The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 46.1

The reason Yingzhu and Xia Yu started fighting was because of Zhuang Huaishu.

From the very beginning, Jiang Huaining had told Yingzhu that the injuries on Zhuang Huaishu’s body were somewhat related to Xia Yu.

When Yingzhu was speaking with Zhuang Huaishu just moments ago, Xia Yu was standing right there. Remembering Jiang Huaining’s words, Yingzhu suddenly demanded that Xia Yu apologize to Zhuang Huaishu. However, that incident wasn’t entirely Xia Yu’s fault, and given Xia Yu’s personality—one that never bows easily—she naturally refused.

To say Yingzhu cared deeply about Zhuang Huaishu’s affairs wouldn’t be quite right. Their real conflict stemmed from the fact that Yingzhu, occupying a high position, was dominant toward everyone except Jiang Huaining, while Xia Yu was an equally dominant spirit. Their deeper friction came from a mutual refusal to submit to one another, rather than from Zhuang Huaishu herself.

Zhuang Huaishu saw through this more clearly than anyone. So, after Yu Ruoyin and Jiang Huaining went downstairs to pull Xia Yu and Yingzhu apart, the first words out of her mouth were cold mockery directed at Yingzhu: “Congratulations on neither winning nor losing. Oh, wait—I remember you saying that as long as a victor isn’t decided, it counts as a loss for you.”

“You!” Yingzhu had taken a heavy punch to the face from Xia Yu. Her injuries hadn’t healed yet, and her face contorted as she spoke. She tilted her head to look at Zhuang Huaishu, who was mocking her despite being in a wheelchair. “I said those words to you, not to Xia Yu. Why should this count as a loss? Zhuang Huaishu, you really have no conscience. I only fought her for your sake.”

“Oh, really?” Zhuang Huaishu looked down, fiddling with her fingernails. “Then I don’t feel honored in the slightest.”

Zhuang Huaishu’s words were barbed. Yu Ruoyin worried that Yingzhu might suddenly lash out; Yingzhu didn’t exactly seem like the patient type.

Surprisingly, no matter what Zhuang Huaishu said, Yingzhu accepted it calmly, at most stinging back with a comment: “Zhuang Huaishu, can’t that mouth of yours say something nice for once?”

“Of course.” Zhuang Huaishu looked up at her with a smile, and the moment Yingzhu leaned in to listen, she coldly dropped four words: “Mind your own business.”

Since meeting Yingzhu, the wrinkles on Zhuang Huaishu’s face had been constantly pinched together, making her look several degrees more fierce. It was hard for Yu Ruoyin to read a “love story” between Yingzhu and Zhuang Huaishu; it was difficult to imagine they were once a wedded couple who had performed the traditional bows.

Seeing the internal commentary on Yu Ruoyin’s face, Zhuang Huaishu’s gaze toward Yingzhu became even less friendly: “What did you tell her?”

Yingzhu leaned back against the sofa, rubbing her swollen cheek. “Our loving history, of course.”

“Grand-aunt!” Zhuang Ciyue was dumbfounded. She wanted to ask more, but Zhuang Huaishu had no time for her right now.

“Heh.” Zhuang Huaishu’s eyes were like frost. “Your Excellency, you should hurry back to the Underworld.”

Yu Ruoyin felt that if Zhuang Huaishu were physically capable of fighting, Yingzhu would have been smashed into pieces by now. The hatred Zhuang Huaishu felt for Yingzhu was written clearly on her face, yet Yingzhu acted as if she didn’t see it, even moving closer to her.

“Can’t you have a better attitude? I’ve given you things most people couldn’t even dream of in a lifetime. I’m not asking for your gratitude, but at least give me a smile.”

“Take it back.”

The image of the gentle and dignified senior Yu Ruoyin had held of Zhuang Huaishu was completely shattered as Zhuang Huaishu, almost exasperated, threw the Bone Pen at Yingzhu.

Yingzhu caught the pen and pointed to her own face. “You can return the Bone Pen, but what about your face?”

At the mention of her face, Zhuang Huaishu’s expression turned hideous. Previously, she had only used her words, but the moment Yingzhu mentioned her face, genuine killing intent flickered in her eyes.

