After Being Forced into Marriage with My Paranoid Dead Husband - Chapter 6

Bang,

An exquisite tea cup was fiercely smashed onto the ground, shattering into pieces. In the main hall of the Qing residence, Qing Congnan sat in the primary seat, his chest heaving with extremely violent agitation.

Below him sat the couple of the second branch, Qing Conglan and his wife, while Shen Qiuxin and the eldest son of the primary branch, Qing Wenze, stood in the hall. Qing Ling sat on the other side alongside Qing Wenxu, the concubine-born second young master of the primary branch.

Pointing at Shen Qiuxin, Qing Congnan roared angrily, “Audacious! Xiuer’s body is not yet cold, and you, her birth mother! You, the primary mistress of the household! Look at what kind of things you’ve been doing?! Huh?!”

“Father!” Qing Wenze frowned. “Little Sister’s matter is suspicious, and Mother was simply anxious; she wasn’t trying to make things difficult for him… for Third Younger Brother.”

Unperturbed, Qing Ling could tell that this address of “Third Younger Brother” was uttered with extreme reluctance.

Shen Qiuxin had also lost her previous overbearing arrogance. Dabbing at her tears, she said, “Master, it is precisely because Xiuer’s body is not yet cold she was this concubine’s own daughter, and the state she was in clearly…”

“Silence!”

“Older Sister-in-law!”

The two brothers, Qing Congnan and Qing Conglan, shouted in succession to cut her off.

From the expressions of these two men, Qing Ling caught a trace of a clue. They seemed to be dreading something, even displaying remarkably similar expressions of terror, and even the second branch’s mistress, Qiu Yunrou, saw her complexion turn unnatural.

So how exactly did Qing Yuxiu die?

Could it be that, much like Steward Liu and his men, she was strangled to death with a strip of white silk?

Shen Qiuxin choked up on the spot, only whimpering and crying without continuing. Yet when she noticed Qing Ling’s probing gaze, her expression instantly turned venomous, prompting Qing Ling to sneer inwardly and return her gaze with cool indifference.

Your daughter is dead—what on earth does that have to do with me?

After reprimanding Shen Qiuxin a few more times, Qing Congnan ordered her to return to her courtyard to reflect on her actions, and instructed Qing Wenze to properly handle Qing Yuxiu’s funeral arrangements, with the funeral procession to depart tomorrow morning.

That is far too fast, Qing Ling thought to himself. Although he didn’t know whether Qing Yuxiu had died in the first half of the night or the second, holding the funeral procession tomorrow morning meant the body wouldn’t even lie in repose for three full days it was far too hasty.

Moreover, while the older generation had worn strange expressions just a moment ago, the younger generation—Qing Wenze alongside Qing Wenxu showed no particular reaction. It appeared the juniors were likely unaware of the inner story.

Qing Ling figured that Qing Yuxiu’s death certainly could not be pinned on him, but Changheng’s prophecy still lingered in his ears. The entity seemed to harbor an immense degree of resentment toward both him and the entire Qing clan; what on earth was the source of the hatred and venom in that fierce ghost’s eyes?

An ancient tomb, the Qing clan, a ghost marriage there had to be some sort of connection between all of this.

“Ling’er.” Once everyone else had cleared out, Qing Congnan kept Qing Ling behind alone and sighed. “You suffered grievances today. Your mother’s actions also stemmed from extenuating circumstances; after all, it is the grief of losing a daughter, so do not take offense.”

Qing Ling was not the type to repay grievance with virtue. Although according to the rules he ought to address the primary mistress as mother, he did not pick up on that thread, instead asking directly, “How did Qing Yuxiu die? Why was she so dead-set on claiming it had to do with me?”

“Ah… this matter…” Qing Congnan’s complexion turned unnatural. He forced an awkward smile before speaking with implication, “Yuxiu’s death was indeed peculiar. Ling’er, Father told you yesterday—the day and hour of your birth were unfavorable, and your birth characters and stems all belong to the yin element, making you prone to attracting the covetous gaze of unclean things. Back then, your mother died precisely because of this…”

At this point, Qing Congnan paused, his face full of helplessness and heartache.

