Chapter 187 Curse

Ming Huashang was surprised to hear that the curse that was passed down in the Feng family was actually a curse with ghost connotations. Even Li Huazhang couldn't help but ask, "Who spread this?"

"Everyone is saying that it has spread among the servants now." Jinbao was a little scared and asked in a low voice, "Madam, do you think this curse is true?"

Ming Huashang narrowed her eyes imperceptibly, then smiled and said to Jinbao, "How could that be? Everything depends on human effort. Even the golden statue of the Bodhisattva needs human effort to sculpt it. As long as you do good deeds and behave uprightly, no evil spirits can get close to you. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you."

Jinbao was relieved when she heard this. She put down the last bowl and bowed, saying, "Madam, you are right. I will save myself the trouble. Madam and Erlang, enjoy your meal. I will leave now."

After Jinbao left, Ming Huashang slowly put away the smile on her face and said to Li Huazhang, "I remember when we first came to the Feng family, I heard people mention the curse of Suihou Pearl. I didn't expect that the curse is now more detailed. Whoever gets the Suihou Pearl will have his family members die one after another until the whole family is dead... It's really a greedy curse. When Old Lady Feng wanted to give the Suihou Pearl to us, I refused, and it turned out to be the right thing to do."

Li Huazhang picked up the bowl and served the rice, and replied calmly. Seeing his cold reaction, Ming Huashang said unhappily, "Such a terrible curse, why didn't you react?"

Li Huazhang sighed, "A gentleman does not speak of strange things. The food will get cold soon, let's eat first."

Ming Huashang was in high spirits, and said in amazement, "I have never seen any ancient book that records that Suihou Pearl can bring curses to people. It may be that I have not read many books. Old Master Feng kept Suihou Pearl for so long without any problems. After the theft, strange things happened frequently, and now even the curse of Suihou Pearl has appeared. Is the Feng Shui of this land of Feng family bad?"

Li Huazhang put the bowl in her hand, even put some vegetables on it for her, and just short of feeding the rice into Ming Huachang's mouth. Li Huazhang was like a parent whose child was too greedy to come back for dinner, and said earnestly: "Think about the case later, eat first."

"Such a mysterious thing, aren't you curious?"

"You said that business and personal matters should be separated, and that business matters cannot be discussed at the dinner table." Li Huazhang glanced at her calmly, "Now, who is it that fails to distinguish between business and personal matters and delays the meal?"

Ming Huachang couldn't think of a way to refute him, so she could only eat her rice angrily. When she didn't eat, Li Huazhang was worried that she was hungry, and when she was eating, he was afraid that she would choke: "Eat slowly, be careful of the heat."

After finishing the meal, Ming Huashang couldn't wait to find the Mingyue Pearl that would bring the curse. Li Huazhang put all the bowls, chopsticks and plates into the food box. Jinbao came in to clean up. Seeing Li Huazhang start to work, he hurriedly said, "How can you let Erlangjun do these things? Let this servant do it."

"It's okay, it's a piece of cake." Li Huazhang put the bowl neatly into the food box, and even put the lid on tightly. His movements were smooth and natural, as if he was born to do it. Not only Jinbao felt ashamed, but even Ming Huashang felt a little sorry. Ming Huashang rubbed against Li Huazhang and said flatteringly, "Second brother, you have worked hard. Let me help you wash your hands."

"Need not……"

Ming Huashang held down the pair of beautiful fingers that tried to resist, and without further ado, she immersed them in the water: "You make me look like a piece of waste, don't move, I must help you wash."

Jinbao looked at Erlangjun's hands, which said no but were not struggling hard, and understood what he meant. He took the food box and left silently. After Ming Huashang "helped" Li Huazhang wash his hands, her sleeves were also wet. Li Huazhang sighed and wiped the water stain with a handkerchief, saying, "It's okay if you don't know how to serve people. I can do this kind of thing in the future."

Ming Huashang raised her eyebrows and looked at him with a half-smile: "Who picked me? Blame me. I neglected you too much before. From now on, I will help you wash your hands every day."

The two of them walked out of the room, chatting and laughing. The bailiff guarding the door stepped forward and whispered, "Prince, Princess, Madam Feng is awake."

Mrs. Feng II fainted after seeing Feng Xun's body. When she slowly came to, she saw Mrs. Feng I, Baozhu and others who came to visit her. She immediately remembered what had happened and couldn't help but burst into tears.

