Chapter 369: Luò'er Is Confined! A Marriage Proposal Arrives!

Pei Lao Furen lovingly touched Li Qingluo's face, and her tears whooshed down.

Li Qingluo felt overwhelming guilt.

She once again felt relieved that she had not fallen ill yesterday in the mansion; otherwise, her grandmother would have gone mad on the spot.

Moreover, her grandmother had always deeply despised the choice the Old Duke Pei made after being poisoned.

She thought her older brother should not have committed such a heinous act just to prolong his life.

Even in death, he should have stood tall and preserved the loyalty of the Pei clan.

But now it is her beloved granddaughter, her sole dependant, who stands beside her—how can her grandmother face this?

But now that things have come to this, Li Qingluo can no longer hide the truth from Pei Lao Furen.

Grandmother, I have indeed been poisoned.

The symptoms of poisoning are extremely similar to those of bloodlust disease.

Last night was the first time I had a poison outbreak.

After Li Qingluo finished speaking, the entire hall was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Pei Lao Furen: 'Luò'er, Luò'er, what are you saying?'

How could you have contracted the same gu poison as your great maternal uncle!!

Luò'er, this is no joking matter!!

She went limp from the shock, and if Luo Fan had not hastily grabbed her, disregarding etiquette, she would have fallen to the ground.

Luo Fan: 'You—don't panic, isn't Luò'er safe and sound now?'

Pei Lao Furen summoned her strength, stepped forward, and seized Li Qingluo: 'What on earth is going on? Won't you quickly tell me clearly?'

Li Qingluo lifted her head and tears fell.

Grandmother, the relations are tangled and complex. Simply put, Qin Ling, acting on the orders of the Prince of Chu, gave me this poison.

And this person possesses this poison because Zaina's sister is loyal to her.

What Luò'er has been poisoned with is the toxin that Zu Li Ya refined over five years. Although it is not gu poison, it is extremely similar to bloodlust disease.

Grandmother, I'm sorry.

It's Luò'er's fault; Luò'er has made you grieve……

Li Qingluo had thought about simply keeping the secret from her grandmother all along.

That way she wouldn't know the truth, and thus wouldn't worry.

But she feared even more that if her grandmother one day learned she was the only one kept in the dark, she would become even angrier.

Her grandmother is a decisive person, handling matters simply and directly in daily life, swift and neat.

She speaks frankly, never pretentious.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have abandoned the Li family and Li Chao Jing years ago, leaving home in anger for many years.

With such a temperament, she cannot tolerate even a speck of sand in her eye, let alone betrayal.

Therefore, even if Li Qingluo had concealed such a major matter from her, once it came to light, she would certainly not forgive easily.

Only then did Li Qingluo have no choice but to come clean about everything.

After hearing this, Pei Lao Furen heartbrokenly pulled her into a tight embrace.

'How could this be your fault! Child, how could this be your fault?'

'It's the fault of those damned scoundrels; why are you apologizing?'

'But now that things have come to this, why do you still insist on going out yourself?'

'You said you were going to Yangzhou—was that just to deceive Grandmother? Why would you do that?'

Li Qingluo: Because she was afraid she wouldn't make it through last night……

Afraid of losing consciousness completely and turning into a mad monster.

If she could still stay conscious, she would return to face things honestly.

If she couldn't make it… let Grandmother think she had gone to Yangzhou all along, so she wouldn't be too heartbroken.

Although she didn't say it, Pei Lao Furen could also guess her thoughts.

'You, do you want to anger me to death? You treat Grandmother like a three‑year‑old to coax, yet you're tormenting yourself to death, aren't you?'

'Even if you became a monster, what then?'

'Grandmother, plus Grandfather Luo—would they not save you?'

Pei Lao Furen felt her heart about to break.

Just thinking about her beloved not knowing what danger she faced last night, her Luò'er almost didn't return, making her both angry and pained.

Luo Fan comforted Pei Lao Furen a few words, then carefully took Li Qingluo's pulse.

Dong Siyuan felt the left side, Luo Fan the right.

Soon, Dong Siyuan, who had been tending to the butterfly, came to a realization: 'The young lady's pulse, though quite different from the butterfly maiden's, upon careful discernment seems to trace back to a common source……'

Li Qingluo: 'I suspect the poison I took was refined from the butterfly's toxic blood.'

Li Qingluo said, pulling out from her bosom the porcelain bottle containing the three poison pellets.

'Quickly show it to Grandfather Luo!'

Luo Fan took it, opened it, gave it a sniff, and his expression turned grave.

Pei Lao Furen: 'Luo Fan, what's wrong? Hurry up and speak!'

Luo Fan: 'Don't panic. That blood gu worm is dead, and no second blood gu worm has appeared in this world. As long as Luò'er wasn't poisoned by the blood gu worm's gu toxin, it's not that terrible.'

Before Pei Lao Furen could even sigh in relief, Dong Siyuan added: 'But the butterfly maiden's toxic blood is also the most poisonous thing I have ever seen in the world.'

'If it really was made from her blood and refined for five years, then……'

'Moreover, didn't the young lady say that when her poison flares up, its symptoms are extremely similar to those of bloodlust disease?'

But the subordinate has only seen Miss Hudie's symptoms; only when a man they have seen or heard of gets close does it cause madness and loss of wit.

What is the true blood-craving disease like? Could you, Miss, describe it a bit?

Li Qingluo dared not look at her grandmother.

Yet she still spoke clearly: "My symptoms are indeed not very similar to Hudie's."

"Just now, when the poison flared, I spat out two mouthfuls of black blood."

Besides the tearing pain all over my body, there is also a Hudie scar mark on my body; the mark is usually pink, occasionally purple, and turns a blood‑red like bathing in blood when the poison flares.

