To Raise a Soul 44.1

The situation turned into a worrisome one.

Qiu Feixiong didn’t expect Yin Hexiang to call the police. He looked on helplessly as Yin Yan pushed aside the staff to stand guard by Yin Le and Yu Zhen as the two followed after Yin Hexiang. He was left feeling angry, anxious, and panicked. 

“Dad, those refreshments…”

Qiu Xiehua had already processed the wretched drama. The aged skin on his face sagged and his eyebrows dropped down into a furrow as he scolded, “What are you losing your head for?! Even if the police come, they can’t find a treasured item made from ancestral magic. Go. Bring the wheelchair here. For me to be ‘wrongly accused’ by Yin Yan, this messenger of death – Feiqian should understand my pains more.”

Qiu Feixiong calmed down at those words. He then angrily added, “I really don’t know how Feiqian has been teaching her kids! Seriously, both of them! And those housekeepers! Their mouths are unguarded^[1]! They’ll have to be sorted out!”

“That’s enough! Don’t utter anymore nonsense! Hurry up!” Qiu Xiehua impatiently urged. Unlike his firm external demeanor, he was internally rather anxious.

Within his room was a heart soothing talisman. As soon as Yin Hexiang and Qiu Feiqian had stepped in the door, they would have been influenced by the talisman. Even if they weren’t completely docile and compliant to his wishes, they shouldn’t have had opposing intentions, nevermind the quarrel which had just happened.  

Could the talisman have been placed there for too long? Did it lose its effectiveness?

Did the refreshments also fail to work?

He frowned. His gaze shifted to his powerless legs and he gritted his teeth.

If it weren’t for the sudden muddle-headedness, I wouldn’t have wasted so many years! The Qiu family would have soared into the skies! There wouldn’t have been a chance for Qiu Feiqian to be bewitched by Yin Hexiang, or for her wings to be fully spread. She wouldn’t arrogantly talk back to me, her father!

No, this situation must be reversed. The Qiu family cannot decline.

He looked at the back of his hands which were covered with age spots, and a wild look entered his eyes.

I can’t die. I haven’t seen this family’s rise, and I haven’t enjoyed being at the height of power. I can’t die.

Meanwhile, Qiu Feiqian had rushed to the coffee table in the living room. She picked up a snack and put it to her nose. At first, she could only smell a sweet fragrance, but, gradually, the distinctive smell of something rotten reached her nose.

The smell almost made her vomit. With a serious expression, she broke apart the snack. Unfortunately, the insides were made of a powdery substance so the ingredients were unclear. With a tense look on her face, she looked around the room. Seeing that the housekeepers were not around, she anxiously yelled, “Where’s the housekeeper that made these refreshments?! You’d better come out here! Get out here right now!” 

She threw the snack onto the ground as she shouted, completely unable to maintain a reasonable appearance.

With this stench, I don’t even need to think hard to know it’s not anything good!

How could my own father want to hurt my son?! How can I accept this?! How can I get over this hurdle in my heart?!

“Feiqian.”

Yin Hexiang quickly stepped forward and put an arm over her shoulders. Noticing her slight trembles, he pulled her into his arms, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Go on. Cry if you need to. Don’t bottle it up.”

“I just don’t understand…” Qiu Feiqian returned his embrace. Some weakness could be heard in her voice as she shook her head and said, “I’ve never done anything to wrong them. Why are they like this? I don’t understand…”

“It’s not your fault. The problem isn’t with you. It’s not your fault.”

“Mom.”

Yin Le rushed in, the rims of eyes red. He clumsily patted her back and, despite his own feelings of being wronged, he placated, “It’s alright, Mom. I didn’t eat the snack. Brother didn’t either. Yu Ge smelled that something was off so we didn’t eat it. Don’t be afraid, Mom.”

This was the first time that Yu Zhen had seen Qiu Feiqian lose her composure and show a weak side. He felt a sinking feeling within himself. At the same time, he was puzzled about how Qiu Feiqian could smell something suspicious. Yin Le had smelled something because he had placed a seed in Yin Le’s hat, but there wasn’t a seed on Qiu Feiqian.

As the harmful substance was made with magic, it would be all too easy to make it colorless and tasteless.

Guessing that Yin Yan had done something, he turned to look at the man and hoped his confusion would be cleared up.

Yin Yan whispered, “I’ve removed the spells casted on the corpse oil and corpse powder. The removal exposed their true odor.” He then looked up in the direction of Qiu Xiehua’s room and said, “Dad, Mom, Grandfather and Uncle are coming.”

Qiu Feiqian immediately forced her tears to stop. She took a few tissues from the coffee table and without care about smudging her makeup, she wiped her face. She looked at Yin Hexiang and asked, “Have you called the police?”

Yin Hexiang nodded.

“Good.” Qiu Feiqian turned back to the table, ignoring Qiu Xiehua, who had been wheeled into the room. She collected a few plates of the refreshments and motioned for Yin Yan and Yin Le to watch over them. Then, she marched towards the kitchen.

