The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family-Chapter 1241 - 285: Grand Finale Part 1_7

Pei Qin looked at the leader of the group and chased after him.

Mo Heng held her back and shook his head at her, not allowing her to go forward.

Pei Qin hurled all sorts of curses, "You’ve got the guts, don’t run after school!"

Mo Heng wrapped his arm around her and took her back home, "Leave it to me."

Those people, having heard Pei Qin’s scribblings, ran to The Deity Temple outside the city, intending to smash it but were stopped. They started spreading panic, proclaiming that Pei Qin was a demon, a demon that used "Borrow the Dead to Resurrect the Soul"! She had bewitched Mo Heng! The Emperor, The Crown Prince! She had deceived the masses!

They even fabricated that she was pregnant and it was the time when her demon power was weak; burning her now would prevent her from possessing another body!

Some began whitewashing for Old Pei’s House, demanding the release of people from Old Pei’s House who were in jail.

Hearing this, Mo Heng immediately ordered action to be taken.

Zhang Gengshan led a team directly to the grave of Qian Wanxiu outside the city, "Start excavating!"

Some people, crazed, followed, cursing Pei Qin for desecrating ancestral graves, saying her death was imminent and she would suffer retribution!

The soldiers, however, with grave expressions, took up their shovels and started digging up Qian Wanxiu’s tomb.

The coffin was excavated and opened on the spot.

Inside, instead of Qian Wanxiu’s remains, there were only two large stones.

The crowd was immediately taken aback, "Lady Qian wasn’t buried? Wasn’t she said to have committed suicide by swallowing gold?"

"Suicide by swallowing gold? That was likely a ruse, to frame the name onto Madam Pei, and then she died in an explosion! Now, she is stirring up trouble in secret, plotting against Madam Pei!"

"Her affair with Old Master Qian must be true! That sneaky, vile wretch! She isn’t dead; after the explosion, she’s plotting against General Pei in secret! How despicable!"

"That woman is so promiscuous and low! She could even stage her own death by an explosion! She’s secretly bribing people to take her revenge and harm General Pei! We’ll find her! Beat her to death!"

"Right! Find her and beat her to death!"

Zhang Gengshan snorted coldly, "She committed adultery; she should be drowned in a pig cage, paraded on a wooden donkey! Yet she died in an explosion and is now slandering women of The Imperial Court in secret; her crime is unforgivable!"

"Adulterous wench! Find her and drown her in a pig cage! Parade her on a wooden donkey!"

The news of Qian Wanxiu’s death by explosion reached Capital Jingcheng, and the confused citizens immediately became spirited, "It was this wretch who plotted against General Pei in secret! Find her and burn her to death!"

The Jingzhao Government Office posted a wanted notice, issuing a general warrant for Qian Wanxiu’s arrest, with rewards for information leading to her capture.

Anyone who captures and delivers her to the Government Office can claim a reward of three hundred taels of silver from Tiance Mansion.

Three hundred taels of silver was enough to sustain a common family’s income for ten years. Moreover, Qian Wanxiu dared to die in an explosion and secretly defamed General Pei; she deserved death at everyone’s hands!

Wei Shu hadn’t expected the explosive revelation of Qian Wanxiu’s death. Now, with this news, the direction of public sentiment had changed.

The accusation of Pei Qin being a demon suddenly became a reality for Qian Wanxiu.

But was that Lady Qian, Pei Qin’s stepmother, truly alive?

At this time, Qian Wanxiu was hiding in a large, messy courtyard, posing with a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl as mother and daughter who had come to Capital Jingcheng to seek refuge with relatives.

The other tenants in the large courtyard guessed she was probably someone’s mistress who had been kept outside and had a daughter, now coming to the Capital to seek acknowledgment. With no approval from her husband’s family, she could only stay in the large compound miserably.

While everyone outside was looking for Qian Wanxiu, none of the tenants suspected her because she looked nothing like the woman in the portraits; besides, she had come to Jingcheng with her daughter, not alone.

In such a messy courtyard where common laborers lived, registration and contracts were not necessary. As long as the rent was paid, anyone could stay, leaving all matters to the words of Qian Wanxiu and the young girl.

But with the tension outside, Qian Wanxiu remained cautious and did not dare to venture outdoors.

Some people formed search parties voluntarily, seeking to capture Qian Wanxiu, whether for three hundred taels of silver or to vindicate General Pei; regardless, people like Lady Qian should not be allowed to live and harm others!

As for Pei Qin’s pregnancy and her ability to speak foreign languages, they attributed it to the divine power of Nine Heavens’ Lady. Otherwise, how could Pei Qin, a woman, have created firearms and known places unfamiliar to them, speaking languages of foreign tribes without having learned them?

Speaking a foreign language was equated with being a demon then there were many demons at The Imperial Court! Since there were officials there who could speak foreign languages, translated foreign books, and many monks who knew Sanskrit, were they all demons?

Monk Duxu called General Pei a demon who used "Borrow the Dead to Resurrect the Soul" and died reciting scripture on the spot, yet none of his fellow monks spoke a word. Great Chu had more than one high monk; why didn’t the rest come forward to confirm General Pei as a demon?