Chapter 64: He was raised by a concubine!

Deng Mama had a strange expression and dared not respond.

"Miss, you are still a young lady of the boudoir, after all—why are you worrying about such matters in the master's courtyard?"

Li Qingluo: "What's the harm? Our courtyard speaks for itself—do you really expect Mama to go spreading it around?"

Deng Mama: "……" You're being far too self-righteous.

She silently withdrew.

As a result, Luoxiayuan actually called for water twice that night.

Upon hearing this, Li Qingluo gave a cold smile.

"Indeed, all men in the world are nothing more than that."

She still overestimated her own father.

Even if her own son had just broken his leg and lay in bed, ruined for life,

even if his hair had turned half‑white from grief and sorrow, it would not stop him from seeking pleasure among women.

This news naturally reached Chun Zaitang as well.

Qu Shi, furious, smashed two sets of teacups.

"Now that he's with me, they say it's like left hand touching right hand—how could he be with that lowly Lou Shi and not find it as boring as touching himself?!"

"Am I old? Or have I really grown wrinkles on my face?"

"Chuan'er met with misfortune only a few days ago—how can he already have the leisure to go looking for amusement with women?"

"He's been honest for just a few days, and now he treats me like this? Wuwu…"

Qu Shi covered her face and wept without cease, while Chang Mama and Qing Yi tried to comfort her one by one.

"Madam, you must never let the eldest son hear this—when you later go to see him with red eyes, let him notice something and ask you; how will you answer him?"

Qu Shi covered her eyes and cried uncontrollably: "To be frank, his father last night went to find that lowly woman, ignoring his feelings and his condition—what am I to do? Should I cover for him in front of his son?"

Chang Mama patted her leg and shouted low: "Good heavens, my lady! You must not be so willful. Men seeking pleasure with women to vent is natural and proper; as a wife, how can you go before your son and speak ill of his father like that?"

"Besides, the master has been suffering in his heart lately—you should be more understanding of him."

"After all, it's better than him going out to find wild women, isn't it? And it's cleaner than visiting a brothel."

"Moreover, if you speak of the master's affairs before the eldest son, aren't you just sowing discord and harming their father‑son bond? If the eldest son bears a grudge against the master, after a long time will the master still not notice?"

"Now the eldest son is like this—if the master still refuses to pay him attention, how will we live from now on?"

Qu Shi finally calmed down.

She bit her lip hard, gazing wistfully outside: "What am I to do then? Just let the master dote on that lowly woman? Mama, back then I expended great effort to purify the inner residence, driving out Lou Shi and the Zheng clan…"

Chang Mama covered Qu Shi's mouth: "Shh—! Madam, past matters are not to be mentioned again…"

Two days later, Li Qingluo heard a child's crying.

Deng Mama went to inquire and then reported: it was the little girl brought back by Lou Shi's aunt, who was to be taken to Chun Zaitang, hence she cried heart‑rendingly.

"Lou Shi's aunt even received a few slaps, being told she hadn't raised the third miss well."

Li Qingluo gave a cold snort: "They never cared whether the child grew up before its own parents."

Deng Mama sighed: "In great households, children have no right to call their wet nurses mother; concubine‑born sons and daughters can only address the principal mother as mother. The third miss is to be brought before the mistress for upbringing—the master perhaps considered many factors."

Li Qingluo: "Then why did he himself insist on following the Deng clan back then, refusing to acknowledge his biological grandmother as his birth mother?"

Deng Mama: "So, after the master grew up and suffered losses, he began to pay attention to the issue of concubine‑born daughters being raised under the principal mother, perhaps?"

Li Qingluo could not understand.

Deng Mama then explained: "I heard that when the master spoke of his marriage back then… clearly, with the Li family's standing, he ought not to have taken a wife of such humble origins as a lady…"

Qu Shi's father was merely a low‑rank fourth‑grade official.

At the time of the marriage proposal, he didn't even hold a fourth‑grade rank.

Whereas Li Chao Jing, in his youth, had been to the battlefield and earned great military merit, a young general with a bright future.

Now he holds a second‑grade rank, aside from his Li lineage, he himself is fully capable and formidable.

Yet it is precisely because he was raised by a concubine.

Moreover, though his birth mother still lives, he has elevated a concubine to the position of chief mistress—such a household custom, a family of unblemished lineage, who would dare to marry their daughter into it?

After all, no true golden‑leaf maiden would willingly take a concubine as her mother‑in‑law.

Later, it was still the Deng clan who brought disaster upon themselves, and the master, unable to endure any longer, expelled them to the manor, only then did he speak of taking Qu Shi as his wife.

Clearly, he should have had a broader future.

"Miss, Lou Shi's aunt is kneeling outside, requesting an audience."

Que'er entered, her expression odd, and said.

Li Qingluo looked at Deng Mama, Deng Mama also found it strange: "She probably isn't here to ask for you, is she? Even if she requests, she should go to the Old Lady instead."

Li Qingluo also didn't know what Lou Shi's aunt was thinking.

Moreover, today she herself is not suited to see Lou Shi's aunt again, lest things branch out further.

Still, she let her in.

In the courtyard, Lou Shi's aunt had disheveled hair, her face swollen and red like a small hill.

As soon as she entered she knelt at Li Qingluo's feet, tears dripping as she pleaded: "Second Miss, please save me, save the third miss, save your own younger sister!"

"The third miss carries half your blood in her veins; she is just like you, a true daughter of the Li family."

"Second Miss, please save her!"

"From now on, let her be a little dog—I will make her obediently follow your orders. Whatever you ask of me, I will go through fire and water without hesitation."

"Just return her to my side. Without her, I truly cannot live—she is my lifeline…"

Lou Shi's aunt had already regretted it in her heart.

If she had known that returning with Huan'er would result in being torn apart, she would rather have stayed in the countryside with Huan'er as a village woman and village girl, at least mother and daughter would not be separated.

Now the daughter's future is secured, but she would rather be dead than alive!

Seeing her so sorrowful, Li Qingluo could only ask cautiously: "You don't want to be separated from her—is it because you can't bear to part, or... are you afraid of something?"

Lou Shi hesitated.

She finally raised her head and looked at the person before her, the rumored true bloodline of the Li family, the second young lady Li Qingluo.

She is very beautiful.

Moreover, she combines the best traits of the master and Lady Qu, a beauty that embodies all their virtues.

And now, she seems not yet fully blossomed, still in the state of a bud about to open.

Given time, she will undoubtedly become even more gorgeous, perhaps stunning the entire Jinling City.

Huan'er and she bear some resemblance in their eyebrows and eyes...

Lou Shi sat on the ground, as if letting out a sigh.

She seemed to recall something, her face turning ashen: "Second young lady, let me be frank—I am afraid... these years, in our household, it's not just that a young master and a young lady have died!"