Capítulo 744: Chapter 728: Causes and Consequences

“Encountering ghosts passively happens when one’s fortunes are low or in places with heavy yin energy, such as Yizhuang, burial grounds, or Mourning Halls.

But who could tell Mrs. Cheng and her group that even in a Daoist Temple, a place so filled with righteousness and Divine Descents, ghosts would appear?

Is your Qingping Temple a diluted fake, or is your Grandmaster not at home today, allowing ghosts to have the audacity to come?

The pretending Grandmaster: Usually, they dare not come, but if the host invites, then they can!

Mrs. Cheng, clutching her trembling daughter, huddled with Mrs. Yu, wanting to cry but not daring to, much less daring to look towards Qiu Zibai. Whenever they caught a glimpse of him approaching from the corner of their eyes, they would scream in fright.

It was only because they were frightened to the point of being drained of strength; otherwise, they would have long fled this place unfit for humans.

Qiu Zibai, seeing this, was somewhat bashful. He hadn’t done anything; blame it on the Heavenly Master who wasn’t acting right.

“You don’t have to be afraid, the gentleman Miss Cheng fancied is none other than Qiu Zibai. This is the real person, just treat him like the fake one,” Qin Liuxi said.

Cheng Ruolian almost cried out loud. Seeing the ghostly Qiu Zibai destroyed any fledgling romantic feelings she had for the living ‘Qiu Zibai’.

She would rather enter the Palace, no, she would rather remain a nun in her green dress like an ancient Buddha for the rest of her life than marry Qiu Zibai!

Mrs. Cheng was also bitterly frustrated but trembled, “This, this is completely different.”

Qin Liuxi stroked his nose, “Well then, you might as well listen to what Qiu Zibai has to say.”

Qiu Zibai bowed, “This young man, lacking grace, frightened the two ladies and the miss, it is my fault.”

Mrs. Cheng glanced at him and quickly averted her gaze, “No harm.”

Mrs. Yu had already been freaked out by the bizarre episodes with her daughter and had grown bolder, looking at him and asking, “If you are Qiu Zibai, how did you end up… like this?”

Mrs. Cheng looked at her admiringly, from today onwards, I’m not your sister, you’re my sister, the sister of a different father and mother!

Qiu Zibai showed a fierce expression for a moment, but quickly, he bitterly smiled and sighed, “It was also because of my trusting nature that I ended up meeting my demise in foreign lands.”

Qiu Zibai was born in the Earl Changping Mansion, the legitimate son of the first wife. His biological mother, the first Madam Changping, passed away due to frail health only a few years after his birth; less than a year later, Earl Changping married again.

Though the Earl Changping Mansion had fallen into decline, his mother, Mrs. Yao, was one of the Empress’s close friends and had entrusted her son to the Empress and her family before her death. Thus, despite Qiu Zibai having a stepmother, with the Empress occasionally intervening, the new Madam Changping didn’t dare to act out of line against him.

With his matrilineal grandfather being an Imperial Censor and with the occasional intervention from the Empress, although his father was influenced by his second wife and favored her son, he didn’t dare to mistreat his legitimate eldest son openly; otherwise, his father-in-law might impeach him in an official memo, which could ruin his life.

Qiu Zibai’s schooling was directly overseen by his maternal grandfather and later in a renowned State School. He was indeed talented, so his education was excellent, he passed the examinations as a Scholar, then became a student of a famous teacher and went to the Ningzhou Prefecture School to study, passing the provincial examinations even before reaching adulthood, promising a bright future.

Thus, in the Earl Changping Mansion, although Qiu Zibai wasn’t particularly favored, he was, after all, the legitimate son of the first wife. His status secured a relatively tolerable life, especially since he was quite outstanding himself; otherwise, the Cheng Family wouldn’t have taken an interest.

Qiu Zibai and Cheng Zhiyuan, the brother of Cheng Ruolian, were classmates. It was through his introduction that Qiu entered the sight of the Cheng Family. Initially, it was just mentioned briefly, but now with the selection upcoming and urgent, they started having further thoughts— who would have expected this?

“Get to the main point, how did you die and get impersonated?” Qin Liuxi said impatiently.

Qiu Zibai flinched.

Even Mrs. Cheng and the others pricked up their ears.

Qiu Zibai sighed, “I met Li Kui in Zhang County. Zhang County is the hometown of my mentor, last year he suddenly fell ill, resigned from the State School and returned home to recuperate, and I went to assist him. My teacher said that studying cannot rely on memorization alone but should integrate and understand thoroughly. The lands of Zhang County are beautiful, the people pure-hearted, so I also traveled there and met Li Kui.”

“Li Kui was also a scholar, but his parents passed away leaving his family in difficulties; he could no longer pursue his studies and became a peddler. I met him in a village. You won’t believe, at first sight, we both were shocked, unable to believe such resemblance existed in the world, and just like that, we quickly grew close. Not only did we look alike, but some of our preferences were also strikingly similar.”