Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Meanwhile, Governor Li hurriedly returned to his residence and ordered the gates locked.
The old women who had accompanied Madam Li to the Yu family to cause trouble were now being beaten by servants, pinned to benches and howling in pain.
“You’re all really something! Taking advantage of my absence on business, you all manage to cause chaos!” Governor Li paced back and forth in the courtyard, furious.
“Master, Master, we’re innocent! Master!” one of the old women cried out in pain. “It was Madam who ordered us to carry the Third Miss’s body to the Governor’s residence. We beg you, Master, to see the truth!”
“Madam has gone mad, and you all joined in this nonsense?” Governor Li was enraged. “Beat her! Beat her hard!”
“If you hadn’t been spouting nonsense and sowing discord, would Madam have sought out others to cause this madness?”
The old women in the Third Miss Li’s courtyard were filled with remorse, wishing they could smash their heads against the wall.
They had only intended to find some unfortunate soul to whom the mistress could vent her anger, thus lessening their own punishment.
Who knew the mistress would go so far as to order them to carry the Third Miss’s body to the Yu residence and cause a scene?
And what’s more, they were publicly humiliated by Miss Yu, who revealed the Third Miss’s true cause of death— a girl more terrifying than any ghost.
At this moment, a maidservant, pale-faced and stumbling, came running in, shouting sharply, “Master, Madam is trying to kill herself in her room!”
Governor Li was so angry he felt dizzy. He flung his sleeves and rushed back into the room, yelling at his wife, “Have you made enough of a scene?”
“Making a scene? Am I making a scene?” Madam Li pushed aside the maidservant’s arm, rushed to Governor Li, and questioned him with red eyes, “Li Yantong, do you dare tell me the truth? Do you dare?”
Governor Li, his face flushed purple, stared at Madam Li for a long time before suddenly saying in a deep voice, “All of you, step back!”
The trembling servants, as if granted a pardon, fled in panic, quickly slamming the door shut behind them.
Governor Li glared angrily and roared, “Aren’t you ashamed enough? A dignified lady of the house, completely fooled by a few old women?”
“Whatever those old women say goes! We only met once on the way back to the city, how can that be related to San’er’s death?”
“Let them falsely accuse the Yu family’s young lady. What’s wrong with you? You even took it upon yourself to carry San’er to the Yu family’s gate to demand an explanation, causing a huge uproar! Tomorrow, the teahouses and taverns will be laughing at our governor’s mansion! You two have completely disgraced us!”
“Face, face, face! All you care about is your reputation!” Madam Li smashed the furnishings in the room like a madwoman. “Luckily, I accidentally carried San’er there today, otherwise you would have kept me in the dark, dying without knowing what happened to my daughter.”
“My daughter was my own flesh and blood, she was born after ten months of pregnancy! You don’t care, but I do!”
“How dare you hang her? How dare you? Are you even human, Li Yantong? You’re not human!”
“Slap!” Governor Li, unable to contain his anger any longer, slapped his wife hard across the face.
“Why? Because I’m her father! She’s an unmarried woman who had an affair and disgraced the family, and now she was carrying an illegitimate child— she deserved to die!”
“You still have the nerve to yell and cry at me? It’s all your fault! You failed to discipline her properly and indulged her so recklessly, which is why she’s become so lawless!”
“Do you think she was so audacious that day, secretly ordering someone to poison Prince Mu’s cup? She wasn’t out of her mind; she’s incredibly cunning!”
“Shameless thing, committing such a disgraceful act, and still trying to frame the Prince of Xuanping’s heir!”
“Who does she think she is? The Crown Prince was such an extraordinary, aloof, and proud figure back then. Even though he’s now frail and not as good as before, how could your daughter, with her pig brain, possibly scheme against him?”
“That very night, he sent all the information on that entire opera troupe to my office!”
Madam Li, covering her swollen face, stared blankly at her husband, her voice trembling and hesitant, “Wh-what opera troupe?”
“What opera troupe?” Governor Li jumped up as if having a seizure, raising his hand to slap his old face, “The man who committed adultery with your good daughter, the famous young actor from the Zhu family troupe! That opera troupe called Young Master Qian Yue!! It was your daughter who delivered her old father’s face right in front of the Crown Prince so he could slap it hard!”
Madam Li grabbed the curtain beside her, her whole body dazed and slumped to the ground.
“What kind of mother are you? Your own daughter is infatuated with an actor and shamelessly went to Wuhu County with that Zhu family troupe to fool around with people. And you have no idea!”
“You raised such a good daughter! And you still have the nerve to cry, make a scene, and threaten to hang yourself?”
Madam Li collapsed to the ground, muttering to herself, “How could this be? How could this be? She said that Zhenning Temple in Wuhu County is very popular and that prayers there are very effective.”
Governor Li looked at his wife coldly, “Do you know what kind of person Prince Mu is? He went to the battlefield at the age of eleven, led the Black Flag Army at the age of thirteen, and marched triumphantly to enter the capital of Xijing. Even the emperor and the prime minister praised him. He was a young man with great talent and ability to govern the world. How could he be schemed against by your stupid daughter?”
“When she was scheming against the heir of the Xuanping Marquis’s mansion and fooling around with actors, did she think about her sisters at home? Cry, cry, and you still have the nerve to cry? It’s not only her unmarried but even her married sisters who would suffer. If their husbands’ families find out about this, how are they supposed to face them and live their lives?”
“If you don’t want to ruin everyone’s future in this household, then pretend you never gave birth to this shameless daughter. I finally managed to cover this up, and it’s all your fault! You went to the Yu residence to cause trouble, making a scene and letting everyone laugh at our governor’s mansion.”
Madam Li couldn’t say anything more, only covering her face and sobbing for a while before asking intermittently, “Then, what about the actor? Why didn’t you kill him? My poor daughter!”
“You think I didn’t want to kill him?” Governor Li’s eyes were red with anger. “He’s smart. When he realized things had gone wrong, I sent people to look for him, but he had already escaped from the Zhu family troupe and his whereabouts are now unknown.”
Governor Li glared coldly at his wife. “If you still want to cause trouble and ruin the entire governor’s mansion for this rotten apple, then don’t blame me for ruthlessly divorcing you, you foolish woman.”
Seeing him turn and leave with a cold face, Madam Li couldn’t help but prostrate herself on the ground and wail loudly. That evening, Mu Zhao quickly skimmed through a letter in his hand, then lit it by the firelight.
Li San should never have schemed against him.
Those who schemed against him deserved to die!
“Governor Li is a clever man, and extremely capable. After receiving our message that day, he disposed of that Third Miss without anyone noticing the very next day.”
“I thought the matter was over, but unexpectedly, Madam Li went to the Yu residence today to confront Miss Linlang, and only then did I learn the whole truth.”
“Now this matter has blown up.”
A faint smile flickered in Mu Zhao’s dark eyes.
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