Chapter 305: The Fate of Old Aunt Deng!

Pei Lao Furen said expressionlessly: "Go, bring that old thing first."

Deng Lao Yiniang, clad in seaweed garments, was dragged up.

Her face was ashen and deathly pale, completely devoid of color.

Li Chao Huai and Li Chao An ran out to the hall, Li Chao Huai shouting loudly: "Auntie—Auntie—"

"Old Lady, please spare Auntie. I am willing to bear all her punishments!"

"Auntie—"

Li Chao Huai went "thud—thud—thud" on the ground, knocking his head heavily each time.

In just a moment, his forehead was covered in blood.

Pei Lao Furen bent down, lowered her head, and lifted Deng Lao Yiniang's face.

"You are fortunate; your son is more filial than mine."

"But my son turned out like this because of you, Deng Lao Yiniang—you must take responsibility."

"After all, for your sake he constantly threatened me back then; even if I died, he wouldn't burn a single stick of incense for me!"

"Look, he's become like this now—wasn't it your teaching?"

Deng Lao Yiniang looked at the mentally abnormal Li Chao Jing, her whole body trembling like a sieve.

Where is the vigor she had when she first returned to the Jiangjun Fu?

During those days at the nunnery, she had already been subdued, her head bowed, having faced the truth.

Li Chao Huai actually wanted to visit her, even hoping to rescue her from the nunnery out of filial devotion.

But Pei Lao Furen had people watch Deng Lao Yiniang personally, never leaving her side, even when she used the toilet or slept.

Later, everyone in the nunnery even personally watched her.

If Deng Lao Yiniang ever showed any intention to escape, she would be immediately caught back and then severely punished without mercy.

For example, she was stripped of all her upper garments in front of all the nuns, then mercilessly lashed on the back with a punishment ruler.

For example, in the freezing winter night, she was made to wash all the nunnery's laundry by the lakeside.

Furthermore, she was made to single-handedly carry manure to water all the vegetable fields behind the mountain.

Or she was made to single-handedly wipe clean all the halls in the nunnery...

Deng Lao Yiniang is already old; how could she still endure these varied tortures?

Shame and exhaustion had already made her truly devoted to Buddhism.

She gradually realized the wicked deeds she had done, feeling deep remorse.

Therefore, today Li Qingluo sent Zheng Mama to the nunnery to fetch her back; on the way back she already knew what awaited her.

After all, the wicked deeds she and Qu Shi committed, killing so many offspring of the household, have not yet been exposed.

She knew that sooner or later these sins would be uncovered.

Indeed, this fire has finally come upon her...

"Old Lady, I was wrong... I have been utterly wrong all these years."

"I apologize to you and make amends."

"If it weren't for my deliberate guidance back then, Jing'er would not have become so distant from you, nor would he have regarded you as a disgrace."

"All of this is the guilt I deliberately sowed; I admit it all."

"But Jing'er actually, when he was young, truly loved you..."

"He had longed many times for the gifts you sent back home."

"He also longed for your return..."

"It was me who repeatedly blocked your family letters, and I deceived him, making him believe you were enjoying carefree days at the frontier, while in fact you did not want to acknowledge this burdensome son..."

"Old Lady, I truly deserve death ten thousand times."

"Even the master... the master back then was also deliberately seduced by me..."

Pei Lao Furen: "Enough! What's the point of saying all this? Don't you understand? I no longer care what they father and son did to wrong me back then."

"What I care about is my own weakness and humiliation back then."

"Deng Shi, you colluded with Qu Shi to kill many descendants of the Li lineage, and later colluded with Li Qingzhu to commit every conceivable evil—do you admit these sins or not?"

Deng Lao Yiniang cried out: "I admit, I admit it all!"

Pei Lao Furen: "Speak, how do you wish to die?"

Deng Lao Yiniang: "I beg Old Lady to grant me a dignified death; I want a length of white silk."

Pei Lao Furen: "Granted."

Deng Lao Yiniang was dragged away.

Li Chao Huai and Li Chao An were stunned by those last words just spoken in the hall.

Li Chao Huai's face changed; he was about to utterly break relations and unleash a tirade when Deng Lao Yiniang shouted at him: "Huai'er! An'er!"

"Although I am your aunt, the Old Lady is your true mother!"

"These years I have indeed done all manner of evil; I long deserved death, and my death is no loss!"

"So you, stop doing any reckless deeds for my sake..."

"I, this time, am willing to meet death."

"You must take good care of yourselves, really..."

Li Chao Huai and Li Chao An knelt together on the ground, crying out loudly: "Mother—"

As Deng Lao Yiniang was being dragged away, she smiled and shook her head: "From now on, you must live well, be sincere and kind, and treat others genuinely."

"Mother back then was just greedy for too much that wasn't hers, and caused so many deaths; she deserved it..."

Deng Lao Yiniang was dragged away, and Li Chao Huai and Li Chao An rose together and gave chase.

Li Chao Jing still looked dazed at this scene, then clapped his hands and suddenly burst out laughing.

"Great, great, chasing people is so fun, I want to go too——"

Li Chao Jing got up and skipped away.

Seeing him reach the door, he suddenly turned back and glanced one more time.

"Mother, don't go!"

"Jinger, how about you come back later to play with me?"

Pei Lao Furen did not answer him.

Li Chao Jing lowered his head, unhappy.

