It was at this very moment that Master Ren and the Eldest Madam burst in.

When the Eldest Madam saw the complete chaos within the ancestral hall, she was so frightened that her legs went weak, and Ren Yiyan had to quickly support her.

Master Ren, trembling with rage, pointed at Ren Yijun with his finger.

Ren Yijun looked at them calmly, then slowly raised the ancestral tablet in his hand, making a gesture as if to smash it.

Ren Yiyan cried out in alarm: “Third Brother! Don’t do anything foolish!” As he spoke, he released the Eldest Madam and was about to rush forward to stop Ren Yijun’s extreme behavior.

But Ren Yijun said coldly: “Don’t come any closer, or I’ll smash it.”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yiyan came to an abrupt halt two steps away from him, appearing somewhat uneasy and anxious.

Even Master Ren didn’t dare to step forward.

The Eldest Madam, however, suddenly turned around and, supporting her dizzy body, gave a meaningful look to her maid who was standing at the doorway, not daring to enter but only peering inside.

The clever head maid immediately led several other senior maids to withdraw and drive all the uncertain and curious idle people in the courtyard to the back courtyard, finding someone to watch over them. Fortunately, this was the ancestral hall, with only a few old women responsible for cleaning, so it wasn’t too much trouble.

After the Eldest Madam’s maid had controlled the situation, she hurriedly rushed off without stopping to find Third Young Master’s wife, Qi Shi. Everyone in the Ren household now knew that Third Young Master wouldn’t listen to anyone and no one could control him – only Third Young Madam was his nemesis.

Ren Yijun paid no attention to the reactions of those present, only looking at the tablet in his hand and saying in a deep voice: “Great-grandfather above, your great-grandson has several questions he wishes to ask great-grandfather today. According to what people say, the reason families build ancestral halls to worship their ancestors is that the ancestors have spirits in heaven who can protect their descendants at crucial moments. Now the Ren family is in mortal danger – this is precisely when the ancestors should manifest their divine presence. If great-grandfather cannot answer great-grandson’s questions today, then these tablets serve no purpose.”

Hearing his words, Master Ren finally pointed at him with trembling fingers and roared angrily: “Haven’t you caused enough trouble! Quickly put down that tablet!”

Ren Yijun didn’t raise his head, still speaking to the tablet on his own: “Great-grandfather, great-grandson wants to know the true origins of this so-called ‘ancestral residence’ of the Ren family.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall became frozen.

The Eldest Madam looked at Master Ren, knowing that today’s matter couldn’t end well. Wringing the handkerchief in her hands, her unease grew even greater. She wanted to speak but knew that when this troublesome son of hers went mad, he wouldn’t listen to anyone. She wondered in her heart whether she should simply call for people to come up and subdue Ren Yijun first, lest he commit a grave error today with no way to turn back.

Master Ren was also somewhat shocked that Ren Yijun would ask such a question in front of everyone. Although only the four of them were currently standing in the ancestral hall, there had been several servants standing outside earlier, and there was no guarantee they hadn’t overheard. Master Ren broke out in a cold sweat for a moment.

Ren Yijun sarcastically curved the corner of his mouth and was about to say something to Master Ren when he raised his head.

Master Ren, seeing his reckless and uncaring expression, knew things were about to go badly. He immediately shouted in exasperated rage: “Don’t spout nonsense here! Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you!”

Hearing Master Ren’s words, Ren Yijun finally pulled at the corner of his mouth: “I thought father was unwilling to speak, so I could only come here to ask great-grandfather. After all, this concerns his generation’s affairs – what you know is probably not as clear as what the old man knows.”

Master Ren was both furious and resentful, but could do nothing with this mad, fearless son of his. In the end, he could only suppress his anger and say somewhat wearily to the Eldest Madam: “Take people and go down first. Don’t let anyone approach here.”

The Eldest Madam looked at the father and son, then finally nodded, signaling for Ren Yiyan to go out with her.

But Ren Yijun said, “Big brother is also a descendant of the Ren family and has the right to know the truth!”

Master Ren said nothing.

Ren Yiyan glanced at Ren Yijun, then at his father. His face showed some hesitation, but after thinking it over, he still stood in place without moving.

Seeing this, the Eldest Madam sighed and went out by herself without saying anything.

There was already no one in the outside corridor. The Eldest Madam thought for a moment, then turned to go to the back courtyard to deal with those people who had been taken there by the maids earlier.

Only then did Master Ren say: “Still not putting down that tablet!”

Ren Yiyan also urged, “Third brother, since father has already agreed to tell the truth, you should put down the tablet.”

Ren Yijun turned and walked to the altar table, placing the tablet in his hand back in its original position. But then he stood beside the altar table looking at Master Ren without moving, as if the moment Master Ren went back on his word, he would continue seeking answers from the ancestors.

Master Ren had already been infuriated to the extreme by this rebellious son, but instead gradually calmed down. Seeing him like this, he took a deep breath before saying coldly: “You want to know the origins of this residence? That’s right, it originally was indeed the residence of a family surnamed Zhai. However, those words you just spoke – I don’t know from which ill-intentioned person you heard them – are simply absurd nonsense. Although this residence previously belonged to the Zhai family, after the Zhai family all died at the hands of the Liao people, your great-grandfather bought it from the government offices with money.”

Ren Yijun stared at Master Ren and said word by word: “How did the Zhai family die at the hands of the Liao people?”

Although Master Ren’s face still appeared composed, secretly, his back was already soaked with sweat.

“That was during wartime chaos, the Zhai family was unlucky…”

But before Master Ren could finish speaking, with a “crack,” one of the tablets on the altar suddenly fell and smashed to the ground.

Ren Yijun glanced at Master Ren, whose face had turned ugly, and said mockingly: “Father, people are doing while heaven is watching. You’d better not lie, lest our ancestors have a hard time in the underworld and we descendants have to pay their debts. Was the Zhai family’s death at the hands of the Liao people truly just an accident?”

Master Ren was silent for a moment, then still said: “Naturally it was an accident, otherwise…”

Again came two “crack-crack” sounds – this time, two tablets fell from the altar.

Ren Yiyan’s eyes widened suddenly, and Master Ren also stared dead at the fallen tablets, unable to speak for a long time. Both simultaneously looked toward Ren Yijun.

Ren Yijun said calmly: “There are spirits three feet above one’s head – I didn’t smash those. Who knows if it isn’t the vengeful ghosts in this residence causing trouble?”

After Ren Yiyan’s words, Master Ren felt the surrounding atmosphere had become somewhat cold. Even though Master Ren hadn’t believed in ghosts and spirits before, his heart couldn’t help but feel chilled now. Yet he persisted: “Even if there are vengeful ghosts, they shouldn’t be targeting our Ren family…”

Then a shocking scene appeared – the tablets on the altar began falling by themselves with crackling sounds.