Chapter 308

Hearing this, Li Qingluo and Pei Lao Furen both felt a heavy thud in their hearts!

The Jiang family's affair, after all, has been exposed!?

But how could it happen so fast?

However, this result is also not surprising.

If Li Chao Jing weren't mad, this matter might still have room for reversal.

After all, the Empress has repeatedly tried to win him over, and Prince Yun has been reluctant to discard Liu Qiongzhu as a pawn, using her to probe the Jiangjun Fu several times; their mother‑son goal is simple: to completely control this Jiangjun Fu.

As long as they grasp the Jiang family affair to control Li Chao Jing, or even obtain five hundred thousand taels of silver, for the entire Empress faction it is already a sure thing.

But man proposes, heaven disposes; Li Chao Jing has gone mad!

A mad general is utterly useless to the court and even to the Empress faction.

From now on, even the Piaoji Great General's residence will cease to exist; thus he has become useless.

Being discarded, they will naturally be cleaned up completely.

Pei Lao Furen and Li Qingluo merely feel regret; they simply hadn't had time to retire from the sect and sever clan ties, and were only a step too late!

Therefore, this matter will surely implicate both grandmother and granddaughter today.

Why did they happen to be late by just this step?

Pei Lao Furen grabbed Li Qingluo and pulled her behind her to protect her.

"What nonsense about mixing military merits, fraudulently claiming credit, a grave crime of deceiving the sovereign!?"

"Are you saying that my military achievements on the battlefield—saving the situation time and again, fighting desperately, slaying enemies, repelling hostile troops, defending the country and protecting the populace—are all fake?"

"I will enter the palace to personally see the Holy One! I will have a clear audience with the Holy One!"

The eldest son of the Qu family, Qu Dao Yuan, stared at Pei Lao Furen with a cold expression and gave a cold laugh: "Stop pretending to be clueless, Pei Lao Furen."

"The younger generation respects you for once being DaLiang's sole female general, so I still show you some respect. But you cannot rely on your past military achievements, now playing the old card, to cover up the fact that your son fraudulently claimed military merit—a capital offense."

"You clearly know that this capital crime of exterminating the clan was committed by your own son; even if you used those past military achievements, you could never escape the death penalty!"

"Moreover, your Jiangjun Fu killed my great‑aunt yesterday, yet you shamelessly shifted the blame onto an innocent paternal aunt, even sending her away to the authorities to clear your murder charge—your Li household truly is selfless!"

"But the truth of the matter, you know it in your own hearts!"

"In my view, you might as well all go to prison to discuss this!"

"Come! Why haven't you seized everyone in the residence yet!"

"Including Pei Lao Furen and the Li family's eldest daughter, all masters and servants in the residence, seize them all for me!"

"Anyone who swears not to obey, who dares to defy the edict, shall be killed on the spot today!"

Upon hearing this, Li Qingluo hurriedly tried to break free from behind.

Pei Lao Furen still grabbed her tightly, shielding her behind her and refusing to yield; grandmother and granddaughter struggled forward, each trying to protect the other, while the dozen or so grannies Li Qingluo had brought back, hearing the commotion, silently and quickly surrounded them.

Moreover, each wielded a weapon, ready to fight to the death against these officials at any moment.

"Granny, miss, this old servant will protect you!"

"Today we servants swear we will not let them touch the masters in the slightest!"

The grannies have prepared themselves to die.

Pei Jingzhe watched the scene with a moved expression, feeling touched, but could only shake his head helplessly.

Qu Dao Yuan seemed to have been waiting for this moment.

His eyes were icy, the corners of his mouth curled with a cold smile as he stepped forward: "Pei Lao Furen, what do you mean by this? Are you resolved to defy the edict?"

"Swords have no eyes; be careful lest you truly wound yourself and Miss Li, for then you cannot blame me for lacking respect."

"Although you once earned great military merits, now Li Chao Jing, a man of grave sins, can fraudulently claim merit—who knows how your own achievements were actually obtained?"

Li Qingluo could no longer bear to listen.

"Beast, you're courting death!"

"What are you, daring now to question my grandmother's hard‑earned military merit!?"

Li Qingluo drew the dagger from Zheng Mama's hand before her, stepped forward, pointed the tip at Qu Dao Yuan, her whole body exuding a mighty aura, her willow brows and dark eyes revealing a fierce heroic spirit, her beautiful, icy face showing unyielding resolve, leaving Qu Dao Yuan astonished.

This woman is certainly not ordinary.

Is she the Li Qingluo that Fourth Brother Xiong'er holds dear in heart and mouth?

She lacks the rustic, coarse air one might imagine from the mountains; on the contrary, she radiates heroic vigor, her exquisite beauty striking the eye at once.

Indeed, she bears such a spirited, dashing appearance!

For the timid and gentle Xiong'er, she is indeed a perfect match as a proper wife.

If Fourth Brother truly obtains her, his future will certainly not be poor.

Unfortunately, she and Xiong'er have broken off their engagement.

Although breaking off the engagement now seems a good thing, after all the Qu family need not be implicated by the Jiangjun Fu.

