053 Unleashing Great Power

Chapter Title: 053 Exercising Great Power

Her head felt heavy and stifled, as though trapped in a sealed and shadowy space. Xu Chunhua struggled forward, step by step, yet could never reach the end. Just as despair nearly overcame her, she finally discovered the only source of light—faint and receding into the distance.

A surge of panic seized her heart. She abruptly opened her eyes. “Please, don’t go!”

“Lady Xu, you are awake.” Monk Fang Rulai’s gaze brimmed with concern. “This humble monk was not leaving. It was just that, seeing you had lost consciousness, I intended to summon the attendants for help.”

“You?” Xu Chunhua’s blurred eyes landed on Fang Rulai’s bald head. Was that the very light she’d seen in her dream? What was going on? She distinctly remembered she had been trying to seduce and win over this monk—how did she suddenly faint?

“Ah!” With a scream, Xu Chunhua recalled: she had seen the bloodied face of Wang Suzhi, bleeding from all seven orifices. She swiftly regained her senses, glancing around. The rear hall held only herself and Fang Rulai, nothing more. Fang Rulai, too, seemed perfectly ordinary. So what exactly had she seen?

Xu Chunhua cautiously asked, “Master, did you see anything just now?”

Fang Rulai shook his head innocently. “No.”

“Then why did you point behind me a moment ago?”

A trace of embarrassment flitted across Fang Rulai’s face. “Earlier, Lady Xu was behaving rather inappropriately, and I meant to remind you that behind you still rest the two Zhao family coffins. It seemed somewhat unseemly.”

“Is that all?” Reflexively, Xu Chunhua glanced at the two coffins—one for Zhao Ke, the other for Wang Su… She quickly averted her gaze, shivering. Could it be that what she saw was merely a phantom born of a guilty conscience?

“If you feel cold, Lady Xu, you should dress properly.” Fang Rulai folded his hands and turned away. “Amitabha.”

“Oh? Oh.” Xu Chunhua, dazed, reached for her collar as he suggested, but her hand halted. Her neckline, which she herself had loosened earlier, was still open, and the tea she had poured had thoroughly soaked it. All this proved her plan was only half-executed. If she gave up now, all her efforts—baring herself, dousing herself, fainting—would come to nothing. That would not do! She could not waste such an opportunity.

As she was about to rise, Xu Chunhua’s eyes flicked to the nearby seated Fang Rulai. She tipped herself sideways and fell toward him. “Oh, my head aches.”

Fang Rulai reached out and caught her. “Lady Xu…”

“Master, I’m cold,” Xu Chunhua pleaded, lifting her face with a pitiful look, her delicate frown full of coquettish intent. Was that not enough to ensnare him?

As if unable to withstand the beauty before him, Fang Rulai’s face grew obviously flustered. “This is not proper, not proper…”

“Master…” Seeing Fang Rulai still unmoved, Xu Chunhua steeled herself, cried out, and flung her arms around his neck.

His balance lost, Fang Rulai toppled backwards, his back striking the coffin behind with a thud.

Xu Chunhua likewise crashed into the coffin, the impact sending stars bursting in her vision and her head reeling. There was no longer any thought of seduction; she instinctively rubbed the spot she’d struck.

After a moment, her head cleared. She could not stop now. She had come this far—if she failed to win over the monk, all her efforts would be wasted.

Determined, Xu Chunhua opened her eyes again, only to find a pair of familiar eyes staring straight into hers. Those eyes bore no expression, but from the corners bled bright red tears.

Xu Chunhua blinked twice in confusion. What was happening? In the next instant, the name Wang Suzhi exploded in her mind.

She screamed once more and collapsed in a faint.

Once again, she was in that sealed, shadowy space, with no end in sight, the only light sometimes near, sometimes far. This time, her awareness returned before her eyes opened.

If, after seeing Wang Suzhi’s face the first time, she could dismiss it as hallucination, after the second time, she could no longer deceive herself. But why did Wang Suzhi, whom she had confirmed dead with her own hands, appear before her twice? Shouldn’t she be lying motionless in her coffin?

Why, why, why!

Xu Chunhua’s eyes flew open. Had Wang Suzhi not died after all? No matter—she could finish the job. Xu Chunhua sprang up so suddenly that Fang Rulai’s startled, “Lady Xu, you—?” went unheeded. She strode straight to Wang Suzhi’s coffin, her hand already gripping her belt under her sleeve. If Wang Suzhi still drew breath, she would use her belt to strangle her until she was truly dead.

Clever as she was, Xu Chunhua, after her initial fright, set aside her fear for the sake of self-preservation. If Wang Suzhi truly wasn’t dead, Xu Chunhua herself was in danger—there was nothing to be afraid of; only by being unafraid could she fight back.

