Chapter 142: Fourth Lady Zhuang

Seventh Master Zhuang was a bit stubborn at first, but after tasting some hardship, he finally learned what fear was.

However, Zhao Fusheng intentionally left him hanging for a moment and did not immediately continue questioning him. Instead, she turned her gaze toward Gou Four:

"Are you saying that Seventh Master Zhuang has two relatives who married into Kuailiang Village?"

By this time, Gou Four was scared out of his wits.

Originally, he had only been brawling and making a bit of a fuss with his cousin. He never expected that it would end up dragging out a ghost case, let alone alert a high-ranking official from the Demon Sealing司 (Demon Suppression Bureau).

At this moment, he deeply regretted stirring up trouble. Seeing Seventh Master Zhuang lying nearby, beaten so badly he couldn't even stand, Gou Four trembled with terror. Daring not to delay his answer the moment Zhao Fusheng spoke, he nodded repeatedly.

"Yes."

He swallowed nervously and said,

"Seventh Master Zhuang—I mean my cousin here—is the seventh child in his family. My aunt's husband—"

Fearing that Zhao Fusheng would grow impatient as he recounted these familial ties, Gou Four paused here and nervously glanced up at her.

"It's fine. Take your time and make the relationships clear," Zhao Fusheng said expressionlessly.

As she spoke, her mind raced: Seventh Master Zhuang had concealed something, and that matter was related to the plea for help from Kuailiang Village.

When his cousin Gou Four had previously touched upon the relationship between Zhuang Family Village and Kuailiang Village, Seventh Master Zhuang had been evasive and tried to stop his cousin from saying too much. Clearly, the problem lay in the marriages contracted between the two villages.

Since this whole affair began with a marriage alliance, she naturally needed to sort out the ties between the two families.

Her words allowed the anxious Gou Four to relax slightly, and he explained:

"My mother and Seventh Master Zhuang's mother are first cousins. My grandfather and Seventh Master Zhuang's grandmother were full siblings." Because the elder generations were still alive and their kinship was within the traditional five degrees of mourning, the two families often visited each other during ordinary times, and they were relatively familiar with each other's situations.

Zhao Fusheng nodded.

Gou Fourth felt a bit more at ease and continued:

"Zhuang Family Village isn't far from Kuailiang Village; they are only separated by a parallel river."

"A parallel river?" As he spoke, Zhao Fusheng mentally sketched out a rough map of the connections between the two villages.

"It's a branch of the Upper Jia River. The current splits from Baozhi County and flows into our Wan'an County. It's a waterway that was excavated seventy years ago under the direction of Lord Liu from the Ministry of Works to prevent floods."

Prefect Pang had been listening quietly on the side. Seeing that Zhao Fusheng had a question, he hurriedly offered an explanation.

Gou Fourth nodded and added:

"This river isn't small. The two villages face each other across it. Because they are close, they frequently interact. Aside from trading goods, they also intermarry."

Seventh Master Zhuang's paternal grand-aunt had married into Kuailiang Village back in the day.

"That grand-aunt was the daughter of my cousin's paternal great-uncle. She married a village elder of Kuailiang Village. That elder was the sixth child in his family, so people called him Sixth Uncle."

At this point, Gou Fourth looked toward Seventh Master Zhuang with a puzzled expression.

"Sixth Uncle Kuailiang is upright and fair, highly prestigious and influential in the village, and everyone trusts him."

In fact, ever since Seventh Master Zhuang's grand-aunt married into Kuailiang Village, the relationship between the two villages had grown even closer, with frequent visits.

Seventh Master Zhuang's branch of the clan was not a prominent or powerful family in Zhuang Family Village, but thanks to this marital tie, the head of Zhuang Family Village treated their lineage with a great deal of respect.

As cousins, Gou Fourth could naturally tell that Seventh Master Zhuang did not want him to bring up this marriage alliance, and he found this extremely baffling.

In the past, whenever relatives visited, the Zhuang family had always been immensely proud of Sixth Uncle from Kuailiang Village.

Whenever the younger generation traveled outside, they often boasted to others: The grand-aunt of our household is married to Sixth Uncle of Kuailiang Village.

Judging by this, the marriage was hardly anything shameful, so why was it suddenly taboo to even mention it now?