But precisely because of her firm break‑off, Xiong'er remains listless and lovesick, lying in bed, growing thinner day by day as if suffering from longing.

If this young woman were to die, Xiong'er probably could not go on living.

Qu Dao Yuan's mind turned: "Do you know I am an imperial official sent by decree to arrest everyone in your residence? If you dare point a blade at me, I can order men to execute you on the spot."

Li Qingluo snorted coldly: "To die at the hands of someone like you would be utter disgrace for me."

She wished she could shoot him dead with a sleeve‑arrow.

But she also clearly understood that killing an imperial official would mean her own death, no matter how great her fate.

However, since she cannot kill him openly, she can always strike him down from behind later.

Qu Dao Yuan: "It seems Miss Li has some misunderstanding of me."

Li Qingluo: "Misunderstanding? Your baseless slander just now is hardly a misunderstanding! When my grandmother was on the battlefield slaying enemies and defending the country, you probably weren't even born yet!"

"Without my grandmother's brave slaughter of enemies back then, how could you today be putting on airs in this peaceful age, relying on others' power?"

Qu Dao Yuan's face flushed with anger: "You! Eldest Miss Li, be careful disaster comes from your mouth, you insulted and berated a court official—what crime do you deserve?"

Li Qingluo: "You were the first to insult my grandmother; even if we go before His Majesty, this matter can still be distinguished!"

"If today I am convicted and punished for this matter, I will absolutely not regret cursing you, this dog official!"

Qu Dao Yuan seeing her so fiery, suddenly burst out laughing "haha" a few times.

Qu Dao Yuan instead calmed down, still smiling as he asked her: "Cousin, why don't I point you to a clear path? Continue with the original engagement and marry my fourth brother; perhaps I and my father could personally go before His Majesty to beg for mercy, and he might make an exception, sparing you from familial disaster. How about that—it would also save your life."

"However, you are now a accused person, you cannot be the proper wife of Brother Xun; being a noble concubine would not be a humiliation for you."

Pei Lao Furen silently pushed through the crowd, stepped forward, and personally raised her hand to slap Qu Dao Yuan hard across the face.

"Damn bastard!"

"What have you Qu family been doing these years in the Jiangjun Fu, playing tricks and scheming? Don't think no one under heaven knows!"

"Each one shameless, they have reached the pinnacle of shamelessness!"

"Under heaven, there is no beast more shameless than your Qu family; even if our Luo goes to her death openly and righteously, she would never marry into your family, marry a cripple, even as a concubine!"

"You humiliate her like this, you humiliate me, this old thing!"

"Go dream on, pah!"

Qu Dao Xun, after all an official, being slapped so hard by an old woman, his face could no longer hide a gloomy, vicious expression.

"Old thing, you dare hit me—"

He reached out to do something, but Pei Jingzhe flashed forward and blocked him.

"Sir Qu! What are you intending to do?"

"Sir Qu, you had better see clearly: the person before you is none other than the famed Xiuli General, not some old thing."

"Besides, although His Majesty said he would arrest the entire household of the General of the Cavalry's residence, including all servants and family members, he never mentioned what to do with Pei Lao Furen."

"I heard they and her grandmother have already moved out of the Jiangjun Fu; whether to take them both down as well perhaps still needs to be reported to His Majesty before a decision can be made."

Qu Dao Yuan, whose wrist was firmly seized by Pei Jingzhe, then looked ahead at Li Qingluo holding a knife tip already almost at his own throat, and at Pei Lao Furen glaring at him with blazing anger—Qu Dao Yuan:?

Since Pei Jingzhe has such skill, why didn't he just now block that old thing!!?

Qu Dao Yuan, having been insulted and struck, really could not swallow this anger.

"She hit me—don't you see it?"

Pei Jingzhe: "I saw it."

"So what then?"

Qu Dao Yuan:?

Pei Jingzhe, with a solemn and righteous tone, advised: "Her old lady's face—do you really want to strike back? The Xiuli General's face, you can't even hope to hit, let alone actually strike. Are you sure you want to try?"

"Moreover, her old lady merely gave us juniors a few words of reprimand and instruction; we should humbly accept them—how could we truly become angry and turn hostile?"

"Sir Qu, you had better think twice!"

Qu Dao Yuan:?

Since it's not him who was beaten, insulted, and humiliated, that's why he can be so shameless, still spouting those righteous-sounding, empty words, right?

He understood—Pei Jingzhe this rascal today is just here to stir up trouble.

Moreover, damn it, he's also here together to humiliate me!

Qu Dao Yuan still thought that the Pei residence and Pei Lao Furen had already completely turned against each other, so seeing them both come to seize the Jiangjun Fu today, he originally thought they would unite against a common enemy and swiftly settle this matter.

Little did he expect Pei Jingzhe to be in this attitude!

Qu Dao Yuan suddenly felt that things were amiss.

He originally thought he could easily take everyone in the Jiangjun Fu today, including that old thing without having to make a special trip to the Xiuli Jiangjun Fu—who knew now that old bones still couldn't be moved?