Babao clicked his tongue again and again.
Good heavens!
Miss Qi was practically divine!
There was simply nothing Miss Qi couldn’t accomplish.
No wonder she had insisted that Lai Chenglong and the others stop Ren Shuquan and plant a White Lotus Sect headscarf on him.
So it had all been laying the groundwork.
Of course, if it wasn’t the White Lotus Sect, then who else could be so utterly insane as to murder so many people and bury them beneath their own courtyard?
Ren Ming really was a complete psychopath.
He slept every day with all those corpses beneath him.
Didn’t he ever have nightmares?
Seeing him standing there doing nothing but clicking his tongue, Liujin rolled his eyes and immediately tugged him. “Hurry up and go!”
Go where?
Babao glared at him irritably. “I’m busy. Stop bothering me!”
Liujin grabbed him by the back of the collar and lowered his voice. “You idiot! If we’re going to make this a huge scandal, how can there not be spectators?! The Imperial Guards are off gathering reinforcements right now. This is the perfect chance for you to run outside and spread the news. Bring as many people here as you can!”
He genuinely couldn’t understand what went on inside Babao’s head.
Only then did Babao realize what he meant.
Without wasting even a moment, he ran off at top speed.
Meanwhile, Old Madam Ren did not remain unconscious for long.
The moment she woke up, she understood one thing: This could never be admitted.
Under no circumstances could it be acknowledged that her son, or any member of the Ren family, was responsible.
Almost immediately, she thought of a solution.
Clutching her chest and biting her lip in apparent anguish, she cried, “No need to investigate any further! I know who did it!”
By this point, Babao had already brought a crowd of curious onlookers into the estate.
The moment they saw the countless pits, the scattered skeletons, and the corpses strewn across the ground, cries of shock erupted everywhere.
Some timid spectators fainted on the spot.
Several Ren family servants rushed forward in disbelief. “Chunni! That’s our Chunni!”
“Didn’t the First Master say she’d been married off to become the steward’s wife at the eastern farm estate?!”
“How could she be here?!”
The scene instantly descended into chaos.
The neighbors and townsfolk who had come to watch stood dumbfounded.
None of them had expected to witness something like this.
“Amitabha… Amitabha…”
Just seeing something so horrifying was enough to ruin a person’s sleep for months.
Breathing heavily, Old Madam Ren desperately suppressed her panic and anger. “It must have been Gao Jun! It had to be Gao Jun!”
Lai Chenglong raised an eyebrow. “Who is Gao Jun?”
“My grandson from my daughter’s side!” Old Madam Ren gritted her teeth and steeled her resolve. “He’s been violent since childhood. Always killing cats and dogs. Terrifying! I raised him by my side, but who could have known he’d commit such atrocities?”
As she spoke, she secretly shot a meaningful glance at one of the guards.
Kill him.
Kill Gao Jun.
Silence him forever. Once he was dead, there would be no evidence.
Then the entire matter could be pinned on him alone.
After all, Gao Jun was merely an outsider carrying another surname.
Whatever crimes he committed would not implicate the Ren family.
The guard immediately understood and moved to carry out the order.
But after only a few steps, Qi Yuan let out a soft laugh. “Old Madam, he is your own grandson. How can you condemn him without even asking him a single question?”
By now, Old Madam Ren loathed Qi Yuan to the extreme.
Sweat poured down her body. With an ugly expression, she sneered, “This is our family’s private matter. Naturally, I know what I’m talking about. And what exactly are you, Miss Qi? What gives you the right to stand in my home pointing fingers? What official position do you hold? What qualifications do you have to speak here?”
Good relations between the two families?
What good relations?!
There wasn’t any relationship worth mentioning at all.
If Qi Zhen hadn’t brought this jinx of a girl here, none of this would have happened!
Qi Zhen immediately flew into a rage. “Old Madam Ren, watch your words! When people encounter injustice, anyone has the right to speak up! Your household is a cesspit, so many people have died, and such a massive case has been uncovered, yet no one is allowed to talk about it? Instead you’re blaming my daughter? What, are you furious because my daughter exposed your family’s ties to the White Lotus Sect?”
Old Madam Ren was nearly driven to death by this father and daughter.
What exactly had they come here for?
They must have come specifically to target the Ren family!
The surrounding neighbors also began speaking up. “That’s right, Old Madam Ren. So many people have died. We can’t simply take your word for it.”
“With so many bodies buried beneath the courtyard, how could one person possibly have done it alone?”
“There must have been accomplices!”
“Arrest the servants and interrogate them. Then we’ll know who was involved!”
Qi Zhen immediately snorted. “After killing so many people! Some have already become skeletons, while others died only recently. The time span involved is astonishing. What, did your grandson start murdering people when he was one year old?”
The crowd burst into laughter.
Caught completely off guard by the question, Old Madam Ren broke out into a cold sweat.
Meanwhile, Lai Chenglong had already ordered every member of the Ren family to be confined in a single room.
Even Old Madam Ren was dragged away.
Ren Shuquan let out a tearful cry. “Grandmother!”
Using all her strength, Old Madam Ren slapped him across the face. “You useless fool! This entire disaster is your fault!”
At the Imperial Academy, he had incited fellow students to cause trouble at the Confucius Temple, drawing the attention of the Imperial Guards and Censor Tie.
That was what had first brought calamity upon the Ren family.
And after returning home, he had actually taken Qi Yuan into Ren Ming’s courtyard to look for a dog!
A complete scourge upon the family!
She was trembling with rage.
The women of the household shook with fear.
Only the First Madam sat quietly in a corner, not even lifting her eyes.
Ren Shuquan’s mother, Third Madam Ren, could not help asking, “Elder Sister-in-law, aren’t you worried at all?”
This could lead to the extermination of the entire family!
The First Madam slowly lifted her eyelids and curled her lips into a faint smile. “Do you know how the woman before me died, Third Sister-in-law?”
Third Madam Ren instantly fell silent.
Ignoring Old Madam Ren’s furious glare, the First Madam slowly rotated the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand. “The cycle of cause and effect never fails. Retribution always comes. He killed too many people. Now it’s finally his turn to receive punishment.”
Without pause, Lai Chenglong hurried to the palace to seek an audience with Emperor Yongchang.
The Grand Secretariat was still reeling from the revelations surrounding Ren Zhong.
When they heard that trouble had erupted in the Ren family as well, even Chu Bo raised an eyebrow.
When Eunuch Xia took Lai Chenglong’s memorial and presented it to Emperor Yongchang, the emperor immediately hurled the document straight into Grand Secretary Li’s face.
Furious, he shouted, “Didn’t you tell me that Ren Zhong was a loyal and righteous man? Didn’t you tell me the entire Ren family was devoted and faithful? Open your d*mned eyes and look! Is this what you call loyalty?!”
The Second Grand Secretary Li was struck so hard he was left disheveled.
He hurriedly picked up the memorial and read it.
The color drained completely from his face.
The Ren family still wanted to rely on their Imperial Exemption Token?
No exemption token in the world could save them now.
Want to show your support? Go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! Want to get early access to at least 20+ chapters in advance? Go to my Patreon to join now! :)
