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

"What...what do you mean by that?"

Qin Shu's face turned deathly pale, his lips trembled, but he could only utter this weak sentence.

Ren Fengjue ignored him, staring intently at Shen Li, and continued to press, "Old Master Shen, aren't you going to answer that question?"

Shen Li remained silent for a long time.

His face was ashen, and his lips were parted involuntarily; it seemed that he didn't want to answer, but rather that he couldn't.

Seeing this, Ren Fengjue knew that the time was coming.

He turned to Qin Shu and asked directly, "Young Master Qin Shu, you previously mentioned that your father is a teacher at Kaiming Academy. So, who is your mother?"

"My mother..."

Shen Li didn't respond, and Qin Shu became even more flustered. "My mother has always lived in the countryside, she..."

She was just an illiterate, uncouth woman, but also an extremely stubborn one.

When she was five months pregnant, she went to Kaiming County alone to find her man.

After traveling such a long way and enduring so much hardship, they were told that they could not recognize each other.

He gave her a sum of money and entrusted her to a kind teacher at the academy.

He also claimed that once she gained a foothold in Kaiming County, he would take her to live a life of luxury and wealth.

But she waited and waited until her pregnancy became too obvious to hide, and with no other choice, she had to pretend to marry the academy teacher.

Soon after, the child was born; it was a boy.

She was happy, and the academy teacher was happy for her too.

But her man never came again.

She was also a person without her own opinions; she waited for so many years without ever uttering a complaint.

When the academy teacher told her that since he wasn't coming to find her, she should just stay and live her life in peace.

And so she acquiesced, accepted her fate, and decided to live a good life with her husband.

The gentleman was a gentle and meticulous scholar. Although life was hard with him, at least she had food to eat, and he never mistreated her.

Knowing she wouldn't be comfortable in the academy and was afraid of hearing gossip, he sent her directly to the countryside to live a peaceful life.

They treated each other with the utmost respect, believing that they could stay together until old age.

but…

One day, the man from before came to her door again.

He was already incredibly wealthy and vowed to fulfill his original promise.

She refused to go with him and only told her son the truth.

Thus, Qin Shu learned his true identity.

But he never imagined that his biological father would be the former owner of Yuelai Villa.

How different he was from his adoptive father, who had spent half his life buried in books!

So how could he not be tempted when the other party told him that he would become the owner of Yuelai Villa in the future?

At this moment, Qin Shu panicked.

Ren Fengjue could tell from his flustered expression that his guess was almost certainly correct.

Moreover, Qin Shu was not kept in the dark.

He was acutely aware of what his marriage to Miss Shen would mean…

"You should know very well who your mother was before she married the academy teacher, and why she came to Kaiming County, right?"

As Ren Fengjue spoke, he glanced at Shen Li again, "Of course, Old Master Shen should know better."

Shen Li was startled again, and when he met his gaze, his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"Someone come here!"

He called out in a deep voice, and the old butler outside the door immediately understood what he meant.

All the guards of Yuelai Villa were gathered in front of the main hall, including the chief guard, totaling thirty-six people.

The entrances and exits were instantly blocked.

This clearly means that no one should be left alive.

Yu Lang glanced at the scene and immediately roared, "You old bastard, are you trying to murder a high-ranking official of the imperial court?"

Shen Li smiled sinisterly, "It's all because of you that I'm left with no way to survive."

"Since you, Lord Shaoqing, have come to my Kaiming County without any official documents from the court, who would know that you have ever been here?"

"Originally, if you had just quietly enjoyed two wedding banquets and stayed two nights, we would have treated you with courtesy, and everyone would have gotten along peacefully. That would have been better for everyone."

"But you insist on investigating and digging up trivial matters, which is truly infuriating and hateful!"

Looking at the dozens of well-trained guards in front of the gate, Ren Fengjue remained calm and composed, showing no sign of panic.

He even sat back down in his chair, picked up the tea he had just put down, and took a small sip.

His confidence aroused Shen Li's suspicion, but then he suddenly heard him ask in a low voice, "Old Master Shen, do you believe in ghosts and gods?"

Although Shen Li was inwardly alarmed, he showed no sign of it on his face, only letting out a cold laugh, "You're not going to use some vengeful spirit story to scare people again, are you?"

"No one has ever died unjustly at Yuelai Villa!"

Upon hearing this, someone outside the hall deliberately raised their voice and retorted, "Is that so?"

Everyone looked towards the door, only to find three more people standing outside the crowd.

One Taoist priest and two women.

Moreover, one of the women was Shen Yue, a young lady from Yuelai Villa.

"Yue'er?"

Shen Li was taken aback, but his reaction was swift. He immediately roared, "You wicked Taoist priest, how dare you kidnap my daughter?"

Yan Zhengchu was furious when he saw him blatantly lying: "How could you have seen me kidnapping your daughter? It was clearly you who kidnapped your own daughter!"

Shen Li took a few steps forward, beckoned to Shen Yue, and said in a gentler tone, "Yue'er, come to Daddy quickly, they are all bad people!"

Hearing Shen Li's voice, Shen Yue trembled involuntarily. Out of fear, she subconsciously stepped back, but was gently pulled back by Xia Ximo beside her.

"What are you afraid of?"

Although the other person's voice was cold, it inexplicably gave Shen Yue a sense of confidence.

So she bit her lower lip hard, steadied herself, and said, word by word, "I don't believe you anymore, and you're not my father."

These words made Shen Li's eyes grow even darker, but he still wore a fake smile on his face.

"What nonsense are you talking about? You are my most beloved daughter, Yue'er. Would I ever harm you?"

"On the contrary, these two are outsiders. How can you believe what they say?"

He had barely finished speaking when, for some reason, he raised his hands and slapped himself twice across the face.

Those watching were taken aback.

Shen Li was also terrified by his sudden loss of control over his behavior.

Xia Ximo, standing outside the crowd, gave a cold, curt smile.

Just then, a cold wind swept through the courtyard.

A chill ran down everyone's spine. Then, a ghostly voice came from all directions: "Shen Li, you will die a horrible death!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Li was even more astonished and hastily took a few steps back, nearly bumping into Qin Shu behind him.

At that moment, the father and son both saw "Madam Shen," who had been dead for fifteen years, slowly walking towards them.

"you--"

Shen Li was so panicked that his legs went weak and he almost fell.

Madam Shen glared at him with resentment and cursed again, "Shen Li, you'll die a horrible death!"