Chapter 281: then translation of title

Zha Yi Na nodded.

"Yes."

"However, although Pei Lang's consciousness is unclear, my mouth cannot speak, my body cannot move, yet my mind has always been clear."

Li Qingluo heard these words and felt a deep dread toward this gu poison.

To her, this truly made life worse than death.

But Li Qingluo was now more concerned with another matter: "So, you cultivated Pei Sanlang."

"You planted a seed of hatred in his heart, made him kill countless maidens for the Pei Duke's residence, made the already monstrous great maternal uncle produce countless coagulation pills, all so that the great maternal uncle could continue to survive miserably, and you ended up as nothing but a beautiful corpse?"

Zha Yi Na heard her say that, and a flash of anger rose in her eyes.

"He is a member of the Pei family; aren't these things what he ought to do?"

"If Pei Lang had not died once, how could he be clear-headed, no longer bound by blind loyalty and filial piety?"

"The emperor wants to kill him, yes; the ruler wants the minister dead, the minister must die! But since he has already died once, shouldn't he consider the whole Pei family, and himself, for once?"

Li Qingluo shook her head: "I never said your scheme was wrong. But should those slain maidens have deserved to die?"

Zha Yi Na: "Bloodshed is inevitable on the road of scheming; this is also the fate of those maidens."

Li Qingluo gave a cold smile: "The lowly in the world are like ants. Only the noble are worth a human life?"

"The Pei family suffered injustice and unfairness, and the great maternal uncle indeed has cause for hatred. Yet ants can still try to topple a high platform! Throughout history, how many commoners have overthrown dynasties?"

"Just because they are women, should they be despised and degraded, that a single word about their fate becomes their entire life?"

"I do not agree with your methods."

"There are countless ways to plot revenge, but what you did is the most shameful!"

Zha Yi Na took a deep breath.

"Let our sins be as they are; the matter has come to this day—aren't the punishments we have suffered already enough?"

Li Qingluo: "Can it atone for the countless female lives lost over these years!?"

Zha Yi Na: "You!"

Li Qingluo's harsher words had not yet left her mouth.

"The Pei Duke's residence is indeed aggrieved. Yet what you have done over the years also drains the ancestors' accumulated virtue."

"The Pei family's battle merits are illustrious, their achievements stand out in the world, and the annals cannot forget them."

"But the disgusting deeds the Pei family has done in the past thirty years, once exposed to the world, are also a self‑destruction of their foundation."

"If the world does not call you a demon, it is only out of courtesy!"

Zha Yi Na fell silent, staring indifferently at Li Qingluo.

Li Qingluo knew she was angry.

She did not care.

Prince Su, who had been listening around the corner, now stepped forward.

Following him came Doctor Du, who had been seized on a swift horse.

Doctor Du was still panting heavily, his mind clouded, when he was pushed into the sickroom.

Zha Yi Na seized the chance to stand and cast a burning glance inside.

In fact, she is a shaman‑doctor and could also treat the old Pei Duke.

But for some reason, she dared not intervene this time, instead pleading with others.

Doctor Du entered for less than half a incense stick's time, and Pei Lao Furen and Doctor Luo Shen hurried over.

Seeing their dust‑covered, weary appearance, it was clear they too had come at a gallop.

Li Qingluo, pained for her grandmother's toil, went over and held her: "Grandmother, are you all right?"

Pei Lao Furen patted her small hand: "Don't worry, Grandmother's bones are still firm."

Saying this, Pei Lao Furen's gaze fell on Zha Yi Na.

When she saw Zha Yi Na's still‑young face, Pei Lao Furen was shocked: "Zha Yi Na!? How… how is she…?"

Doctor Luo Shen was also astonished: "Is it really her?"

Li Qingluo: "Grandmother, before you arrived, she already had a visage surpassing that of a granddaughter. This story is long; let the granddaughter step aside and speak with you first."

Pei Lao Furen could only temporarily restrain her swirling emotions: "Fine. Luo Fan, hurry and save my elder brother!"

Doctor Luo Shen hurriedly followed Zhui Yu into the room.

When Zha Yi Na saw Pei Lao Furen and Doctor Luo Shen appear together, her eyes showed some shock, but more so guilt.

She could barely look Pei Lao Furen in the eyes.

Li Qingluo took this opportunity to give Pei Lao Furen a brief account of the situation.

Pei Lao Furen, after listening, exclaimed: "What!?"

Had Li Qingluo not supported her, she would have been unable to bear this truth and would have staggered backward heavily.

"Elder brother… elder brother actually… the truth is like this!?"

"Quick, bring that Pei brother to me; I will ask him myself—what on earth is going on!?"

Li Qingluo: "Grandmother, Pei Sanlang is still detained, and Prince Su Your Highness still intends to investigate him."

Pei Lao Furen looked up toward Prince Su.

"Your Highness, the old minister knows my request may be unreasonable, but please allow that Sanlang to come. I wish to confront him myself! Why commit such heinous acts—were these truly orders from my elder brother?"

"What exactly is their scheme?"

Zha Yi Na: "Xiu Zhen… if you want to know everything, I will…"

Pei Lao Furen: "Did I ask you?! All of this is your doing, you demoness!"

"All the honor of our Pei clan has been ruined by you!"