In the dark room nearby, Li Qingluo asked Zheng Wanshu, "You also see him like this now… so what are you planning, Aunt Zheng?"

"Although what happened back then has nothing to do with me, the person who gave birth to me still committed those crimes against you."

"Now that the truth is out, she will also get her due punishment."

"This home… will you still come back?"

Zheng Wanshu stared fixedly at Li Chao Jing, gave a cold smile: "Come back? Come back where? Back to this manor that's trapped me for over a decade, to become your father's caged goldfinch again?"

"Back then your father did save me, but later when I begged him to set me free, he sweet‑talked me into staying… and the so‑called love kept me trapped in the little courtyard of Mingyuan Garden for over ten years."

"I also blame myself for misjudging him, being unable to pull myself out of my feelings; even though he was consistently considerate for years, none of my children died except because of his incompetence."

"Even if I was foolish back then, I finally managed to leave this place, and I will never come back!"

"Besides, I agreed today to come back and help you stage a haunting, solely because of my own grudge—it has nothing to do with you."

Li Qingluo really feared that she would agree to come back.

So those few lines just now were merely a probe of her.

Because, if this Lotus Sect fugitive Dharma Protector really wanted to come back, I'd really have a headache.

"Do as you like. But my half‑brother—doesn't he need to return to his ancestral roots either?"

Zheng Wanshu turned her head, her sharp gaze fixed on Li Qingluo.

"As expected, you already knew his identity?"

Li Qingluo: "Is it hard to guess?"

But she also thoroughly confirmed Jingchuan's identity.

Jingchuan, Li Jingchuan.

As expected, he is indeed my other older brother.

Li Qingluo: "Today my maid went to invite him to the Jiangjun Fu; although he hasn't shown up yet, I will keep waiting for him until tomorrow."

"If tomorrow he still shows no sign, I'll send people to get you mother and son far away from Jinling City—don't ever come back."

Zheng Wanshu's face went blank with shock: "Why? Don't you clearly know who I am? Why don't you report me? That would earn you great merit……"

Li Qingluo: "Because you're his mother."

"If you died, he would be heartbroken."

Zheng Wanshu froze for a moment.

Then she suddenly burst out laughing "hahaha".

Laughing, she burst into tears.

"Not bad, Chuan'er… you also protect me like this. After all, it wasn't for nothing that I guarded you……"

"You really are blood siblings. Even if you've never interacted, your hearts are connected—this is no pretense."

"Child, do you know that your background actually came from the letter I sent to your grandmother?"

Li Qingluo was very surprised: "Was it you?"

Zheng Wanshu gave a bitter smile: "Yes. Back then I watched helplessly as you were swapped—not only your maternal grandmother, but also me."

"Years later I revealed your background to the Old Lady too, hoping she'd fetch you back, so that the Jiangjun Fu's mother‑daughter and father‑daughter would hate each other, let them taste the pain I felt losing my children, and make the whole Jiangjun Fu restless……"

"You hate me, right?"

Li Qingluo: "Hate? Not really. You have nothing to do with me, and indeed, as my birth mother, you should ignore my suffering."

"And your goal has indeed been achieved."

"So, what's Zheng Lingzhou's aim in dragging me to Jingyun Shan Zhuang?"

Li Qingluo: "You don't have to say it, but I must tell you something: there's a divine doctor in my manor who can save Li Jingchuan's life and let him live several more years."

Zheng Wanshu's face instantly lit up with ecstasy: "Really, really?"

But exchanging lives could let him live decades longer!

Zheng Wanshu hesitated, then just shook her head: "Lingzhou does have other thoughts toward you, but not what you think—it's him… he… ah, I can't say it!"

Li Qingluo realized it instantly.

She flushed with anger: "Shameless!"

After throwing those two words, she strode away.

Zheng Wanshu stared at her retreating back, narrowing her eyes.

"Leaving is fine… this way I can go rescue Lingzhou, and I still have time to find Zulu Ya……"

"I'm sorry. Even if you're a clear‑cut good child, I still want my own children to live long lives more than anything."

After Li Qingluo walked out quickly, Deng Mama followed her.

"Miss, are you really going to let her and Young Master Jingchuan go?"

Li Qingluo: "Today Your Highness saw her appear at the Jiangjun Fu and knows her identity—can she escape?"

"Besides, they probably want to save Lingzhou's life, so they definitely won't leave easily."

Deng Mama's face flashed with a smile: "So you're just pretending with her, Miss? I thought you were sincere toward her, but this Zheng Wanshu, who's been wandering the jianghu for years, is absolutely not worth entrusting your heart to."

Li Qingluo: "I know. What she said is certainly not entirely true."

Including the truth of Zheng Lingzhou seizing her and taking her to Jingyun Shan Zhuang, Zheng Wanxiu's words are absolutely just making excuses for herself.

She then sighed again: "Ah, but I have already given her a chance."

"It's that she herself didn't want it."

So, when turning against her, don't blame yourself for being ruthless.

Returning to Jingci Tang, Li Qingluo had just sat down when she curiously asked: "Why has there been no movement at all from Lan Cang Yuan all day? Qu Shi, after all, is also Li Kechuan's birth mother; she usually dotes on him the most, so why hasn't he come out to check on her?"

"Besides, I've heard Liu Qingzhu has recently suffered a lot of torment; you go inquire, what's going on? What has happened?"

"Today is Prince Yun's birthday; she didn't go back?"