Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 581 Panic
Xie Chengxin stared blankly at the jade pomegranate.

"Get out of here," Madam Zhou said sternly. "I don't want to see you."

Xie Chengxin knew his mother disliked him, but he never expected her to be so disgusted with him.

“In your mother’s heart,” Xie Chengxin looked at Madam Zhou with moist eyes, “I am a son who is jealous of his brothers and greedy for family wealth?”

“You spend your days doing nothing and have no skills. Your father, at your age, has already passed the imperial examinations and entered officialdom. What about you?” Madam Zhou said. “Even if you were to receive a position through the family’s influence, you wouldn’t be able to find a good place to work.”

"The reason I want to get pregnant again is because you are so useless. I used to think that although you were dull-witted, at least you were kind-hearted. Now it seems that was all a lie."

Xie Chengxin's vision blurred instantly. His mother's ferocious expression left him speechless. Then, a figure pounced on him and dragged him outside.

"Brother, you go out first. We can talk about it after Mother calms down."

Xie Chengxin stumbled and fell to the ground after being pushed by Xie Chenghan. He looked at everything in a daze, feeling that his mother was not his mother and his brother was not his brother.

The words that Prince Huai had said to him were still echoing in his ears. He had been determined to sort things out and at least protect his mother, but this was the result.

The truth is treated as a lie.

No wonder the Prince of Huai said, "Some things are beyond our control."

It took Xie Chengxin a long time to get up from the ground and walk out in a daze.

From behind came Madam Zhou's angry voice: "How did he become like this... I finally recovered, but he just wants me to die."

Xie Chengxin reached up and wiped his face, which was covered in tears.

In a daze, he walked to the family's Buddhist shrine, where his mother usually chanted Buddhist prayers and offered blessings.

He closed the door of the Buddhist hall, lit three incense sticks and put them into the incense burner. Watching the smoke curl upwards, he suddenly stepped onto the altar and walked around behind the Buddha statue.

After carefully touching it and finding nothing amiss, Xie Chengxin was about to breathe a sigh of relief when his gaze fell upon the bottom of the Buddha statue.

After struggling to move the Buddha statue, he finally reached out to grab it.

The Buddha statue was indeed hollow...

Xie Chengxin's fingers touched something, and he carefully took it out. It was a small Buddha statue. The Buddha had arched eyebrows, eyes looking straight ahead, hair flowing down his shoulders, two long beards under his chin, and his hands placed on his knees with palms facing upwards, displaying a serene and peaceful expression. The statue was surrounded by radiant carvings.

This is different from ordinary Buddha statues.

Xie Chengxin almost immediately realized that this was Manichaean Buddhism, the same Manichaeism that the Prince of Huai had mentioned.

Offering sacrifices to Buddha is actually offering sacrifices to a heretical cult.

Like a thunderbolt exploding in his head, Xie Chengxin felt a chill run down his spine. Perhaps one day, someone in the Xie family would do the same as that Chaozhou scholar and personally slaughter his entire clan.

The Mani Buddha statue before him seemed to be shrouded in bloody light, so Xie Chengxin immediately stuffed the statue back into place.

If he hadn't gone through what had just happened, he might have shown the object in his hand to his mother. But now... he understood that no matter what he said, his mother wouldn't believe him, and might even think that he was the one who caused it all.

If you're not smart enough, even your parents will dislike you.

But that's all he did wrong.

It's not even his fault. Who made him like this?
Xie Chengxin stood there stunned for a long time, then tidied everything up again, as if no one had touched it.

He didn't know how many people in his family were members of the sorcerer cult, but he was certain that the person next to the fake second sister was.

Suspecting his second sister's identity, he would always keep an eye on her living quarters. One night, he saw Chunxi walk to the backyard, pull out a brick from the wall, and secretly talk to someone outside.

He couldn't let the members of the demonic cult stay in his home. Xie Chengxin thought of Lady Xie. If Lady Xie were in the Xie family, she would surely believe him and join forces with him to deal with those demonic cult members. But who could he trust in this household now?

"Big brother."

Xie Chengrang's voice came from outside the Buddhist hall. Xie Chengxin turned around and saw Xie Chengrang walking in with a worried look on his face: "I heard that you had a fight with Mother. What happened?"

Xie Chengxin chuckled self-deprecatingly: "It's clear what my status is at home, that the news got out so quickly." His mother obviously hadn't given any special instructions, otherwise she would have suppressed it even out of consideration for his reputation as the eldest son.

Xie Chengxin didn't tell the truth: "I just felt that my mother was getting old and shouldn't drink fertility-enhancing herbal soups anymore. Those things are not good for her health."

"But my mother felt that if I had another younger brother, he would take away a portion of the family fortune."

Xie Chengrang said, "I know you mean well for Mother, but you shouldn't be so blunt. Mother only has two children, which is indeed not many in her eyes. If Father takes another concubine in the future, the illegitimate son cannot be superior to the legitimate son."

Xie Chengxin asked, "Then what should I do?"

Xie Chengrang frowned: "I don't know either. Maybe if my elder brother finds a good marriage in the future, Mother will be at ease."

Xie Chengxin remained silent; the Xie family's problem did not lie in what kind of wife he married.

Xie Chengrang stared at Xie Chengxin. He could clearly sense that his elder brother had a secret. In the past, as long as he made a suggestion, his elder brother would continue talking. But now... he was obviously guarding against him.

"Have you seen Second Sister recently?" Xie Chengxin suddenly asked. "It seems like Second Sister hasn't been out for a long time."

Xie Chengrang shook his head: "When I went to pay my respects to my mother today, I heard that my second sister was doing needlework in her room."

"Brother, are you unaware of the events at the Prince of Qin's residence? The Princess of Qin originally intended to invite my second sister to visit, but she suddenly said she was unwell and postponed the banquet. My second sister may be upset about this."

Xie Chengxin is now certain that his second sister has noticed something. So what will she do next? Will she try to cover it up? Or will she simply have someone get rid of Lady Xie?
……

Xie Wenjing was sitting in the room when, by accident, she pricked her finger with a needle, and blood immediately stained the embroidery in her hand.

The maidservant next to her saw this and hurriedly went forward to check.

Xie Wenjing's heart pounded as she looked at the unfinished mandarin duck covered in blood.

Ever since news of the Prince of Huai came from outside, she had been feeling uneasy.

"You may all leave," Chunxi said as she entered the room. "I will serve Second Mistress."

The servants all left.

Chunxi closed the door and quickly walked to Xie Wenjing's side: "Something has happened outside."

Xie Wenjing raised her eyes.

Chunxi said, "Some government soldiers are heading out of the city. News has already come that they are going to arrest members of the Holy Sect."

Their people are in Suojia Village outside the city.

Xie Wenjing looked flustered: "The person who was arrested couldn't hold on... and confessed?"

Chunxi shook her head and said, "Recently, many of our spies in the city have disappeared. It seems they're in the hands of the government. These people rarely go out; they wouldn't have been sent out if it weren't to find Wu Qian..."

Xie Wenjing understood: "You mean, Wu Qian is working for the government?"

“The Wu family has long harbored disloyalty towards the Supreme Leader,” Chunxi said. “They may want to use the imperial court to get rid of us.”

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(End of this chapter)