Chapter 148

As soon as Li Chao Jing spoke these words, including Pei Lao Furen and Li Qingluo, many people present instantly felt a chill run through their bodies and shivered violently.

Li Qingluo: "Indeed, it's still Li Chao Jing who is the most ruthless!"

Just because Li Qingzhu burned to death over a dozen servants earlier, she did indeed deserve death, but after all, this Li Qingzhu is the eldest daughter he raised with his own hands, whom he had cherished like a pearl and jade for these years, and now he says he will kill her just like that.

Hearing his tone so resolute, it was clear he did not want to leave any room for maneuver.

As for these outsiders, it's fine enough, but he himself is so decisive!

His ruthless, vicious heart and decisiveness made Li Qingluo feel inexplicably fearful.

Indeed, the most ruthless are forever the men of this world.

Li Chao Jing seeing many gazes cast strange looks, hurriedly explained: "Mother is right, this kind of calamity, if kept, will only bring shame to the entire Jiangjun Fu, and eventually implicate the young ladies to their deaths, dragging down their innocent reputations, ruining the family's honor."

"If she doesn't die, the Jiangjun Fu will become the laughingstock of all Jinling!"

Li Qingluo thought to herself: "When has the Jiangjun Fu not been the laughingstock of Jinling City?"

Since Li Kechuan broke his leg, and Li Qingzhu died and came back to life, however the entire Jiangjun Fu has been handling things with kid gloves from the start.

The Jiangjun Fu has long been the laughingstock of all Jinling.

Of course, all this is the result of Li Qingluo's careful scheming and pushing.

This, too, is her revenge.

She simply wants to tear apart all these fig leaves of the Jiangjun Fu, so the world can see how hypocritical they are.

But only after coming into contact with some people and matters did she realize that within the mansions of the aristocratic families of Jinling City, not only is the Jiangjun Fu dirty and corrupt, but every household is merely outwardly splendid and showy.

In truth, each and every one is rotten to the core.

Pei Lao Furen: "What's the rush? Since today you want me, the Old Lady, to handle this matter, you must listen to me!"

"Purging the inner quarters is not just about purging her, Li Qingzhu alone!"

As she spoke, Pei Lao Furen's gaze first fell on Li Chao Jing.

It seemed as if she were saying: You are the first!

Li Chao Jing lowered his head in shame: "Mother, I know I was wrong, I truly know I was wrong."

"In the past, it was I and Qu Shi who were overly indulgent, spoiling her to the point of ruin, otherwise today's troubles would not have arisen. I truly..."

Whether it was the past toward mother or the many things afterward, Li Chao Jing truly regrets.

Pei Lao Furen gave a cold snort: "No, you have not truly realized your mistake. Luoluo, come over! Come to grandmother's side."

Li Qingluo walked over slowly: "Grandmother."

She had originally intended to remain an invisible person today, but it seems grandmother does not think so.

Pei Lao Furen grabbed Li Qingluo with one hand.

"Back then, I accompanied Luoluo down the mountain to return home, and what awaited her was not a whole-house celebration, but Li Qingzhu's scheming plots, your blame and humiliation, cold neglect and blame!"

"You all blamed Li Qingzhu's death on Luoluo, when clearly she was the most innocent! Back then, her identity was swapped for a thousand gold, and she was sent to a mountain ditch to suffer endless hardship!"

"Those hands of hers are rougher than those of people who train martial arts year-round! Clearly born a delicate, fair-skinned little beauty, yet these years of wind and sun have made her skin worse than that of the servants in the manor!"

"I have carefully nurtured her, nurtured her—look, now she finally appears as she ought to!"

"But if it weren't for me, would you just let her be worn down by you?"

"When she first returned to the manor, you three, each more ruthless than the last, treated her like an enemy, wishing to tear her apart by five horses, to torture her to death!"

"She is your own flesh and blood, your younger sister!"

"But how did you treat her? You made her kneel at Li Qingzhu's spirit hall, make her kowtow to apologize to Li Qingzhu, have her cut flesh for medicine, and even sever her tendons and ligaments! You caused her injury after injury!"

"You threw away the food she cooked to feed the dogs; when she went to pay respects, you even avoided her, wearing a look of disdain! Her father, moreover, was nowhere to be seen, and when encountering the wicked deeds Li Kechuan did, you still blamed it on Luoluo!"

"If this child were not a bit stronger, wouldn't she have already been torn apart by your torment?"

"On the cliff, her birth mother did not choose him."

"At home, her brother repeatedly feuded with her, wanting to put her to death!"

"Her own father even hit her the day before; look at this face, even now the mark still hangs there!"

"I just feel pity for this child; clearly, in her short sixteen years she has already tasted all the bitterness of life, yet upon returning home she still has to face days more bitter than the depths of hell!"

Pei Lao Furen said this, and truly tears streamed down.

Li Qingluo hurriedly knelt down, first wiping Pei Lao Furen's tears, then tightly grasped her hand: "Grandmother, Luoluo has already let it go; please don't grieve for Luoluo."

Li Qingluo smiled, wanting to comfort Pei Lao Furen.

Pei Lao Furen, however, slapped her: "Grandmother is one who has come before! The wounds inflicted by kin need a lifetime to heal! Can you still deceive grandmother?"

Li Qingluo choked up, unable to speak.

The people of the second and third branches all began to whisper to each other.

I never expected that after Li Qingluo returned to the manor she would have endured so much suffering, nor that the masters of the Jiangjun Fu, who were so ruthless back then, would have done these things.

Li Qingya even had her eyes moist, feeling a touch of sorrow for Li Qingluo.

So the second sister now always keeps people at a distance, somewhat aloof, all because she has suffered too much hurt?

This great-aunt and great-uncle, together with the eldest cousin, are truly too ruthless!

Everyone's gaze fell upon them, and Qu Shi and Li Chao Jing felt as uncomfortable as sitting on pins and needles.

Hearing Pei Lao Furen's words, they naturally felt a bit uneasy in their hearts, and gradually scenes and images of events after Li Qingluo's return appeared before their eyes, and the guilt and remorse in their hearts surged up like a tide.

"Luoluo! Mother…… Mother truly did not intend this…… Mother…… was wrong!"

Since that time at Guanshui Cliff, Qu Shi's feelings toward Li Qingluo in her heart have undergone some change; after today, having seen the foster daughter's true face clearly, she was again pointed at by her mother-in-law, word by word, and her heart instantly felt guilty to the point of aching.

What exactly did she do!

This is her own flesh and blood!

Back then, she too carried a child for ten months, and she also eagerly awaited her arrival.

How could one forget all this just because she was snatched away by wicked people in infancy?

These years, she should have been growing up right by her side!

Yet she actually still treats Luo'er like this...

Qu Shi, the more she thought, the more she could not free herself from the pain of sorrow and regret; her legs went weak and she knelt on the ground, covering her mouth with a handkerchief and burst into tears.

Li Chao Jing, although he knows they have let down Li Qingluo, their own daughter.

But if you ask him to admit fault, he would absolutely never do so.

Never mind that there are so many people watching; in this world, where is there any reason for parents to apologize to their children?