SGEIRS -Chapter 404 Truly Gone Mad

Mei Qingyun was completely stunned. She stared at him blankly, not understanding why he had suddenly gone mad. Seeing his ferocious expression and the way his eyes were fixed tightly on her, she sensed that something serious was wrong. Yet she knew she hadn’t done anything recently. She hadn’t even troubled those seductive concubines in the slightest. So she concluded that he was simply in a bad mood and had come to pick a fight with her, wanting to make her miserable too.

Thinking this, Mei Qingyun glared at him coldly and said irritably, “Wei Heng, if you want to go crazy, go find your concubines. They’re obedient and gentle and can go crazy with you. Don’t come here spouting nonsense at me.”

But Magistrate Wei thought she was playing dumb. His face grew darker, his gaze icy. Gritting his teeth, he demanded, “Stop pretending. Hand it over. If that thing falls into someone else’s hands, it won’t be a joke.”

Mei Qingyun froze slightly. Looking at her husband’s anxious and urgent expression, and even a hint of fear in his eyes, she frowned. Only then did she realize he wasn’t raging for no reason.

“What thing?” she asked.

“You’re still pretending?” Wei snapped. His brows knitted tightly, anger surging in his eyes. He tightened his grip on her shoulders and lowered his voice in warning.

“Mei Qingyun, I can let most things slide no matter how much you make trouble. But this is different. This concerns our whole family’s fate. Hand it over now, and I’ll let it go as if nothing happened.”

But Mei Qingyun truly had no idea what he was talking about. His grip hurt, and though she struggled, she couldn’t break free. Furious, she retorted, “Wei Heng, what exactly do you want me to hand over? What of yours have I taken? Do you think there’s anything of yours I’d even care to steal?”

Wei spoke plainly, “The account books and letters. Only you had the chance to touch them. Only you could steal my key while I was asleep and enter the hidden room in the study. And you’re still pretending now?”

“Account books… letters?”

Mei Qingyun was completely stunned. She stared at Wei Heng in shock. From her years of knowing him, she knew exactly what he meant. But she truly hadn’t taken them. He always carried the key with him; no one else could get it. If he was questioning her like this, then someone must have tampered with those documents.

But who could it be?

Wei slowly released her shoulders and stood before her, looking down at her coldly.

“Do you think that by giving those things to Gu Jingxi, he’ll look at you differently? Back then, before he married, he couldn’t forget you. If you went back to him, he might have saved you. But now he has a young and beautiful wife. Even if you give him the evidence, he may not save you. He might even resent you for abandoning him before. In the end, you’ll still suffer with me.”

Mei Qingyun listened quietly, then suddenly burst out laughing. Her laughter was wild and trembling, tinged with madness.

“So you mean… the account books and letters have vanished?” she said with a smile. “Wei Heng, you’re so sure I took them, and not someone else?”

Wei retorted, “If not you, then who?”

Mei Qingyun snorted disdainfully. “When I do something, I admit it. When I don’t, I don’t. I never touched your account books or letters. As for who did, use your brain and think about who’s most likely.”

By now, Mei Qingyun had already formed a vague suspicion.

Gu Jingxi’s return to his hometown might not have been just for ancestral worship. The deaths of the two former magistrates of Deqing County—she knew exactly who was behind them. The court had sent investigators twice. The first was murdered, by Wei Heng himself. The second was incompetent and failed to uncover anything, so he survived.

Gu Jingxi was almost certainly here for this case.

Gu Jingxi?

A storm surged in Wei’s heart, mixed with disbelief. Ever since Gu Jingxi arrived in Huzhou, Wei had people watching him. He hadn’t seen Gu do anything suspicious. Even when he went out, it was only to accompany his wife sightseeing. There was no sign of investigation at all.

Seeing his shock and fear, Mei Qingyun curled her lips into a smile.

“Wei Heng, look. This is the difference between you and Gu Jingxi. Before you even know what he’s doing, he’s already obtained the evidence to destroy you. You’ll never match him in this lifetime.”

“You crazy woman! You’re truly insane!” Wei shouted angrily. “Do you hate me that much? You’d rather drag us both down just to ruin me?”

Mei Qingyun knew that if he fell, she wouldn’t escape either. But looking at his murderous expression, she felt strangely calm.

They had fought and tangled with each other for so many years. She was tired.

Wasn’t death a kind of release?

If only she died, it would be a loss. But if Wei Heng went down with her, that wasn’t so bad.

She smiled faintly, her tone unusually calm.

“Wei Heng, I never spoke badly about you to Gu Jingxi. In front of him and his wife, I always acted loving and harmonious with you. Who knows how he found out about what’s in your study? Maybe this is karma—for both of us. I’m vicious, but are you any better? You didn’t even spare that craftsman’s three-year-old child, just because he saw how his father died.”

Wei refused to believe her. His eyes reddened with rage.

“If not you, then who? The man who built the secret room is long dead. Apart from me, only you knew about it. And the entrance is so well hidden that it can’t be opened without my key. The mechanism wasn’t damaged at all.”

Hearing this, Mei Qingyun was stunned. In a flash, she recalled something.

When she had spoken with Meng Jinyao before, she had mentioned the study more than once. But she hadn’t talked about corruption. How could Meng Jinyao have understood her implication?

Seeing her freeze, Wei became even more convinced of her guilt. Furious, he raised his hand and slapped her hard.

“You shameless woman! You abandoned him back then, yet you still can’t forget him now! He’s married, and you’re still so pathetic, clinging to the past. Do you think exposing me for him will make him abandon his wife and be with you?”

Half of Mei Qingyun’s face went numb from the slap. She was about to stand up and strike back when she saw him turn around and stride away, leaving her with nothing but his resolute, heartless back.