With the kind expression of an ordinary, benevolent, old man, Qiu Xiehua said, “Feiqian, what are you doing? You and Hexiang misunderstood Dad. How could Dad purposefully hurt his own grandsons. I just had the housekeepers add some sweetener to the refreshments. It was just to change the taste a little. I remember that Yin Le likes sweet things.” 

Qiu Feixiong followed up on his act and added, “That’s right. Xiao Yan likes to overthink things. Why have you guys played along with his confused thoughts? We’re family. If we call the police over a small fight and some conflicting views, outsiders will laugh at us.”

Qiu Feiqian stopped in her tracks. She turned around expressionlessly and blandly stated, “There was no overthinking. Let the police come and check. Once the results are out, we’ll be able to confirm it.” She sent them a pointed look, showing no weakness before she continued, “If it turns out that it really is my overthinking things, then I’ve wrongly accused Dad. I will willingly hand over Xiangfei and Qianle. But if I am not the mistaken one, I will no longer have anything to do with this Qiu family!”

Her words were fierce and made a big impact.

Unsettled by her words, Qiu Feixiong snapped, “Feiqian, what nonsense are you spouting?! What do you mean by ‘have nothing to do with this family’?! Do you think the same blood in our veins can just be let out?!”

Qiu Xiehua’s face twitched and he sighed deeply. “You’ve been willful ever since you were little… Nevermind, being a father means you have to give way to the kids. If you want to investigate it, then investigate it. Otherwise, you’ll always have a knot in your heart.”

His magnanimous attitude affected Yin Le, someone with little experience with society. With some doubt and worry in his eyes, he looked at the snacks.

Unswayed by his words, Qiu Feiqian replied with a touch of mockery in her voice, “I do have a knot in my heart. I’ve been a very generous daughter. Ever since I got married, you’ve never once done a single thing to make me feel happy. I’ve put up with it and had my children endure it with me. But, Dad, there’s a limit to my endurance. This is the last chance between us. Don’t make me hate you.”

Then, she walked straight into the kitchen, intending to ferret out the housekeeper who was responsible for making the refreshments. 

After a moment of hesitation, Yin Le followed after her.

“I’ll call Uncle Weng and the lawyer over.” Yin Yan gave Yu Zhen a reassuring look, then he pulled out his phone and walked to a corner to make the call.

Yin Hexiang let Yin Yan do as he wished. His son had suffered a lot of bullying in the Qiu house when he was a child. It was a good opportunity to break off their relations, so Yin Hexiang was all too happy to let his son vent his anger.

Qiu Xiehua and Qiu Feixiong frowned, but they didn’t say anything else. The Yin family were all in a fit of anger, if they were to speak up, it would produce the opposite result to what they wanted. They won’t be able to find anything anyway, might as well let them make a fuss. The bigger the fuss they make, the better the conditions we can make. 

After a few minutes, the police arrived. Yin Hexiang stepped forward as the one who’d reported the case and explained the situation. He included the snacks as evidence and showed them to the police officer. Qiu Feiqian hauled the maker of the snacks in front of the police officer. She then stepped back calmly and listened to the housekeeper’s confession.

Following Yu Zhen’s instructions, Xin Xiaoxiao drifted to the housekeeper’s side and blew an ill wind by her ear. This caused the housekeeper’s unsteady psychological foundation to immediately collapse and she confessed, “Things were added into the snacks. Old Master Qiu gave me the additives which were stored in strange little glass bottles. When I opened the bottle, there was a horrid stench, but after the snack was made, the smell disappeared. I’m not sure why, but the stench came back later.”

Qiu Feiqian’s head turned at her words. Her lips flattened and she crossed her arms in a defensive gesture.

Yin Hexiang walked to her side and patted a shoulder, comforting her.

The police officer glanced at Qiu Xiehua before continuing with his questions. “Where’s the glass bottle? Is it still around? Show it to me.”

“The glass bottle was taken away by the old master. The old master watched me add all of the liquid from the bottle into the snacks, so there’s none left.” After answering, the housekeeper felt relaxed. 

The police officer looked at Qiu Xiehua again. Qiu Xiehua waved a hand, and his care worker immediately took out a bottle and handed it to the police.

Qiu Xiehua sighed, “It’s just sweetener. It’s a misunderstanding.”

The police officer declined to comment. He took the bottle away and spoke to the other housekeepers to better understand the situation. Seeing that there was a monitoring system in the mansion, the officer took a backup copy of the surveillance footage. The officer also looked into the purchases of the Qiu household for the past few days. 

The preliminary investigation was then concluded. For the final verdict, they would need the results for the tests on the snacks to return.

After a while, Weng Xiping arrived with the lawyer. After a quick talk with the police, he took on the follow-up work for the case. 

Seeing the arrival of the Yin family’s lawyer, Qiu Feixiong caved and also called his family’s lawyer. He was worried that the Qiu Feiqian’s lawyer would do some funny business with the case.

Qiu Feiqian’s heart had turned cold. After seeing off the police, she didn’t bother saying a goodbye to her father or brother. She simply left with her family.