Chapter 235: The Liu family utterly despises the fake young miss!

Liu Men'er once said, it was the Jiang family using an old secret to blackmail, demanding Li Chao Jing hand over five hundred thousand taels of silver.

This secret must be related to the true cause of death of that Deputy General Jiang.

Li Qingluo instantly understood.

It must be this secret that will put the entire Jiangjun Fu in an extremely dire situation—that's why Li Chao Jing has changed so drastically!

The Qu family used Qu Shi's hand to poison the grandmother; whether their goal was Li Qingluo's marriage or the grandmother's Heavenly Wind Trading House after her death, or both, is currently unknown.

But Li Chao Jing suddenly became utterly shameless, using this to drag his own biological mother to death, all for those five hundred thousand taels of silver.

Only the grandmother's Heavenly Wind Trading House could possibly come up with that much money!

For money, Li Chao Jing has even abandoned his humanity!

Li Qingluo's heart hardened; thinking of the grandmother's suffering, she wished she could personally slay this beast.

But she knows that, with her current strength, it's still difficult to easily overthrow Li Chao Jing.

So she must catch more of Li Chao Jing's loose ends and tails.

Taking a deep breath, Li Qingluo continued asking: "How did the Jiang family suddenly appear? They've been quiet all these years—how could they suddenly know what secret to use for blackmail, and even open their mouths wide like a lion demanding so much money?"

"Aren't they afraid that Li Chao Jing, in a fit of rage, will use whatever means to wipe out their whole family?"

"Unless there's someone else behind the scenes giving the Jiang family advice and backing."

Deng Mama said: "Uncle De's investigation found that the Jiang family has actually been silent all these years; since the death of that Deputy General Jiang, although they received condolence money and rewards from the court, the family hasn't produced a single military officer or scholar-official entering government service."

"So over these years, they've also gradually lost contact with the court's officials."

"But just a month ago, namely the tenth day after the Spring Festival, someone from the palace went to the Jiang family once."

Li Qingluo couldn't help but frown tightly: "The palace?"

Li Qingluo thought of one person: the Empress.

This woman, the highest supreme in the world, could this matter be related to her?

Could this be the Empress's means of forcing Li Chao Jing and Prince Yun's Mansion to stand on the same rope?

Last time, the three generations of women from the Li family were all invited to the Empress's Palace; if it weren't for Xi Yue running out and pulling Li Qingluo and them out, the Empress would have then forced Qu Shi to express her stance, reaccepting Liu Qinzhu and reconciling with the Jiangjun Fu.

Today, if it weren't for Uncle De, this news might not have been uncovered at all.

"So even Li Chao Jing surely doesn't know that someone from the palace came out and visited the Jiang family."

"Miss, what should we do now? Wait for the master to shamelessly go and cozy up to Prince Yun's Mansion again?"

Li Qingluo's eyes turned cold: "Let Liu Er and Liu San continue acting according to the plan."

Over here, Liu Qinzhu finally returned happily to Prince Yun's Mansion.

She not only came back today, but also brought back a box of jewelry and precious gems given to her by Qu Shi.

"Zhu'er, your current situation makes Mother's heart feel awful. Just seeing these wounds on your face makes my heart ache with sourness."

"These are your former belongings. After you left, Mother went into your Ziwei Tang and sorted out quite a few."

"Originally we wanted to lock them away, but we just left this box beside us as a reminder. But looking at it now… our mother‑daughter bond will not be broken in this lifetime."

"If that's the case, Mother, why keep these? Just give them all back to you."

"First take everything out of this box; after Mother inventories your remaining belongings, we'll find a chance to send them all to Prince Yun's Mansion for you."

Liu Qinzhu immediately threw herself into Qu Shi's arms, moved.

"Mother, in this world, you truly are the one who loves me most… Zhu'er will never forget your great kindness to me in this lifetime."

"In this lifetime, Zhu'er still can't repay Mother's debt… sob sob…"

Li Kechuan stood to the side watching this scene, wearing a satisfied smile.

He even teased Liu Qinzhu: "What about me? Elder Brother, don't you love me anymore?"

Liu Qinzhu wiped her tears and laughed: "Yes, Elder Brother is also the best to me in this world!"

But as soon as she said that, Qu Shi showed a strange expression.

"Chuan'er, Zhu'er, from now on, in private you two must not meet again. If anything comes up, Zhu'er, write more letters back, or let Mother come see you, okay?"

Li Kechuan immediately understood Qu Shi's meaning.

His face changed: "Mother! Do you also believe those outside rumors? Zhu'er and I are innocent; we have nothing to fear!"

Qu Shi stared at him with a complex meaning: "Chuan'er, is that so? Are you really that pure?"

Liu Qinzhu's heart gave a hard jump.

Now that she knows Li Kechuan's true feelings toward her, this matter makes her feel guilty inside, so she naturally cannot face Qu Shi's words with complete frankness.

Li Kechuan was so angry he couldn't speak.

After Liu Qinzhu left, Li Kechuan immediately went out again.

What the heck are those two good-for-nothings, Liu Er and Liu San, up to!?

Weren't you supposed to let them pester Li Qingluo and blow up the matter of her causing Liu Sui'er's death?

How come, in all of Jinling City, there's not even a whisper about this matter, yet his and Zhu'er's affair keeps getting bigger and bigger?

