Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

Night fell over the entire Yuelai Mountain Villa.

Logically speaking, a wedding banquet should be a time of clinking glasses, lively conversation, and laughter among the guests.

However, everything went into chaos after Yu Lang kicked over the table and started fighting with seven or eight guards.

Qin Shu was also extremely surprised. This kid was so skilled that seven or eight people couldn't do anything to him.

He asked Old Master Shen in a low voice, "Should we ask someone from the yamen to come over?"

At this moment, Old Master Shen's face was also terribly gloomy. He shook his head slightly: "Not for now."

He then ordered, "Have all the guests leave."

Qin Shu agreed and immediately instructed his servants to disperse the guests.

Over here, Yu Lang was still locked in a fierce battle when he caught a glimpse of everyone leaving out of the corner of his eye. He immediately shouted again, "Hey, don't you want to know about the scandalous affairs of Yuelai Manor? Why are you running away so fast?"

Some of the guests paused for a moment upon hearing his words.

But he was more afraid of offending the Shen family, so he slunk away.

In the blink of an eye, all the guests at the dozen or so tables had left.

The old steward even immediately closed the manor gates and summoned all the guards and servants to go to the front courtyard to help.

Therefore, Yu Lang originally only needed to deal with seven or eight people, but suddenly there were seven or eight more.

Surrounded by more than a dozen people, he showed no fear, but instead fought with increasing ferocity, even managing to find time to make a few sarcastic remarks.

"So many people ganging up on me, don't you have any shame?"

"Oh, right, what's the point of having a thick skin? Where does wealth and status come from if you have to have a thick skin?"

"Is that right, Mr. Qin?"

Qin Shu was so angry that his face turned ashen, and his hands clenched into fists involuntarily, but he was glanced at by Old Master Shen.

He understood what the other person meant, and that's when he calmed down. But then he realized that two people were missing from the room.

The Taoist priest and the woman had vanished without a trace...

At this moment, Old Master Shen suddenly raised his hands, signaling the guards to step back.

His face had lost its previous kindness; it appeared calm, but was actually unfathomable.

"Who exactly are you two? Why are you causing trouble on this joyous occasion at my Yuelai Manor?"

Ren Fengjue did not make a move from beginning to end, but his calm and composed demeanor was not to be underestimated.

At this moment, he remained calm and composed: "I already told my former employer that we were just passing through this area."

Old Master Shen's eyes flashed with coldness as he asked in a chilling voice, "Since you're just passing through, do you really want to cause trouble?"

"My former employer is mistaken. We have no intention of causing any trouble."

Ren Fengjue pointed directly at Yu Lang's feet and said, "Old master, take a look at my friend's feet. Do you see anything strange?"

Upon hearing this, everyone involuntarily looked towards Yu Lang.

Under the red glow of the lanterns, someone quickly noticed that something was wrong.

There was nothing beneath his feet; there was no shadow.

The bizarre scene caused everyone to gasp and involuntarily take a few steps back, distancing themselves from him.

Looking at his former employer Shen Li, his face showed surprise and uncertainty, while Qin Shu, standing next to him, also looked incredulous.

While observing their expressions, Ren Fengjue deliberately said, "I once heard a saying that the ghosts of those who died unjustly will steal their shadows to find a substitute."

"I wonder if some injustice occurred at Yuelai Villa, which is why there are vengeful spirits stealing my shadow?"

"Nonsense!"

Shen Li's pent-up anger finally erupted at this moment. He shouted, "On this joyous occasion at my manor, how dare you spread such nonsense here? Steward Chen, go to the county office right now and invite Constable Li over!"

Just as Steward Chen was about to accept the order and leave, Yu Lang blocked his way, saying, "There's no need to go through the trouble of going to the county government."

He simply took out his Dali Temple badge and said lazily, "With the Vice Minister of Dali Temple here, I suppose I can still make decisions."

Shen Li was startled again when he saw the waist tag. He squinted and looked at it carefully, as if trying to determine whether it was real or fake.

Yu Lang simply stepped forward and handed the sign to him.

"Well? Did you see it clearly?"

To everyone's surprise, Shen Li sneered and glared at him, saying, "Even if the waist token is genuine, does that give your Dali Temple the right to bully the people?"

Yu Lang glared at him back, but said, "What do you mean by 'a high-ranking official bullies the people'? If there has been a wrongful conviction in this manor, wouldn't that fall under my jurisdiction?"

"..."

Shen Li's face flushed red, and he seemed to panic for a moment.

He guessed that the person in front of him was not someone to be trifled with, but he never expected that he was a government official.

Of course, the most feared person was not this Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, but someone else...

The person's identity is still unknown.

After pondering for a moment, Shen Li quickly changed his expression, revealing a friendly smile again: "I was rude just now, please forgive me, Young Master."

Then he added, "Shu'er, please invite the two gentlemen into the hall and serve them tea!"

The situation suddenly reversed, which caught Qin Shu completely off guard.

Although he was reluctant, he still stepped forward and bowed respectfully, inviting the two into the main hall and personally serving them tea.

The atmosphere shifted from tense and confrontational to respectful and deferential.

After Yu Lang and Ren Fengjue entered the hall, they took their seats directly.

Seeing Shen Li and Qin Shu standing to the side, he was overjoyed and deliberately cleared his throat, speaking in an official tone.

"You must answer whatever this gentleman asks, without hiding a single word. Understand?"

Shen Li nodded in agreement.

After taking a sip of his tea, Ren Fengjue suddenly asked, "Old Master Shen wasn't originally from Kaiming County, was he?"

"..."

The very first sentence sent a shiver down Shen Li's spine.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Ren Fengjue half-closed his long eyes, skimmed the foam with the teacup lid, and said leisurely, "Yuelai Inn opened twenty years ago, and when Old Master Shen came to Kaiming County, it must have been twenty-five years ago, right?"

With just a few words, Shen Li was forced to recall that unbearable memory…

Twenty-five years ago, when he first arrived in Kaiming County, he was just a poor young man who was looked down upon by everyone.

At that time, apart from being young and strong and having learned some martial arts, he had no other skills and could only rely on doing manual labor at the dock to earn a few copper coins to buy steamed buns to eat.

In his most desperate moments, he secretly hid under someone else's eaves on a cold winter night and almost froze to death.

I dared not sleep at night, afraid that I would never be able to open my eyes again.

At that time, I just felt that living was really hard, and there was no end to the suffering.

When will he be able to live a life of plenty without worrying about food and clothing?

Shen Li was unwilling to recall the past, and simply replied in a cold tone, "Yes, I was indeed not born in Kaiming County."

Ren Fengjue then asked, "The Yuelai Manor had already been built by then, but it wasn't called Yuelai Manor at the time; it was called Ling Family Manor."

"And Madam Shen's original surname is Ling, isn't it?"

Shen Li suddenly looked up at him, his face extremely ugly, and he almost squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth: "Yes."

Ren Fengjue looked at him and deliberately said the words he least wanted to hear.

"So, the old master Shen actually married into the Ling family estate, didn't he?"