When Ming Huashang and Li Huazhang came in, they heard the old comforting voice of Mrs. Feng and the sharp cry of Mrs. Feng: "You are pretending to be kind! You must be very proud now. Erlang is dead, and all the Feng family's property will belong to the eldest wife. I tell you, you killed the old lady and your own brother, and you will definitely be punished in the future!"

Ming Huashang and Li Huazhang looked at each other, and Mrs. Feng's angry voice came from the room: "Why are you like this? I feel sorry for your loss and came to comfort you with good intentions. Why are you slandering me?"

"Don't be so hypocritical. Do you think I don't know that Erlang didn't commit suicide, and it wasn't an accident. You guys killed him!"

At this time, the people in the house noticed that Ming Huashang and Li Huazhang had arrived. Baozhu hurriedly greeted them loudly, interrupting the two women's quarrel as if no one was around: "I have seen Prince Yong and Princess Yong."

Hearing that Prince Yong and Princess Yong were coming, both Mrs. Feng Da and Mrs. Feng Er restrained themselves. Mrs. Feng Da rushed to the door to pay her respects, while Mrs. Feng Er covered her face and cried. Mrs. Feng Da saw that Mrs. Feng Er was just crying, so she gritted her teeth and scolded, "Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Why don't you come and greet the prince and princess?"

"It's okay. It's normal for Second Madam to be overly sad because of Feng Erlang's accident. We came here to comfort Second Madam." Ming Huashang walked into the inner room and said, "Second Madam, please accept my condolences. We were so scared when we saw you faint just now. Are you okay?"

Seeing Ming Huachang being so reasonable, all the people in the Feng family praised her for her kindness, but the second wife of Feng was the only one who showed a dull reaction. Not only did her husband die, but her future life was ruined. It turned out that even if the old lady Feng died, as long as Feng Xun was still there, she could still fight for the power of the housekeeper. But Feng Xun also died soon after, and the Feng family should naturally be handed over to Feng Kun. Then what right did the second wife of Feng have to manage the inner house? Naturally, it should be handed over to the first wife of Feng.

This was like the sky falling for Mrs. Feng. Not only did she lose her power, but her future life became a problem. With no food, clothing, shelter or transportation, how could Mrs. Feng have the mood to flatter the princess?

Ming Huashang watched but didn't care. She took the initiative to sit beside Mrs. Feng's bed and asked about her health: "Second Madam, you must take care of yourself. You are still young and have a long life ahead of you. You can't ruin your body because of temporary grief. If Feng Erlang were still here, he wouldn't want to see you so depressed."

It would have been fine if Feng Erlang had not been mentioned. As soon as he was mentioned, Mrs. Feng Er's emotions became excited again. With the temperament of the first wife and her husband, she didn't know how they would torture her in the future. Anyway, she had no future to live. Mrs. Feng Er didn't care that the family's shame should not be exposed. She cried in front of Prince Yong and Princess Yong: "Prince, Princess, I am stupid. No matter how much I learn etiquette, I can't do it right. I can't speak out when I am bullied. I have always heard that you two are wise. Please make the decision for me."

Ming Huashang asked concernedly, "What's wrong?"

Madam Feng Er grabbed Ming Huashang's hand tightly and said in a sharp voice: "Prince and Princess, you must be careful. Erlang's death was definitely not an accident. He must have been murdered!"

Madam Feng's eyebrows twitched fiercely, and she said hurriedly, "Princess, please forgive me for making fun of you. My second brother's wife is unwilling to accept the reality. She has gone crazy and is just talking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart. The door of the waterside pavilion is locked inwards, and no one can get in. She must have drunk too much and fell into the water."

Madam Feng II said angrily, "Erlang is not a person who likes to drink too much. He has always been very cautious. How could he get drunk and fall into the water? Someone must have killed him last night and locked the door in some way to make it look like an accident. Prince Yong, Princess Yong, please help me!"

Seeing that Second Madam Feng was actually starting to mess around, First Madam Feng sneered, "Well, let's put aside the fact that outsiders can't bolt the door from the inside. You were the last person to see Second Uncle last night, right?"

Although Mrs. Feng Er was sad, her mind was not in a trance. She immediately cleared herself of suspicion: "Erlang went out at 12:00, and my maid talked to him at 12:00. During that time, I was in the room taking care of the household chores. All the maids can testify to this."

Madam Feng said, "Don't worry about what your maid is looking for him for. It means that Second Uncle fell into the water after midnight, right?"

