Decades ago, the Lei family was one of the top aristocratic families in Yanbei. The Lei clan members were exceptionally united—whenever major matters arose, the clan leader would make decisions and the entire clan would advance or retreat together.
The Lei family’s ancestral teachings allowed them to stand out among the great families of Yanbei, but at the same time, these same teachings led to their catastrophic disaster in that man-made calamity decades ago, when they were completely wiped out by the Liao people in one sweep.
So now, though the Lei family name still rang loud, only Lei Ting’s branch remained as survivors who had slipped through the net.
Lei Ting’s decision to hold Old Madam Lei’s funeral today—if there were still any elder of the Lei clan with proper status and seniority alive, they would surely step forward to obstruct it.
Unfortunately, after Old Madam Lei’s death, Lei Ting was now the highest authority in the Lei family.
So even though rumors were spreading like wildfire outside and everyone in the Lei household had become anxious and suspicious, after dawn broke, preparations for the funeral procession continued in an orderly fashion.
Second Master Lei, Lei Zhen, was also particularly quiet this day, personally holding his niece as he stood in the mourning hall. His young face no longer bore its usual brilliant smile, only solemn expression.
“Little Uncle, is grandmother going to become an immortal today?” Lei Pan’er leaned in Lei Zhen’s arms, constantly gazing at the already-sealed coffin, struggling to keep the tears in her eyes from falling. The four-year-old child still didn’t understand what death meant. She only knew that her grandmother was leaving her first to go on a long journey. Though Little Uncle told her that the place her grandmother was going was better than home and that they would all go there eventually, she still felt somewhat sad.
Lei Pan’er’s appearance was heartbreaking to see. Lei Ting came back to his senses and tried to bring a smile to his face, lowering his head to softly comfort his niece.
But in his heart, he was thinking about what his younger brother had told him when he came to find him last night.
When Lei Zhen first heard that his grandmother was to be buried today, he couldn’t help but quarrel with his elder brother. This was the first time the two brothers had fallen into discord in all these years.
But when his elder brother told him the complete truth, Lei Zhen could no longer say a word.
Grandmother’s suicide, the heavy burden on his elder brother’s shoulders, the Lei family’s future—these things suddenly pressed down on him like mountains appearing out of nowhere, making it difficult for him to breathe.
He would never forget how his usually steady elder brother, with reddened eyes, gripped his shoulder with one hand, the force as if trying to crush his shoulder bone: “The current Lei family is like a large ship that appears stable on the surface but is riddled with holes inside, unable to withstand even the slightest storm. Second brother, the current Lei family cannot afford to let you slowly grow into adulthood.”
At this moment, Steward Liu Gui hurried in from outside. Not seeing Lei Zhen and Lei Pan’er standing to the side, he went straight toward Lei Ting.
Lei Zhen knew Liu Gui was his brother’s trusted confidant. Seeing his appearance, he immediately realized something had changed with the outside situation. He quickly picked up Lei Pan’er and walked toward Lei Ting.
Even though he still didn’t understand much and couldn’t share his elder brother’s worries, he wanted to participate in the Lei family matters. He had never been as desperate as now to grow up quickly.
As he approached, he just heard Liu Gui reporting to Lei Ting: “…suddenly collapsed and blocked most of the road.”
“What happened?” Lei Zhen couldn’t help but ask.
Lei Ting had seen Lei Zhen walking over early on, but he hadn’t spoken. Since last night, when he had been completely frank with Lei Zhen about Lei family matters, he no longer wanted to hide anything from Lei Zhen.
Hardship and setbacks were what truly made people grow. What he could accomplish, he believed his younger brother could accomplish too.
Lei Ting turned to look at his younger brother, saying expressionlessly, “A section of the mountain road leading to Qiongji Mountain has collapsed.”
Qiongji Mountain was quite famous in Yanbei and could be considered a renowned mountain and a place of good feng shui.
However, young masters and misses wouldn’t choose this mountain for spring outings—not only because Qiongji Mountain had gentle slopes without even a temple or Taoist monastery to rest at, but also because it was a mountain of the dead, specifically for housing the deceased.
All the prestigious local families in Yunyang City had ancestral graves on Qiongji Mountain, with generations upon generations buried there.
It was said that when the Liao people occupied Yanbei, a Liao noble once had designs on the burial goods in Qiongji Mountain, but for unknown reasons ended up falling to his death at the mountain’s base. Within a year, all the old and young in this general’s family had died of strange illnesses.
From then on, no one dared to covet the tombs on Qiongji Mountain.
The Lei family’s ancestral graves were also on Qiongji Mountain. The real Old Madam Lei, née Liu, had long died in a foreign land and her grave couldn’t even be found now. This “Old Madam Lei” who had originally been a concubine was about to enter the Lei family ancestral grounds.
“Collapsed? Can we still get through?” Lei Zhen was stunned and frowned as he asked. Though his elder brother had told him today might not be peaceful, when it happened, he still felt psychologically uncomfortable. His grandmother was already dead, yet those people still wanted to make an issue of her.
Liu Gui bowed his head. “This subordinate has already sent people to dig out the rocks and mud, but it looks like it will take at least two hours.”