His confusion happened to be Zhao Fusheng's confusion as well.

She keenly realized that something must have gone wrong with the marriage alliance between the two villages.

To make the villagers guard the secret so deeply and feel ashamed to even mention it, something must have happened to the Zhuang family's daughter, causing the Zhuang family to view it as a disgrace—if the other side were entirely at fault, the Zhuang family would have felt anger rather than the nervous stammering exhibited by Seventh Master Zhuang.

And such a mistake likely involved a woman's chastity and reputation.

Seventh Master Zhuang's grand-aunt had married into Kuailiang Village over twenty years ago, so she should be quite elderly by now.

If she had truly been unchaste and a scandal had occurred, it wouldn't have dragged on until now for the problem to explode.

When Gou Fourth mentioned the intermarriage between the Zhuang and Kuailiang families, he had also brought up another match—

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng asked Gou Fourth:

"Tell me about his paternal cousin."

As she asked, her gaze landed on Seventh Master Zhuang.

The moment she mentioned his "paternal cousin," Seventh Master Zhuang's expression shifted noticeably.

When Gou Four had first brought up the grand-aunt, Seventh Master Zhuang had still tried to maintain a facade of calm, but now that "paternal cousin" was brought up, he instinctively tried to stand up.

Yet he had just been subjected to the bamboo paddle; the skin and flesh at the back of his thighs had been torn open. As he moved, a cold sweat broke out in a rush, turning his face pale with pain and causing his whole body to tremble.

"...Yes."

Gou Fourth also noticed that his cousin's demeanor had clearly changed at the mention of the "paternal cousin."

Although he came from a rural background, he was no fool; how could he fail to see that the matter was tied to Seventh Master Zhuang's paternal cousin?

By this point, however, Gou Four was already riding a tiger and found it hard to dismount.

Through sharp intuition, he sensed that Zhao Fusheng had already realized there was something wrong with the cousin, because when she mentioned her, her gaze was so sharp that he couldn't possibly evade it.

This official was truly terrifying!

Gou Fourth sighed inwardly.

Seventh Master Zhuang was still slumped beside him after the beating, and he could even smell the stench of blood lingering on his cousin.

Zhao Fusheng had also stated that this concerned a ghost case, and she would rather kill by mistake than let anyone go. If he too remained stubborn, his fate would likely end up just like Seventh Master Zhuang's—no, perhaps even far more miserable.

He shivered and hastily said:

"Seventh Master Zhuang's paternal cousin was the fourth child in her family when she was at home, and back then people called her Fourth Lady Zhuang."

At this, he glanced back at Seventh Master Zhuang, who helplessly nodded in confirmation.

"Before she was married, Fourth Lady Zhuang was quite famous in Zhuang Family Village." She was delicate in appearance, gentle in temperament, and even while living at home, her reputation for diligence had spread far and wide. The moment she came of age, many people had set their sights on her.

The matchmakers coming to Zhuang Family Village every day to sniff out news nearly wore down the threshold of Seventh Master Zhuang's eldest uncle's house. In the end, however, Fourth Lady Zhuang was introduced by Lady Zhuang-Kuailiang—who had married into Kuailiang Village long ago—and married into Kuailiang Village instead.

"Which person in Kuailiang Village did she marry?"

Seventh Master Zhuang's unspeakable secret likely lay with this cousin who had married away. Naturally, Zhao Fusheng could not let this clue slip. She looked at Gou Fourth and Seventh Master Zhuang as she asked.

Gou Fourth replied:

"I'm not clear on his given name; I only know he was the fifth child in his family."

"Fifth Kuailiang?" Zhao Fusheng asked.

Gou Four nodded, a trace of disdain appearing on his face as he mentioned this Fifth Kuailiang: "You could call him that."

Witnessing the shift in Gou Four's expression, Zhao Fusheng pondered inwardly: Two daughters of the Zhuang family from different generations had married into Kuailiang Village, yet when Gou Four mentioned the husbands they had married, his attitude was completely different.

When mentioning Sixth Uncle Kuailiang, his tone and demeanor were noticeably much more respectful, clearly showing great admiration for him;

Yet when mentioning Fifth Kuailiang, the man whom Fourth Lady Zhuang had married, he couldn't conceal his contempt.