Mrs. Feng II was cautious and said nothing, which was considered as tacit agreement. Mrs. Feng I smiled smugly and said, "The old lady just died, I was afraid of bad luck, so I had the door locked after dinner at twelfth hour, and prohibited people from entering or leaving. Dalang and I were in the room the whole time, and the servants in the courtyard can testify. The death of the second uncle has nothing to do with us."

The maids around Mrs. Feng said yes, and they could also testify to each other that no one went out after the 12:00 p.m. last night. Mrs. Feng was stunned. She stared at Mrs. Feng, trying to see what tricks the first wife was playing. Suddenly she thought of something and looked at Baozhu fiercely: "That's you! The first wife must have wanted to seize the family property. They killed the old lady first and then killed Erlang. The first wife said a long time ago that they would take you as a concubine. You are in cahoots with them and conspired with them to kill the old lady and Erlang!"

When Madam Feng and Madam Feng II were arguing, Baozhu stood aside with her head down, trying to reduce her presence. She didn't expect that she would still be implicated. Baozhu bowed to everyone and said, "Madam, I am lowly, but I am innocent. How can I take a concubine? I am alive now because of the old lady's favor. If the old lady dies, what good will it do to me? Besides, our courtyard was locked up early last night. I was checking the rooms in the courtyard at 3 o'clock in the evening. The maids in the courtyard can testify. How can it be related to Erlang's accident?"

Feng Kun and First Madam Feng locked the door before Feng Lu went out, so Second Madam Feng had nothing to say. However, Baozhu came after Feng Lu, so Second Madam Feng held on tightly and said, "You were supposed to check the room at 3:00 p.m., but who knows what you did before that? It's also possible that you pushed Erlang into the water and deliberately showed up in front of people at 3:00 p.m. to put on an act."

Baozhu said helplessly, "Second Madam, Erlang was still talking to someone on Xuzheng day. If he was going to die, he would die after Xuzheng day. Even if I had wings, I wouldn't have time to run from the old lady's yard to the waterside pavilion in a cup of tea, drown Erlang, lock the door from the inside, swim out of the water, dry the clothes, and come back to check on the room."

Even if Mrs. Feng II was going to be angry, she had to admit that Baozhu had too little time to kill anyone. Mrs. Feng II looked around. She knew that her husband's death was related to someone present, but she couldn't find out who it was. She was overwhelmed with grief and couldn't help crying with her hands covering her face.

This time she was truly devastated. Ming Huashang sighed and said to the rest of the people in the room, "I will just say a few words to comfort the Second Madam. You can go out first."

After Ming Huashang spoke, Mrs. Feng couldn't say anything. But she was fearless, so she glanced at Mrs. Feng and left first. After Mrs. Feng left, Baozhu bowed to Li Huazhang, Ming Huashang, and Mrs. Feng in turn, and left quietly. Then came the maids, the old women, and the housekeeper's wife who came to comfort or to watch the excitement.

Finally, Li Huazhang was the only one left in the room. Ming Huashang shook her head at Li Huazhang, indicating that it would be easier to ask him questions when he was not around. Li Huazhang could only say, "I'm outside. Call me if you need anything."

After everyone left, Ming Huashang said, "Second Madam, we are the only ones in the room now, you can tell me the truth. Do you think Feng Erlang's death was an accident?"

Mrs. Feng was filled with grief and said excitedly, "Absolutely not! How can such a coincidence happen? The old lady just died the other day, and Erlang fell into the water last night. The accident cannot just happen to the two of them. There must be someone hiding behind it!"

Ming Huashang asked: "Who do you think murdered Old Lady Feng and Erlang?"

Mrs. Feng frowned, moved her lips, and said bluntly: "I don't know. This thief is very cunning. I don't know what method he used to leave no trace. But the eldest wife benefited the most, so it must be related to them!"

There is no doubt that Feng Kun was the person who benefited the most from the deaths of Old Lady Feng and Feng Xun. If he killed his father and brother in order to seize the family property, his motives would make sense. Ming Huashang asked, "Did Feng Erlang really go out on a whim last night?"

Mrs. Feng said, "I can't say. Everything was fine during the meal. After the meal, we were talking and I could sense that he was distracted. I told him to be careful of poisoning, but he got angry for some reason and left after scolding me. Later, I sent someone to invite him back, but he refused to come back. I don't know what happened."

