Chapter 169: Father's Karmic Retribution, Backstabbed by Everyone

Li Qingluo has been curious about this matter for a long time.

So when Pei Lao Furen mentioned it, she immediately shook her head and expressed curiosity.

Pei Lao Furen sighed: "Although I've lived at Green Pine Temple these years, cultivating, cultivating, what a load of cultivation! Aside from doing some business, Grandmother also occasionally travels south and north to view the land, and often pays attention to every move of the Jiangjun Fu."

"Just consider Grandmother idle, so back then Grandmother knew all the movements in this manor."

"Your grandfather fell seriously ill when your father was seventeen, suddenly collapsing and reaching an incurable state."

"I heard he wanted to see me before he died; although I was wandering the clouds then, not at Green Pine Temple, but that Aunt Deng likely out of jealousy didn't want me to return to the manor, so she kept hiding the letters."

"Nonsense, they simply don't understand; even if the letter reached my hands, even if I knew your grandfather was about to die, I would not come back."

"I hate him to death; I'd be glad when he dies, so he never sees me in his heart for all his lifetimes—that would be satisfying."

"But they don't understand; Aunt Deng doesn't either, so she hid it several times, and Green Pine Temple had no news for a while, making your father angry and he went to Green Pine Temple looking to cause trouble for me."

"This trip, didn't it just expose things?"

"Your father returned and had a big quarrel with Aunt Deng, saying your grandfather was about to die, why was Aunt Deng still fighting over these things?"

"Aunt Deng spoke of regret, heard she cried her eyes out, yet she turned around and put poison in your father's food."

Li Qingluo hearing this was indeed greatly shocked.

"How dare Aunt Deng be so bold? Why? Does she want her two concubine sons to inherit the Jiangjun Fu's estate after grandfather's death?"

Pei Lao Furen flicked Li Qingluo's forehead: "You can think of it, but your father couldn't?"

"Although the poison didn't kill him right away, at that moment he must have hated her intensely. As a child he regarded Aunt Deng as his birth mother, and she initially treated him with maternal kindness and filial piety."

"After I left, Aunt Deng gave birth to her own two concubine sons; did she continue the act?"

"Day by day, your foolish father had long seen through the truth."

"Too bad, it's too late. He couldn't even arrange a good marriage."

"Later, your grandfather had no choice but to arrange for your father a wife whose family background and intellect were both ordinary."

"Aunt Deng couldn't wait to strike at your father, perhaps fearing that if I returned the plan would fail; she gave herself away, not considering that your father could still fight back."

"It is said that your father once slaughtered the entire Jiangjun Fu, risking his life to wield his sword to your grandfather's bedside."

"Later, relying on your grandfather's old troops, they captured Aunt Deng's whole family and also saved his life."

"Logically, that time Aunt Deng should not have been allowed to live."

"But your second and third uncles pleaded, and with your grandfather muddled before death, they merely expelled the whole family from the Jiangjun Fu to the estate."

Li Qingluo finished listening, gave a "hehe" cold laugh: "This counts as father's karmic retribution, right? Who made him treat you like that when he was young?"

"However, their lives are too long!"

Pei Lao Furen choked.

"You little brat! If your father weren't long-lived, could you even exist? Anyway, I'm still grateful that he and mother could give birth to you; otherwise Grandmother's life would be truly lonely."

Now with Li Qingluo's companionship, Pei Lao Furen finally again felt the taste of familial affection.

She also felt the little joys and hardships of continuing to live as a person; how could she not be grateful that there is still a Luo'er in this world?

Let's just treat these grandmother and granddaughter as huddling together for warmth; anyway, the most important thing in her heart now is this girl.

"I didn't expect this old fogey, going to the estate still not honest, even ruining your father's offspring like this!"

"I see your legitimate older brother bewitched by Li Qingzhu like this; eighty percent she's also meddling in it!"

"And your birth mother is also a stupid and toxic thing! The karma she created actually falls upon you, alas… being her child in this life is truly suffering for you."

Pei Lao Furen again asked Li Qingluo: "Regarding this matter, when do you plan to tell your father?"

Li Qingluo: "Just saying that, would he believe it?"

Pei Lao Furen shook her head: "If Aunt Lou testifies, and it concerns his former beloved concubine, he should believe it."

Li Qingluo however said: "Grandmother, Luo'er guesses this matter may still have another truth. As for what to do now, Luo'er herself hasn't decided yet; please give me some advice."

Pei Lao Furen didn't understand, so Li Qingluo then recounted the incident of encountering the fake Chenghé at the charity estate.

"Luo'er kept it hidden from Grandmother, also thinking it was too fantastical, so she never believed it. But later Luo'er pondered more and more, feeling it might be true."

"If I truly still have a living brother in this world, who would he be? The twin son born to Aunt Zheng back then—did that male infant really die?"

"Aunt Lou said, she fled out of fear, then ran back and saw Aunt Zhao and them handling the burial."

"Aunt Zhao said, that night they didn't fish out an infant corpse from the lake, so they buried only a cat's skeleton."

"But what about that male infant? Over the years there's been no news of any remains surfacing from the lake."

