Chapter 60. "Wenqing." Outside the study door...

"Wenqing." Just then, his mother, Madam He's voice rang out from outside the study.

He Wenqing covered her face before asking, "What's wrong, Mother?"

Madam He walked in carrying a plate of pastries. Thinking He Wenqing was reading, she smiled and said, "Didn't you say the other day that you wanted to eat this pastry that your mother made by hand? I had some free time today, so I made some. Try it while it's hot."

He Wenqing accepted it and thanked Madam He.

Madam He, however, did not leave immediately. Remembering something, she asked, "Wenqing, I heard that you got into a fight with Wei Yin's cousin last night. Is that true?"

He Wenqing felt ashamed and did not want Madam He to know about this, so he denied it, saying, "There is no such thing. Mother, please don't worry. There are many people in the mansion, and it is inevitable that rumors will spread."

"That's good." Madam He said irritably, "I heard that my cousin Wei Yin is only sixteen years old, but he has a very strange personality. He only hides in his own courtyard to read books every day. How did Wei Yin bring such a person to our mansion? If he really dares to hurt you, I will not let him off."

"Mother, don't worry." He Wenqing was so flustered by the unbelievable events that he had no mind to deal with it. Afraid that Madam He would ask any irrelevant questions, he said directly, "I have nothing to do with that Lu Hun."

He was about to tell Madam He to go back and rest, but then he saw that Madam He had suddenly become dazed.

He Wenqing asked in confusion, "Mother, what's wrong?"

Suddenly, Madam He grabbed his hand. The noblewoman asked, her emotions fluctuating, "Wenqing, what did you just say? What... Lu Hun?"

"Is that Wei Yin's cousin? His name is Lu Hun, isn't it?" He Wenqing quickly noticed that something was wrong with her mother. "Mother, what's wrong?"

Madam He's face paled for a moment, but when she realized that He Wenqing was looking at her, she immediately suppressed her emotions and shook her head at him as calmly as possible, "...It's nothing. I misheard and thought it was someone my mother knows."

He Wenqing had something on his mind, but he didn't suspect anything. He personally helped Madam He out of the study. As soon as Madam He left and He Wenqing sat down, one of his trusted attendants came over.

He replied, "My lord, it is said that the young mistress wrote a letter last night and had her dowry servants deliver it to the Wei family overnight."

After pondering for a moment, He Wenqing understood that Wei Yin had written this to Wei's father out of fear that they wouldn't be able to get a divorce.

His face turned completely cold.

"Go after them, secretly retrieve the letter, and don't let it be delivered to the Wei family."

Good, good, it seems she's really considering divorce for the sake of Lu Hun.

Don't even think about it.

He would never allow her to be with Lu Hun in a compromising situation!

She was He Wenqing's person in life and in death.

A deep sense of grief, anger, and murderous intent had already arisen in He Wenqing's eyes. "Take my invitation and go to the city to invite some experts back, experts who can exorcise ghosts—"

Unbeknownst to He Wenqing, Madam He, who had just emerged from his study, was covered in cold sweat, her face deathly pale, and she rushed back in a flustered and anxious manner. When the maids and servants brought her tea, she coldly rebuked them.

She slowly slumped into the chair at the head of the table, her chest heaving with heavy breathing.

I gazed at the begonia branch inserted in the vase nearby.

Won't……

No...

It couldn't be his; she witnessed him die in the fire.

But why does his cousin Wei Yin look so much like him? They even share the same surname, Lu, and the same name, Lu Hun?

Madam He closed her eyes.

It was a snowy day. She came alone, accompanied only by a trusted old woman, to the Lu family's house with a large locust tree. In the old woman's arms lay a baby still in swaddling clothes. The baby was quiet, with delicate features, neither crying nor making a fuss.

The old women all said, "I have never seen such a well-behaved child who doesn't cry. When the eldest son was born, he cried and fussed all the time and wouldn't let anyone hold him except the madam."

Madam He's eyes remained expressionless; she simply waved her hand impatiently at the old woman, "Don't say anything, or someone will hear."

The woman who opened the door was a young woman who was pregnant. She had a dignified and gentle appearance. She was taken aback when she saw Madam He, but quickly asked with a puzzled smile, "Madam, is there anything I can help you with?"

Madam He didn't pay much attention to it, and only asked, "Is this the Lu family's residence, Lu Mingli's residence?"

The young woman, Madam Lu, said blankly, "He is indeed my husband."

Madam He then said, "Go tell Lu Mingli to come out."

For some reason, Madam Lu glanced unconsciously at the child in Madam He's arms. The child was adorable and even smiled at her. Although Madam Lu sensed something was wrong, she still supported her pregnant belly and went inside to call her husband.

Lu Mingli staggered as he walked out. He was a young man in his early twenties, with a good appearance and a tall stature. He looked refined and elegant, but when he saw Madam He, his eyes widened in shock.

