Chapter 168: with translation of chapter title

Li Qingluo's eyes were filled with tears, and she clenched the handkerchief in her hand.

Father is so foolish!

Auntie A'na has indeed made mistakes these years, done wrong deeds, but merely locking her in a nunnery for cultivation already counts as a favor from Sister Luo'er and the legitimate grandmother!

If she were honest, the rest of her life in the nunnery wouldn't be very hard, and she could live out her days peacefully.

But if Father is determined to do something to rescue Auntie...

Li Qingluo shivered violently.

No, if Father does anything that harms Sister Luo'er and Jiangjun Fu, their second branch will surely suffer disaster!

Yet she cannot abandon Father; what should she do?

In the main house, Li Chao Jing heard a servant report that Li Qingluo had gone to the Jinling Yamen prison for a visit.

"The young lady stayed inside for a long time."

Li Chao Jing then guessed who she had gone to see.

"How's that old hag?"

The servant said, "I heard she's about to die."

Li Chao Jing sighed, "She has been at the Liu family these years and has probably endured a lot of hardship. If she wants to go in, it must be to see how that old poisonous woman suffers... for a young lady, such behavior is truly unbecoming!"

Yet Li Chao Jing was helpless.

This biological daughter acts very boldly and never considers Jiangjun Fu or them.

Moreover, she does whatever she wants, and even if she makes a mess, the Old Lady will cover for her.

This makes it impossible for a father like me to discipline her.

"Sir, there also... seems there were other people helping the young lady. When she returned, a mounted gentleman escorted her all the way back."

Li Chao Jing's eyes widened.

"Who is it? Did you see clearly?"

The servant shook his head, "Couldn't see clearly. But they seemed of noble birth. The horse they rode, the clothes they wore, were all extraordinary."

Li Chao Jing, angry, slapped the table.

"Who exactly is she associating with!? Jiangjun Fu can no longer endure another scandal!"

"She must be trying to completely tear this family apart!?"

"I said she's just a girl, yet she has such great abilities, scheming here and running there, and now she's colluding with outsiders."

"You investigate! Do it properly! Find out exactly who she's secretly dealing with, then bring me the evidence!"

"This time, I will preemptively prevent it; Jiangjun Fu must not repeat the same mistake. I will eradicate her before she can commit a disgrace like Zhu'er did. If it leads to the ruin of the family, I will personally strangle her!"

"Hasn't mother always spoiled that brat?"

"Now he has spoiled her so that she looks down on everyone, seeing neither herself nor her mother as respectable elders. Thus he takes the evidence to show his mother Li Qingluo's good deeds!"

"Then, he will thoroughly deal with that brat, making her fully submit to me as her father!"

Snow fell softly.

Li Qingluo took a hot bath, sat by the window, opened it to watch the snow outside, and waited until the midnight hour.

Que'er had already been lying down sleeping for a while.

She got up, rubbed her eyes, and gave Li Qingluo another piece of clothing.

"Miss, be careful not to catch a cold. But is the snow really that beautiful? You seem as if you can't get enough of it."

Que'er yawned, looking exhausted and listless.

Li Qingluo: "This day has finally come to an end."

Que'er: "Yes, miss, it's already past the midnight hour. Aren't you resting yet?"

Li Qingluo smiled, "You can't bear to sleep, can you?"

Que'er: "Can't bear? You look so happy, miss, but what good thing happened?"

Que'er still didn't know that Zhao Shi had already died.

But Li Qingluo's purpose was not this.

She gazed at the snow-filled sky, her eyes bright as dazzling stars.

"I will definitely live to a hundred years."

Que'er: "Then I, your servant, will accompany you to a hundred years!"

Li Qingluo turned back, laughed broadly, "Fine."

The next morning, news of Zhao Shi's death spread throughout Jinling City.

Many who followed the matter let out a satisfied shout.

Those high-born nobles, upon hearing, also gave their servants a good beating.

"This is the fate of those who dare to mix fish eyes with pearls and commit such evil!"

Pei Lao Furen sent Li Qingluo to Jingci Tang to have a pot of mushroom chicken soup.

Li Qingluo's mouth watered at the mention, and she hurried to Jingci Tang under an umbrella wearing a cloak.

"Grandmother, I haven't even arrived yet and already smell the fragrance."

Pei Lao Furen laughed, "Your nose is so keen! Come quickly, let Grandmother feel whether your hand is cold."

Li Qingluo sat beside Pei Lao Furen; after some small talk between the grandmother and granddaughter, Pei Lao Furen brought up Zhao Shi.

"Did you see her yesterday?"

Li Qingluo did not hide: "Yes. Granddaughter also asked about some matters she wanted to know. Grandmother, do you know them all?"

Pei Lao Furen: "I don't know! I haven't asked Deng Mama; your own affairs, from now on I won't pry."

Li Qingluo: "Grandmother?"

Pei Lao Furen smiled: "It's not that I don't care about you, Grandmother believes in you. Want to do something? Go ahead. Let go of your hands and feet, and do it boldly!"

"That Zhao Shi, her death is more than deserved!"

Li Qingluo's nose felt sore, yet she flopped onto Pei Lao Furen's lap and acted coquettishly.