With a do-or-die resolve, Xu Chunhua leaned over the coffin—then froze.

Inside, Wang Suzhi’s eyes were closed, her face deathly pale—a textbook corpse. So who had appeared before her moments ago? Was someone playing a trick?

Xu Chunhua immediately dismissed the notion. After years as sisters-in-law, they knew each other’s every blemish. That face, so close and unmistakable—she could not have been wrong.

If not mistaken identity, then how could the corpse lying there appear before her one moment and be back in the coffin the next?

Whoosh—a gust of night wind swept through. All the candles and oil lamps in the hall snuffed out instantly.

The wind brushed her bare shoulders and her soaked collar, making Xu Chunhua, who kept telling herself “I’m not afraid,” shiver uncontrollably. Her lips parted, but the scream stuck in her throat.

For at the end of her gaze, the unmistakably dead face of Wang Suzhi suddenly opened its eyes.

She blinked and looked again—those eyes had closed once more.

The uncanny scene chilled her to the bone.

“Xu…” Fang Rulai called out.

Xu Chunhua, taking advantage of the moonlight, bolted for the door.

“Lady…”

She crashed into the incense table bearing the teapot, knocking it over. Cold tea spilled everywhere, drenching her head and face as she doubled over in pain.

“Xu…”

She barely cared to wipe her face, stumbling forward, tea leaves clinging to her hair, and butted the door open with her head.

The servant at the door cried out, “Second Young Madam!” as Xu Chunhua collapsed to the ground.

Throughout the ordeal, not a sound escaped her lips.

Her loyal retainers, whom she had stationed outside in advance, hurriedly carried her away.

In the pitch-dark rear hall, silence lingered for a moment before a burst of laughter erupted.

“Haha, how satisfying! Hahaha, so very satisfying!” It was Wang Suzhi’s voice.

Had Xu Chunhua lingered, she would have seen her own sister-in-law, whom she had confirmed dead, sitting up in the coffin, laughing until she nearly doubled over.

Fang Rulai paid her no heed. She rolled over and sat up, then addressed the air, “Light the lamps.”

With a swish, all the candles and oil lamps flared back to life.

Wang Suzhi’s laughter abruptly ceased. She hadn’t seen anyone, yet the whole hall was illuminated!

“Bring me something to eat,” Fang Rulai ordered again.

A small dining table flew in from the doorway, landing gently before Fang Rulai without a sound.

On the table were only a jar and a pot.

Fang Rulai opened them one by one. The jar held braised pork, the pot wine. The aroma was rich and unmistakable.

“Whew, after playing the fool all day, at last I have time to replenish my energy with some proper food.” Talking to herself, Fang Rulai unceremoniously picked up a large piece of braised pork and stuffed it into her mouth. “Mmm, delicious. I must have some wine as well.”

As she ate and drank with gusto, Wang Suzhi suddenly shrieked, “So you really are after the Zhao family’s fake monk! No, I must hurry and tell Mother, have her throw you out!”

She scrambled out of the coffin and ran for the door, but no matter how she pushed, it would not budge—not even a crack.

A chill ran through Wang Suzhi’s heart. Fang Rulai’s voice sounded behind her.

“If I can rescue you without anyone knowing, disposing of you just as silently is no more difficult.”

At these words, Wang Suzhi quickly crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want? Don’t think I’ll submit to you just because you saved me! I—I was born a Zhao, and I’ll die as one—I will never yield to your… to your wicked advances!”

Her sudden air of chastity nearly made Fang Rulai spit out her wine. How hopelessly muddle-headed! Wicked advances? Toward her? With that pallid, corpse-like complexion and her plump, matronly figure post-childbirth? Far better to turn those advances on that demon—at least he was attractive and male! Wait—why was she thinking of that demon now?

Fang Rulai’s expression darkened as she sensed an inexplicable sense of crisis at her own wandering thoughts.

Naturally, Wang Suzhi could not fathom what Fang Rulai was contemplating. Seeing the monk’s face change, she became certain her earlier words were entirely correct. Was this monk, after rescuing her so stealthily, truly waiting for everyone else to leave just to ravish her?

With a thud, Wang Suzhi knelt. “Venerable master, regarding the scheme to frame you with the tea leaves, I only fetched them—the idea was entirely Xu Chunhua’s. Don’t be fooled by her kindly face; when she sets her mind to something, she’s far more ruthless than I am. Oh, and as far as I know, there’s always been someone advising her from behind the scenes.”

“Who?” Fang Rulai snapped back to herself, recalling her earlier touch of Xu Chunhua’s garments. So there really was someone behind her—but who could it be?

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