Chapter 250: Chapter 250: Having Done Every Evil, Why Pretend to Be Merciful?
Shen Hua was astonished that Sanqing Taoist could see her.
She couldn’t help but glance back remotely. She was unable to hear any noise from inside the house. The girl’s lips pressed together in subtle frustration.
"There has been something puzzling me to this day."
Xue Tuan was her, even if she wasn’t attached to a body, that was still her, a real existence.
But why?
Clearly six years ago, she was still in Fengzhou, and should have had no dealings with Cui Yun.
Sanqing Taoist seemed to guess what she wanted to ask. Holding a whisk, he emanated the aura of an immortal Daoist.
"Where there is a cause, there must be an effect; everything turns in cycles of reincarnation. Since Miss Shen has asked, this poor Daoist might as well let you take a look yourself."
Without waiting for Shen Hua to respond, Sanqing Taoist flicked his whisk, and a strong light flickered before her eyes, the quiet alley dissipated, and the scene changed along with it.
Her heart trembled, and her hand under her sleeve clenched tightly.
This... is Shen Residence.
She abruptly turned around, but the figure of Sanqing Taoist was no longer in sight. Only loud and intense quarreling could be heard ahead.
"Shen Qu! Have you lost your mind?"
"It was you who agreed to send Shen Hua to serve the Lord State Judge. Dying on her flower sedan chair was her own bad fortune. Fortunately, the Lord State Judge did not take offense and did not transfer his anger to the Shen Family over the ill omen, which is a great kindness. Yet, now you are berating me over someone who has passed?"
This was the shrill voice of Shen Xue-shi.
Shen Hua pursed her lips; this was her past life.
The atmosphere inside the room was tense, fraught with a sense of imminent conflict.
Fortunately, it could be seen that Shen Qu’s eyes were filled with inconsolable grief. Shen Xue-shi’s tone also softened.
"It was her destiny, unfortunate not to enter the Zhu Residence and become a concubine for the Lord State Judge. Although she was disrespectful to me, I as her stepmother am indeed saddened."
She waved her hand fan, dressed in fine silks and satins, her eyes and eyebrows exuding the grace and opulence of a wealthy married woman.
At this moment, seeing that Shen Qu was silent, she became even more insincerely vocal.
"As for her funeral arrangements, how do you wish to handle them?"
"Your second uncle has said, although she left in a sedan chair and the rites were not completed, she could be considered half a concubine of the Zhu Family. It would go against our empire’s rituals to let her be placed in the Shen Family’s tomb."
"Mother should better hold her tongue," Shen Qu interrupted coldly, devoid of his usual gentleness.
"You always invoke my second uncle’s name, trying to confine me, yet don’t you forget, I am the legitimate son of the main branch."
"Not allowing her into the Shen Family’s tomb, what exactly is mother scheming in her heart? Do you think I’m unaware?"
Shen Qu’s heart ached profoundly.
He did wish to use Shen Hua, but he never wanted her to die.
Restlessly tossing and turning night after night, his desires found nowhere to hide. He even greedily thought, given that the Lord State Judge was advanced in years, once he passed away, by that time, he himself would surely have secured his position, and no one could manipulate him.
He was determined to bring Shen Hua back.
He would not mind that her body had already been claimed by another man, and he would treat her well.
At that time, let’s see who would dare to speak a word against it.
But why was she so weak, why did she die!
Shen Qu felt both hatred and annoyance towards her, but the pity and reluctance from being eternally separated by heaven and man eventually took over everything.
His rationality dissipated bit by bit.
Shen Hua witnessed this man’s vile face. She heard Shen Qu’s questioning tone.
"The dowry left by the late Madam, you’ve taken it for yourself over these years. Even the annual dividends from Yangyang’s embroidery workshop, you’ve swallowed whole without leaving a single tael."
"No matter what, she was rightfully a daughter of the Shen Family. Should we allow her to wander as a lonely ghost without a resting place?"
