The Aloof Lord's Mysterious Wife
Chapter 80: The Calamity of Second Uncle

Chapter 80: The Calamity of Second Uncle

Lady Zhang clenched her teeth in hatred as she led her children, seething with anger. "Oh, how convenient! You all have gathered here! Is it your intention to bully the weak and force us to abandon our pursuit of the truth?"

The childe of Zhang’s face was streaked with tears as he clenched his fists tightly. "I initially thought the rumors of the Ninth Prince’s desire to marry the Sixth Miss of the Anyang Marquis Mansion were false, but tonight, I witnessed it with my own eyes! Ninth Prince, by siding with the Chu family. Where is your conscience?"

Ye Siheng’s expression remained devoid of any emotion, his icy gaze briefly sweeping over childe Zhang, who suddenly felt a sense of fear.

If the Ninth Prince were to become angry, their family might cease to exist by tomorrow.

At this moment, Chu Hanming shouted, "The drinks were prepared by your own family. Even if there is an issue, it lies within your own ranks. What does it have to do with me?"

"Brother, please don’t argue," Chu Hanlin stepped forward, "Lady Zhang, if my second brother is responsible for the death of Noble Zhang, I will not tolerate such treachery. I request that Mr. Qin handle this matter impartially."

The emotions of the Zhang family slightly calmed down.

Then Qin Zheng said, "Marquis Chu, I receive my salary from the court and will handle this matter impartially. However, the coroner has already examined the body and found no signs of injury or poisoning. The coroner speculates that Mr. Zhang died suddenly due to excessive alcohol consumption."

Lady Zhang did not accept this conclusion. "My husband has always been in good health. Tonight, he only drank two jugs of wine. How could he die so easily?"

"It’s hard to say," Ye Siheng interjected. "Miss Chu, come and take a look at the body."

In public, he still referred to her as Miss Chu.

Nanli nodded. "Alright."

Qin Zheng frowned. "Ninth Prince, is this appropriate?"

He was not concerned that Chu Nanli would be unable to examine the body, but rather that the young girl might be frightened by seeing a dead person.

Before he could finish speaking, Nanli had already approached the corpse and lifted the white cloth.

Her expression remained calm, without a trace of fear.

She furrowed her brows and then turned to look at Chu Hanming. "Uncle, do you have the protective talisman I gave you?"

Chu Hanming was momentarily stunned but quickly nodded. "Yes, I have it!"

He had initially discarded it, but after learning of Nanli’s abilities, he kept the talisman on his person at all times, even during bathing, placing it within easy reach in case of emergencies.

He took it out.

Nanli joined her index and middle fingers together, pointing them towards herself, and the talisman flew towards her.

She opened it and saw that the cinnabar on the talisman had dimmed significantly. Its effectiveness had greatly diminished, but it had managed to save Chu Hanming from a calamity just now.

"I understand now," Nanli said. "Someone has taken Mr. Zhang’s soul. He did not die suddenly."

And Mr. Zhang was simply unlucky because his uncle had the protective talisman, which resulted in him being targeted.

Ye Siheng nodded. "It seems my speculation was correct. Recently, many people in the city have died suddenly. At first glance, there seems to be normal, but with more people, I suspected that someone was using souls to prolong the life of Ye Jinming."

The others listened with confusion, unable to comprehend the meaning behind his words.

Lady Zhang was infuriated. "What kind of nonsense is this? Are you using this excuse to absolve Chu Hanming?"

Chu Hanlin explained, "Lady Zhang, my daughter has learned from Daoist arts from Xuanyue Temple. If she says it’s not a sudden death, then it’s not a sudden death."

"Father, you’re mistaken," Nanli said seriously. "I did not become her disciple. On the contrary, I am now the head of Xuanyue Temple."

The Zhang family looked at Nanli and found it laughable.

How could such a young girl be the head of a temple? Who was she trying to fool?

Nanli paid no attention to the disdainful gazes of others. After checking the temperature of Mr. Zhang’s neck, she said, "If the soul leaves the body for less than an hour, it can still be saved if it is retrieved within half an hour."

Lady Zhang, who had been scornful just moments ago, now asked earnestly, "Is that true?"

"Mother, she’s just trying to extort money. Father has already passed away. How can he be brought back to life?" Childe Zhang furrowed his brows.

"Uncle, Mr. Zhang sacrificed himself to save you, so you should bear the cost," Nanli said solemnly. "Three thousand taels."

Upon hearing that there was still hope to save someone, Chu Hanming didn’t care about the amount of money. He nodded eagerly, "I will give whatever amount is needed!"

Lady Zhang also asked, "But do we need to perform a soul-calling ritual?"

She had heard of this method before, where a person’s soul could be called back by calling out to their blood relatives.

"It’s useless. I’ll be back soon," Nanli took out a paper crane and let it sniff the protective talisman, which was imbued with the aura of a vengeful spirit.

After a moment, the paper crane spread its wings and flew away.

Nanli followed closely behind the paper crane, disappearing in an instant.

Ye Siheng feared that she would not be able to handle it alone, so she asked Qing Feng to follow along as well.

However, when he caught up with Nanli, he realized how clumsy he was.

Nanli deliberately stopped and waited, and Qing Feng thought she had discovered something.

"Miss, have you found something?"

"No, I was afraid you couldn’t keep up, so I waited for you," Nanli replied.

Qing Feng almost couldn’t catch his breath and fell straight down.

Nanli tugged at his clothes and said, "Your skills are indeed lacking."

Qing Feng’s face lost its luster. "It’s... it’s because Miss is too formidable."

"Trivial skills," Nanli said, then continued to follow the paper crane.

The vengeful spirit was ahead, seemingly wandering around, unsure of where to go.

Nanli was not surprised by this.

The woman must have discovered something, so she abandoned the vengeful spirit to avoid being discovered herself.

Although she felt a bit regretful, this vengeful spirit contained two souls, so it was not without some gain.

She sealed the souls and cleansed them of any lingering Yin energy.

The vengeful spirit was actually a soul, but after being refined, it was controlled by the woman, trapped in an endless cycle, unable to leave or be reincarnated.

Nanli sighed softly and murmured, "I can only crush you, so you won’t be manipulated anymore."

With a clench and a squeeze, she crushed the vengeful spirit into smoke and dust.

At the same time, the wind picked up, accompanied by the sound of breaking air.

Qing Feng’s expression changed.

"Miss, be careful!"

He swiftly swung his wrist, deflecting several arrows that were shot at them.

Nanli immediately understood that this was a trap.

They were trying to kill her.

She never expected to be so feared that they would employ so many people.

Arrows flew from all directions, like a net from heaven and earth, leaving them with nowhere to escape.

Nanli moved quickly, releasing two teleportation talismans.

In an instant, they disappeared, leaving the arrows hitting nothing but air!

The archers widened their eyes in disbelief.

"Where are they?!" they exclaimed.

"Right behind you," a voice came from behind.

Before they could turn around, Nanli kicked one of them, sending him crashing into the nearby archers.

The formation of the archers on the east side was completely disrupted, and some even fell down.

"She’s over there!" The archers from the other three sides quickly reacted, changing their direction and aiming at Nanli.