Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 102
Chapter 102 - The Master Performs a Ritual
The next day dawned bright and clear once more, bathed in a brilliant, warm sun.
Early in the morning, a page boy outside led a grand master into the Xie estate.
The Old Madam, accompanied by many members of the household, watched the master perform his ritual on the spacious grounds of the front courtyard.
Madam He's eyelids kept twitching incessantly. Lowering her voice, she murmured, "Old Madam, where was this master invited from? Why does this concubine feel that his hand gestures during the ritual are somewhat strange?"
In her early childhood, after her family suffered a calamity and returned to their ancestral home, the elders of the household had frequently invited masters to perform rituals, and none of them had ever behaved in such a fashion.
Tingyu's heart skipped a beat.
She had lied to the Old Madam, claiming this master was invited from Qing'an Temple, but in truth, he was nothing of the sort... Those masters at Qing'an Temple were falsely proud and completely unwilling to accept her silver to handle matters—or perhaps they simply thought the money was too meager. As she was leaving Qing'an Temple, she happened to cross paths with this master along the road; his fees were cheap, and he followed instructions...
"Concubine He, every master has his own customs when performing rituals," Tingyu spoke up. "Since we do not understand these things, we need only wait and watch."
Yun Chu stood right beside the Old Madam and said, "It is merely to pray for blessings for the Xie family; it makes no difference which temple the master comes from."
The Old Madam's face remained sullen as she said nothing.
Her eyes were fixed tightly upon the center of the grounds as the master tossed a strip of talisman paper into the air and let out a sharp cry, causing the paper to flare up in sudden flames.
Immediately following that, the master's gaze shifted, his sharp eyes falling directly upon their group of female relatives.
Concubine Jiang, who was somewhat timid, was startled and instinctively tightened her grip on Xie Xian's hand.
"There is a malignant evil wreaking havoc in this estate!"
The master cried out in a loud voice, and a ball of fire suddenly ignited above his head, drifting toward the rear courtyards.
Without needing further words, everyone in the courtyard instinctively followed the master toward the back grounds. The ball of fire fluttered erratically, drifting now to the east and now to the west, before finally halting above a courtyard located right in the center.
It was still the height of midsummer, and within this courtyard, lotus flowers were in full bloom with wave after wave of lush lotus leaves—this was precisely the Emerald Lotus Garden inhabited by Madam He.
Madam He frowned, a faint sense of unease stirring deep within her heart.
She had a persistent feeling as though something momentous was about to happen...
They watched as the ghost fire came to a halt directly above the surface of the lotus pond, extinguished itself with a soft pop, and let its ash drift down from the sky.
"Right there!"
The master strode forward, halted at the edge of the lake, and turned to look at the members of the Xie family. "Old Madam Xie, have people search this exact spot, and you will know precisely what is going on."
The Old Madam looked over. The midsummer lotus flowers were in their prime—could there truly be something unseemly hidden within the water?
At the thought of such a possibility, the old matriarch's expression grew even darker.
Nanny Zhou had already led two page boys forward. After a few brief moments of searching, they fished out a rope and hauled it up, revealing a small, lacquer-red box.
Madam He's eyes widened into absolute circles.
Why on earth was there a box inside the pond of her own courtyard? Who had placed it here?
What on earth were they trying to accomplish?
Before she had time to ponder further, the box had already been presented before the Old Madam.
A shudder of apprehension ran through the Old Madam's heart, and she commanded, "Open it."
Nanny Zhou lifted the lid of the box, and the moment they laid eyes on the contents within, the complexions of every single person present transformed drastically.
Inside this box lay three doll-like effigies. Judging by the attire of the figures, one represented an elderly woman, the second a woman in her forties, and the third a young woman in her twenties.
The heart of the doll representing the elderly woman was pierced entirely through with silver needles; the second doll had needles driven through its eyes, hands, and feet; and the entire body of the third, young woman was bristling with needles from head to toe...
A scene as horrifying as this could not possibly be more spine-chilling.
"Inside here..." Tingshuang gasped aloud. "It's the Old Madam, the First Mistress, and the Mistress! Heavens, someone is cursing the female residents of the Xie estate to die a horrible death!"
Lady Yuan also recognized them; the attire of these three figures belonged precisely to the three successive generations of female masters of their Xie household! Just who could be so malicious?
