Wan Niang was pushed by Madam Zhou, shielding herself in front of Gu Lanyin.
Old Master Gu nearly kicked her.
It was the first time Wan Niang had seen her father-in-law so furious.
Instinctively, she spread her arms to block Gu Lang behind her.
Madam Zhou pleaded on the side:
"Why beat him at the end of the year? He's just been married, and to teach him a lesson in front of his wife like this, people would think you're enemies. You don't give him any face at all; how will he live his life after this... wuwuwu."
"You still have the nerve to cry? What kind of son did you give birth to? It's the end of the year now; do you know what he went out and did?"
Hearing his implication, Madam Zhou raised half her face from the handkerchief covering it and whispered, "What did he do? Did Gu Lang lose money in business?"
Old Master Gu sneered, probably furious beyond measure. He had the maids help Wan Niang up, then continued to whip Gu Lanyin, cursing him: "Why did you dig up someone's grave?!"
"Just because the family cheated you by running away mid-wedding and made you lose face, you had to dig up her mother's grave? Is that something a human being should do?!"
Wan Niang gasped, staring in disbelief at the dodging young man in the courtyard.
Madam Zhou pressed her hands together, murmured "Amitabha," then grabbed her and cried.
"Heaven's punishment! He must be possessed by some evil spirit. He's been off lately. Gu Lang used to be so proper—everyone praised him! He would never do something so immoral!"
Old Master Gu looked at her coldly: "He even brought back that rotten coffin. It's lying behind his house. Do you want to see it? Instead of crying, why not teach him a lesson, so next time he doesn't dig up your parents' graves too."
Madam Zhou's legs gave way at that, and she nearly collapsed. Wan Niang supported her mother-in-law, and seeing the young man cornered, taking a series of beatings, she couldn't help but cry out.
"Mother-in-law, what should we do?"
"Let's... let's return the coffin and rebury it with honor. How about that?" Madam Zhou's head ached; she had no good ideas either.
Unexpectedly, after she said this, Old Master Gu looked as if he would explode. He pointed the horsewhip at her and said, "You're dreaming! He burned the bones to ashes, and who knows where he hid them. What use is burying the coffin back?"
Madam Zhou's vision went dark. Wan Niang quickly told the maids to call a doctor. But Madam Zhou grabbed her, sobbing breathlessly: "What use is a doctor? Better find a Taoist priest quickly. There's a ghost in this house."
Then she covered her face, wailing: "There's a ghost in this house."
"It's a ghost in your heart."
"Don't think I don't know what you've done..." Madam Zhou suddenly remembered something, lunged at Gu Lanyin, and hugged him tightly.
Gu Lanyin's face was pale, his body covered in blood from his father's beating. He panted heavily, and with each breath, more blood oozed from his wounds, sticking to the fabric torn open by the whip.
He looked utterly wretched.
It was easy to see that this time Old Master Gu really wanted to beat him to death.
Madam Zhou refused to let go no matter what.
Her eyes reddened, she sobbed: "If you blame me, then just beat me to death. I only have one son. If I had known you'd beat him to death today, I would never have come back with you back then. I killed your wife, and you've resented me all these years... But ask yourself, was it really only my fault?"
Old Master Gu held the whip, standing in the cold corner, more indifferent than ever.
The household servants were already used to him disciplining his son and had retreated far to avoid being accidentally injured. Only a few loyal long-term attendants stepped up to hold him back.
Old Master Gu threw down the whip and left. Suddenly, the yard fell silent.
Wan Niang wiped the blood from Gu Lanyin, utterly confused.
She didn't understand her mother-in-law's words.
Madam Zhou's coiffure had come loose, strands of hair falling down, her eyes full of tears. She touched Gu Lang's face, heartbroken at the bleeding cuts.
"It's all my fault, making him dislike you since you were young. Now that you're married, you're still beaten like this."
"Mother-in-law, what's wrong with this household?"
Madam Zhou began fixing her hair, annoyed at being seen like this by her younger. "Don't ask what you shouldn't. Gu Lang is in such a state, and you're still asking all sorts of questions? Don't you have a heart? Call the doctor!"
Wan Niang's heart tightened. She stood up to help Gu Lang, but she was weak herself. After only a few steps, she stumbled under his weight.
"Miss, let me."
Bao Niang stepped forward.
Looking at the red blood on the ground, Wan Niang felt as if her own heart was bleeding.
When the doctor arrived, he applied medicine to Gu Lang. Madam Zhou personally attended to him, and Wan Niang could not get a word in.
Recalling what her mother-in-law had said earlier and looking at the Gu household, Wan Niang realized things were not as simple as she had thought.
She sighed.
*
Gu Lanyin spent a month recovering. The coffin remained untouched.
When Wan Niang slept alone in the bridal chamber, sometimes through the window she could see the coffin stored in the shed behind.
She asked Bao Niang to inquire about the Gu family's past. When she did, she learned that her mother-in-law was a later wife; before her, there had been a principal wife.
Bao Niang set down a plate of peanuts and clicked her tongue: "Our madam was really wicked back then. Relying on her looks and the old master's favor, she bullied the principal wife until she forced her to death. After the previous wife died, she burned everything related to her in the household—even the memorial tablet. No one dares to mention her, afraid the madam will make trouble."
"The old master seemed to regret it later, but what could he do once she was dead? In the end, it only benefited our madam. The inner quarters were clean, and she had a son to rely on. I'd say she's had a good life. Even if the old master dislikes the young master, he's still his only son; the family business will go to him eventually."
Wan Niang sat on the bed, sighing: "So that's how it is."