Chapter 185: A Feud To The Death
Xiao Qidong knew the name of Wei Junchen’s great-great-grandfather because he and the Wei Junchen family came from the same place.
When their parents were busy at work, during the time when Grandpa and Grandma were still alive and well, they were entrusted to Grandpa and Grandma to raise. The two goofed around in the countryside for several good years, teasing cats and dogs, having a great time.
Because of this, the family ancestral hall was a forbidden area for the two of them.
Little Xiao Qidong very morally bankruptly instigated Wei Junchen to take him into the Wei family ancestral hall for an adventure. Taking advantage of the adults not paying attention, they really sneaked in.
They were young at the time and didn’t have much reverence for ancestral spirit tablets and such yet. Plus, they didn’t come to the ancestral hall often, so they were very curious about everything inside, and they turned the entire ancestral hall upside down.
By chance, little Xiao Qidong found the Wei family family tree, casually looked at the names on it, and also saw the Wei family’s history of rise.
After looking, he threw away the family tree, and together with Wei Junchen, they stole the incense burner for offering incense, dumped out the incense ash inside, and took it to the riverside to play with small fish.
When the adults went in to offer incense, they discovered the incense burner was missing. When they found the two of them, Wei Junchen’s grandma nearly took a kitchen knife and chopped off their hands.
Xiao Qidong was thus deeply impressed by this incident.
With this mention from him, Wei Junchen remembered.
The Wedding Dress Ghost stared straight at Wei Junchen, the grievance on her body starting to fluctuate unstably again, her voice eerie and cold: “Are you a descendant of Qi Rongxuan?”
Although Wei Junchen was narcissistic, he wasn’t stupid. The Wedding Dress Ghost’s demeanor clearly meant she had a grudge against his own great-great-grandfather, so he shook his head vigorously: “No no no! I’m not!”
“Although I also call Qi Rongxuan my great-great-grandfather, in reality, I have two great-great-grandfathers, meaning that after Qi Rongxuan died, my great-great-grandmother found another man to marry in and gave birth to my great-grandfather.”
“So our branch is not a blood descendant of Qi Rongxuan.”
“Moreover…” Wei Junchen hesitated to speak: “According to the family tree records, Great-Great-Grandpa Qi did not leave behind any blood descendants. He seems to have been… unable to have children.”
The Wedding Dress Ghost listened and couldn’t help covering her face as she burst into loud laughter, her smile particularly shrill: “Hahahaha! Unable to have children! It turns out it was him who couldn’t have children… Hahahaha! Retribution! It’s all retribution!”
After she finished laughing, Wei Junchen cautiously asked: “That… what grudge do you have against my great-great-grandfather… oh no, Qi Rongxuan?”
“What grudge? Naturally… a blood feud!” The Wedding Dress Ghost sneered, then told Nan Yuanman and the others a story.
A story about an… innocent and naive young miss who was schemed against by a selfish and unscrupulous scholar, ending up with her family destroyed and her life lost.
The Wedding Dress Ghost’s original name was Zhuang Jiayao, and she had been dead for three hundred years.
Three hundred years ago, her family was one of the prominent wealthy households in Shencheng. The Zhuang family had risen through the medicinal herb business.
Zhuang Jiayao’s father, when young, encountered bandits while traveling for business. He survived, but it damaged his foundation, and he could no longer have children, so the Zhuang family had only Zhuang Jiayao as their sole daughter.
They doted on Zhuang Jiayao and protected her very well, which made her somewhat innocent and naive, with a kind and compassionate heart.
Therefore, when Zhuang Jiayao encountered Qi Rongxuan, who had fainted from hunger on the roadside while heading to Shangjing for the imperial exams, she kindly took him home and cared for him.
After Qi Rongxuan woke up and learned he had been robbed by mountain bandits, losing all his traveling money, she felt even more sympathy for him and proactively offered to lend him silver, to be repaid after he passed the exams.