"I have also tried it; smelling a man's blood or Hudie's toxic blood will alleviate the symptoms."

"However, what truly lets me detoxify easily is still to ingest a man's blood."

Dong Shiyuan's face turned deathly pale from fright: "This poison is actually so sinister and domineering? It is truly extremely vicious!"

His gaze toward Li Qingluo carried a few degrees of admiration.

Just hearing the description, it must be extremely hard for a woman to endure, not easy at all.

Saying it's worse than death is probably not an exaggeration, right?

Indeed, she is the miss favored by Your Highness, and she is certainly not an ordinary person.

Pei Lao Furen: "So Luo'er, have you ingested human blood?"

Pei Lao Furen's face turned deathly pale as she stared in shock at her obedient granddaughter, unable in her heart to accept this fact.

Li Qingluo lowered her head.

Although the blood was personally fed to her by Duan Rongshi, she had ingested human blood, which is also an indisputable fact.

Luo Shenyi, seeing the situation was wrong, hurriedly interjected: "This poison probably cannot be cleared for Luo'er in a short time. Luo'er, from now on you must not run about recklessly; when the poison flares next time, with Lord Luo and Doctor Dong here, we will surely be able to help you get through the crisis."

Pei Lao Furen: "Luo Fan, then please trouble you and Doctor Dong."

"Luo'er, did you hear that? From now on, until your next poison flare, you must not step out of the house even a single step!"

"Otherwise, don't blame Grandmother for punishing you with family law!"

Li Qingluo could only bury her head deeply: "Yes, Grandmother."

She had known it would turn out this way.

But her heart remained fearful and uneasy.

When the poison flares next time, will Grandmother, upon seeing her madness, tie her up with rope like Hudie?

Li Qingluo bit her lips bitterly, rose, and left.

After she walked far away, Pei Lao Furen then slumped over the table and began to cry.

Luo Fan sighed deeply, walked over, and supported her shoulders.

"Xiuzhen, have you been a little cruel toward Luo'er?"

"I see her as a child who knows her own mind."

Pei Xiuzhen: "She is just too self‑aware! Even this sort of thing she has to hide from us—what else could she not do on her own?"

"She wants to either simply die outside, or when the poison flares not harm anyone in this household—how could I not understand that?"

"She doesn't want everyone to look at her eyes like they're looking at a monster… she would feel worse than death!"

"But if she really died, leaving only me, this old lady, in this world—what am I to do?"

"And besides, ingesting human blood! How did my elder brother become a beast neither human nor ghost—don't you know?"

Luo Fan: "Luo'er will certainly not end up like your elder brother, driving herself to an irredeemable state."

"We will all rescue her."

"Moreover, she is also a person of conscience; she will not lightly harm the innocent."

Pei Lao Furen: "Then whose blood did she ingest last night?"

In the end, she spoke it clearly.

Although she had made Grandmother angry in a fit, after Li Qingluo filled her stomach, she also felt relieved.

The matter was her own decision.

Having come this far, she can only face it, and she does not regret going out alone to endure the first poison flare.

Not having caused the Xiuli Jiangjun Fu to be turned upside down, that is good enough.

Next, it depends on Dong Shiyuan and Lord Luo how they will help her detoxify.

If this poison has no cure……

Li Qingluo gave a helpless wry smile; then this is also her fate.

However, before she is utterly without recourse, she will first kill everyone who has harmed her, one by one, thoroughly.

"Miss, why aren't you sleeping yet?"

"It's already hai hour; the city is under curfew, so the prince probably won't come tonight."

Li Qingluo gave a light cough a few times.

"He might have been held up by something. Have Zheng Mama go ask Wu Quan and the others to inquire, to see if we can find out whether something happened in the palace."

Que'er: "Yes."

Li Qingluo kept Duan Rongshi in her thoughts; even after getting into bed she couldn't sleep.

Simply turning over, she called Que'er over: "Que'er, could you… help me find some storybooks to read?"

Que'er: "What kind of storybooks?"

Li Qingluo leaned close to Que'er's ear and whispered.

Que'er's face instantly flushed red.

"Miss, Miss, those are forbidden books! How can we, as young ladies, look at them?"

"And if they are discovered, it would be disastrous."

Li Qingluo: "You scared?"

Que'er took two rough breaths.

Scared!? How could I, Que'er, be afraid of this? Miss, wait!

Just one night.

A book filled with lovey-dovey content, which Que'er didn't even dare to flip through, was placed into Li Qingluo's hands.

Miss, guess who I got this from?

Li Qingluo: "Mei Shuang?"

Que'er looked shocked: "How did you guess that right away? Not interesting."

Li Qingluo chuckled: "In Jinling City, you don't have many more connections than I do. Let me take a look first."

Li Qingluo eagerly opened the storybook.

However, the content quickly flushed her pretty face.

She originally just wanted to see how men and women could be more intimate, for example, how next time she could avoid bumping her own lips…

However, the many explicit and bold contents made Li Qingluo's face flush and heart race the moment she saw them.

She snapped the storybook shut.

"What is this nonsense!"

In broad daylight, I really can't keep reading.

She shoved it under the pillow, got up, and said: "Come on, let's go practice sword."

After working up a good sweat, Li Qingluo was wiping her face when Zheng Mama rushed in from outside: "Miss, miss, not good—someone has come to propose a match for you—"

Li Qingluo's heart involuntarily sped up.

"Is he really coming?"

But she quickly realized.

What Zheng Mama meant was, "Not good?"

If it were Duan Rongshi, how could she say it's not good?

Li Qingluo's expression slightly changed: "Which family? Who?"