An expression of precisely calibrated shock surfaced on Yun Chu's face. "Just who is so utterly daring? Cursing me would be one thing, but how could they curse the First Mistress and the Old Madam! The Old Madam's health has been poor lately—could it be connected to this curse!"
She turned her gaze toward the Old Madam and saw the matriarch reaching out to steady Nanny Zhou by her side, her legs clearly trembling so badly from fright that they had gone soft.
The older people grew, the more desperately they clung to life. No elderly person could possibly endure such a heavy shock; the Old Madam's chest heaved violently, and the sound of her ragged breathing could be heard clearly.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
The Old Madam broke into a violent fit of coughing.
Nanny Zhou hurriedly caught the phlegm with a handkerchief, and upon seeing traces of bloodstain upon it, she was frightened out of her wits.
The Old Madam's clouded eyes rolled slightly before fixing directly upon Madam He. "It was you!"
Madam He had been pushed to the absolute extreme of shock upon seeing the effigies inside the box, and only now did she react to the realization that this box had been unearthed from right inside her own courtyard!
Jolted as if by an electric shock, she hurriedly cried out, "Old Madam, this concubine has been wronged! This concubine has never done such a thing in her life; I beg the Old Madam to thoroughly investigate!"
"If not you, then who else could it be!" The Old Madam raised her hand and delivered a fierce slap across her face. "Vile woman, the Xie family should never have harbored you!"
Back then, this wretched woman had seduced Jingyu, and Jingyu had fallen so deep into her snare that he had insisted on taking her as his wife, only to be refused by her. For all these years, this wretched woman must have been harboring deep resentment in her heart.
And since Yun Chu had occupied the position of legitimate wife, this wretched woman undoubtedly wished for nothing more than for Yun Chu to drop dead on the spot!
Did she truly think that once every single female master of the Xie family had perished, her turn would come to act as the mistress of the household of an unpresentable wretch like her?!
In her dreams!
"Old Madam, Concubine He has no motive to do such a thing!" Xie Ping could not hold back her tongue and stepped forward. "Besides, even if she truly harbored such intentions, it would be impossible for her to store these objects inside her own courtyard. Someone must have framed her deliberately. Today's entire performance was single-handedly pushed forward by Concubine Yu, so it is hard not to suspect that Concubine Yu is the one behind this!"
"The Eldest Miss thinks far too highly of this concubine," Tingyu said, lowering her gaze and eyelashes. "We are both concubines; the Eldest Miss cannot favor Concubine He simply because she resembles her, and thereby cast false aspersions to frame this concubine!"
These words caused Xie Ping's expression to alter instantly.
Although she wanted to speak up on Madam He's behalf, she had no desire to entangle herself in the mess.
Pressing her lips together, she fell silent once more.
"Concubine He, I have always believed I treated you fairly, and no one in the entire Xie family has mistreated you either, yet you actually went and committed such an act that defies all natural law and reason!" Yun Chu's expression turned icy cold. "Someone come, drag Concubine He into the woodshed, and Tingshuang, arrange for someone to invite the Master back!"
"This concubine is truly wronged!" Madam He protested loudly one cry after another. "Concubine Yu bears a grudge against me for taking Yun'er away from her, which is why she conspired with that master to orchestrate this entire drama! Old Madam, First Mistress, Mistress, this concubine is truly wronged! You can send people to search Concubine Yu's courtyard; since she crafted so many effigies, she must have left traces and clues behind in her own quarters!"
Tingyu smiled secretly to herself.
All of these effigies had been crafted by Concubine Tao, and it was also Concubine Tao who, in the dead of night while dragging her postpartum body, had planted them inside the lotus pond.
As for herself, she had merely been responsible for shelling out silver, finding the master, and pinning the blame squarely onto Madam He's head.
From beginning to end, every single task had been handled personally by her and Concubine Tao. Even if they subjected the servants in their courtyards to harsh torture and interrogation, it would be utterly impossible to squeeze out a single detail, let alone unearth any unfavorable evidence!
"This matter will be thoroughly investigated once the Master returns!" Yun Chu said in a deep voice. "If you didn't do it, naturally it will not be pinned on your head! What are you few still standing there dazed for? Why aren't you hurrying up and dragging Concubine He away!"
Several stout mammas at the side stepped forward, grabbing Madam He by left and right, and dragged her away toward the rear courtyards.
The Old Madam closed her eyes.
If not for the fact that Madam He had given birth to three children for the Xie family, she truly would have wanted to have someone hold Madam He underwater in the lake and drown her outright.