Chapter 140: Mother is Trying to Harm Him

“Sir, is there a way to resolve this…” Di Li was asking Lan Yixuan.

Concubine Hui stepped forward, raised her hand, and prepared to slap Lan Yixuan.

Lan Yixuan, being trained in martial arts and having fought in underground arenas, wasn’t easily hit.

She intercepted Concubine Hui’s arm. “What are you doing?”

“You—” Concubine Hui was about to argue but saw Lan Yixuan’s fake beard come off.

Di Li was also stunned.

“Uh…” Lan Yixuan realized something was wrong.

She quickly covered her mouth.

Oh no!

“How dare you!” Concubine Hui, already angry, became even more incensed upon discovering Lan Yixuan’s disguise. She rolled up her sleeves, looking like an angry woman ready to berate.

“Third Brother?” Di Zian’s voice came from nearby. He stood in front of Lan Yixuan, facing Di Li’s shocked gaze.

“Why is Concubine Hui here as well?” Di Zian was quite surprised.

Seeing Di Zian’s arrival and realizing he was restraining Concubine Hui and Di Li, Lan Yixuan quickly packed her things and turned to flee.

“Stop!” Di Li shouted sternly.

Lan Yixuan was afraid of being caught by her older brother and father, which could result in her being banned from leaving the estate.

Losing her freedom was minor; not being able to earn money was major.

“Third Brother, what’s going on?” Di Zian quickly stood in front of Lan Yixuan.

“Hmph, what’s going on? This girl is pretending to be a fortune teller and scamming people!” Concubine Hui was furious.

Lan Yixuan irritably scratched her head and peeked out from behind Di Zian. “I’m not scamming anyone. What I said is true. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Taoist Priest Baiyun.”

“You dare to speak? You’re still a fraud!” Concubine Hui was livid.

“Concubine Hui,” Di Zian protected Lan Yixuan.

Concubine Hui sneered. “What are you trying to do, kid? Oh, I remember now. I wondered why this girl seemed so familiar. Isn’t she the one who slapped you during the selection of concubines? Isn’t she… the true daughter of the Lan family?

She’s truly from the countryside, uncouth and shameless, coming out to scam people at such a young age! Lan family, how embarrassing!”

Lan Yixuan’s face darkened. “Madam, please speak more respectfully.”

It was one thing to insult her.

But insulting her family was another matter.

“Who’s the madam? You’re the one. Just watch me tear your mouth apart!” Concubine Hui was burning with rage.

“Xuan’er, run!” Di Zian grabbed Lan Yixuan’s hand, and they fled swiftly.

Concubine Hui was dumbfounded.

She never expected Di Zian would drag Lan Yixuan away!

“Mother, can you stop making a scene? More and more people are coming, and we should leave quickly,” Di Li said unhappily.

He didn’t want to be the center of ridicule.

“You’re siding with Seventh Brother?”

“Since they’ve already left, can’t you just let it go?” Di Li was helpless. His mother was acting unusually today.

Although her temper was not great, she was usually gentle and quiet. Today, she seemed explosive and irritable.

Could it be… Lan Yixuan’s words had provoked her?

She said that his mother had died long ago, but who was the mother who was still alive now?

Di Li had never believed in the supernatural, but now he had to.

Concubine Hui took a deep breath, focused on the main issue, and didn’t chase after them.

She took Di Li to a small temple in the northern part of the city.

He had been there several times.

Strangely, the monks at this temple changed every year.

He had wondered about it, but Concubine Hui said it was not something he should worry about.

Anyway, since it was just accompanying his mother to offer incense, Di Li didn’t think too much about it.

After the incense offering, as per custom, Di Li was also supposed to come in and make a bow, which Concubine Hui said was a sign of sincerity.

Di Li was somewhat reluctant.

It reminded him of ten years ago…

Back then, he also accompanied his mother out of the palace to worship Buddha. That noon, he fell asleep for some unknown reason.

When he woke up, it was already three days later.

His father was grim-faced, the Empress Dowager was also grim-faced, and everyone in the palace avoided him.

During those days, some said he had gone mad and was there to collect debts.

Later, he learned from the servants that he had been mad for a full three days, attacking anyone he saw, and even bit and killed a dog he had raised since childhood.

After that, the estate never kept a dog again.

Di Li knelt down, put his hands together, and prayed earnestly.

His mind felt momentarily clouded.

He wanted to stand up but found his body weak, even his eyes wouldn’t open.

He could hear his mother calling him.

“Li’er, Li’er, wake up, wake up.”

It was strange; his eyelids were too heavy to open, yet his mind was clear.

After a while, with Concubine Hui’s voice gone, it felt like he was lifted and placed in another room.

Someone had put something cold and smooth in his palm.

After placing the blood jade in Di Li’s hand, Concubine Hui, filled with extreme fear, slowly left.

Concubine Hui closed the doors and windows. The fake monk had been waiting outside for a long time. “Madam, is the matter settled so quickly?”

“Wait a bit longer.”

She didn’t like the jade.

It felt like an evil object.

She wanted to avoid it.

Inside the room, after Concubine Hui left, Di Li opened his eyes.

He saw the blood jade in his palm and the black bead in the center.

There seemed to be tiny characters engraved on the back of the blood jade.

They were extremely small.

But Di Li managed to make them out.

Although he usually lacked ambition, he enjoyed examining small details, and many things others missed didn’t escape him.

The characters were engraved in reverse.

Di Li turned the blood jade around and, under the candlelight, read the characters, which left him stunned.

“Birth date and time…”

His own.

How could this be?

Why would his mother carry such an item and have his birth details engraved on it?

Di Li was perplexed.

Yet, in these decades, he had never seen such a blood jade in his mother’s palace.

This led Di Li to another thought: this item might not belong to his mother.

Typically, such secretive details about birth dates would not be shared by his mother.

Di Li seemed to recall ten years ago…

At that time, he had also accompanied his mother to offer incense, and after returning, he went mad for three days.

He remembered that his mother had given him a similar item to hold.

But later, due to his madness, he had forgotten about it.

Di Li felt a chill inside.

That three-day madness must have been extraordinary.

Was his mother trying to harm him?

A wave of sorrow inexplicably rose in Di Li’s heart.

He didn’t believe it.

A dizzying sensation overcame him, and he seemed to hear various ghostly wails.

“Help me, save my child!”

“I don’t want to die! My child can’t die!”

“Give me your life, give it to me!!!”

‘Bang’

The dizziness in Di Li’s head grew heavier, but he felt a warm light at his side.

He pulled it out and found it was the talisman Lan Yixuan had given him.

Left hand talisman, right hand blood jade.

One yellow, one red.

In an instant, the blood jade shattered, and the uproar in his mind subsided.

“It’s the jade…”

Di Li was stunned. The talisman really worked.

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