Chapter 92

Pei Lao Furen gave a cold smile, she stared at Qu Shi as if staring at a corpse, devoid of any emotion.

"You are utterly unworthy to be Luoluo's mother!"

Pei Lao Furen no longer bothered to give her any face.

In front of the full household of servants, each word she spoke pierced Qu Shi's heart.

"She has never drunk a day of your milk since birth! Never been held by you even once! And never been loved by you even a single time!"

"You helped the vicious woman who separated your own flesh and blood raise her family's children for over ten years, and yet you still thank Heaven for granting you such a lovely daughter. But you never considered that, even without that vicious woman's initial swap, you would still have a lovely, beautiful child like Luoluo."

"Luoluo could have grown up in the Jiangjun Fu, with parents' love and brother's protection, yet she had her identity swapped and went to those mountains to live in place of a wild-born child—what kind of life did she get?"

"At just four years old she stood at the stove, having to cook meals for the whole family!"

"In the freezing winter months, a little child had to drag a basket larger than her body to the riverside to wash clothes, her hands covered in chilblains and scars; even the medicine I painstakingly obtained left its mark."

"Before dawn she had to cut pigweed, feed the poultry, and even after everyone else slept she still had to split firewood and haul water."

"Working in the fields, she did more than the men of the Liu household, and was more capable than livestock!"

"What kind of life did she lead? You couldn't even imagine!"

"She is your and Li Chao Jing's own flesh and blood!! Are your hearts really made of iron, that you feel not a twinge of pity?"

"These were originally the life that Li Qingzhu, that little wild spawn, ought to have lived, while she enjoys nothing but riches and honor in the Jiangjun Fu, with everything in food, clothing, and usage being the best—she has taken over Luoluo's life, Luoluo's life!"

"You helped raise someone else's child, yet your own child suffers bitter hardship in another's home, and in the end you still resent her, resent her for coming back!"

"Today I lay my cards on the table! That Li Qingzhu is simply not dead!"

"Frankly speaking, after she returned to the manor two days later, I discovered the suspicious signs of her self-immolation and arson feigned death!"

"As for why she did such a thing, you investigate it yourself!"

"If Luoluo cannot be found, if even a single hair is harmed, I see no need for the entire Jiangjun Fu to exist!"

Pei Lao Furen finished speaking, turned and strode away.

As she turned and saw Li Kechuan seated in the wheelchair, unsure how long he had been there, her sharp eyes instantly filled with mockery.

"The Li family has an eldest son like you, arrogant and utterly foolish—truly a misfortune for the clan!"

She shook her head, Pei Lao Furen no longer spared anyone a glance, leading everyone in retreat back to Jingci Tang.

Lou Shi, accompanied by Huan Jieer and Cui Er, seeing this scene, also hurriedly followed along.

Li Kechuan's complexion turned paler and paler.

He clenched his fists tightly, they trembled slightly.

Yet when he opened his mouth to ask, all he could utter was: "Mother, is everything Grandmother said really true?"

Qu Shi's expression was numb and dazed; she actually didn't know which of his questions he was referring to.

"Luoluo was kidnapped…… Zhu'er isn't dead?"

Li Kechuan's chest heaved violently: "Even if Luoluo truly died outside, what does it matter? Grandmother said all this—could Mother truly be heartbroken?"

"Could it be that what Grandmother said is actually true?"

"You've forgotten that the Liu family once sent a message saying they had never mistreated Luoluo for a single day!"

Qu Shi seemed to grasp at a straw that could let her catch her breath: "Yes! They said they had never mistreated her, didn't they? So those things might not necessarily be true……"

"She, she was kidnapped; if we ransom her back…… it's…… fine!"

"Someone, quickly go fetch the master back! Hurry!"

Li Kechuan's clenched hand finally relaxed slowly.

He stared at Qu Shi and asked again: "Mother, Grandmother said Zhu'er's self-immolation and arson were a feigned death…… this must certainly be true!"

He has always believed that he saw Li Qingzhu that day.

Qu Shi also came to her senses; a flash of light 'whoosh' sparked in the depths of her eyes: "Chuan'er! Mother today, I… I really seemed to have seen Zhu'er!"

Liu Sui'er, silently watching this scene from behind, felt endless cold laughter in her heart.

This mother and son are truly heartless.

Just what sort of bewitching potion did Li Qingzhu give them?

Having listened and believed only selectively to this extent, not a single word of the Old Lady's sincere words about Aunt's suffering do they believe.

Yet the news that Li Qingzhu is not dead they have grasped tightly.

Is Li Qingzhu perhaps their fate?

But they don't realize that, back when Aunt was in their Liu household, compared to the hardships the Old Lady described, she endured only a fraction of them……

Liu Sui'er's face couldn't help but silently stream tears.

Aunt, I hope nothing happens to you……

After Li Chao Jing was summoned back to the manor, he naturally flew into a great rage.

"What on earth could possibly warrant dragging me back? First Mother, then you! Do you even know whom I'm entertaining today? It's the second son of the Cui family!"

"Cui Zhuobo is about to rise again lately; if I don't grow closer to them, who knows—Chuan'er's marriage might……"

Qu Shi wearily rubbed her forehead: "It's Luoluo. This girl somehow got kidnapped by the Lotus Sect people!"

Li Chao Jing was stunned.

"What did you say?"

His fury instantly dissipated; he immediately went to Qu Shi's side, glaring at her, demanding she explain clearly.

Qu Shi took out a handkerchief to wipe her eye corners: "Husband, the matter is thus……"

After Qu Shi finished her halting account, naturally she cleared herself of all blame: "I spent the whole day looking for Zhu'er; I never expected Luoluo would run to the teahouse to wait for me!"

"If she had simply stayed honestly in Wangchun Lou, she would have been found and brought home long ago, wouldn't she?"

"But Mother said Zhu'er truly isn't dead! Husband, do you say this is really true or not?"

Qu Shi lifted her head, expecting a hint of tenderness or solace from Li Chao Jing, but instead she met only his eyes full of wrathful fire.

Qu Shi couldn't help but feel afraid: "Husband, husband... you, you what's wrong?"

Li Chao Jing raised his hand, lifting it high toward Qu Shi.

Qu Shi flinched; half her face still swollen from the cold compress, she almost got slapped again.

Li Chao Jing's hand trembled, yet he clenched his fist and slammed it down.

"You, you! Hey! Do you even know what the Lotus Sect is? At a time like this, you keep going on and on about Zhu'er, Zhu'er!"

"The previous incident—don't you still not understand?"

"Even if she isn't dead, the fact that Chuan'er was harmed and his leg broken—doesn't that further prove her involvement?"

"You still have her filling your heart and eyes!! This is your own daughter, your own flesh and blood meeting misfortune—don't you understand?"

Qu Shi's mind couldn't catch up.

"Just tears kept falling: 'Husband, I really don't know…… If Zhu'er is still alive, how could she be related to Chuan'er's broken leg? If she truly is alive, how could she be so heartless as not to come back to see us? So she must have been harmed by someone and unable to free herself……'"

Li Chao Jing could no longer bear it, turning and grabbing Qu Shi: "You're foolish!! That Li Qingzhu is nothing but a disaster—don't you get it?!"

"You and Chuan'er have both fallen under her spell!!"