Chapter 38

He had been scolded again, and Li Chao Jing's face was uglier than the sole of a shoe.

"Mother, you're being too harsh. How could Chuan'er... "

No Chinese. I'll output "【5】" (maybe with no extra). But to be safe, I'll output "【5】 " (a space) but that might be considered extra. I'll output "【5】" alone.

But we also have "Chuan'er" appears elsewhere? Not sure. We'll handle.

Li Qingluo sat aside, and upon hearing this, she gave a cold sneer.

Won't it?

Li Kechuan always wants to kill her.

In her past life, Li Qingluo really did die at Li Kechuan's hands, just as grandmother said.

Pei Lao Furen couldn't be bothered to care about Li Chao Jing's feelings.

He just continued to scold: "Mother and son teamed up to go after Luo'er, claiming they needed to take her blood and cut her flesh to make medicine to cure her eye disease. If Luo'er hadn't accidentally been poisoned that day, would you, Qu Shi, really still want to drink your daughter's blood and eat her flesh?"

Also, Qu Shi translates to Qu Shi (from the glossary). Good.

Have you ever fed her milk? Have you ever held her, even touched her face once?

You still have the nerve to ask for her blood and flesh—you're really shameless!

What, you're reluctant to use your son's blood and flesh?

Hmph! Don't say I'm wronging you. As for Qu Shi's eye disease, I had people look for the medicinal residue she drank, and I even sent someone to Jiang Doctor's pharmacy to get a prescription. The medicine used was just ordinary herbs—how could there be nothing precious and hard to find that cured your eyes?

Li Chao Jing understood what Pei Lao Furen meant by those words.

He glared at his wife and son, only then realizing what they had done.

You! You all! If you don't want to see her, then don't let her come near—why must you do all this?

Because of this, he's now caught up and subjected to his mother's unfounded anger.

His mother has a terrible temper; after being completely disappointed in her own son back then, she could walk away for thirty years.

That clearly shows she's not someone to be provoked lightly!

Li Chao Jing glared angrily at the guilty Qu Shi and the unfazed Li Kechuan, then went to look at Li Qingluo.

Pei Lao Furen immediately shielded Li Qingluo and glared back at Li Chao Jing.

What are you looking at her for? Luo'er never told me a word about these things.

You, as her father, neither care about her nor ask after her. Don't you know she's been missing these past few days, and even almost lost her life?

Li Chao Jing's face showed surprise: "How could that be? What do you mean, Mother? Has Luo'er not been in the manor lately? Do you mean Luo'er is missing?"

Chuan'er, what on earth is going on?!

Li Chao Jing's face finally showed a hint of anger.

Only then did he realize how much had happened in the manor, while he, the head of the family, knew nothing about it.

Pei Lao Furen didn't wait for Li Kechuan to answer: "What honest answer could you give? You're the one who did everything—your words are naturally not to be trusted."

Luo'er, you speak.

Pei Lao Furen patted Li Qingluo's hand, giving her full confidence.

Li Qingluo nodded and said, "Yes, grandmother."

Since grandmother had gone to such trouble for her, Li Qingluo certainly wouldn't fail to appreciate it, nor would she pretend to hide anything anymore.

Moreover, the time had come, and she no longer needed to endure this any longer.

She lowered her head and continued: "That day, Qingyi from my mother's quarters said my mother wanted to see me, so I brought Que'er along. I never expected the eldest son to be lying in wait in the room; he knocked me unconscious and then took me to Li Qingzhu's grave."

The eldest son said I had to burn paper and kowtow to apologize at Li Qingzhu's grave, and even kowtow a hundred times; otherwise he wouldn't give me food or water, and would make me a dog guarding Li Qingzhu's grave.

What's more, the eldest son had people sever my hand and foot tendons and break my leg.

The last time, the eldest son almost strangled me, so I had hidden a dagger on myself for self-defense. I never expected to use it this time against my older brother...

To save my life, I had to seize the chance to flee, but the servants chased me and I fell into the river.

I followed the river back to the city, barely managing to stay alive, yet I still had to dodge the servants the eldest son sent after me. They shouted that they wanted to catch a runaway slave—how could I dare go out?

I didn't even dare go home, not knowing whether the eldest son had sent people to seize me and take me to the grave of older sister Zhu'er to keep breaking my leg.

Just when I had nowhere left to turn and had been hiding for days, I finally ran into Deng Mama and her companions.

Li Qingluo lifted her head, her gaze lingering on Li Kechuan.

I know that because I came back, it drove older sister Zhu'er to despair, and she burned herself to death. Mother, the eldest son, and father all resent me in their hearts, believing everything is my fault.

But am I really guilty of countless sins?

If you don't want to see me, I can leave, and I won't tell outsiders I'm from the Li family. Just please never send me back to the Liu family again.

They don't want me, and you don't want me either. But somewhere in this world, there must be a place for me.

Father and mother, Luo'er doesn't blame you for never giving her a glance. But Luo'er can't let go of this.

The eldest son shows no regard for sibling bonds anymore; from now on, I will no longer regard him as my older brother in my heart.

Pei Lao Furen heartbrokenly embraced Li Qingluo: "Child, grandmother needs you! This family doesn't want us, so we are our own family. Don't lose heart—don't we still have grandmother?"

Hearing Li Qingluo and Pei Lao Furen's words, Li Chao Jing felt uneasy inside.

Mother, you... uh!

He turned around, raised his hand, and slapped Li Kechuan.

You beast! Luo'er is your younger sister, after all—can't you at least speak to her gently? Why must you threaten her?

This time she's fortunate to have suffered no serious harm; if anything had happened to her, I wouldn't let you off the hook.

Hurry up and apologize and make amends to your sister!

Li Chao Jing's attitude is clear—he wants to make big things small and small things disappear.

Even though Li Qingluo had explained everything, although he felt a bit odd hearing it, he still didn't think it was a big deal.

After all, she came back safe and sound, and is still alive, right?

Qu Shi thinks much the same; she also doesn't think Li Qingluo's ordeal is a big deal.

Her leg isn't even broken, and her tendons haven't been severed, have they?

Chuan'er surely just wanted to scare her; it was she herself who overreacted, only then did she make the situation turn out like this!

Chuan Er was certainly only trying to intimidate her.

But Qu Shi's heart still, oddly, swelled with a tangled, overwhelming guilt that could not be suppressed.

She turned her head toward her son, finally a hint of blame in her voice, "Chuan Er, didn't you say you would keep within limits, just wanted her to burn paper at Zhu Er's grave! Why did it turn out like this?"