Chapter 13: Is Sweating Just Because It's Too Hot?

He Jianzhong gritted his teeth in fury.

Madam He saw that he was still standing frozen and suddenly shoved him. "Speak up!"

He Jianzhong asked, "Is everything you said true?"

"Of course it’s true!" Madam He screamed harshly. "Think about everything—didn’t all the troubles begin the day she entered our household? Wasn’t it because of her that Xuer argued with Zhang Shi? And wasn’t it because of their quarrel that we all believed Zhang Shi had a motive to kill?

"They planned it all along, intending to kill! She’s an accomplice of Liu Shi, and yet you still want to bring Liu Shi back!"

"Those are two different matters!" He Jianzhong roared, then paced rapidly. "Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!"

"It’s only been two days since Xuer was killed. Yesterday I said she was a ghost, but you didn’t believe me! How much earlier did you want me to say it?"

He Jianzhong stopped pacing and yelled, "Lin Shi! Bring her here!"

...

Yuetang returned to the He residence. Just after crossing the threshold, two housemaids confronted her.

"Lin Shi, the master and mistress summoned you. Come with us to the main chamber immediately!"

As they spoke, the two flanked her from both sides, clearly ready to strike her down if she dared resist.

Yuetang recognized them as the same maids who had struggled with Nurse Li yesterday. She didn’t resist and followed them to the main chamber.

The guards at the door had clearly changed—where once there were only maids giving orders, now burly servants wielding clubs stood watch.

She paused briefly in the corridor, then entered steadily, as usual.

Madam He sat on the bed, He Jianzhong on a chair beside it, both with expressions as if they wished to devour her alive.

"Bold and shameless woman! Kneel!"

He Jianzhong slammed the table. Madam He immediately beckoned a nearby maid to seize her.

Just then, a maid guarding outside suddenly burst in. "Master! Something’s wrong—the storage room is flooding!"

The storage held nearly all of the He family's possessions. He Jianzhong’s face paled. "Quick! Call everyone to put out the fire!"

The maid hesitated, glancing at the room. "But here—"

"Enough chatter! Go! All of you! Call more people!"

The maids inside hurried off as well.

After shouting, He Jianzhong’s restless anxiety returned. One thing after another—how could anyone not suspect a ghost?

Then he suddenly snapped to attention—wasn’t the “ghost” they spoke of none other than Lin Shi herself?

Noticing his sudden change, Yuetang smiled brightly. "General He, are you puzzled? How could the storage room catch fire? But I suppose you’ve guessed—the fire was set by me."

...

He Jianzhong exploded with rage, slamming the table and rising. Madam He was quicker, rushing forward and slapping Yuetang’s face hard.

She thought she had struck with full force and speed that surely would knock out Yuetang’s teeth!

But halfway through her movement, her outstretched arm was intercepted by an iron-clad arm coming in at an angle!

A masked figure in black had broken through the window just as Madam He lost control, stepping between her and Yuetang like a shadow.

Madam He’s face drained of color, collapsing weakly to the floor.

After a moment’s shock, He Jianzhong shouted, "Help!"

But as the sound left his throat, his face turned even paler.

Yuetang smiled faintly. "Too late to call for help, isn’t it? There’s no one left in the courtyard. Everyone’s rushing to save the storage room.

"They all know the He family ancestors left little wealth, so the fortune you have now is hard won.

"If anything happens, they will bear your wrath."

He Jianzhong roared, "Who is this wild woman, daring to wreak havoc in my household?!"

He turned furiously and grabbed his sword from the wall.

Little Huo raised his sword to meet him, the blade pressing just at He Jianzhong’s throat as he drew his weapon.

Huo Yun’s master, Wei Zhang, was trained rigorously in the palace, chosen as an elite to be by Yuetang’s side.

Naturally, as his disciple, Huo Yun was skilled.

While he faced off with He Jianzhong, Madam He, now free, frenziedly charged at Yuetang.

Yuetang lifted her right foot, kicking squarely into Madam He’s chest.

Madam He fell back, staring at her as if seeing a ghost. "Wretch! How dare you be so bold—do you have no respect for the law?!"

Yuetang laughed. "I am part of the law itself!"

Madam He’s face paled, and she blurted out, "Who exactly are you?!"

Yuetang stepped close, half crouching to grasp one of her hands.

With the other hand, she pulled a golden hairpin from Madam He’s trembling head and plunged it sharply into her arm adorned with heavy bracelets.

Blood immediately welled from the wound.

Madam He screamed in pain.

Yuetang raised a finger, "Shh." Then she said, "Who am I? Watch closely."

She withdrew the hairpin, dipped it in blood, and wrote the character for "Yue" on Madam He’s trembling palm.

The blood-red character glared vividly before the couple.

...

Madam He gasped sharply. Looking at Yuetang’s face, she was utterly terrified.

"Yue" is the royal surname.

"Want me to write more?" Yuetang asked.

Madam He trembled uncontrollably on the floor. "Ghost, ghost, you really are a ghost..."

She shrank back until she was at He Jianzhong’s feet.

Yuetang stood, twirling the hairpin between her fingers, then faced He Jianzhong. "And you? Shall I continue writing?"

He Jianzhong also began to retreat.

Many bear that surname in the realm today, but at this moment, with this appearance and age, only one person came to mind.

One who should have become a ghost three years ago.

He muttered repeatedly, "Impossible, impossible! You’re not her! She’s dead—the body was shredded by Xuer’s daggers! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Yes," Yuetang’s gaze turned cold, "he was indeed decisive. Otherwise, how do you think He Xuer ended up being my first victim under the blade?"

The name "He Xuer" cut into the couple like two knives.

Madam He’s face turned as pale as paper, but she forced herself up from the floor.

Her eyes, wide as copper coins, fixed fiercely on Yuetang.

"I don’t believe it! I don’t believe you are her!"

Yuetang slowly crushed a piece of jujube paste cake from the plate into powder and said, "Twenty years ago, the former Empress and Princess Duan were both pregnant at the same time. When labor came, both went into labor pains for two days without delivering.

"The late Emperor summoned the abbot of the Prime Minister’s Temple into the palace to pray for them. After praying, the abbot told them the reason for the delayed births was that the fetuses were entangled by a malevolent spirit, unable to break free.

"Eventually, with the combined efforts of the Imperial Medical Court, the late Empress and Princess Duan safely delivered their children.

"However, Princess Duan gave birth to twins—a dragon and a phoenix—and the boy in the pair died midway through a difficult birth.

"The old monk said, under divine protection, the little prince who died had taken on the cluster of malevolent spirit.

"But the surviving second prince and the little princess were still affected. They had to appear before others rarely or not at all until they turned sixteen, when the residual malevolent spirit would gradually dissipate as their vital energy strengthened.

"Otherwise, no one would live past sixteen."

At this, Yuetang looked at the two who had by now gone completely silent and smiled again. "I was only telling a story. Why are you sweating so much? Is it because the late autumn weather feels so hot?"