Chapter Eighty-Six: The Haunted House (19)

His sudden honesty took Su Man by surprise.

“What nonsense are you spouting, child? Don’t talk such rubbish! Oh, my precious grandson, how can you say such things?” Suddenly, his grandmother appeared in the room, concern etched on her face as she hurried over to caress her eldest grandson’s cheek. Both anxious and angry, she shouted at Su Man, “What are you doing? Let go of my grandson at once!”

She frantically tried to pry Su Man’s dagger away, but the blade seemed almost possessed, embedding itself even deeper. Qian Ji’s voice twisted in pain, while his grandmother, helpless and terrified, dared not move further and could only scold Su Man incessantly. “Little Ji is just a child. How could you do such a thing to a child?”

“Just a child? Are you sure your mind is sound?” Su Man looked at her as if she were a fool. “He just admitted with his own mouth that he killed your son.”

“No, no, it's just that Little Ji was so frightened by you that he started talking nonsense! My son was killed by that wretched woman!” Hearing Su Man’s words, she nearly lunged forward to tear her apart, but her cowardice kept her rooted in place, trembling where she stood.

“Fine, so you say it was Lady Jinghua who killed them. Then tell us exactly how she managed it. Why would Lady Jinghua want to kill them all? Even her own daughter?” Su Man didn’t bother arguing, instead forcing her to recount what had really happened that day.

The old woman’s eyes flickered, her voice feeble despite her forced bravado. “What else could it be? She... she just couldn’t bear the shame of being called a mistress. She always claimed she was my son’s true wife. She wasn’t right in the head—do crazy people need a reason to kill?” The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she seemed to feel for her son. “My son was such an outstanding man. Even if, just for argument’s sake, he wronged her—which he didn’t, but let’s say he did—even then, didn’t he bring her here to enjoy a life of luxury? What did she have to be unhappy about? The wealth and status my son could offer her were things she could never have dreamed of!”

“So, Grandma, she really was my father’s original wife, and my mother and I are the ones who came later?” Qian Ji knew his grandmother’s ways well—her arguing was just a cover-up, meaning everything she’d said before was true.

“No, Little Ji... Oh, my tongue slipped, that’s not... Little Ji, listen to Grandma...” she stammered.

“I don’t want excuses. Just tell me—were my mother and I the ones who came after?” Qian Ji cut her off with a shrill, angry demand.

His grandmother hadn’t expected him to turn on her so suddenly, and she was left at a loss.

“Little Ji, listen to Grandma. Your father just... He only... Your mother was wealthier... No, that’s not it... Oh, Little Ji, blame Grandma for wronging you!” As her explanations grew more tangled, she simply collapsed to the floor, wailing in a fit of self-pity.

But Su Man and Qian Ji both understood now. Jinghua really had been the original wife. His father had abandoned her and Qian Ji’s mother for money and ambition. The truth was undeniable.

Qian Ji seemed deeply shaken. For two seconds, he stared blankly, then suddenly burst into wild laughter.

“It’s all a lie, all of it. No wonder Mother hated me so much. No wonder that woman hated me too.” His laughter soon turned to tears. “Everyone hates me. I never should have been born.”

“Little Ji, Little Ji, that’s not true, Grandma and your father both love you.” Seeing Qian Ji in this unraveling state, his grandmother forgot her own tears and scrambled to comfort him. “Look, your name means ‘Beloved Ji,’ it was Grandma who chose it! You’re Grandma’s precious grandson.”

“Ha, it’s all a lie. What if I weren’t your precious grandson? What if, like Ai Ji, I had been born a girl? Would you still love me then?” A bleak smile flitted across Qian Ji’s young face, as though in that instant, he understood everything.

His grandmother fell silent, unable to answer. How could she? The family needed a boy, a boy to carry on the line, to tend the ancestral rites. Without a boy, how could things go on?

Sometimes silence speaks louder than words—Qian Ji knew her answer.

But it didn’t matter anymore.

“Grandma, then you didn’t die in vain.”

Qian Ji slumped to the ground, defeated. “I used to feel a twinge of guilt toward you. After all, before you died, you still tried to protect me, telling me to leave the room and run away.”

“Little Ji, what do you mean? What are you saying? Grandma doesn’t understand.”

“What’s so hard to understand? He killed you too.” Su Man, unable to resist, interjected with a cold sneer. “Now that you say you never loved him, he doesn’t feel so guilty after all.”

After a moment, she corrected herself, “Actually, he probably never felt guilty in the first place.”

If he’d truly felt guilt, he would never have chosen to kill.

“Is that so? Little Ji, how could you say that? Grandma was so good to you...” The old woman stood there, stunned. She really had treated him well, always afraid he’d go hungry or cold. She had never shown Ai Ji a kind face, but never treated Little Ji that way.

Qian Ji didn’t bother answering. Wasn’t it only to be expected? He was the only boy in the family. Hadn’t she just said it herself? Her kindness was only because he was a boy. Now, with everything laid bare, what was the point?

He was furious. “You’re one of the main reasons my mother died. You deserve to die!” His mother had always been frail, unable to withstand stress, but this old woman constantly berated her—about the house, about meals, always finding fault. That was why his mother died so young, why he grew up motherless, why someone else moved into their home.

His grandmother still tried to plead her case. “Grandma really does love you, Little Ji. Think of how good I’ve been to you...”

Qian Ji clicked his tongue in irritation, cutting her off. “If you really love me, you’d do anything for me, wouldn’t you?”

She hesitated for a moment.

Qian Ji continued, “If I died, there would be no one left to carry on the family line. It would end with me. Is that what you want?”

She shook her head wildly. “Little Ji, you can’t do that! You can’t die! What would become of our family then? How would I face our ancestors?”

“Then die for me, one more time.” Qian Ji’s words were blunt and merciless, as though the woman before him was no longer his grandmother at all.

“What? Ah...” She could hardly believe what she was hearing.

“If you’re unwilling, then you must want me to die right in front of you.” Qian Ji sneered, then turned to Su Man. “If you’re going to do it, then do it quickly!”