After such an embarrassing incident, neither the clan nor the maternal family had the face to force Xie Yinlou into marriage during the mourning period.
Everyone looked awkward, seemingly unable to stay in the spirit hall any longer.
Xie Qingyao’s tense nerves finally relaxed, her palms damp with sweat.
Outside, heavy rain poured down. Wind and rain gusted through the entrance, causing the white mourning banners in the spirit hall to rustle and sway.
The unique smell of burning paper money permeated the hall, seemingly growing stronger.
The crowd quickly found excuses to leave the spirit hall. In the blink of an eye, only the Xie siblings and Jiang Si remained.
In such a downpour, no visitors would come to pay respects, giving the spirit hall temporary peace.
Xie Qingyao looked at her brother, tears streaming down her face.
Xie Yinlou silently placed his hand on Xie Qingyao’s shoulder, warmth showing in his eyes.
Seeing that the siblings seemed to have something to discuss, Jiang Si tactfully said, “Qingyao, I’ll go back to the room first.”
Xie Qingyao grabbed Jiang Si’s wrist. “Ah Si, how did you do it?”
“Do what?”
Xie Qingyao could barely contain her excitement. “The thunder and lightning! How did you do it?”
Jiang Si’s expression turned strange. “Qingyao, have you misunderstood something?”
Xie Qingyao glanced at Xie Yinlou, suddenly realizing her friend might not want to reveal this amazing ability in front of her brother. She composed herself and said, “I was just joking. Elder Brother, I’ll accompany Ah Si back to the room and return later.”
Xie Yinlou looked at Xie Qingyao, then at Jiang Si, knowing they were hiding something from him. But he didn’t press the issue and simply nodded.
Xie Qingyao pulled Jiang Si back to their room, closed the door, and eagerly asked, “Ah Si, can you tell me now?”
“Tell you what?”
“Do you have some divine magic that can command the thunder and lightning gods?” Xie Qingyao’s eyes shone with excitement.
Jiang Si suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Xie Qingyao gripped Jiang Si’s hands tightly, somewhat regretfully saying, “Ah Si, you should have asked the thunder god to strike them hard. Not to death, but just enough to teach them a lesson.”
Jiang Si quickly stopped Xie Qingyao’s wild imagination. “Qingyao, you’re overthinking. How could I have such abilities?”
If she could command thunder and lightning, there were too many people she’d want to strike down. The thunder and lightning gods would probably be overwhelmed.
“But earlier, you said that when they heard your cough, they should swear before my parents’ spirits. As soon as they swore, thunder and lightning struck.”
Jiang Si looked out the window towards the sky, revealing a bit of truth. “It’s because the clouds in the sky can speak.”
Xie Qingyao looked confused. “Ah Si, I don’t understand. How can clouds speak? And where did you learn all this?”
Jiang Si gave a self-deprecating smile. “When you encounter enough misfortune, you sometimes stumble upon certain opportunities. Let’s not discuss this further. Just know that this has nothing to do with supernatural powers, and it certainly can’t help you call down lightning to strike them. But from the looks of it, they won’t have the face to interfere with your brother’s marriage anymore.”
Xie Qingyao wasn’t one to dwell on things. Hearing Jiang Si’s explanation, she didn’t press further. A mocking smile appeared on her lips. “If they try to interfere again, my brother won’t need to hold back. They were the ones who shamelessly exposed their dirty thoughts in public.”
As she spoke, tears rolled down from the corner of her eyes. “Ah Si, thank you so much. Without you, who knows what they would have forced my brother and me into.”
Even in her naivety, Xie Qingyao had heard of how those grand families, once their pillars collapsed, were often preyed upon by relatives under various noble-sounding pretexts.
Jiang Si felt ashamed and didn’t dare accept this gratitude. She candidly said, “If you don’t blame me for speaking out of turn that day, I’m already very grateful. Qingyao, take heart. Even the toughest times will pass.”
Xie Qingyao slowly nodded.
Eighth Uncle and Eighth Aunt returned to their temporary quarters, the atmosphere even gloomier than the storm outside.
As soon as the servant who had escorted them with an umbrella left, Eighth Uncle rushed towards Eighth Aunt, grabbed her collar, and slapped her across the face. “You stupid woman, have you gone mad today?”
Eighth Aunt screamed in pain and clawed at Eighth Uncle’s face. “You’re the one who’s gone mad! You told me to speak up, and I was almost struck by lightning. How dare you scold me now!”
When women go berserk, their strength is no less than men’s. Eighth Uncle dodged left and right, but Eighth Aunt still managed to scratch his face.
Feeling the stinging sensation, Eighth Uncle covered his face and kicked Eighth Aunt to the ground, shouting, “Scratching my face, are you afraid people won’t see what a joke we’ve become?”
Eighth Aunt felt deeply wronged. “You hit and kicked me first! I didn’t go mad. Didn’t you see that as soon as I swore in the spirit hall, the sky darkened, and lightning struck right beside me? If I weren’t so lucky, that lightning would have struck me directly!”
“Nonsense, it was just a coincidence.”
“Coincidence?” Eighth Aunt’s voice rose. “How could it be a coincidence? Didn’t you see that short-lived Fifth Sister-in-law coming to claim my life?”
The “Fifth Sister-in-law” Eighth Aunt referred to was the Countess of Yongchang, as the Earl ranked fifth in the clan.
Eighth Uncle looked at Eighth Aunt even more strangely. “Have you gone mad? I didn’t see anything.”
Eighth Aunt was stunned. She suddenly grabbed Eighth Uncle’s wrist. “You didn’t see Fifth Sister-in-law appear in the spirit hall, covered in blood?”
Eighth Uncle shook off Eighth Aunt’s hand. Although he thought his stupid wife was talking nonsense, he felt a chill run down his spine. He snapped, “It suddenly turned dark, with lightning and thunder outside. Where would Fifth Sister-in-law come from? Isn’t she lying in her coffin? You suddenly went mad and said all those unspeakable things. You’ve ruined everything today.”
“Impossible!” Eighth Aunt exclaimed excitedly. “She was standing right behind me, choking me hard. If I didn’t tell the truth, she would have strangled me to death! Old man, you didn’t see her?”
“No!”
Eighth Aunt was dumbfounded for a moment, then suddenly started beating Eighth Uncle like a mad woman. “It’s all your fault! You insisted I speak up, and now I’m the only one targeted by that short-lived Fifth Sister-in-law’s ghost. What should we do now?”
Eighth Uncle pushed Eighth Aunt away. “Enough, stop acting crazy. You must have been hallucinating then. If a ghost choked you, how come there’s no mark on your neck?”
Eighth Aunt paused, then suddenly came to her senses. She rushed to the mirror and carefully examined her neck.
It was smooth, without any marks.
Eighth Aunt stepped back, feeling a sense of exhaustion as the tension suddenly left her body. “Was it just my hallucination?”
“What else could it be?”
Eighth Aunt’s relaxed expression suddenly froze. “Wait, if I was hallucinating, why did Madam Zhang from the maternal family hallucinate too?”
Eighth Uncle felt uneasy but tried to appear nonchalant. “Women are timid. With the sudden thunder in the spirit hall, you were both frightened. Stop thinking about these nonsensical things. Tell me, how are we going to fix this mess you’ve made?”