Chapter 55: Chapter Forty-Eight: Do Them All

“Could someone be stronger than you?” Qing Shu’s hand trembled: “Sister, you’ve got to protect me!”

“I’m not invincible, Brother—you shouldn’t overestimate me,” said the purple-clad woman, shaking her head. “They may have given you this punishment as the end… or this may be only the first step, and more is coming. No one knows.”

Qing Shu’s face turned pale.

The purple-clad woman stared into Qing Shu’s eyes and spoke slowly: “If you want to avoid disaster, the best thing is to obey me without question.”

Qing Shu took a deep breath: “I’ll listen! I’ll do exactly as you say, Sister!”

He forced a smile, helped the purple-clad woman sit back down, then asked: “Sister, what should I do?”

“Who exactly have you offended lately?”

“Uh…” Qing Shu’s face flushed with embarrassment.

The purple-clad woman’s eyes held a hint of mockery: “Hmph. Do you not remember, or have you swindled so many people you’ve lost count?”

“N-not that many… And I’m careful—even if I cheated a bit, ordinary people wouldn’t notice…”

“Tell me everything!” the purple-clad woman snapped, furious at her brother’s greed and stupidity. “If you want to avoid disaster, recount every single thing you’ve done recently—every last one!”

“Don’t hide a single thing! If you omit even one, and we miss the real clue, I won’t be able to save you when they kill you!”

Though embarrassed, Qing Shu, after her stern warning, finally spoke up reluctantly.

In a few moments, he revealed three recent “businesses” where he had swindled money through deception.

The purple-clad woman listened without expression, coldly saying: “Keep going. I don’t believe that’s all.”

“Well… there’s one more—Master Fang Da Hai.” Qing Shu looked nervously at his sister.

The purple-clad woman frowned, glaring at Qing Shu: “Master Fang? What did you do to him?”

“I… I performed a ritual for him—in his, uh, that haunted house. You know the one, Sister.” Qing Shu’s voice grew weaker as he spoke, his guilt mounting.

“Of course I know! When Master Fang bought that haunted house, I was the one who performed the ritual to cleanse it! What I want to know is this: I cleared away all the yin and malevolent energy! Why, out of the blue, did he ask you to perform another ritual there?”

Qing Shu’s face turned red; his eyes darted away nervously.

The purple-clad woman fixed him with a piercing stare: “Last month, Master Fang came to me—he said the year-end was near and wanted me to prepare some small blessing charms to give as gifts.

I was tied up with affairs in the northern prefecture and couldn’t help him, so I thought: making small blessing charms is simple enough—you could handle it. That’s why I referred him to you… What exactly did you do?”

I was summoned to handle affairs in the northern prefecture and couldn’t break away, so I thought making a small blessing offering would be something you could easily agree to—that’s why I introduced General Fang to you… What exactly did you do?

“Speak!” The purple-clad woman’s face was icy.

“I…” Qing Shu’s face tightened, flushed crimson, then bowed his head and whispered: “I saw the blessing charms were a small business, not profitable enough. Master Fang looked rich, so I… I… slipped him a little trick.”

“A little trick?” The purple-clad woman laughed bitterly. “Brother, you’re being modest. What exactly did you do to Master Fang?”

“I… I gave him a box of the [Bone-Burning Incense] I made myself…”

“….” The purple-clad woman’s face turned ashen. She glared at Qing Shu in fury. After a long silence, her voice trembled with rage as she bit out: “Fine! Brother, you really know how to make money! So you gave Master Fang the Bone-Burning Incense—he lit it, and naturally, the resentment affected him, causing him to suffer minor illnesses and misfortunes?

Then you pretended it was the haunted house’s doing, tricked him into paying you again to perform another ritual?

Brother, your methods are truly brilliant!”

The purple-clad woman sneered a few times, then suddenly stilled, fixing Qing Shu with a cold, piercing gaze: “Brother, I know you’re greedy. You cheat people and feel no guilt—you’ve always been like this with outsiders.

But I want to ask you: when you used this trick on Master Fang, did you ever consider it might affect me?”

Qing Shu stayed silent, head bowed.

“Master Fang was introduced to you by me. If he uncovers your trick, he’ll turn against me too. Have you thought of that?

Even if your trick is clever and he remains fooled—

I bet you told him his misfortunes were caused by the haunted house, right?

But that haunted house—I was the one who purified it originally!

You’re my brother, yet you told him my ritual was poorly done. Where does that leave me?”

The purple-clad woman took a deep breath: “I once thought you were greedy and heartless toward others, but at least you respected and considered me, your little sister. I never imagined that before money, you’d treat even me the same—selling me out without a second thought.”

The woman in purple said this, then took a deep breath: “I once thought you might be greedy and unscrupulous toward others, but at least you’d show respect and consideration for your junior sister. I never expected that, before money, you’d treat everyone equally—even sell out your own little sister.”

As she rushed toward the teahouse door, Qing Shu scrambled after her, fell to his knees, and grabbed the hem of her qipao!

Qing Shu shouted loudly: “Sister! Sister! I’m wrong!! I’m wrong!! Please, you must save me!!”

“…You!” The purple-clad woman, caught by her skirt, dared not pull away for fear of tearing it, so she stopped, coldly ordering: “Let go!”