"Grandmother, Zheng Lingzhou spoke to me with such certainty that I still have a brother, so that male infant must indeed not have died!"

Moreover, if the fake Chenghé Zheng Lingzhou is telling the truth, what he says can only be his own biological nephew.

It's just unknown how that male infant survived back then.

It's possible that the Zhao clan threw away the male infant, then were promptly rescued by Aunt Zheng's own people and sent out of the manor; if true and he could still survive, that would be truly a life of great fortune!

But she harbors doubts.

Because Li Qingluo was later kidnapped by the Lotus Sect and encountered Zheng Lingzhou once again.

Since Zheng Lingzhou is the chief of the Lotus Sect's Four Great Dharma Protectors, if she truly still has a living brother, wouldn't that brother also be involved with the Lotus Sect?

Although she doesn't want to have dealings with these people, she can't guard against them suddenly showing up to recognize kin.

No!

If one is exposing what Qu Shi and Aunt Deng did back then, and just then that brother returns to recognize kin, the Jiangjun Fu would fall into danger involving the Lotus Sect, not to mention Qu Shi and Aunt Deng might also escape.

Therefore, so that grandmother and she herself avoid being implicated with the Lotus Sect, her brother must not return alive!

Let her be ruthless then.

She now only wants to protect her grandmother and the people she cares about completely.

The rest, nothing matters.

Without waiting for Pei Lao Furen to give her opinion, Li Qingluo already had an idea in her heart.

"Grandmother, I can't say it directly; I need to think of a way to scare my mother so that she confesses on her own, which would be best."

"First, we must pin the charge on her; that way, even if later news spreads that one of the twin children is still alive, Qu Shi's own admission of what she did will be impossible to wash away."

"Then comes that brother."

"By the way, Grandmother, can your people still find out where my brother is now?"

"She must take precautions early."

"Pei Lao Furen, although she did not know what Li Qingluo intended to do, still agreed to it."

"Leave this matter to Grandmother, and you don't have to worry about it."

"After the meal, first think about how enjoyable it was to go out riding horses on the seventeenth."

"Don't spend all day worrying and looking gloomy at such a young age!"

Li Qingluo: …

"Grandmother, you were just listening quite intently, weren't you?"

"Now you're disliking her again?"

"The hotpot was brought up."

"Steam rose, and the scent of meat filled the air."

"Especially on a snowy day, eating a hotpot makes the whole body energetic and warm."

"While eating, Pei Lao Furen remembered to ask Li Qingluo."

"\"Your hotpot restaurant is about to open? \""

Li Qingluo: "Luoer plans to try opening before the Spring Festival, to see if everyone likes it."

Pei Lao Furen: "In winter people naturally like it. But if it coincides with the festival, with all the gatherings, the restaurant should be able to make a big profit. What kind of hotpot are you planning to sell?"

Li Qingluo listed them one by one: "Beef, lamb, chicken, duck, goose, pork—have a bit of everything. If someone likes to eat everything, there's no need to cook just one. Prepare a tasty broth, and dip the ordered dishes into it to eat; that's also fine."

"\"For example, offal from beef and lamb, sliced beef and lamb, pork meatballs. \""

"\"You can also have a hotpot with only one type of meat; if it's not satisfying enough, you can add vegetables while eating. \""

"Pei Lao Furen was also very interested after hearing that."

"\"Anything else? \""

Li Qingluo: "Aunt Lou sent me some chilies and Sichuan pepper from Shu, and I tried making a dish twice at Hongfenguan. Grandmother, the flavor is truly unique. Luoer thinks perhaps we could make a spicy hotpot, which would also be a distinct taste."

Pei Lao Furen: "Then let me taste it first!"

Li Qingluo smiled and replied: "I'll have someone go to Shu to procure a large amount for me; we'll try adding it then. If the people of Jinling don't like it, we can keep it for ourselves."

"\"Also, the granddaughter thinks just eating hotpot is boring. So we should also prepare some cold salads, fried foods, desserts, and the like, so those eating hotpot can change their palate. \""

"Pei Lao Furen nodded repeatedly."

"\"You girl, you're scheming these things with some ideas. Count the days; the Spring Festival isn't far, so don't just be busy with this—find time to rest yourself as well. \""

Li Qingluo: "Grandmother, don't worry, granddaughter knows. A few days ago, Princess Nanping sent a notice inviting me to ride horses outside the city on the seventeenth to enjoy the scenery, and I accepted."

Pei Lao Furen, however, was a bit worried: "But you don't know how to ride a horse; how will you have fun there? Yet she's a princess, you can't offend her by not going."

"\"Never mind, never mind, there are still three or five days left. Grandmother will personally take you to the stables later to pick a horse, then quickly give you a last‑minute crash course. \""

"\"You don't have to gallop right away; at least you need to be able to sit on it, so you can be led and at least look the part. \""

"After eating the steaming hotpot, Pei Lao Furen personally took Li Qingluo to the stables to pick a horse."

At that moment, the groom came over and said: "Old Lady, young lady. The eldest son heard you were here to pick a horse, so he just sent someone over saying that the white horse he raises, if you don't mind, he will give it to you."