A cold light flashed in Zhuang Huaishu’s eyes. With a flick of her wrist, a small peach wood sword appeared in her palm. She leaped from her wheelchair and lunged at Yingzhu, aiming for the throat. As ghostly qi swirled around it, the color of the peach wood sword began to change.

Upon closer inspection, the sword was covered in a thin layer of bark. The ghostly qi shattered the bark, revealing the sword’s true form: a dark purple wood, crackling with threads of lightning.

“Thousand-year Lightning-Struck Wood!” Zhuang Ciyue immediately became panicked and rushed to Zhuang Huaishu. “Grand-aunt, stay calm!”

Thousand-year Lightning-Struck Wood was obviously a treasure, but Zhuang Ciyue’s reaction made it seem like it was Zhuang Huaishu who was in danger. Yu Ruoyin didn’t understand, so Jiang Huaining explained: “At her level as an Underworld Painter, her body is already largely ghostified. She can’t use that.”

Indeed, once the bark fell away, the lightning-struck wood’s attack range was no longer limited to Yingzhu. The hilt was actually consuming Zhuang Huaishu’s skin—faster, even, than it was attacking Yingzhu.

“Aunt Ning!”

Before Jiang Huaining could intervene, Yingzhu had already grabbed Zhuang Huaishu’s wrist, forcibly prying the lightning-struck wood from her hand and tossing it to Jiang Huaining.

Yingzhu’s eyes turned cold. “You really are vicious. To take my life, you even found something like this.”

Zhuang Huaishu’s injuries hadn’t healed, and they had worsened in Yin City. She had been holding her breath for that single lunging strike; once that momentum broke, her strength vanished. She couldn’t even stand, so Yingzhu had to pick her up and place her back in the wheelchair.

Pointing at the wood in Jiang Huaining’s hand, Yingzhu said coldly, “Zhuang Huaishu, you haven’t been able to use that for a long time.”

Seeing no response from Zhuang Huaishu, her tone softened slightly: “Just use this.”

She stuffed the Bone Pen back into Zhuang Huaishu’s hand. “I don’t need you to return this anymore. And you don’t need to return the face either.”

“Get out!” Zhuang Huaishu threw the pen again. It spun in the air and returned to her palm. She grew even angrier: “Get out!”

“Stop spurning good intentions,” Yingzhu muttered, though she finally moved away from Zhuang Huaishu’s side.

She walked over to Jiang Huaining. “Huaining, I really have to go.”

Standing beside Jiang Huaining, Yu Ruoyin heard her ask, “What kind of wicked thing did you actually do?”

“A good deed. A great deed to save a life.”

Yingzhu was definitely lying. If it were truly a good deed, how could Zhuang Huaishu despise her to this extent? Did she think everyone here except her was an idiot?

Before Yu Ruoyin could press further, Yingzhu vanished from the Four Spirits Shop, though she shot a fierce glare at Xia Yu before leaving.

Xia Yu and Yingzhu were old acquaintances, and her annoyance with Yingzhu wasn’t a new development. While Xia Yu didn’t usually have much sentiment for Zhuang Huaishu, she felt a bit of sympathy now: “Zhuang Huaishu, how did you manage to provoke that lunatic?”

It seemed no one believed Yingzhu’s words except herself. Xia Yu asked the question everyone was curious about, but as Jiang Huaining expected, Zhuang Huaishu had no intention of answering. After her emotions settled, she sat in her wheelchair with the stillness of stagnant water. Even when Zhuang Ciyue spoke to her, she turned a deaf ear.

With some time left before the shop opened, the curious Yu Ruoyin and Zhuang Ciyue didn’t dare ask, Nan He was still in mourning, and Xia Yu and Jiang Huaining weren’t the type to pry. Unfortunately, the most talkative one, Lu Qingzhen, wasn’t there. Once Xia Yu had mostly recovered, Lu Qingzhen had left to help Xing Ruoyuan with a “small favor.”

Jiang Huaining wrapped the lightning-struck wood and returned it to Zhuang Huaishu.

