Tang Ning’s gaze shifted to the three Song family members.
Lady Song was filled with fear and confusion, while Song Old Madam and Song Hong were visibly panicked, especially the old madam, whose face was drained of color. Meeting Tang Ning’s eyes, she instinctively recoiled.
“It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it! They were already dead when they were brought back! she’s lying!” Song Old Madam cried in terror.
Song Hong hurriedly added, “Tang Ning, don’t listen to her nonsense.”
“When the second brother and his wife were brought back to the capital, they were already dead, their bodies mangled. It was Empress Lu who killed them and is trying to frame the Song family to sow discord.”
“We barely know her. How could we help her harm your mother? Don’t believe her lies…”
Tang Ning watched him calmly. “Not familiar? Yet before my grandfather’s death, you conspired with Prince Cheng to drug my aunt, forge my grandfather’s will, and help Empress Lu arrange my betrothal to the Lu family?”
“Not familiar? Yet at her single command, you brought her to dig up my parents’ grave, disturbing their peace in death?”
She fixed her gaze on the ashen-faced Song Old Madam. “I’m curious. Back then, the empress’s men opened the grave, searched for the relic, and left empty-handed. Song Hong didn’t linger either. But you stayed.”
“Not only did you perform rituals and place talismans on your own son and daughter-in-law’s coffin, sealing it shut, but you used a blood curse, as if to bind their souls to the underworld, never to reincarnate.”
“Song Old Madam, what were you afraid of?”
Song Old Madam’s lips trembled. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything, no talismans, I didn’t…”
Bang!
A loud crash came from the grave, like something slamming against the coffin.
Song Old Madam’s eyes widened, and she screamed, collapsing to the ground, trembling. “W-what was that…?”
“It’s from the grave!” Lady Song shrieked. “A ghost!!”
Tang Ning said softly, “Such a loving grandmother. Perhaps my mother and father want to have a word with you…”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pounding grew more intense, as if something was trying to claw out of the coffin, accompanied by a long, eerie crow’s caw.
Not only was Song Old Madam terrified, her face colorless, but Song Hong stumbled and fell, crawling backward, pale with fear.
Lady Song had already fainted at the cry of “ghost.”
Song Hong cowered. “It wasn’t me! I didn’t harm you, sister-in-law, it wasn’t me…”
Bang!! Bang!!!
The pounding grew louder, as if the coffin was about to burst open.
The crows cawed overhead, and the scattered moonlight filtering through the trees was blocked by dark clouds, plunging the eerie forest into pitch blackness, making the crashing sounds even more startling.
Song Old Madam could no longer hold herself together, huddling before the grave, sobbing with snot and tears, her voice shaking like a sieve. “Don’t… don’t come for me… I didn’t mean it…”
“Second son’s wife, I didn’t mean to kill you. I just wanted you to yield. You refused to talk…”
“If you’d spoken, the Song family could’ve allied with the empress. But you clung to the Rong family, entangled with the Crown Prince. If His Majesty knew, he wouldn’t spare the Song family. You insulted me with vile words, so I… I sealed the coffin…”
“I just wanted to scare you. I didn’t mean for you to die…”
The image of her second daughter-in-law’s mangled body flashed before her eyes. The pounding on the coffin filled Song Old Madam with terror, and she pointed at Empress Lu, crying and cursing. “It was the empress! She killed you! Go after her, go after her!!”
Empress Lu was equally shaken. She once feared no ghosts, backed by the Lu family and her position as empress, the most exalted woman in the realm, untouchable by spirits. But now, in her wretched state, her courage was gone. The relentless pounding from the grave made her imagine vengeful ghosts crawling toward her.
Grabbing Song Old Madam, she cursed, “You dare blame me? You wanted to curry favor with me, so you killed Rong Zhen and now try to pin it on me…”
“It was you! You killed my son and drove Tutor Rong to his death.”
“And you’re any better? If you hadn’t coveted wealth, would you have sold your son, daughter-in-law, and Song Tang Ning?!”
“Shut up!!”
“What, afraid of the truth? When Rong Zhen died, Song Tang Ning saw it all. You locked her up like a dog, nearly breaking her mind. If not for you, how could she have relied on Lu Zhinian, letting me arrange that marriage?”
“And you? Bearing a bastard with Prince Cheng, you shameless harlot…”
The two tore into each other, hurling insults and shifting blame with reckless words.
Inside the coffin, Song Jinshu stopped struggling, his bound body trembling, blood on his head chillingly cold. Tang Ning, standing in the woods, heard their words like thunder exploding in her ears.
…
[Mother, Mother, wake up! Mother, I’ll get you out…]
[Tang Ning, Mother can’t make it… You… you leave the Song family. Go find your grandfather… tell him… it was Empress Lu who killed Mother and Father…]
The woman’s body was rotting, her face covered in blood.
She strained to lift her head, her eyes fixed on the little girl before the coffin, reaching to touch her face.
[Little Haitang, don’t be afraid…]
Rong Zhen’s words came in fits and starts, her hand slipping from the girl’s face to her chest.
[Remember what Mother told you about the gift from Aunt Xue’s family… Don’t tell anyone, not even your grandfather…]
Little Tang Ning sobbed, tears streaming down her face. [I remember. Mother said it’s only for big brother… Tang Ning won’t tell anyone else…]
[Good girl…]
Sudden footsteps outside made the woman in the coffin’s face change. Rong Zhen, breathing heavily, urged the girl to hide under the table in the ancestral hall.
[Don’t make a sound. Don’t let them find you.]
Tiny Tang Ning curled up, covering her mouth, watching as Song Old Madam strode in, dressed in a dark blue robe.
She shouted at the woman in the coffin, demanding to know where the relic was, accusing her of colluding with the Crown Prince, then coaxing her with promises of the empress’s favor.
When the woman in the coffin refused to yield, cursing her for aiding tyranny, Song Old Madam, enraged, ordered the coffin sealed.
[You ungrateful wretch, think it over before you come out!]
Song Old Madam left triumphantly with her men.
Rong Zhen’s coffin, made of fine golden nanmu wood to prevent decay, was coated with wax and gold leaf, sealing every gap.
Once the lid was shut, the coffin became an airtight tomb, no air entering.
Scratching sounds emerged, followed by choked, agonized cries.
Young Tang Ning crawled from under the table, sobbing as she tried to push the coffin open. But it was too heavy, locked tight, and her bleeding hands couldn’t budge it.
“Mother…”
“Mother!”
The little girl cried desperately, but the scratching inside faded. She ran out to find help, but the ancestral hall was guarded by a “living corpse,” and Song Old Madam had cleared everyone out.
By the time others heard the commotion and Song Old Madam and Song Hong rushed to open the coffin, its lid was covered in bloody scratch marks.
Inside, Rong Zhen’s face was rigid and blue, her mouth agape, eyes bulging, fingers torn and bloodied…
…
“Mother!”
Tang Ning’s head throbbed unbearably, clutching it tightly.
Xiao Yan reached to steady her, but before he could, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed.
“Tang Ning!”
Catching her in his arms, her face was deathly pale.
Scooping her up, Xiao Yan turned to Cang Lang. “Use any means necessary to pry their mouths open. I want every detail of what happened back then.”=================
You can read ahead to chapterr 470 (100+ extra chapters) here
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