freenovelworld Chapter 117 The Corpse Under the White Sheet
Chapter 117 The Corpse Under the White Sheet
Upon hearing this, Qiao Jizhou's eyes turned bloodshot, and his face was filled with rage.
"What!?"
Granny Gui stepped forward and quietly recounted the affair between Wukong and Aunt Chen in detail.
Qiao Jizhou was so angry that he roared wildly.
"You slut! I knew you went to that dilapidated temple to burn incense every month. I really thought you were praying for your son's well-being. Turns out you were cheating on me!"
Aunt Chen's face had turned deathly pale with fright. Knowing she was in deep trouble, she quickly knelt before Qiao Jizhou and wept bitterly.
"Sir, I didn't! That monk framed me!"
Qiao Jizhou kicked Aunt Chen to the ground, and Aunt Chen stumbled and fell into the mud and snow.
Qiao Jizhou angrily rebuked,
"People have seen the birthmark on my buttocks, and now they're accusing me of slander!"
"I think you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin!"
Having said that, he waved his hand.
"Guards, drag Aunt Chen out and beat her!"
The servant immediately dragged Aunt Chen away, and Qiao Jizhou also flung his sleeves and strode away.
One hour later.
Qiao Qingshu brought a bowl of ginseng soup to Qiao Jizhou's study.
It was nearly evening, and Qiao Jizhou's house was dark, with no lights on.
"Daddy."
Qiao Jizhou looked up in the darkness and saw Qiao Qingshu standing in front of him, bathed in the light from outside.
He slowly lit the candles on the table and said,
"Shu'er, what brings you here?"
Qiao Qingshu handed over the ginseng soup and said softly,
"Father, have a bowl of soup to soothe your stomach."
“I just went to the front yard and saw that Aunt Chen was beaten so badly that her skin was torn and bleeding. There wasn’t a single good piece of flesh on her body. I told those people to stop. If they had continued beating her, someone might have died.”
Qiao Jizhou scratched his head in frustration and said,
"I'd rather he were killed!"
Qiao Qingshu chuckled softly.
“Father, Aunt Chen deserves to die for doing such a disgraceful thing, but she shouldn’t die in our Qiao family. She has tarnished our family’s reputation.”
As Qiao Jizhou sat in the darkness, he was thinking about how to deal with Aunt Chen, a woman who had betrayed him. He wanted nothing more than to beat her to death in the street to vent his anger.
But Qiao Jizhou was also concerned about his reputation. If word got out that his concubine had cheated on him, wouldn't he become a laughing stock in the capital?
He was wondering how to get rid of Aunt Chen without anyone noticing when Qiao Qingshu's words really struck a chord with him.
He slowly raised his head and looked at his beautiful daughter.
"Shu'er, do you have any ideas?"
Qiao Qingshu forced a smile and spoke calmly.
“It is natural that Aunt Chen cannot stay at home. But it is also not good to spread this scandal. It would be better to send Aunt Chen to a nunnery to cultivate herself.”
Qiao Jizhou frowned and said unhappily,
"If she recovers and starts hanging around in a nunnery, what will become of the Qiao family's reputation?"
Qiao Qingshu gently shook her head.
“Father, she won’t recover. She will die from being bedridden for a long time. She will die there.”
She chuckled softly again and continued.
"If she dies out there, she can only blame her bad luck; our Qiao family won't be able to find any fault with her."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Jizhou suddenly understood. After a moment's thought, he realized that it made perfect sense.
He couldn't help but look up at his daughter, full of admiration and affection.
Since Qiao Qingshu took over the family business, she has really helped him solve a lot of problems.
She was even more shrewd and capable than Old Madam Qiao and Madam Bai, and her mind was not like that of an unmarried girl at all. She seemed to be a mistress who was well-versed in the ways of the inner quarters.
Qiao Jizhou frowned slowly, looking at her with some confusion.
"Who taught you all these skills? How come you're so adept at them?"
Immediately forcing an innocent smile, Qiao Qingshu said calmly,
“Father, these are just things Mother taught me before she died. She was worried that I would lack authority after I got married, but I never expected that these tricks would be used at home first.”
Qiao Jizhou pursed his lips. He knew that Bai was intelligent and capable. If it weren't for the abduction of her legitimate son, she would definitely have managed the Marquis's mansion in an orderly manner.
It was normal for Qiao Qingshu to learn some skills from her, so Qiao Jizhou no longer had any doubts.
He simply waved his hand and gave the order.
"You handle it yourself."
When Aunt Chen woke up again, she found herself lying in a dungeon.
The entire dungeon was freezing cold, and the air was filled with the stench of blood; it was truly terrifying.
She reached out and touched herself, only to find that what covered her was not a quilt, but straw.
The moment she woke up, her whole body began to ache intensely, and she reached out to touch her buttocks and thighs.
The servant of the Qiao family really went all out; if she hadn't fainted, he would have beaten her to death.
The bloodstains on her lower body had dried, but the excruciating pain made her break out in a cold sweat instantly.
She struggled to turn to the side, propping herself up on her arms, and observed the entire dungeon.
This place was completely unfamiliar to her; she had never been here before.
Suddenly, she noticed something covered with a white cloth in the corner, and a very foul smell was coming from that direction.
She covered her nose in disgust, thinking to herself that the smell was as awful as a dead pig.
Since the distance wasn't far, she crawled toward the white cloth, but as soon as she got closer, she realized something was wrong.
The size of it looked like a person, or maybe two people.
The ground was crawling with maggots, and the stench emanating from them was that of a corpse.
Startled, she quickly backed away, trying to return to her original position.
But something behind her tripped her up. She turned around and was so frightened that the hairs on her body stood on end, and even her hair stood up.
The voice was terrified, as if it had seen a ghost.
"Ahhhhhh!!!! It's a ghost!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Bai Chanzi wore a white Hangzhou silk plum blossom dress, without any hair ornaments or makeup.
His face was bare, and he stared at Chen Xiangyu with cold eyes.
Chen Xiangyu was so frightened that she had already lost control of her bladder; her whole body was trembling and her voice was shaking.
"Ahhh, the second wife is dead! The second wife is dead!"
She repeated the sentence tremblingly, as if saying it over and over again would remind herself that she was dreaming.
Unbeknownst to her, a warm hand rested on Chen Xiangyu's shoulder.
"Aunt Chen, it's been a long time."
That hand was a living person's hand, and the voice was Bai Chanzi's voice.
Aunt Chen slowly raised her head and looked at that face again. Although it was plain, her complexion was very good, even better than when she was in the Qiao family.
She finally asked incredulously,
"Second Madam, you're not dead?"
Bai Chanzi smiled coldly and nodded.
"Yes, I am not dead."
Chen Xiangyu shuddered. The second wife in front of her was clearly smiling, but she felt a chill running through her entire body.
Her mind was buzzing, and she was stunned for a long time before she could utter a second word.
Bai Chanzi smiled and helped her up, speaking softly.
"Didn't you just want to see what was under the white cloth? Come on, let me show you."
As he spoke, he forcefully pulled Aunt Chen back toward the white cloth.
Standing before the white cloth, Bai Chanzi still smiled and spoke softly.
"Aunt Chen, lift the white cloth."