If this continues, how can Zhu'er possibly survive in Prince Yun's Mansion?

Li Kechuan came to the Liu family and smashed open the door.

"Liu Er, Liu San, get out here!"

After Liu Er and Liu San came running in, scared out of their wits and opened the door, Li Kechuan immediately saw two large coffins crammed together in the narrow courtyard.

He thought of Liu Sui'er, and his whole body shuddered.

He recalled the days and nights Liu Sui'er spent accompanying him, her gentle attentiveness, her thoughtfulness, recalled her accompanying him through the days of his broken‑leg low point, her voice, appearance, and smile…

No matter what she actually did, or what purpose she had in initially approaching him, whether her belly still carried his flesh and blood…

Li Kechuan felt a deep, heavy sorrow in his heart.

"Didn't I already give you silver? Why haven't you buried the person yet?"

Li Kechuan shouted angrily at the Liu family, scaring Liu Er and Liu San to death.

Instantly, several pairs of lifeless gazes fell upon the courtyard.

Now, in this household, anyone who hears about money goes mad.

They were so poor they could barely keep the pot boiling, yet yesterday the elder branch caused a stir—Li Qingluo had actually given the elder brother's wife a hundred taels of silver.

That's a hundred taels!

A hundred taels could have buried Liu Jinzhi and Liu Sui'er.

A hundred taels could also pay for treatment for Liu Lao tou and Liu Da's broken legs.

But Liu Da actually went to the gambling house and lost all that hundred taels!!

Moreover, even though Liu Jinzhi, a married‑out daughter, is dead, her corpse should not be the Liu family's responsibility.

Yet when the butcher's family heard that Liu Jinzhi died an unnatural death, they flatly refused to take her corpse into their home.

They even threatened that if the Liu family forced them, they would dump Liu Jinzhi's corpse in the potter's field to feed the wild dogs.

Liu Lao tou, feeling sorry for his daughter, stubbornly insisted on burying Liu Jinzhi together with Liu Sui'er.

The corpses have been lying there for several days now.

A foul smell is beginning to emanate from them.

It's simply because they have no money.

So after yesterday's incident with the hundred taels blew up, the elder, second, and third branches all became extremely angry and got into a brawl together.

It nearly made Liu Lao tou choke with anger on the spot.

He lay in his room, pounding the bed frame while weeping and cursing, but with a broken leg and serious injuries, no one in the Liu family paid him any heed.

The people of the second and third branches already despised Liu Sui'er for not belonging to them and for being an immoral lass; they thought she might as well be dead and should all be thrown away together.

As a result, they now not only have to buy two coffins, but they can't get any money from Prince Yun's mansion, and on top of that they have two more disabled persons to support.

They can't even keep the pot for meals boiling, and the children cry from hunger every day.

How can they possibly go on living like this?

Therefore, Liu Er and Liu San, who once held silver but then lost it, dare not cause such a scene again.

They fear that if everyone in the household goes mad and fights again, someone will surely end up dead.

Liu Er tearfully pleaded, "Young Master, our… our silver, the day we left Fukou Lou, it was all snatched away."

"Not only were we robbed, we were also beaten up. We still hurt, ow—"

The wounds on Liu Er and Liu San were indeed mostly inflicted by Li Qingluo.

But they dare not name Li Qingluo.

They still hope to leave Jinling City with the family as planned, so they claim they were blindfolded and didn't see who hit them or who took the money.

Upon hearing how outrageous the matter was, Li Kechuan flew into a rage and scolded Liu Er and Liu San again.

He threw another bag of silver from his person: "Hurry up and bury the bodies! If I find out you're delaying this again, see how I deal with you!"

Liu Er and Liu San picked up the bag of silver and promptly agreed.

Li Kechuan glanced at the courtyard, lowered his voice coldly: "Go lure Li Qingluo out for me!"

Liu Er and Liu San exchanged a glance, looking rather embarrassed.

"Us? Young Master, you and that lass Li Qingluo live in the same household—why do you need us to do this?"

"Exactly, Young Master, and you think too highly of us…"

Li Kechuan: "Can't you think of Zhu'er just once? You are her paternal uncles!"

"Besides, that slut Li Qingluo has disappeared; even if I wanted to deal with her, I can't find her."

"You ought to know this. Everything Zhu'er has now is inseparable from Li Qingluo; without her, Zhu'er wouldn't be suffering so much."

Liu Er sneered inwardly: "Is Zhu'er having a hard time? Does she have it harder than the whole Liu family?"

Since she returned, has she ever taken even a single coin for this household?

Back then, their mother sacrificed her life to exchange her for the Jiangjun Fu, hoping she would one day bring the whole Liu family to prominence—yet what has she done?

She not only despises them, she wishes to cut all ties with them; after entering Prince Yun's mansion, she ignores the entire household, being extremely cold and selfish.

Is she suffering?

At least in Prince Yun's mansion she can eat well and dress warmly, while these people at home?

Especially her younger brother Liu Yuanbao—lately, how starved has he become?

After Sui'er and Jinzhi died, they merely wanted to tell her a word, ask for some funeral expenses; if she weren't so indifferent, even letting Prince Yun's mansion bully and drive them away, perhaps they wouldn't hate her so much.

But now, the person Liu Er and Liu San hate most in their hearts is Liu Zhu'er!