incessantly, "Impossible, it's impossible! You aren't her! She is dead! Her body was torn to shreds by Xu'er! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Indeed, he was quite decisive," Yuetang's gaze turned cold. "Otherwise, why do you think it was He Xu who got to be my first victim?"

The name "He Xu" struck the couple like two blades straight into their hearts!

Madam He's face turned as pale as parchment as she scrambled up from the floor.

She widened her eyes like copper bells, staring fixedly at the person before her!

"I don't believe it! I don't believe you are her!"

Yuetang slowly crumbled a piece of date paste cake into powder and said, "Twenty years ago, the Empress and the Consort of Prince Duan were pregnant at the same time. When the time came to give birth, they both suffered labor pains for two days without any progress."

"The late Emperor invited the Abbot of Xiangguo Temple into the palace to pray for them. After the prayers, the Abbot informed them that the reason for the delayed labor was that the fetuses were entwined by malevolent energy and could not escape."

"Later, by mobilizing the entire strength of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, the Empress and the Consort of Prince Duan finally managed to give birth safely."

"However, the Consort of Prince Duan gave birth to twins, and the boy among them died during the difficult labor."

"The old monk said that by the grace of the gods, the deceased young prince had taken on that mass of malevolent energy."

"But the Second Prince and the young Princess who were born were still affected. The only way for the residual malevolent energy to dissipate as they grew and their vital essence strengthened was for them to avoid appearing in public, or even to avoid appearing at all, before they reached the age of sixteen."

"Otherwise, no one would live past sixteen."

At this point, Yuetang looked toward the two of them, who had gone deathly silent. She smiled faintly. "I was merely telling a story. Why are you sweating so much? Is it because the late autumn weather is too hot?"