Shen Xue-shi was amused by these words, and she slowly rose and approached Shen Qu.
"What a display of righteousness you put on,"
"As the head of the main branch of the family, without your consent, could my second uncle and I ever really have any say in appointing the Prefect?"
"As for those gold and silver, why did I not see you stopping me when I took them?"
"Now that I’ve gained something from it, you come accusing your mother of wrongdoing? Tell me, from start to finish, have you never made a mistake?"
She gently straightened Shen Qu’s clothes, speaking words that cut to the heart.
"Do you really think I haven’t noticed your filthy thoughts towards her? Frequenting her room at night under the guise of brotherly love, what exactly are your true intentions? Out of consideration for the bond between mother and child, I have kept it concealed for you."
She laughed tremblingly, "Shen Qu, you and I are of the same kind."
Shen Qu no longer wished to listen. He turned to leave.
"Yangyang’s coffin must be placed in the Shen Residence. I have already chosen the spot for the funeral and burial, right beside Shen Zhi’s tomb. There is no room for negotiation on this matter."
Shen Qu’s chest felt tight.
Shen Hua, look, only I still care about you.
In this world, only I am truly sincere towards you. But why were you never kind to me while you were alive?
Perhaps if the girl had been tender-hearted, submissive, and tried to appease him gently, Shen Qu might not have had the heart to force her so rigidly.
"Stop right there," Shen Xue-shi called out to him.
Having had her laugh, she returned to the matter at hand.
"Did you know the Magistrate recently lost his son?"
Her eyes glinted sharply, "He’s currently troubled by the search for a candidate for a ghost marriage, and guess what, Shen Hua’s horoscope is an excellent match for his son’s."
"What is the Prefect compared to the Magistrate?"
"Back then, when Shen Zhui, that concubine daughter, was married off in a ghost marriage to the Dong Family, our Shen Family also reaped many benefits from it."
Unfortunately, the Dong Family has a strong connection with the Magistrate, but at that time, the Magistrate did not even grant them an audience, let alone curry favor with the Shen Family.
They could only pin their hopes on the Prefect, hoping that he would introduce Shen Qu to the Magistrate and help achieve great things.
Her mind was full of calculations, "Think about it, if Yangyang was to have a ghost marriage, there would be no need for you and me to argue over her funeral, not to mention the potential damage to our mother-son bond. Furthermore, our family would be related to the Magistrate. Are you still afraid you won’t have a future? The embroidery workshop is bound to flourish."
"Qu, you’re a clever one. You surely understand what must be chosen and what must be renounced. Such romantic entanglements are absolutely unacceptable; with the Magistrate around, how could you worry about not being able to marry an official’s daughter?"
"Enough, Mama has said her piece. Now go back and give it some thought. Many are eager for a ghost marriage with the Magistrate’s family; don’t let someone else snatch away this opportunity, lest you regret it later."
She had said all there was to say, both good and bad.
Shen Qu’s legs felt as heavy as a thousand catties, and he just couldn’t take a step.
His profound affections evidently served only to console himself, as if only in this way could he lessen some of his guilt.
At this moment, he no longer needed to choose. The answer was clear.
His ambitions spread like wildfire. Shen Qu hadn’t even stepped out the door when he painfully whispered in a muted voice,
"I’ll listen to Mama."
After he left Shen Xue-shi’s Ningyun Courtyard, he went to a somber yard. Without Shen Qu’s orders, the girl had not yet been nailed into her coffin.
She lay there quietly on the couch, lifeless.
Yicui was kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly.
Seeing Shen Qu, she bristled all over,
"What are you doing here? Having done every evil deed, why pretend to be compassionate?"
Her clothes were disheveled, and she charged forward like a madwoman.
"Every one of you prances around with a pretense of decency, why don’t you just die! Good people don’t last, why do you get to live so carefree one by one?"
"My wife is the very best girl in the world."
"I will take my wife away, I will bury her! What gave you the right to force me and my wife to come back! She is dead, dead! Why won’t you let her go even now!"