Zaina heard Pei Lao Furen scold her like that, and she seemed unable to accept it for a moment.

"Why, why? Do you also think that your older brother deserves to die?"

"Pei Xiuzhen, if it weren't for Pei Lang trying to save you and your husband, how could he have been seriously wounded in the maze and unable to recover, and how could a few mere assassins have taken his life!!"

"He hasn't seen you these years, but that was to protect you. Yet you also think he actually deserves to die?"

Pei Lao Furen: "My older brother certainly does not deserve to die!"

"But he also shouldn't live like this, neither human nor ghost!"

"Our Pei Family's children, our Pei Family's souls and bloodline, all the heroes of our Pei Family through the ages guard the stability of the realm and protect the common people of the world!"

"Even in death, the Pei Family's purity remains forever!"

"Moreover, even dying a clean death is better than living in darkness, crawling about and harming others' lives—upright and honorable!"

"As for who killed him, I owe him that; if I knew the truth, I would risk my life to avenge him!"

"It's you who turned him into this, into a puppet for your selfish gain—do I still have to see you!!"

Zaina was greatly struck.

She sat down, face ashen and limp, utterly destroying the belief she had always held.

"Could it be that I… really made a mistake…"

Pei Lao Furen turned her face away.

She wept from the pain.

Prince Su looked at Leng Dian, and after a while Pei Sanlang was dragged up.

Li Qinglo looked at Pei Sanlang, seeing that he had been changed into a clean set of clothes, his hand injuries had been temporarily treated, and even his messy hair had been combed and washed.

Li Qinglo gratefully nodded at Prince Su; Grandmother seeing this would probably not feel heartbroken.

Who would have thought that when Pei Lao Furen first saw Pei Sanlang, she went up and gave him a slap.

"Beast!"

"Scoundrel!"

"The Pei Family actually produced someone as foolish and ignorant as you, a vicious evil—truly the greatest misfortune of my third brother!"

Pei Qinghong stared in shock at the scene before him, looking at Pei Lao Furen, speechless.

Li Qinglo, worried he didn't know his grandmother's identity, introduced: "This is my grandmother, and also your grandfather's younger sister."

Pei Qinghong: "Grand… grand-aunt… I don't know what wrong I, as a nephew, have done. Everything I've done is following the great-grandfather's orders, merely hoping to earn a brighter future for the Pei Family—what fault is there?"

"Our Pei Family has been loyal to the sovereign and patriotic generation after generation, yet we have met only miserable deaths—should we not hate?"

"Grand-aunt, these years you have never interfered in Pei Family affairs, and now you shouldn't so righteously blame us."

He seems not to realize his own mistake.

Pei Lao Furen gave a cold smile.

"So, your way out is to support the deposed crown prince? Back the deposed crown prince to regain the throne, and once he ascends that position, the Pei Clan will have a brighter future?"

Pei San said nothing.

Pei Lao Furen however said: "So back then elder brother resolutely gave up all his military power, even dragging his sick body to become an evil spirit, even though his appearance was completely changed and he harmed so many innocent maids of the Pei Residence and even more innocent women's lives—was it all just for this foolish scheme!!"

"The current emperor once feared the Pei Family, could purge them, guard against them, clean them up—surely his son wouldn't do the same!!"

Pei San: "Of course not——!"

Pei Lao Furen stared at him.

"What is that?"

Pei San instead fell silent again.

He merely clenched his teeth, stubbornly turning his head away with his whole body.

Pei Lao Furen turned again to look at Zaina: "So, will you speak or not? I'm giving you a chance—you aren't supposed to tell me everything, are you?"

Zaina glanced at Pei San: "This…"

Pei Lao Furen: "You wouldn't possibly be colluding with the Lotus Sect, would you? Using the Lotus Sect's hands to overthrow the dynasty for revenge?"

Zaina: "No. Of course not!"

Li Qinglo followed up: "Then how did you end up in the hands of the Lotus Sect!!"

Pei Sanlang's emotions became agitated: "No, you mustn't say… mustn't say!"

Zaina, however, closed her eyes: "I was captured."

"A few years ago, as Pei Lang became more and more foolish, I also gradually couldn't move."

"Actually, at that time Pei Lang already wanted to end himself; whenever he was lucid, he had the thought of not continuing to linger on with me."

"But I am a child worm; if he died, I would die with him."

"So even if he persisted these years, it was for me! Later, the lives of those women he killed were also, in a way, caused by me..."

"However, we had not yet made up our minds to… I… my older sister then appeared."

"My older sister came to the Pei Residence to find me, she deceived me, took me out of the Pei Family, and these past years I have been kept locked up by her."

Li Qinglo: "Your sister? You mean she's also a shamanic doctor? She also knows poison arts?"

Zaina: "Yes. Moreover, my older sister's poison arts have always been formidable; she has more talent than I and is more favored by our master."

"So, she could, without anyone noticing, have already given all the sons of the Pei Residence a kind of silk-guiding poison."

Everyone hearing this, their faces filled with shock!

All the sons of the Pei Residence!!

They've all been poisoned!!

Zaina's older sister really is that formidable and terrifying!!

Pei Sanlang let out a low, miserable and defeated cry: "No……"

All the darkness and weakness of the Pei family were now completely exposed under the light……