Mrs. Feng Er recalled what happened during this period. It was a mess and terrible. She sighed deeply and said in despair: "What's the point of talking about this now? Even if I know that the ghost is in the first house, what can I do? Erlang is dead. I have no hope in this life. It's all fate. Maybe the rumor is right. This is the curse of the spirit snake. Whoever gets the Suihou Pearl will be unlucky."

Ming Huashang heard about Suihouzhu again, and she asked, "Second Madam, where did this saying come from? Why do you say Suihouzhu has a curse?"

"I don't know either. Ever since the old lady got into trouble, everyone in the mansion has been spreading rumors. If it weren't for the evil spirit snake, how could the Feng family have lost so many lives one after another?"

Ming Huashang thought for a moment and asked, "Second Madam, did you and Erlang know about the existence of Suihouzhu a long time ago? Did the first wife know about it before?"

Mrs. Feng said, "Now that things have come to this, there is no need for me to hide anything. We have long known that the old lady has hidden a priceless jewel, and the first wife should not know about it. Given the character of that couple, if they had known about it earlier, they would have definitely made it known to everyone. The old lady was afraid of bringing trouble to the family, so she only told Erlang and asked us to keep it a secret from the first wife."

"Since Old Lady Feng was also afraid of getting into trouble, why did she admit to the outside world a few days ago that the Feng family had the Suihou Pearl?"

"It's all because of the threatening letter from the Thief." Mrs. Feng II sighed, "All the trouble started with this letter. If only the Thief hadn't come."

Judging from the look on Mrs. Feng's face, she really believed that the letter on Old Lady Feng's bedside table was left by the thief. Ming Huashang said nothing, but asked, "Then do you know where Old Lady Feng bought the Suihou Pearl?"

Mrs. Feng frowned, "I don't know about the old lady's affairs. I only heard Erlang mention that the old lady emptied her savings to buy the Suihou Pearl. Even so, we got a bargain. If the normal price of the Suihou Pearl was used, even if ten Feng families were put in, they wouldn't be able to afford it."

Ming Huashang asked, "Why? The Suihou Pearl is so valuable, its previous owner must have treasured it. How could it be sold at less than one-tenth of the price?"

"I don't know about that. It happened almost ten years ago. I'm afraid only the housekeeper knows the inside story. I only heard that it seemed that the family encountered bandits when they were out doing business. All the people in the caravan died, and the goods were also stolen by the bandits. The owner of the goods must have been dissatisfied and went to the house to collect the debt. The couple was in the caravan, and there was only a young child left at home. The young master couldn't take care of it, so the old servant took the initiative to sell the family property and paid off the debt for the young master. The old lady happened to be nearby at that time, so she bought the Suihou Pearl."

Ming Huashang sighed after hearing this: "What a tragedy. Do you remember the name of this family?"

"I don't remember. I wasn't married at that time, but I heard from my classmates that we should not go on mountain roads recently. I vaguely remember that the family's surname was Wei. Later, when I married into the Feng family, I learned that my father-in-law had also experienced this and got such a big advantage."

Ming Huashang nodded and sighed, "Isn't it? Second Madam, there is one more thing I want to ask you for help. Old Lady Feng just died, and Feng Erlang had an accident. If we don't investigate thoroughly, we won't be able to convince the public. So the prince wants the coroner to open the body and check whether Feng Erlang drowned accidentally. After that, the coroner will sew up the incision to ensure that it won't be visible during the burial. You are Feng Rong's wife, and you have the final say on this matter. What do you think?"

At the moment, the emphasis was on leaving the body intact for burial, so the family members were generally very reluctant to open the body, but if it wasn't opened, the coroner couldn't do an autopsy. Madam Feng II hesitated for a moment, then sighed, "Forget it, the person is dead, why bother about whether it's auspicious to open the body. Your Highness, please investigate if you want to. If you can find the murderer, I'll be very grateful."

Ming Huashang let out a long sigh of relief and said from the bottom of her heart, "Thank you for your understanding, Madam. Please have a good rest, I will not disturb you. If you remember any clues, please ask the maid to go to Zhaixing Tower. There are the yamen runners left by the prince. We will come to find you as soon as we know."

Mrs. Feng Er accepted and thanked Ming Huashang. After Ming Huashang came out, Li Huazhang came over and asked, "How is it?"

"She agreed to open Feng Lu's body for an autopsy. There are also some clues, but I don't know if they are useful." Ming Huashang said, "Let's go find the butler first."