I want Grandmother to know, Grandmother you should care about Luoluo, otherwise Luoluo feels empty inside and always feels like there's no one behind her. Besides, if you don't worry about Luoluo's affairs, this whole day would be boring, right?

Pei Lao Furen burst out laughing at her words.

"Hahaha... you. Okay, okay, from now on Grandmother will listen to whatever you want to say. So tell me, what's the deal with that Zhao Shi?"

Li Qingluo told everything that happened last night.

Including the part about Prince Su.

"He went to the prison, it seems, to see someone."

Pei Lao Furen: "Qingyangzi."

Li Qingluo exclaimed in surprise: "Is that the Daoist priest from Blue Pine Temple? How did he get locked up?"

Pei Lao Furen heard this and sighed: "Someone reported him, accusing him of bullying men and women, corruption, and licentiousness."

Li Qingluo gaped, her mouth opening wide in shock.

That Qingyangzi, I had seen him before when I was at Blue Pine Temple; he doesn't seem like someone of such character, right?

Could it be that I never truly understood him?

Pei Lao Furen continued: "I spent thirty years at Blue Pine Temple. When I first went there, this Qingyangzi hadn't even been born yet. After I had been there for over ten years, this kid made his first visit to Blue Pine Temple; his grandmother brought him to pay respects to me, and back then he was just a little incense visitor."

So Qingyangzi had known Grandmother all along!

Moreover, if Qingyangzi's grandmother and my grandmother were old acquaintances, then Qingyangzi's birth must have been extraordinary.

Li Qingluo: "And then?"

"He was originally the son of an official, noble, aristocratic family; later his family got into trouble and the whole household was exiled, but he happened to leave home a few months early to become a Daoist at Blue Pine Temple, thus escaping the disaster."

The court's punishments do not affect those outside the secular world.

Therefore Qingyangzi was not implicated in his family's exile.

But is it really just a coincidence?

"By my reckoning, he's only about twenty-one or twenty-two. Although he's still young, I still trust his character. Day to day he maybe likes a bit of silver, but he never takes ill-gotten wealth."

"As for the rest—accusations of bullying men and women, licentiousness—I simply don't believe them."

Li Qingluo: "So it's a false accusation? But who would go to such lengths to frame him? Would the authorities believe it?"

Li Qingluo: "I sent Zhang Mama to inquire, and she said… ahem, it was the twelfth daughter of the Pei family who filed the complaint."

Li Qingluo could no longer sit still.

"Nanjia? Grandmother, you didn't get the information wrong, did you?"

"Nanjia falsely accused Qingyangzi of bullying men and women, corruption, and licentiousness?"

"With such serious charges, is Nanjia deliberately framing him, or could there really be some misunderstanding?"

Pei Lao Furen grabbed Li Qingluo and made her sit down.

"Zhang Mama inquired personally—could she be wrong? Your relationship with that twelfth daughter is pretty good these days. Go ask around and find out exactly what's going on."

"I and this Qingyangzi have been neighbors for several years. This kid always has good things and never hesitates to send them to Grandmother—food, supplies, toys, novelties; sometimes he even comes over to keep me company playing chess, and because of him I've had a lot more fun."

"Grandmother, although I give him quite a bit of silver each year, life is so comfortable that I truly regard him as a close kin."

"This time he was imprisoned because of the Pei family, and I feel somewhat guilty about it. So I've pulled some strings to let him have an easier time inside."

"As for his family's earlier trouble, since it didn't involve him, he managed to come out clean."

"But if this time the charges stemming from his own alleged crimes are proven against him, then even though he's a person outside the secular world, he might not be able to escape this time—getting off with just a light punishment would be considered easy."

"But if it's not true, then that twelfth daughter would be the one making a false accusation."

"The crime of false accusation is worse than the actual crime!"

Li Qingluo's face finally grew solemn.

"Grandmother, Luoluo now knows about this; I will go ask Nanjia exactly what the truth is."

Pei Lao Furen: "If Prince Su also gets involved in this matter… I'm afraid the Pei family side won't be able to protect the twelfth daughter."

"Anyway, go to that twelfth daughter and give her a heads-up too; as a young lady, she probably doesn't even know what grudge she ultimately has with Qingyangzi."

Pei Lao Furen worrying about both sides like this is not without reason.

Because, according to Pei Lao Furen's knowledge, even before becoming a Daoist, Qingyangzi and Prince Su were already old acquaintances; so if Prince Su gets involved, Qingyangzi's innocence will surely be investigated.

Therefore she is now even more worried about the Pei family's twelfth daughter.

Pei Lao Furen never even considered that Prince Su might have made that trip specially because of her precious granddaughter.

After finishing talking about Prince Su, Pei Lao Furen then cursed Zhao Shi a few times.

"Venomous woman! Her dying like this is really letting her off easy!"

Li Qingluo didn't mention the hardships she suffered as a child, so after Pei Lao Furen finished scolding a few sentences, she turned to Old Lady Deng.

"I know she hasn't been reconciled these years, so she's still reached her claws into your father's inner quarters."

"Luoluo, do you know why her whole family was driven out of the Jiangjun Fu back then?"