Qing Ling watched him quietly.

Seeing that Qing Ling remained entirely silent, Qing Congnan struggled to maintain his composure and continued, “Now your sister has also followed in Qiaolian’s footsteps, and I fear the household will find little peace hereafter. Yet Father truly cannot bear to send you back to the mountain… Ling’er, since you are already wed as husband and wife to the entity within the ancient tomb in the mountain, why not ask him to step in and intervene, lest our household suffer further disaster?”

So this was their true objective. Qing Ling was not surprised, even thinking as expected.

“Qiaolian.” Qing Ling repeated the name, then asked, “Is that my mother?”

Qing Congnan started, his expression shifting once more before he finally nodded.

Throughout all the years Qing Ling had lived, he hadn’t even known whether his birth mother was alive or dead, let alone her full name. Whenever he brought it up in the past, Steward Yu Bo would always dodge the subject, and A-Yuan knew absolutely nothing when asked.

Yesterday, Qing Congnan had also been tight-lipped about his birth mother. Whenever Qing Ling asked about her, Qing Congnan would steer the conversation elsewhere until today, when he finally learned that woman’s name.

“Then how exactly did she die?” Qing Ling asked.

Qing Congnan hesitated before replying, “Your mother… did not die a good death. Do not ask any further.”

With a blank expression, Qing Ling said, “So Qing Yuxiu’s method of death was the same as hers? The one who killed them both was the same evil entity, wasn’t it?”

Qing Congnan was truly inept at concealing his thoughts. At the very least, Qing Ling could sense from his brief hesitation that this man was once again trying to fabricate lies. Whether it was true or false, why bother hesitating?

“That is correct,” Qing Congnan finally said, before urging eagerly, “Ling’er, if the one by your side is willing to step in…”

“He is not willing.” Unwilling to listen to Qing Congnan another second, Qing Ling stood up, used physical indisposition as an excuse, and stated he was returning to rest.

Changheng had stated plainly last night that someone would die; expecting him to save people was nothing short of an Arabian night’s dream. Furthermore—

Qing Ling gave a cold inner sneer. What on earth made them think he would beg that evil entity on behalf of the Qing clan?

Sitting in his spot, Qing Congnan gritted his teeth before slamming a heavy palm down onto the table. Yet his fury-darkened face still carried an expression of extreme terror a deeply complex mixture of emotions.

.

Having walked the path once, Qing Ling easily remembered the way back to his small courtyard, accompanied by both maidservants as they walked side by side.

Halfway back, however, their path was blocked by Qing Wenze, whom he had just seen earlier.

“Something the matter?” Qing Ling could sense the eldest young master’s undisguised hostility, so his tone was thoroughly perfunctory.

“Don’t think that just because Father brought you back, you can sit back and relax in the Qing residence. Being a young master isn’t that easy,” Qing Wenze said coldly. “You had better hope you have nothing to do with my sister’s death, or I will certainly make you pay the price!”

With that, he glared fiercely at Qing Ling and strode away.

Standing in place, Qing Ling felt that the entire primary branch of the Qing family was utterly ridiculous.

They were simply sick in the head. Mentally unhinged.

Behind Qing Ling, Fu’er and An’er exchanged a glance. If their master had a hard time, the servants’ lives would likewise be difficult. In the end, Fu’er stepped forward and whispered, “Third Young Master, Eldest Young Master is already helping the Master manage the estate’s shops and will likely take over the Qing family business in the future. Furthermore, the household’s ledger accounts and expenditures are all in First Madam’s hands; our monthly allowances must pass through her. If… if they intentionally make things difficult for us in the future, our life in this courtyard is bound to be tough.”

“Mhm,” Qing Ling responded nonchalantly.

Since matters had already reached this point, becoming adversaries was inevitable; overthinking things was useless.

Besides…

“Perhaps they’ll all be dead by tomorrow.”

Qing Ling’s tone was entirely casual, causing the complexions of the two young maids behind him to stiffen simultaneously.

People could just drop dead like that on command?!