Lei Ting looked toward the coffin in the mourning hall. No emotion could be seen in his dark eyes. After a long while, he said, “Send more people over to dig the road open as quickly as possible. Also, personally lead people to explore whether there’s another route up the mountain.”
Liu Gui already knew the entire plan. Though the funeral procession was being obstructed at this time, the Lei family had to overcome difficulties by all means, making people think the Lei family wanted to quickly get Old Madam Lei’s coffin up the mountain.
Liu Gui acknowledged and withdrew.
Lei Zhen beckoned for maids to come over, having them take Lei Pan’er back to the courtyard to eat something first.
After Lei Pan’er left, the two brothers Lei Ting and Lei Zhen somehow got into an argument over a disagreement.
Later, word spread outside that Second Master Lei opposed his elder brother’s hasty burial of their grandmother. Now that the road had suddenly collapsed, it showed the ancestors were enraged, wanting Master Lei to delay the grandmother’s funeral.
Unfortunately, Lei Ting refused, so the two brothers quarreled. In the end, Master Lei, afraid of losing face, forcibly pulled his younger brother away to resolve matters privately.
Old Master Han was still in Yunyang City at this time. After hearing his subordinate’s report about Lei family matters, Han Dongshan’s face showed a smile: “When will the Liu family people arrive?”
The subordinate replied, “I’m afraid it will take another three or four hours before they reach Yunyang City. That old woman from the Liu family is advanced in age and fell ill on the road, so the carriage doesn’t dare travel quickly.”
Han Dongshan frowned, “I want to see them before the eighth hour!”
“But…”
When Han Dongshan’s eyes looked over, that subordinate no longer dared to speak, hurriedly acknowledging and withdrawing.
“Father, Old Madam Lei died by suicide—this point should be certain.” Han Dongshan’s only son, Han Xianren, had been standing at Han Dongshan’s right hand and now spoke up.
Han Xianren was a middle-aged man with refined features and a rather scholarly temperament. He looked like someone very reasonable to deal with. Most of the time, he handled the Han family affairs in Yanbei in Yunyang City.
“That’s natural. I asked the physician who had taken Old Madam’s pulse for peace of mind—her health was more robust than mine. How could she just die like that? She was just trying to use death to avoid the Liu family people.” Han Dongshan sneered coldly, his upright face full of gloom that made people feel fearful upon seeing it. “Unfortunately, this was just a dying struggle. The Lei family must fall! Who told them to block the way!”
Regarding Old Madam Lei’s cause of death, Han Dongshan had sent people to investigate. However, the Lei family was also on guard against them, so after Old Madam Lei’s death, very few people had seen her corpse.
But now that the Lei family was desperately rushing to bury Old Madam Lei after only three days lying in state, Han Dongshan could already confirm that Old Madam Lei’s death was connected to the Lei family themselves.
“Now that the Lei family is rushing the funeral, they must know the Liu family people aren’t far from Yunyang City and want to get Old Madam Lei buried before the Liu family arrives. This way, Old Madam Lei’s cause of death would be covered up, and her identity wouldn’t be exposed.” Han Xianren speculated.
Han Dongshan also agreed with this judgment.
“Then what should we do next? Should we still follow the plan and wait for the Liu family to come and expose her as a fake, that the real Old Madam Lei died long ago?”
Han Dongshan thought for a moment, then smiled slightly, though cold light flashed in his eyes.
“No, how could it be that simple!”
Han Xianren frowned as he looked at his father, somewhat puzzled.
Regarding his father, Han Xianren was somewhat fearful. Even as his son, he often didn’t know what his father was thinking.
“The Lei family’s old woman is already dead. Even if I have the Liu family expose her, now there’s no way to verify it—at most, it would make people suspicious of the Lei family. To make the Lei family completely fall, we’d still need separate arrangements to pursue victory afterward. But now a good opportunity has come. This time, the Lei family is probably going to die by their hand. This is what they call bringing destruction upon oneself!”
As Han Dongshan spoke, he laughed with pleasure.
Fate and childhood experiences had long twisted Han Dongshan’s character. Even though the Lei family had no other grudges with him besides conflicts of interest.
But now, the Han family couldn’t help wanting the Lei family to disappear immediately. Because the Lei family was an enemy, and he felt that anyone or any family that opposed him must be eliminated.
“Father’s meaning?” Han Xianren’s capabilities weren’t particularly good. In terms of intelligence and wit, he not only couldn’t compare to his old man, he couldn’t even compare to his son. So over the years, he had always acted according to Han Dongshan’s instructions.
However, he also understood his limitations. He would consult Han Dongshan on everything, not daring to make decisions on major or minor matters, being very obedient and compliant.
Han Dongshan was dissatisfied with this son, but talent was something inborn—Han Dongshan had no choice but to be grateful that his grandson was promising. So over the years, Han Dongshan had always treated his son with the attitude of a subordinate steward, while cultivating and demanding of his only grandson as an heir.
However, Old Master Han was in a good mood today, so he didn’t give his son a cold shoulder. Instead, he smiled and said, “I want the Liu family to take the Lei family to court!”
Han Xianren was stunned and instinctively asked, “Sue them for what?”
“Murder.”