Chapter 56

In the blink of an eye, five full days have passed since that Mid‑Autumn day.

Li Qingluo's "red rash" should also have healed.

She rose early and first went to Jingci Tang, still greeting Pei Lao Furen from behind the courtyard gate.

"Grandmother, how have you been eating these past two days?"

"Thank Zhang Mama for the hard work of looking after Grandmother these past few days."

Zhang Mama looked at Li Qingluo with compassion: "Young lady, this is what an old servant should do. You come to pay respects morning and night, and the Old Lady…"

Li Qingluo glanced at the still‑closed main house door, forcing a slight smile: "Greeting Grandmother is also my duty. Moreover, as long as Grandmother can calm her anger, I am willing to come every day even if she ignores me."

After Li Qingluo left, Zhang Mama came in carrying a food box.

"Old Lady, I heard the young lady gets up before dawn, so I prepared breakfast for you. Today I made pork and bamboo‑shoot buns, and yam millet porridge. Would you like to try some?"

Pei Lao Furen sat up from the bed: "Eat! Why not? She made it for me, I could never refuse."

Zhang Mama thought: Yes, you turn people away every day, yet you eat the food they bring, your heart is no longer angry, but you still won't lose face!

Zhang Mama gave a sly smile, then with a serious expression said: "By the way, the young lady seems to be heading to Lan Cang Courtyard."

Pei Lao Furen turned her head, her gaze pausing: "Who? You said Qingluo, going to see her elder brother?"

Oh no!

She surely won't, in a few moves, completely anger her elder brother to death, right?

Pei Lao Furen waved her hand: "Quickly, dress me! I'll go take a look too!"

She has this one precious worry in her heart; she must not, because of this, incur any more anger from her parents.

Li Qingluo arrived at the gate of Lan Cang Courtyard and met Qu Shi.

Having not seen each other for a short time, Qu Shi had grown considerably weary, with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and a few strands of white hair at her temples.

She bowed slightly, politely and distantly greeting: "Mother."

Qu Shi, seeing her arrive, sneered: "Your illness, finally healed?"

But on a closer look, Qu Shi was greatly startled in her heart!

She couldn't help but glance at her a few more times, wondering if the person before her was truly Qingluo.

That… former dark‑skinned, unremarkable biological daughter?

How… after only two months apart, she has changed her face so drastically?

In fact, Qu Shi's astonishment is not unreasonable.

In this life, Li Qingluo was nurtured by Pei Lao Furen like a flower, so she naturally differs greatly from the Li Qingluo who endured endless hardships in her previous life.

These days, a bit of flesh has settled on her once‑small face.

Before, her body was gaunt, her face yellow and thin, skin dark, making her look not only dull but exuding a strong rustic aura.

When Li Chao Jing first saw her, he was greatly disappointed.

Qu Shi had pampered Li Qingzhu since childhood, raising her to be fair and tender, with delicate beauty and graceful temperament.

Thus, seeing her own rustic‑looking biological daughter, the psychological gap was naturally large.

The couple now treat Li Qingluo as if she does not exist, unwilling to bother with her at all.

But today, not only has her complexion become much fairer, her beauty has also blossomed!

Moreover, Li Qingluo has begun studying and practicing calligraphy, and spends a great deal of time each day learning martial arts and swordplay, so her aura now appears both poised and carries a hint of the youthful chivalrous spirit that Pei Lao Furen once had!

Now, she seems to have become an entirely different person from head to toe!

On that Mid‑Autumn day, they were still relieved they hadn't let her out, thinking it would prevent her embarrassment, yet they didn't anticipate that she had already become as accomplished as anyone else.

At that moment, Qu Shi felt a rather unsettling sensation in her heart…

Que'er stepped forward, holding a box in her hands.

Li Qingluo: "Mother. On the day of your birthday, I was unable to come out due to illness to celebrate for you. Moreover, the eldest son had an incident, so this birthday gift has not yet been delivered to you."

"Qingluo wishes you, Mother, good health."

"Mother, may I go inside to take a look at the eldest son?"

Qu Shi, perhaps having not rested well for several days, was momentarily stunned, taking a long time to sluggishly recover.

"Alright, you, you may come in with me."

Qingyi took the box from Que'er's hands, and then Li Qingluo followed behind Qu Shi into Lan Cang Courtyard.

She never imagined that in this life she would enter this courtyard again.

In her previous life, she was like the lowest‑ranked maid, doing floor‑scrubbing chores here.

It was in the study that, by accident, she knocked over the teacup Li Qingzhu had left before her death, and Li Kechuan threw it beside the stables during a heavy snow.

She died in that snowstorm.

In this life, Li Kechuan's truly good days should now begin.

Li Kechuan only just turned awake last night.

It is said that the first thing he did upon waking was to pull Li Chao Jing and Qu Shi aside and say he had seen Qingzhu.

Indeed, he first saw her at home, then saw Qingzhu enter that mansion, which is why he rashly forced his way into the residence.

Li Kechuan, fearing Li Chao Jing and Qu Shi would not believe him, lay on his sickbed, raising his finger solemnly: "Father, Mother, I swear, if any word I speak today is false, I shall not die a good death!"

Qu Shi let out a "Wah—" and, leaning on the bedside, could no longer hold back her tears.

"My son!! Have you truly been bewitched by Qingzhu? She is already dead, she really is dead!"

"That mansion is Prince Yun's private residence."

"Do you know what you did that day?"

"Kechuan, you went there brandishing a knife to Prince Yun's residence, that is the charge of attempting to assassinate the Crown Prince!!"

"Stop mentioning Qingzhu, listen to your mother, okay? You've already lost a leg; don't throw away your life again and leave me unable to live—"

Li Chao Jing wore a cold, desolate expression and did not say a single word.

But the sorrowful emptiness in his eyes, and Qu Shi's mourning, made Li Kechuan finally realize—his left leg, which had been hollow, was now completely gone.

He reached toward his lower body, even raising his hand to hammer the wound hard.

Only when the pain seeped into his marrow and blood welled again did he realize that all of this was real!

Li Kechuan nearly went mad on the spot.

"No! Impossible—this isn't real, it isn't real—!"

"I'm dreaming, I haven't woken up yet. My leg, my leg—"

"Father, mother! You're lying to me, aren't you? I didn't, I truly didn't assassinate Prince Yun; I did it because of Zhu Er, because I was looking for Zhu Er, and they blocked me—"

"Enough!!"

Li Chao Jing, eyes reddened, let out a shocked roar, yet could Li Kechuan still be normal?

He continued to thrash wildly on the bed, even trying to leap off to prove that it was all a lie.

Li Chao Jing immediately ordered someone to pin him down; if they couldn't, they would bind him with rope.