Qi Rongxuan refused, saying: “The young lady has already helped this scholar greatly. How dare I trouble you further? Besides, this scholar has hands and feet, can find work, and won’t starve to death.”
The courteous, measured, and grateful Qi Rongxuan made Zhuang Jiayao develop a slight fondness for him.
Not to mention that Zhuang Jiayao was at the age when a young girl falls in love, Qi Rongxuan was good-looking, had good character, was a scholar, and had no other women around him, far better than the men she knew who had concubines and servant girls swarming them by their teens.
Therefore, she inevitably fell for him.
A young girl’s affection is always straightforward and passionate. After confirming her feelings, Zhuang Jiayao confessed to Qi Rongxuan, but unexpectedly, he rejected her.
Qi Rongxuan said: “Thank you, Miss, for your favor, but the difference in our family backgrounds is like heaven and earth. This scholar is not worthy of you. I hope you will seek someone else.”
Zhuang Jiayao, who had always gotten everything she wanted growing up, for the first time didn’t get what—or rather, who—she desired. Unwilling to accept it, she launched a passionate pursuit of Qi Rongxuan.
The two played a game of cat and mouse. Zhuang Jiayao put in great effort before Qi Rongxuan finally showed her a smile, expressed fondness for her, and agreed to her pursuit.
But in that era, a woman pursuing a man was already quite shocking. Zhuang Jiayao pursued without hiding it, so their affair became the talk of the town and soon reached Father Zhuang and Mother Zhuang’s ears.
Mother Zhuang had a heart-to-heart talk with Zhuang Jiayao: “My child, Qi Rongxuan is not an ordinary man. You can’t handle him. He’s not suitable for you. It ends here between you and him.”
Zhuang Jiayao, who was head over heels at the time, refused to listen to Mother Zhuang. She pouted unhappily: “Mother, how is he not worthy of me? He’s handsome, courteous and measured, and a scholar. If he passes the exams this time, he’ll be a court official! If anything, I’m not worthy of him!”
“Mother, don’t listen to the nonsense outside. Marrying him is so I can be an official’s wife! If there’s no benefit, why would I marry him?”
With her persistent persuasion, she convinced Mother Zhuang, but forgot about Father Zhuang.
Father Zhuang, who often traveled for business, could see through Qi Rongxuan’s little schemes. He didn’t approach his stubborn daughter but went directly to Qi Rongxuan and said something to him.
When Zhuang Jiayao met him again, Qi Rongxuan had red eyes and wanted to break things off with her.
Zhuang Jiayao, whose feelings were at their peak, wouldn’t agree. She domineeringly stopped him and impulsively had a relationship with him, giving herself to him.
The next day, she boldly and confidently brought Qi Rongxuan to confess to Father Zhuang, stubbornly insisting on marrying him.
Father Zhuang was so angry that he hit Zhuang Jiayao for the first time, but he had no choice but to relent and agree to let them be together. The only condition was that Qi Rongxuan must marry in.
Qi Rongxuan agreed.
Zhuang Jiayao thus felt she owed him and treated him even better than before they were together.
After marriage, they had a period of peaceful and happy days. This was broken when Qi Rongxuan went to the capital for the exams and Father Zhuang was killed by vicious mountain bandits while traveling for business.
Father Zhuang was the pillar of the Zhuang family. His sudden fall threw Mother Zhuang and Zhuang Jiayao’s lives into chaos.
When Zhuang Jiayao was at a loss, Qi Rongxuan, who had gone to the capital for the exams, returned. He said: “The servant told me the news of Father’s accident. I was worried about you, so I rushed back. I feel like you need me now. As for the exams…”
“There will be another chance in three years. Right now, the most important person to me is you.”
Zhuang Jiayao, whose heart was fragile at the time, thus loved Qi Rongxuan even more deeply and became more dependent on him.
She felt that she could never leave this man in her lifetime.
She felt she was the happiest woman in the world.
Until the second year after the Zhuang family business was handed over to Qi Rongxuan, when she discovered he had taken a concubine outside.