"What kind of person is this Fifth Kuailiang?" Zhao Fusheng followed up on Gou Four's remark.

"This Fifth Kuailiang—"

He curled his lip, as if wanting to let out a contemptuous chuckle, but the moment he made a sound, he realized he wasn't gossiping with people in the countryside, but being interrogated within the heavily guarded county yamen.

The people present were all prominent figures.

Gou Fourth's heart suddenly tightened. He quickly brought his knees together, knelt up straight, and dared not be careless or casual again.

"This Fifth Kuailiang is a well-known loafer around our Wulidian settlement."

He sighed:

"Kuailiang Village backs against the mountains, and the villagers there are all members of the same clan. They are very close, tightly knit, and help one another. Whenever they go out to do odd jobs, they respond to each other's calls in droves."

Usually, everyone relied on farming to make a living, occasionally going to market to sell farm produce to supplement their household income.

During the farming off-season, when there was nothing to do, many of the men would head up the mountains to forage for treasures, cut firewood, or make charcoal. They couldn't just sit around idly; otherwise, how would their entire families eat?

"When doing these tasks, their village always works in groups, except for this Lazy Fifth Kuailiang, who does nothing at all. His reputation spread far and wide long ago."

"Then what does his family rely on to live?" Zhao Fusheng asked with some curiosity.

"What do they rely on to live? They rely on Fourth Lady Zhuang—" Gou Fourth blurted out, only to instantly realize where the problem lay.

A troubled look appeared on his face as he stealthily glanced at the dejected Seventh Master Zhuang.

Seventh Master Zhuang wore a resigned expression, gave a bitter smile, and said:

"My paternal cousin is very capable—hiss—and her work is no less than a man's. She tills the fields and carries poles, she can do it all. Whatever Lazy Fifth Kuailiang can't do, ssiha—hiss—she can do. They could barely scrape by to feed the family, ssi-hiss—it's just that life was extremely poor. I heard from my mother that she frequently returned to her maiden home to borrow rice—"

Having received a beating, Seventh Master Zhuang's wounds must have been agonizing; he drew in sharp breaths between his words.

Yet this did not hinder his narrative. After listening, Zhao Fusheng roughly understood the beginning and end of the matter.

Two female members of the Zhuang family of different ages had successively married into Kuailiang Village. Earlier, Seventh Master Zhuang's grand-aunt had married Sixth Uncle, who was held in high esteem in Kuailiang Village.

After gaining a firm footing, that grand-aunt acted as a matchmaker and introduced Seventh Master Zhuang's paternal cousin—Fourth Lady Zhuang—to also marry into Kuailiang Village.

Yet Fourth Lady Zhuang had possessed a virtuous reputation before marriage, being diligent, beautiful, and gentle. In contrast, her husband Fifth Kuailiang was a loafer whom even Gou Four despised. Almost the entire burden of supporting the family fell on Fourth Lady Zhuang, and she even had to frequently return to her maiden home to borrow rice, subjecting her to snubs from her own family.

Combining all these circumstances, Zhao Fusheng asked:

"Based on what you two are saying, the marital relationship between Fourth Lady Zhuang and Fifth Kuailiang must have been terrible, right?"

"How could that be?"

Hearing this, Gou Four shook his head.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback:

"With a husband like that, they could still have a harmonious relationship?"

Seventh Master Zhuang kept his head lowered in despair and said nothing.

A look of startled uneasiness appeared on Gou Four's face. He seemed puzzled by Zhao Fusheng's words, yet constrained by her status, he dared not loudly refute her, and could only say:

"Every family has a scripture that is hard to chant. Fifth Kuailiang was a bit lazy, but which couple doesn't live like that? There's always one who is diligent and one who is lazy—"

"..."

Zhao Fusheng could not agree with his viewpoint and turned back to Seventh Master Zhuang:

"Your cousin means that Fifth Kuailiang and your cousin had a harmonious relationship?"

"O-Originally, they were harmonious—"

Seventh Master Zhuang's eyes darted about evasively.

"What do you mean by 'originally harmonious'?" Seeing him hesitate again, Zhao Fusheng sneered coldly:

"You better spit it out clearly for me. If you aren't honest this time, I'll beat your backside to a pulp!"

Seventh Master Zhuang was instantly frightened.

