Chapter 44: Knowing a Person's Face Does Not Mean Knowing Their Heart

After Magistrate Zhou finished giving his orders and met Chu Li’s satisfied gaze, it suddenly dawned on him that, without realizing it, he had been following every word this young woman said.

Clearly, at the very beginning, he had been a complete skeptic of such mystical matters.

Chu Li was unaware of what Magistrate Zhou was thinking. She lifted the white cloth to reveal the Wang father and son lying in a pool of blood upon the wooden boards. The boards were already soaked through with gore, their limbs completely severed, and their blood-smeared faces twisted into terrifying grimaces. Their manner of death was utterly gruesome.

Sobbing soon echoed from a corner. Following the sound, Chu Li merely frowned and did not step forward to offer comfort.

Qiuyi pulled her gaze away from the corpses with a pale face, her legs trembling uncontrollably. Yet, when she glanced sideways and saw her mistress sitting in calm composure—even more serene than the bailiffs—Qiuyi immediately clenched her fists in secret. She vowed inwardly to take her mistress as a role model and steel her own courage. Her mistress would inevitably have to deal with such matters in the future; if she continued to hold her back and failed to keep pace, there might come a day when she would be left behind.

She did not want to leave her mistress. She would likely never find a better master than this in her entire life.

"Qiuyi, go fetch some paper and a brush."

Recovering her wits, Qiuyi retrieved the brush and ink. As she attentively ground the ink for Chu Li, she looked toward the Wang women in the corner and said with pity:

"Mistress, that mother-in-law and daughter-in-law watched with their own eyes as their husbands butchered each other. If it were me, I certainly couldn't have withstood it. Look at how bitterly they are weeping. From now on, whenever this day comes around, won't they be reminded of today's tragedy every time they offer sacrifices? I'm afraid it will haunt them for the rest of their lives."

"The most pitiful one is the elder Mrs. Wang. Both her husband and her son died right before her eyes. No one could ever accept that."

Having been sold into the Prince You’s Estate since childhood, Qiuyi was herself a person acquainted with hardship and could not bear to witness such pitiful souls or miserable affairs.

Even though she knew the Wang father and son were at fault first—that it was their greed, attempting to pass off cheap weasel fur as snow fox fur, that brought retribution upon them—the women of the household were surely innocent.

Chu Li listened quietly, her hand moving without pause across the paper. Seeing that Qiuyi had finished speaking, she let out a gentle sigh.

"Qiuyi, having a kind heart is naturally a good thing, but sometimes the truth is not as it appears on the surface. The person you think is pitiful may not be nearly as pathetic as you imagine, and the person you think of as a villain may not be entirely beyond redemption. Only when you understand both a person's face and their heart can you truly see them for who they are."

Qiuyi was clever enough to catch the subtext behind her mistress's words instantly. Her eyes widened, and she lowered her voice to ask:

"Mistress, could those two women also be hiding something?"

Chu Li did not wish for those around her to remain too naive, especially Qiuyi. Having seen little of the world, Qiuyi inevitably tended to oversimplify things, which could easily lead to trouble when traveling outside with her in the future.

Therefore, Chu Li decided not to keep it from her. After a moment of thought, she said:

"The deaths of the Wang father and son have everything to do with them. Those two men were merely the executioners; the ones who proposed the scheme are likely these two women."

From the moment she stepped into this place, Chu Li had sensed a faint, lingering discomfort. It was only after reading the physiognomy of the two women that she realized the source of that unease.

These two females were not as simple as they appeared. Setting aside how genuine their tears might be, the karmic burdens weighing upon them were no less heavy than those of the Wang father and son.

The elder Mrs. Wang frequently committed verbal sins; she was sharp-tongued and petty, often bringing distress and harm to others, making her far from a virtuous person.

As for the younger Mrs. Wang, she was greedy for petty gains and utterly profit-driven, constantly feeding crooked ideas to the Wang father and son so they could rake in unearned, tainted wealth.

Though this family originated from hunters, the estate they had built in Rong City was not earned through honest toil, but through speculation and the acquisition of ill-gotten wealth.

Hearing this, Qiuyi’s jaw dropped in disbelief. She did not doubt her mistress’s words for a second, but the revelation was simply too shocking.

