Chapter 140: Personally Sabotaged the Marriage

But looking at her now, her appearance and bearing are both quite graceful and elegant!

"Good child, come over and let auntie take a look."

Marchioness Zhongyi was not overly disappointed with Li Qingluo.

Even though Li Qingluo dressed simply, she still caught Marchioness Zhongyi's eye, even making her feel that the present Li Qingluo was more pleasing to look at than Li Qingzhu, who used to be covered in gold and silver jewelry.

Clearly, the last time she was seen from afar at Zhongyi Hou Fu, she wasn't this striking.

These days, Jiangjun Fu has been raising its people better and better.

Qu Shi watched from the side, her heart loosening with a great sigh of relief.

Just as Luoer walked in, Qu Shi confronted her in one breath.

This child, she tells her to dress up, but she won't listen!

Does she really not know why Zhongyi Hou Fu has come calling today?

Although it's a pity for Zhu er, she's lost her voice and now her marriage prospects, but this isn't without a solution, is it?

Zhongyi Hou Fu would absolutely not take a mute as a daughter-in-law.

Qu Shi also cried for several days, and even when Li Qingzhu woke up, she continuously indulged and tolerated her fury in a silent rage.

But this marriage, I am powerless to change it.

Li Qingluo walked over, and before Marchioness Zhongyi took her hand, she innocently asked Qu Shi: "Why hasn't elder sister come yet?"

"Auntie, you're here to see elder sister, right?"

"Although she's lost her voice, she will surely recover soon, right, Mother?"

Marchioness Zhongyi's smile stiffened.

Qu Shi also broke into a sweat: "Luoer, your auntie came specially to see you today!"

Having said this much, you should understand, right?

Yet Li Qingluo still looked completely bewildered.

"Come to see me? But Zhongyi Hou Fu is engaged to elder sister, and now that she's lost her voice and is heartsick, I thought..."

Marchioness Zhongyi's face instantly turned grim.

She stood up and let out a heavy snort.

"I still have affairs at home; I'll take my leave for today!"

Having said that, Marchioness Zhongyi did not linger, no matter how Qu Shi chased after her from behind, she refused to turn back.

Qu Shi returned, fuming, and raised her hand at Li Qingluo, who did not dodge, staring at her without a word.

But it was her cold, detached gaze that made Qu Shi's heart plummet with a 'thud'.

"You——! Do you not know what foolish thing you just did?!"

"You clearly know that Marchioness Zhongyi came today to look at you! You clearly know that Zhu er can no longer be the daughter-in-law of Zhongyi Hou Fu! You clearly know that the person engaged to Zhuang Sanlang is you! You clearly know——"

Li Qingluo shouted over her: "I don't know! Mother, I have never known any of what you're saying today."

"Aren't you going to hit me, Mother? If I've ruined your plans, go ahead and hit me!"

She held her neck stiff, staring at Qu Shi with a stubborn look, a hint of hatred flickering in her eyes.

Qu Shi jerked backward violently.

What does she hate?

Jiangjun Fu wants to give her such a good marriage, yet she's still dissatisfied?

Just look at her—a wild girl never properly raised since childhood; if Zhongyi Hou Fu truly wishes it, she should know what a tremendous blessing this is!

"You, you'd better not think I dare not. Wait until your father finds out; he will certainly not spare you either!"

"Since ancient times, the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers..."

Li Qingluo: "My marriage will be decided by my grandmother!"

Having said that, Li Qingluo stopped wasting words with Qu Shi, turned and strode away.

Qu Shi, fuming, swept all the tea utensils off the table behind her.

"Grandmother, grandmother! Everything is grandmother's! The one who carried her for ten months is me!"

Qu Shi wept angrily, and soon the whole manor knew of this matter.

The people of the second and third branches heard and all thought Li Qingluo was foolish.

"She doesn't even want the marriage from Zhongyi Hou Fu? Is she stupid or foolish?"

"It's not that she looks down on it; she simply doesn't realize how good this marriage is."

Li Qingyu felt sour: "I'm afraid I'll never encounter such good fortune in a lifetime, yet she went and ruined it herself..."

Li Qingya: "The second sister has her own ideas."

Li Qingzhu of Ziwei Tang heard this and looked lost and dispirited.

Zhongyi Hou Fu actually made up its mind to take Li Qingluo?

Is it because she has become mute, utterly unvalued, and thus abandoned by Zhongyi Hou Fu?

And Sanlang?

Does Sanlang also think this way?

Since her mishap, Sanlang has never once come to Jiangjun Fu to visit her.

Li Qingzhu then realized that, ever since Sanlang last left, they have never seen each other again.

The marriage she once racked her brains to avoid has now, as she wished, fallen upon Li Qingluo.

Yet why does her heart feel so empty?

It feels as if her muscles have been pulled out and her skin flayed, a bloody agony.

Only now does Li Qingzhu realize how reluctant she is!

After that day's incident at the princess's mansion, now I don't even know whether the Prince Yun still wants her…

If even Zhuang Sanlang doesn't want me either, then wouldn't everything be for nothing?

These past few days, Li Qingzhu seems to have fallen seriously ill; her whole body has grown so thin she's almost unrecognizable.

Lately, she refuses to see even Li Kechuan.

If it weren't for his intention to harm Li Qingluo, how could he have accidentally harmed himself?

Li Qingluo is even more hateful—did she know it was poison, so she secretly tampered with it, thereby harming me?

So now she hates everyone!

Hate Li Qingluo!

Hate Prince Yun, hate Li Kechuan, also hate Zhuang Wei!

Especially those three—at first each of them kept saying they loved her, but now each has abandoned her, hurt her…

No!

She cannot just give up like this!

On this path, she can no longer turn back.

Li Qingluo, after returning from Chunzai Hall, was summoned to Jingci Tang.

Naturally, she was scolded by Pei Lao Furen.

"What exactly do you want to do?"

"Do you not know what a fine match this is?"

"Never mind that this marriage was originally yours—do you really want to be casually married off by your parents?!"

Li Qingluo approached with a cheeky grin.

"Grandmother, please don't be angry. Luo'er knows her mistake, Luo'er truly knows her mistake."

Pei Lao Furen snorted angrily and pushed her away.

"Good, if you truly know your mistake, tomorrow I will personally take you to Zhongyi Hou Fu to apologize!"

Li Qingluo remained silent.

Pei Lao Furen, seeing her like this, said: "You… what are you thinking? How am I supposed to face the Old Lady of Zhongyi Hou Fu in the future?"

"She'll surely scold me to death!"

Li Qingluo lowered her head, twisting the handkerchief in her hands.

"But Grandmother, Zhuang Sanlang's heart holds Li Qingzhu; this is a fact this granddaughter cannot change in her lifetime."

"A forced melon isn't sweet. If this granddaughter truly married him, then for the rest of her life, the person in his heart would not be her—could she still live happily with him?"

"This granddaughter does not demand a lifetime of loving companionship, but if her husband's most important person is not herself, she would rather remain unmarried for life."

"Grandmother, for the rest of her life, this granddaughter only wishes to live pure and clean, not to live a life connected to Li Qingzhu, bearing her shadow."