"Mercy, my lord," he cried out, before hurriedly adding:

"My cousin and Fifth Kuailiang had been married for over eight years. Although there were times when they quarreled and bickered, just like my cousin said, which couple doesn't live their lives like that?"

"After being married for so many years, do they have any children?"

The root of the issue likely lay with Fourth Lady Zhuang. Seventh Master Zhuang was clearly concealing something, and she still needed an opportunity to make him talk.

Zhao Fusheng simply steered her questioning around Fourth Lady Zhuang's daily life.

As soon as she asked, Seventh Master Zhuang nodded:

"Yes, they had a daughter named Manzhou." He paused, then added, "Kuailiang Manzhou?"

"Kuailiang Manzhou?" Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng furrowed her brows.

From this single sentence of Seventh Master Zhuang's alone, she sensed that something was amiss between the couple.

In times like these, entertainment was scarce. People worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. The first few years of marriage were precisely when couples were most tender and affectionate, and the vast majority of couples were most likely to conceive in the early years of marriage.

That Fourth Lady Zhuang and her husband had only a single daughter after eight years of marriage was quite unusual under these circumstances.

Either the couple had grown estranged, so they rarely shared intimacy after having one daughter, or they couldn't afford to raise another child after the pregnancy and gave the baby away.

"How old is she?" she asked again.

"Seven years old," Seventh Master Zhuang answered honestly.

"Fourth Lady Zhuang only gave birth to a daughter. Did she face ostracization in Kuailiang Village?" Zhao Fusheng asked further.

"No."

Seventh Master Zhuang shook his head hurriedly. Seeing the skeptical look on Zhao Fusheng's face, he added:

"Really not. Fifth Kuailiang might have been dissatisfied inside, but he had elder brothers in his family, so he didn't dare do anything."

His words revealed a massive amount of information.

In other words, Fourth Lady Zhuang had only borne a daughter, and while Fifth Kuailiang harbored some dissatisfaction, Kuailiang Village operated under a clan system, and the rest of the villagers kept him suppressed, preventing him from acting out.

"The people of Kuailiang Village were very protective of Fourth Lady Zhuang?"

"Very protective," Seventh Master Zhuang nodded:

"My paternal aunt's husband, Sixth Uncle Kuailiang, pitied my cousin for working so hard and worried that the couple wouldn't be able to pay their taxes, so he often took out money to help them. Most of the time, their family's taxes were pooled together by the villagers."

"Sometimes when the harvest was poor and they had nothing to eat, Third Brother Kuailiang would help out by providing relief. Besides farming, he also helped people slaughter pigs. Whenever he had spare cash to buy some scrap meat, he'd always set aside a share for my cousin's family to improve their meals."

From Seventh Master Zhuang's words, Zhao Fusheng could tell that Kuailiang Village indeed possessed a tight clan consciousness and a spirit of mutual aid.

She nodded, then shifted the conversation abruptly to ask:

"Then starting from eight days ago, what did the people of Kuailiang Village come to Zhuang Family Village to ask for help with? What happened in Kuailiang Village?"

Before she finished asking, fearing that Seventh Master Zhuang would still be dishonest, she warned him:

"I'll only give you one chance. Speak honestly, think it through before you talk, and if you dare to conceal anything—" As she spoke, she flicked her sleeve, and a withered brown arm slid out from the cuff.

Zhao Fusheng tapped the ghost arm a few times, instantly causing it to revive.

It was severely damaged, however, and after twitching a few times, it lacked the strength to grip anything.

Yet even so, it was more than enough to terrify the others in the main hall.

The moment Seventh Master Zhuang saw that withered, rotting severed arm actually moving, his scalp tingled with terror. If his legs hadn't been injured and immobilized, he would have been howling like a ghost and fleeing in all directions long ago.

"I'll talk, I'll talk, I'll tell you everything! Man-cai Kuailiang came to find the village head, saying that my cousin is dead."

In truth, this kind of response was already well within Zhao Fusheng's expectations.

Zhuang Family Village and Kuailiang Village couldn't have generated ghost fog out of thin air; there must have been a preceding cause that led to the resurgence of the fierce ghost.

And the appearance of this ghost domain was directly related to the person who came from Kuailiang Village to report the news—this logic was similar to how the person who reports a murder is frequently the prime suspect; the two shared a wonderful homology.