"Mistress, I am truly blind. I was actually pitying them just moments ago! From now on, I will certainly never lavish my sympathy on others so casually."

Since her mistress possessed the profound ability of physiognomy, she would never be wrong. It was a good thing she hadn’t actually gone over to comfort those two women just then.

Cui Shi, standing a mere two paces away, overheard the conversation between mistress and servant and looked toward the two Wang women with a trace of surprise.

He had crossed paths with this family on numerous occasions, yet he had never noticed anything amiss about them.

Perhaps it was due to his elevated status and standing; whenever the Wang family faced him, they always deliberately put on a facade, which was why he had never detected their true nature.

Cui Shi knew that certain occult practitioners were exceptionally accurate in reading fortunes and faces, and the thought of asking Miss Chu to read his own physiognomy naturally arose in his mind. Once this matter was settled, it might be worth a try.

If he could forge a lasting bond with Miss Chu, it would be a tremendous blessing for both himself and the Seven Treasures Pavilion.

Just as Cui Shi was deep in thought, a slip of paper was suddenly handed over to him, and Chu Li’s voice rang out.

"Young Master Cui, as we agreed just now, I hope you can help me purchase the items listed here as quickly as possible."

The list contained the talisman-crafting materials Chu Li urgently needed. In addition to talisman paper and cinnabar, she had also added several daily necessities.

After carefully reviewing the contents of the list, Cui Shi asked in puzzlement:

"Miss Chu, what do you need all these winter clothes, padded quilts, rice, flour, grain, and cooking oil for?"

Chu Li did not spell it out directly, only offering a timely reminder: "This winter will be exceptionally harsh. I wish to stockpile more cold-weather gear and reserve provisions as a precaution against unexpected needs."

Hearing this, Cui Shi’s expression flickered. He agreed to send people to procure the items according to the list immediately, while also keeping his wits about him. He resolved that when the time came, he would stock up on supplies as well—following this Miss Chu surely could not be wrong.

Before long, the county yamen's bailiffs had cordoned off the area surrounding the Wang residence and posted public notices. In an instant, nearby residents gathered tightly before the notices, engaged in fierce discussions.

Those townspeople who had been "fortunate" enough to witness the bloody spectacle of the Wang father and son hacking off each other's hands could not help but feel a rising wave of terror.

"Could it be that the Wang father and son were truly possessed by malevolent spirits? I was just watching the commotion near their house—will I be cursed as well?"

"I reckon this is extraordinary, and nine times out of ten it's true. Otherwise, why would our Magistrate issue such a proclamation telling everyone to go collect a bowl of water? That water must have some special significance. Come on, let's hurry over to the yamen gates and queue up! If we go too late and it runs out, we'll be in real trouble."

The bewildered townspeople continued to shove toward the notices, while the terrified ones rushed headlong toward the yamen gates.

In the blink of an eye, the entire yamen was packed so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through. Even Magistrate Zhou had not anticipated that the common folk would arrive so swiftly.

"Miss Chu, the cauldrons are here, but there are simply too many people blocked at our yamen gates. Everyone is desperate to claim a bowl of consecrated water. What on earth should we do?"

Magistrate Zhou hurried back to the Wang residence in a panic, followed by a line of bailiffs with massive iron cauldrons balanced atop their heads. The long procession looked utterly comical; anyone unaware of the situation would have thought the Wang family was setting up giant pots to host a celebratory feast.

The two Wang women paid no mind to the bailiffs, merely shrinking back into their corners while casting furtive glances toward Chu Li.

Frowning at the stack of giant cauldrons, Chu Li felt a pang of heartache, knowing she would have to expend a vast number of talismans yet again.

Waving her hand helplessly, she instructed:

"Take the cauldrons outside, fill them with water, and I will be out shortly."

Shouldering the pots, the bailiffs rushed anxiously back through the door, only to sprint back out just as quickly to line them up in a row and rapidly fill them to the brim with water.

Inside the carriage, Fu Heng witnessed the scene and was rendered genuinely speechless.

Weren't they saying this blood curse was extremely perilous? How did it end up turning into setting out cauldrons to cook?