Chapter 0017: Strange Past
There was a brief silence in the hall, and then there was a loud "crash" and He Jintang knocked over a valuable porcelain vase to the ground.
"What secret is it? What secret could make you kill my second sister?" He pointed at Master He Jiu and flew into a rage. "Now my eldest brother and his wife are dead too. Haha, all because of your stupid secret!"
"Bao'er is in the hands of those people. She is the biological daughter of my eldest brother and sister-in-law, my niece, and your granddaughter! What secret is more important than her? Do you still have any humanity?"
Master He Jiu slammed the table: "Enough!"
He Jintang didn't care, pointing at his nose and yelling: "You killed my second sister, my mother, my eldest brother and his wife. How dare you yell here? You don't deserve to be a human being!"
Mr. He Jiu raised his hand to hit him, but was held back by A Biao.
I went over to pull He Jintang away and asked, "Master Jiu, did you really strangle the Second Miss to death? Is there any hidden story?"
I always felt that there was something fishy here. From the moment I met Master He Jiu, this old man's words and actions showed his love and doting for his daughter He Qianxue, and it seemed like his doting and doting were about to overflow . I really couldn't believe that he would strangle He Qianxue to death with his own hands.
Master He Jiu sat down dejectedly, took a long sigh, and nodded slowly: "It's me."
Ah Biao's face turned pale, and he said in a trembling voice: "Master Jiu...you...you..."
He Jintang even started cursing.
I noticed that Mr. He Jiu had a complicated expression, including sadness, pain, reluctance, resentment... but there was no guilt at all, which was so strange.
Liu Feihe said in a deep voice: "Master Jiu, the most important thing now is to save Baoer."
I secretly praised what he said, thinking that the old ones are indeed the wisest. He was reminding Master He Jiu that saving his granddaughter was the most important thing right now, so it would be better to speak out if there was anything to say and not hide anything.
Master He Jiu sat there in a daze for a long time, then heaved a long sigh: "To be honest with you, my great-grandfather did leave a secret before he passed away."
"But he made my grandfather swear a solemn oath that this secret must not be told to outsiders, and the descendants of our He family must not explore it, otherwise, the sky will be struck by lightning and there will be no place to bury my body!"
As soon as he finished speaking, He Jintang could no longer hold back and sarcastically said, "What kind of secret is it that made you strangle your own daughter to death? Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
He Jiuye was furious: "Shut up, there are many things you don't understand at all!"
"Haha, you've already destroyed our family, what do you want me to understand? Killing someone means paying with your life, do you know that?" He Jintang retorted angrily.
"So you want to kill your own relatives for the sake of justice, and kill me, your father?" Master He Jiu was so angry that he was shaking, and slammed the table. "You think... you think I can bear it? I have no choice!"
He Jintang laughed miserably: "Then I want to hear what difficulties you, an old beast, have that made you so cruel as to strangle my second sister to death!"
"Rebellious son!" Master He Jiu suddenly grabbed a teacup and threw it at He Jintang, "I... I..."
He said "I" several times in a row, and finally heaved a long sigh and sat down dejectedly on the chair. After a long while, he said miserably: "If I don't strangle Qianxue to death, she...she won't be able to survive, and...and she will die...in extreme pain!"
I was very surprised to hear this. He Jintang even jumped up and pointed at He Jiuye and cursed: "What nonsense are you talking about? My sister is fine, why can't she survive?"
He Jiuye looked at him coldly: "Do you still remember that your sister was getting thinner and thinner a month before her death? Oh, of course you don't remember. What else do you know besides hanging out?"
He Jintang was stunned for a moment: "Of course I remember, my second sister was not feeling well at that time, and you and Li Kun were fighting like fire and water, she was caught in the middle and it was very difficult, so her complexion was getting worse and worse!"
Master He Jiu sneered: "So you still care about your sister? Then do you know that your sister had severe pain all over her body every night for that month, and couldn't sleep all night?"
He Jintang was stunned: "Second sister didn't tell me."
"What's the point of telling you, a jerk? Your sister doesn't want you to worry!"
He Jintang was stunned for a long time, and suddenly a look of fear appeared on his face. He pointed at He Jiuye and said in a trembling voice: "You...you are not in pain because my sister is sick, you...you..."
He Jiuye's eyes suddenly widened: "Do you really think your father is a bastard?"
At this point, he slammed the table heavily, his expression flashing with pain and resentment, "I tried everything, but I couldn't save Xue'er. She...she won't live past the age of 24!"
The more I listened to this, the stranger it seemed. I looked around the hall and saw everyone was shocked and surprised.
He Jintang looked at his father in disbelief: "You...what on earth are you talking about? What basis do you have to say that my second sister won't live past the age of 24?"
Master He Jiu chuckled, "Let me ask you, how did your aunt die?"
He Jintang was stunned for a moment, then said, "My aunt...she died ."
Master He Jiu said expressionlessly, "Your aunt died when she was fifteen, and that day happened to be her birthday! Let me ask you, how did your two great aunts die?"
I saw He Jintang was speechless, and after a long while he said, "It seems...it seems like he passed away quite a long time ago, but what does this have to do with my second sister?"
Master He Jiu glared at him coldly: "Your two aunts died at the age of nine and twenty-one, both on their birthdays!"
There was deathly silence in the hall.
Master He Jiu threw a booklet in He Jintang's face and said, "Look through it yourself. In the past five generations of our He family, has any daughter lived past the age of thirty?"
I saw the blue cover of the book, and it turned out to be the He family genealogy.
Looking through the records, they discovered a very strange phenomenon. Within the past five generations, no daughter of the He family had lived past the age of 30. The youngest died at the age of seven. The longest-lived one was He Qianxue, who died at the age of 24.
The more I read it, the more it seemed strange to me, and I wondered why Mr. He Jiu had to mention “thirty years old”?
After reading it carefully again, he was suddenly shocked, and Liu Feihe next to him seemed to have thought of something.
We both blurted out at the same time: "It's about birthdays!"
He Qianxue’s birthday was September 24th of the lunar calendar, and she died at the age of 24!
Going back one generation, her aunt’s birthday was April 15th in the lunar calendar, and she died on the day she turned 15!
Going back further, the birthdays of her two great aunts were October 9th and March 21st of the lunar calendar, and they died at the ages of nine and twenty-one respectively.
All daughters of the He family within five generations, without exception!
"How could...how could such a strange thing happen..." He Jintang was distraught.
At this time, the servants in the hall had already been sent outside, leaving only the He father and son, A Biao, and me and Liu Feihe, master and apprentice.
Except for Master He Jiu, whose face was as gloomy as water, we were all horrified.