But he forcibly suppressed his anger and said to his wife, Madam Lu, without showing any emotion, "Yun'er, it's snowing heavily outside. You should go inside. I want to have a word with this lady alone."

Mrs. Lu left with a smile.

Seeing this, Lu Mingli, who had just been all tenderness, now turned extremely cold towards Madam He. "What are you doing here? Please go back. I don't want to see you."

Madam He smiled calmly and touched Lu Mingli's face with her hand. "Mr. Lu, you are too heartless. That night on my bed, you were not like this at all. You held me so tightly back then. You were really powerful. Even my husband, who is used to playing the field, is not as capable as you. I still remember it vividly."

Hearing Madam He's words, Lu Mingli was trembling with rage. "You woman! You shameless woman! That night you clearly got me drunk and lit aphrodisiacs in the room, I..."

"Don't say that," Madam He interrupted with a sneer. "So what? You should blame yourself for not being able to hold your liquor. You got all confused after just a few drinks."

Lu Mingli was speechless.

He clenched his fist silently, then sneered in response, "Even though you've gone to such lengths, your husband knows all along, yet he still doesn't care about you at all. Madam He, it's pathetic that you've become such a wife."

As if a sore spot had been hit, Madam He almost instinctively raised her hand to slap the other person.

Lu Mingli took a step back, calmed himself for a moment, and then asked, "Madam He, what exactly do you want to do here today? If you dare to harm Yun'er, I will tear off all pretenses and make sure you suffer!"

"Don't worry," Madam He said without any interest. "I simply brought your son to you."

She pointed to the swaddled baby in the old woman's arms.

Lu Mingli's face turned particularly ugly, and he couldn't believe it. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"To tell you the truth, I became pregnant after that night with you. My health has been poor these past few years, and if I didn't keep the baby, something bad would happen to both of us, so I gave birth to him," Madam He said.

Lu Mingli's face turned even uglier, his whole body trembled, he swayed as if about to collapse, and he stared wide-eyed at the quiet child in front of him.

Madam He continued, “Don’t worry, no one in the He family knows, so you won’t be in any trouble. You know I have a husband and a son, and I can’t keep him by my side, so I can only bring him to you. I know you’re still childless at your age, so I’m not treating you unfairly for that fleeting moment of affection.”

Lu Mingli stared at the woman with bloodshot eyes, "What did you say?! Who wants him? Who wants him? Even if Yun'er and I never have any children in our lives, we don't need your son! Take him away! Take him away! He's not my son, he's not!"

Ignoring his anger, Madam He forcefully took the child from the old woman's arms and shoved it into Lu Mingli's arms. Lu Mingli pushed it back, so Madam He had no choice but to press it into his arms again.

Seeing his reluctance, she threatened:

"Lu Mingli, you have to have him whether you want him or not. Let me tell you, I'm giving him to you today, so I'm not doing him any disservice. As for what you want to do with him, do as you please. But I'm warning you, if you dare to send him back to the He family, or let anyone find out who his mother is, I will make sure your Lu family and your wife die without a burial place. If you don't believe me, then go ahead and try."

"No." Lu Mingli was still reluctant. "If I take this child back, how am I supposed to explain it to my wife? Huh? She'll know about that night we... We've been a loving couple for so many years, and she's pregnant now. She can't bear it!"

"Why don't you just tell her that you picked up this child from outside?"

"You!" Lu Mingli roared, his eyes red with anger, "You poisonous woman! My wife and I are a loving couple, why would you scheme against me like this? You want to ruin our marriage? Just because you and your wife are not getting along, you can't stand seeing Yun'er and me happy. You poisonous woman, poisonous woman! Shameless poisonous woman! Take your poisonous woman's son back, take him back!"

The child was hurt as the two pushed and shoved each other, and could no longer hold back, sobbing softly.

Realizing something, he gripped Madam He's clothes tightly with his little hands, seemingly unwilling to leave his mother's side.

But Madam He showed no mercy and cracked his little fists open.

Even the old woman beside her couldn't stand it anymore and said softly, "Madam, this child doesn't have a name yet. You are his birth mother after all, so you should give this child a name."

Madam He was impatient. She needed to rush back to take care of her son, He Wenqing. If she lingered here for too long, it would arouse suspicion.

Looking at the towering locust tree that stretched out from the wall in the Lu family's courtyard, she said, "Let's call it Huai, and it will take its father's surname, Lu."

The old woman frowned: "Madam, this is too casual. It's still your own flesh and blood..."

Madam He was furious and said impatiently, "If Huai is no good, then let's name him Lu Hun! He's like a persistent ghost, a child who shouldn't have been born into my womb!"

The old woman dared not say anything more, fearing that if Madam He got angry, she would even lose the name. But to name a living child as "soul" was really an ominous sign.

Will he die young?

The old woman was startled by her own thought. She looked at the infant in Lu Mingli's arms with pity. Although the baby was still crying, it was only sobbing quietly, as if afraid of disturbing others...