Chapter 68: Luò

Li Qingluo: "Alright, I understand. But for now, Grandma, you first bring people and follow me to Luoxiayuan!"

Lou Shi is the one she retrieved.

Therefore she would never allow a tragic human affair where a mother and daughter, flesh and blood, are forced to part because of herself.

Luoxiayuan.

When Li Qingluo hurried over, Luoxiayuan was filled with cries.

Huan Jieer was being tightly held in a grandma's arms, continuously shouting: "Mother—mother—father, don't sell my mother, father, please, Huan will be obedient, Huan won't cry anymore—mother—"

The human tooth has already arrived.

They were pulling Lou Shi's mouth and teeth, inspecting the quality of this "commodity".

Lou Shi was crying "wu‑wu" from her mouth, tears continuously streaming down her face, her heart completely despondent.

Even if Li Qingluo arrived, she could only stare helplessly at her, her gaze seeming to say: she truly regrets coming back this time… just hope that, in the future, Second Miss, you can look after Huan more…

Li Qingluo clenched her fist and stepped forward to Li Chao Jing.

"Luò'er has seen father."

Li Qingluo looked up, and Li Chao Jing saw her appearance clearly.

Even though he had already heard Qu Shi say that his daughter's appearance had greatly changed, when he truly saw her at that moment, he was still somewhat surprised.

She indeed had changed considerably.

Although still not matching Zhu'er's former looks and bearing, such change in a short time already made him regard her with new respect.

Given more time, she might even surpass Zhu'er's elegance.

He heard she also likes practicing martial arts?

She has also made some progress in reading and writing.

Li Chao Jing thought: Indeed she is his bloodline, taught personally by the Old Lady; even though she arrived late these years, what could be lacking?

Thinking this, Li Chao Jing's expression toward this daughter softened a bit.

"Why did you come?"

Li Qingluo, not wanting small talk, got straight to the point: "Please, Father, spare Concubine Lou."

Li Chao Jing, hearing that she intended to intervene, his face darkened sharply: "By what authority do you dare to meddle in this matter!?"

This time, Li Chao Jing was truly angry.

He felt that this newly retrieved biological daughter was too ignorant of propriety and etiquette.

Sure enough, an uncultured girl raised in the countryside—when would household matters ever be up to a young lady like her to speak about!?

Li Qingluo was not flustered or fearful of Li Chao Jing's anger.

She said calmly, "Luò'er is only, as a daughter, trying to advise Father to think twice before acting. And also as an elder sister, feeling sorrow for my younger sister whom I have never met."

"If Father refuses Luò'er's plea, Luò'er naturally would not speak further."

"It's just that Luò'er does not want Father to regret in the future, so she offers this counsel."

Li Chao Jing: "Regret? Regret what? It's merely selling a low‑status concubine; could it be that I have broken DaLiang law?"

Li Qingluo: "Father. You can indeed buy and sell Lou Shi at will, but do you truly wish to completely lose a daughter's heart?"

"Perhaps in your mind, Huan Jieer is just a concubine's daughter, but in this mansion, how many daughters do you still have?"

"Luò'er and Huan Jieer, to you, may both be insignificant. But how you are in our hearts—do you truly not care?"

"To be frank, Luò'er truly has no father‑daughter feeling toward you, but Huan Jieer is only six, and she still has many years with you; do you really want her to watch, eyes wide open, as her own father sells her mother?"

"Since her birth, mother and daughter have relied on each other. For Huan Jieer, everything in this house is unimportant; only Concubine Lou is most important to her."

"Father, you never watched Luò'er grow up, but please watch Huan grow up."

"She is now one of the few children you have left in this world."

In a Jiangjun Fu, there are only three bloodlines!

This is rare even in the whole Jinling City.

At this moment, Li Chao Jing's heart was indeed struck heavily.

She looked at the blood‑related legitimate daughter before her, and a dense, prickling pain rose in her heart.

She actually said so bluntly, that she has no father‑daughter feeling toward him…?

Now even the words of propriety are left unsaid?

Li Qingluo's words were right; he has only three bloodlines in this world!

One has a broken leg and is lying in bed, this life essentially wasted.

The other two are standing right in front of him now.

The elder has no feeling for him, the younger just returned home; at this moment, their eyes show a bitter plea toward him, with a hint of resentment…

Li Chao Jing, as if struck by lightning, suddenly became mostly clear‑headed and stepped back hard half a step.

"You—"

Li Qingluo's words were too blunt.

But does he truly intend, because of this, to make Huan Jieer harbor resentment and hate her own father?

She is six, and already will not forget.

Li Chao Jing: "But she, a concubine, actually incited the young lady not to be close to her legitimate mother; isn't such a short‑sighted lady harming her?"

"If she can grow up before the principal lady, even as a concubine's daughter, her future will surely be better than that of a concubine‑raised daughter! Haven't I ever considered her future!?"

Li Qingluo felt a series of cold laughs in her heart.

Just because she herself grew up before a concubine, suffered enough losses and hardships, does that give her a fixation on the legitimate mother?

Had she known this, why then insist on bearing any illegitimate children?

It's just that she cannot control her own lusts and crotch.

He obviously feigns grief over the legitimate son's fate, but the moment he sees a concubine, he just does whatever pleases him, doesn't he?

He can turn on a cold, ruthless face and sell people off — and yet he's supposed to be the biological mother of a daughter!

He is truly the most heartless, selfish, and vicious man in the world!

Li Qingluo inwardly despises her father to the utmost, yet on the surface she still acts as if she is wholeheartedly looking out for him.

"Father, if you feel reassured, why not entrust the third younger sister to Luo'er to bring along?"

Li Chao Jing's gaze fell once more on Li Qingluo: "You……?"

"Luo'er, in this household, only Grandmother and Luo'er are close. Father, if you don't mind, let Luo'er grow close to another younger sister, how about that? After all, if we sisters can be close, wouldn't that be beneficial and harmless for the Jiangjun Fu?"

These words left Li Chao Jing speechless again!

Today, Li Qingluo's every sentence seemed to jab at his heart, leaving Li Chao Jing hard-pressed to respond!

When did she become so eloquent and persuasive?

Or perhaps she has always been this way, merely hiding her sharpness before?

Li Chao Jing once again began to scrutinize his own flesh and blood.

Only after a long while did he agree to this.

"If that's the case, then you may take her along for now! However, if Lou Shi causes trouble again, I will surely deal with her in a way far more painful than merely selling her off!"

Having said that, he flicked his sleeve and strode away.

Granny Deng and the others hurried forward, drove off the slave-traders, and helped Concubine Lou up from the ground.

Huan Jieer and Concubine Lou clung to each other, weeping until the sky and earth grew dark.

Li Qingluo and the others, seeing this, slipped away quietly.

Only later in the evening did Concubine Lou, her eyes reddened, bring Li Qinghuan once more to the Hongfenguan.

This time, upon seeing Li Qingluo, she pulled Li Qinghuan and rushed over to kneel together.