“No! Sister, only you can save me now! I swear this is the last time! Brother truly regrets it! I—”

The purple-clad woman’s skirt was tugged; a flush rose on her face. She stamped her foot: “Let go!”

“Please, Sister, show me the way out!” Qing Shu pleaded pitifully—he was truly terrified!

This man’s greatest shield in his scams had always been this sister, whom he saw as immensely powerful. If even she abandoned him…

Just now, she’d said the opponent had merely summoned a bit of yin energy to attract snakes, insects, and rodents.

What if they’d used blood-evil energy instead?

What if there was another step coming?

The purple-clad woman narrowed her eyes, studying Qing Shu for a moment, then took a slow, deep breath and bit out: “Let go… first.”

The woman in purple frowned at Uncle Qing for a moment, then slowly exhaled and gritted her teeth: “You… let go first, then talk.”

“…Hmph!”

Qing Shu finally released his grip. The purple-clad woman turned and walked back to sit at the tea table.

“Continue. What else did you do?”

“No, really, that’s all now.” Qing Shu shook his head quickly. “I swear, this time it’s truly all—during your absence, I only did the three things I just told you.”

The purple-clad woman looked at the purple bruises on Qing Shu’s forehead: “What happened to your face?”

“This… some people came after me—sent a few thugs to ambush me…”

The purple-clad woman sneered: “Good! I bet someone saw through your trick and sent people to beat you. Do you really think everyone here is a fool?

You like swindling the rich because they spend freely—but don’t you realize? When powerful people catch you, their revenge is far more brutal.”

Qing Shu dared not argue, only bowed repeatedly, begging for help.

The purple-clad woman closed her eyes, thinking: “The master behind this move is hidden. To resolve this, you must make peace.”

“Make peace? But we need to find out who did this first, right?”

“You won’t find them.” The purple-clad woman sneered. “They’re hidden among them. Since you can’t find them, you must make peace with everyone.”

“You won’t find him,” the woman in purple sneered. “He’s definitely hiding among them. Since you can’t find him, eliminate them all to quell the matter!”

“All the money you swindled from the cases you just described—return it all tomorrow. Say your skills are insufficient, you dare not accept payment. Return every cent.”

Qing Shu froze: “All of it? That’s a lot—three cases, tens of thousands! I’ve already lost so much recently…”

The purple-clad woman sneered: “If you’d rather have money than your life, go ahead.”

Qing Shu grimaced: “Fine… I’ll return the money.”

The purple-clad woman continued slowly: “As for Master Fang—I’ll go meet him myself. I’ll handle the compensation. You’ll pay.”

Qing Shu dared not refuse and nodded reluctantly.

“And the assault case.” The purple-clad woman paused. “Go tomorrow and drop the charges. Settle privately. I’m certain someone you swindled sent those thugs out of anger. Resolve this too.”

“That’s unnecessary!” Qing Shu protested. “A few thugs beating me up—versus a master using occult arts against me—they’re clearly different! They’re not the same people!”

“Sister, I understand we must fear the hidden master—I’m willing to endure it! But those three brats? Just lowlife thugs! Can’t I even get some revenge? Didn’t you see how they humiliated me? They cut off my hair!”

Seeing Qing Shu’s indignation, the purple-clad woman realized she couldn’t push him further. She shook her head: “Fine. Let you handle that one.”

She rose again: “Brother, it’s late. I’m leaving now. From now on, watch yourself.”

Seeing Uncle Qing’s bitter resentment, the woman in purple realized she couldn’t push him too far; she shook her head: “Fine, let you handle this matter as you wish.”

In the morning, Chen Yan woke up, sat on the bed, and stared blankly for a moment.

He instinctively pinched his fingers and calculated his fortune with qi and yun numbers—finding nothing unusual—he got up to wash up.

Leaving the luxurious master bedroom, he walked downstairs to the first-floor living room—and saw a graceful female figure seated cross-legged on the sofa, meditating.

Her spine was straight, her long neck and back forming a single line. Thick black hair was braided into a single plait resting to one side. Her hands rested flat on her knees, palms up, fingers forming a mudra.

Seeing her silhouette, Chen Yan’s scalp prickled.

Dammit… he still found this absurd—how had he ended up with a mother?

The villa had underfloor heating; the room was warm as spring. Gu Qingyi wore no thick cotton coat.

Now she wore only a thin cashmere sweater, snug against her body—her curves clearly outlined from behind.

Chen Yan carefully averted his gaze.

She wore only a thin cashmere sweater, tightly fitted, and from behind, her figure’s curves were rendered utterly alluring.

He couldn’t help mentally groaning: What the hell kind of situation is this?

Thought it was an arranged childhood marriage—turns out she’s my dead father’s lawful wife.

And she’s this beautiful… and now she lives with me…

What kind of tropes are these?! Look at this!

Stepmother, widow, beautiful woman, cohabiting…

This doesn’t look like a normal story—it’s racing straight toward some hentai route!

What kind of sick author could write such a ridiculous plot?!

It looked nothing like a proper story—it was clearly racing headlong toward some kind of hentai route!

【PS: Yeah, when I lose my mind, I even curse myself…】

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[PS: Yes, when I lose control, I even curse myself...]

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