Zhuang Huaishu finally reacted. “Excellency.”

She called out to Jiang Huaining: “Is it that boring for all of you with long lives?” Her gaze swept over Yu Ruoyin before slowly retracting. “To enjoy toying with young girls.”

In this specific moment, she viewed Yu Ruoyin as a kindred spirit—another poor soul.

Jiang Huaining shook her head. “I don’t know what Yingzhu did, but I am not like her.”

“Didn’t she say it?” Zhuang Huaishu curled her lip mockingly. “A ‘great deed to save a life.'”

It clearly wasn’t the truth, and Jiang Huaining didn’t want to get involved in their feud. Since no one was telling the truth, there was no way to help anyway. She stepped back silently, but catching the anxious look on Zhuang Ciyue’s face, she asked, “Is there something wrong with your face? Perhaps I can help.”

This was a gesture of kindness by association, but Zhuang Huaishu didn’t appreciate it.

The irony in Zhuang Huaishu’s expression deepened. “What could be wrong? It’s perfectly fine.”

Zhuang Huaishu gripped the Bone Pen and drew a crescent shape on her right cheek. To the group’s amazement, the skin on her face began to peel away. The aged, wrinkled skin turned into black ash and vanished, replaced by skin that was smooth, fair, and radiant—finer than that of a sixteen-year-old girl.

Before their eyes, the sixty-year-old woman transformed into a young woman in her early twenties. Zhuang Ciyue had always said her grand-aunt was a beauty in her youth, and now they saw it was true. Her features were exquisite, especially her eyes, which carried a heavy sense of grace even without trying.

White hair, yet a youthful face.

It was strange no matter how you looked at it. Only the simple-minded Zhuang Ciyue gasped in wonder: “Grand-aunt, you’re so beautiful!”

Yu Ruoyin had noticed in the paper sedan back in Yin City that Zhuang Huaishu’s skin seemed layered. It turned out there was indeed a problem. She used the aged skin to hide the fact that she hadn’t aged. Considering the dialogue between her and Yingzhu, it wasn’t hard to guess that Yingzhu had tampered with her.

Xia Yu also figured it out. She studied Zhuang Huaishu’s face: “She really is bold. To grant you an ageless face… if the King of Hell finds out, she won’t be able to explain herself.”

“Do you think this is a blessing?” Zhuang Huaishu lowered her lashes, shrouded in a lonely desolation. “I think it is a curse. Can a living person who never ages still be considered a living person?”

Zhuang Huaishu’s outlook was extreme; while many would dream of this, everyone sees the world differently. She had gone to great lengths to hide this youthful face; she was never someone who desired this.

Zhuang Ciyue looked at that beautiful face and touched her own. “Grand-aunt, agelessness isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It seems the Wheel-Turning King was actually looking out for you.”

“She was looking out for herself.”

Zhuang Huaishu couldn’t stand hearing a single good word about Yingzhu, especially from her own family.

The others didn’t know the history between them. One was Zhuang Ciyue’s grand-aunt, the other was Jiang Huaining’s friend. Caught between advising them to part or to reconcile, Yu Ruoyin chose the latter: “Grandma Zhuang, could there be a misunderstanding between you and Lord Yingzhu?”

Zhuang Huaishu wasn’t normally an extremist, but anything related to Yingzhu changed her. She would easily become obsessive and destructive: “Between her and me, there has been love and there has been hate, but never a misunderstanding. She is simply a bored, arrogant, conscienceless, and irresponsible superior. A vile person with a wicked heart, truly malicious.”

“Hey, you!”

Yingzhu’s voice suddenly rang out. She hadn’t left; she had hidden her presence to eavesdrop on the shop.

Yu Ruoyin instinctively looked at Jiang Huaining. Jiang Huaining must have known she was there all along. Indeed, Jiang Huaining wasn’t surprised. She had no intention of interfering, choosing instead to silently observe the two of them.

Facing the fuming Yingzhu, Zhuang Huaishu remained calm and countered: “Am I wrong?”

Yingzhu huffed twice in dissatisfaction. “At least my mouth is much kinder than yours.”

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