Chapter 147: Brother Chokes the Neck of the Fake Miss!

Li Qingzhu was pressed down hard onto the ground, kneeling.

Things have come to this; she knows that pretending to be weak and innocent is no longer useful.

Anyway, these people already hate her to the core.

She couldn't help bursting into a "haha" laugh.

"What wrong have I actually done?"

"Why don't you tell me what I've actually done wrong?"

"I merely pursued what I truly wanted; I merely returned everything to her Li Qingluo—could all of this be wrong?"

"My elder brother's leg—he insisted on barging into Your Highness's private residence; the self-inflicted consequence has nothing to do with me!"

"Also, back at Guan Water Cliff, it was Mother herself who chose me—was I the one who forced her choice?"

"It's you who favored me; it's you who pushed my death onto Li Qingluo's head—should I also bear these faults?"

"This time, at the princess's manor, you didn't protect me—fine—but clearly it was my elder brother who nearly ruined my voice, yet you act as if nothing happened, trying to brush it aside."

"After all, what you love most is still this eldest son! Otherwise, based on what he did to Li Qingluo, wouldn't kneeling a hundred times in the Ancestral Hall be enough?"

"Even if I could still speak, this voice of mine has been despised by Your Highness; I will never have a pleasant voice again in this life—must I still forgive and forget?"

"If I don't become braver, Your Highness will truly discard me; anyway, I will eventually belong to Your Highness..."

"Vile wretch!"

Li Kechuan strode over with his cane, and in one motion seized Li Qingzhu's throat.

"What did you say?"

"Self-inflicted? My everything has nothing to do with you, Li Qingzhu—is that so?!"

Li Kechuan's eyes turned scarlet, finally revealing a chilling hatred.

Pei Lao Furen: "Drag him away for me!"

Li Kechuan was forcibly pulled away, and he burst into fits of mad laughter from his mouth.

"Ha ha, ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha... ah ha ha ha ha ha—ah!! ah—!!"

He struggled free like a madman, yet accidentally fell to the ground.

Everyone sucked in a breath.

Seeing Li Kechuan in such a sorry state, yet no one dared step forward to help him up.

Even Qu Shi could only cry out heartbroken: "Chuan'er!"

Then Li Kechuan firmly grabbed her arm, not allowing her to move forward.

"Could he have gone mad?"

"I think he's been mad for a while..."

Li Chao Jing's forehead veins bulged; he recalled Li Kechuan's outrageous words at the Bright Tower today—fortunately, aside from them, no one else in the world heard it, not even Li Qingzhu!

Otherwise, if these words spread further, the Jiangjun Fu would suffer an even more unbearable blow!

Hardening his heart, Li Chao Jing said: "Hurry and help the eldest son up! Take him aside to watch! Let him see clearly today what bewitching obsession has possessed our family of three toward this calamity."

Li Kechuan was dragged away while still laughing madly.

One leg dangled emptily, looking wretched, his face ferocious—like a stray dog, utterly miserable.

Li Chao Jing turned his head away.

He knew his eldest son was completely ruined!

Pei Lao Furen looked at her son's expression and also sighed inwardly.

Back then, to her, he was no less a calamity.

Look, the debt he once owed her—now she finally gets to taste it.

Pei Lao Furen isn't feeling sorry; rather, her heart is filled with myriad complex emotions.

She patted the armrest, gathering all gazes once more.

"Li Qingzhu, you not only refuse to repent, but you even speak with silver tongue! You defend your guilt with wordless excuses, every sentence correct, yet why did you leave that bewildering final letter when you faked your death by self-immolation?"

"Because of that letter, your parents and brother ruthlessly pushed all blame onto Luò'er. Luò'er had already had sixteen years of her life taken by you, and due to your scheming, even before entering the manor she was hated by your partial parents—isn't this your scheme?"

"And what about the lives of those dozen or so servants? In your eyes they're mere weeds—deserving of death at your hands, not worth mentioning?"

"You watched the Jiangjun Fu hold a grand funeral for you, yet why are you so heartless as to refuse to come out and tell the truth?"

"They say Li Kechuan broke his leg that day; you were clearly inside that private residence, yet you knew your elder brother caused a great disaster seeking you—why didn't you show yourself?"

"After you faked your death by self-immolation, you clearly hid in Prince Yun's private residence, yet you fabricated lies claiming you were abducted by a matchmaker—truly hateful!"

"And now, for your own selfish desire, you commit such a base act—seducing the prince and defiling him! You've brought shame upon all the unmarried daughters of the household, even the five-year-old Huan Jieer, whose purity is tainted by your influence—what do you have to say for yourself?!"

Pei Lao Furen asked question after question, each time laying guilt upon her.

Li Qingzhu's complexion also turned paler inch by inch.

"I... I am Your Highness Prince Yun's person... you, you cannot punish me..."

She knelt on the ground, her whole body shivering with desolation, like a frightened fawn.

How pitiful she looks.

Yet among those present, no one would feel sympathy for her again.

By her own doing, she ruined the reputation of every unmarried young lady in the Jiangjun Fu; everyone hates her.

Seeing those eyes fixed on her, Li Qingzhu finally felt fear.

"No, no... you cannot..."

Everyone shouted in unison: "Please, Old Lady, decide this matter! Save our household's reputation!"

"Please, Mother, decide this matter! Save the Jiangjun Fu's reputation!"

"Please, Grandmother, decide this matter! Save our lives..."

Pei Lao Furen pounded the armrest heavily and said, "If that's the case, then kill her! A white silk rope, or a cup of poisoned wine, Li Qingzhu, you choose yourself!"

You only have a hundred deaths left; none of the girls of Jiangjun Fu will have their purity implicated by you!

We of Jiangjun Fu will not let our reputation be trampled again by you!

Li Qingzhu shouted, "No! I cannot die! I am a person of Prince Yun, Your Highness; he said that a month from now you must send me to Prince Yun's Mansion. Your Highness cherishes me, and I will become his most favored woman, and in the future I will have great prospects—"

Pei Lao Furen: "Shut her mouth! I have never seen such a shameless little prostitute!"

"Not yet married, yet she fills her mouth with lewd, affectionate words about women; truly shameless to the point that it makes others feel embarrassed."

"She is the legitimate eldest daughter raised by Jiangjun Fu! First beat her with ten large boards, then drag her into the Ancestral Hall and make her kneel properly!"

The servant who stepped forward with the family decree said, "Yes!"

Soon, Li Qingzhu's wailing cry rang out.

Li Kechuan stared intently at the scene, and as he kept staring, blood welled up at the corner of his mouth.

He did not know whether he felt compassion or anguish.

He even did not know whether his feelings toward Li Qingzhu at this moment were more love or more hatred.

He only felt his qi and blood roiling, unable to suppress the sweet, sour taste in his throat…

After ten blows, Li Qingzhu was already unconscious.

Qu Shi kept crying, as if she still felt some compassion.

Pei Lao Furen was too lazy to watch and said, "Is this the beloved child you raised like a precious pearl? Truly well‑raised!"

Qu Shi's face flushed with shame in an instant, and she lowered her head, unable to bear her disgrace.

Li Chao Jing, not paying much attention to Qu Shi, came over and said, "Mother, I will bring a white silk rope tonight and end her myself!"