Chapter 135 He's almost gone mad.

Li Qingluo was shocked: "How could this be? Do they really have no fear of your father at all?"

Pei Nanjia: "Just because my mother... fell into prostitution back then, my father and mother became a disgrace to the second branch of the Pei family."

"But my mother fell into prostitution back then, wasn't she harmed by the Duke Pei's mansion?"

“It was my grandmother who listened to my great-grandmother’s words and thought that if she killed my mother and threw her into that kind of place, my father would give up on her!”

"Who would have thought that my father would risk half his life to save my mother back then?"

"In the end, my mother did not lose her virginity, but my father almost died."

"Afterwards, my grandmother even wanted my mother to leave, saying that if she stayed, my father would lose everything..."

“But Grandmother didn’t know that if my mother hadn’t persuaded my father, he would have wanted to take my mother away from all the troubles in Jinling City long ago.”

“Even if they were to live a life of leisure, not seeking an official career, my father would gather herbs and my mother would weave cloth, and they could still survive without suffering in Jinling.”

“But my mother thought about my grandmother’s tragic life. My grandfather passed away right after my father was born. So she didn’t want me to make my grandmother lose another son.”

"Fortunately, my father, despite his illness, heard these words. He said that if it weren't for my mother, he wouldn't have survived as a child."

“My mother saw that my father was so willing to risk his life to uphold their relationship, so naturally she did not let my father down.”

"She was willing to be a concubine for the rest of her life, and to stay by my father's side without any official status."

Li Qinglu was shocked: Is there really such a steadfast and loyal relationship in this world?

We don't need titles, fame, or wealth; we just want to be together.

Regardless of the future, at least for now, it is truly rare to find such faithful love between a man and a woman in this world!

Li Qingluo also understood why Pei Nanjia had told her all this.

She revealed her own scars to Li Qingluo, showing him the painful history of her past that the world criticized and despised her for, in order to comfort herself.

Li Qingluo understood her good intentions and couldn't help but hold Pei Nanjia's hand tightly: "Nanjia, although you have parents who love you, you must have suffered a lot since you were a child, right?"

"The Duke Pei's mansion compromised on your parents' matter, but they indulged your sisters, who have bullied you since childhood. I never imagined that a mansion as prestigious as the Duke's would do such a thing!"

Pei Nanjia's eyes reddened.

She truly had no close sisters since childhood.

No one has ever said such a thing to her.

They even thought that she should be content with the life she had.

She was merely a concubine's daughter, yet she enjoyed all the honors bestowed upon the young ladies of the Second Courtyard.

Despite their low social status, they had loving parents...

But those mocking and insulting words, those words of slander and contempt, were all true.

Therefore, what Li Qingluo just said truly resonated with Pei Nanjia.

She almost couldn't help but hug Li Qingluo and burst into tears.

Fortunately, he didn't lose his composure too much.

When she was ten years old, after her father gained some of the emperor's trust, the situation of the two families at home improved a lot.

Later, she became closer to her third brother, and at home she became less and less afraid of anyone openly bullying her.

Pei Nanjia: "Don't be fooled by the glamorous and prestigious appearance of our Pei State Duke's Mansion. In recent years, the inner quarters have been anything but peaceful. The sordid and filthy things that happen here are no less numerous than those in other families."

“These past few years, we’ve only been able to keep things going thanks to our great-grandfather from the eldest branch. If he were to pass away one day, our second and third branches would definitely be separated immediately.”

Li Qingluo: "I heard that the old master's health is not very good these days? What kind of elder is he in the family?"

Pei Nanjia: "Anyway, for the past year, he has been taking medicine every day and going to the doctor every month. I don't usually go to the eldest son's house, and I've only heard that my great-grandfather hasn't gotten out of bed for three or four months."

"What kind of person is he... I met him twice when I was young, and both times he scared me half to death."

"Anyway, he was very fierce when he scolded people. He had a long scar on his face, and we younger people were all afraid of him."

"Moreover, he has a somewhat violent and eccentric temperament... I heard that his temperament changed drastically after he returned from the border years ago, and he became bloodthirsty and inhuman. In any case, he did a lot of foolish things in the past."

Li Qingluo was surprised.

This was completely different from what she had imagined the old Duke Pei to be.

"What foolish things have you done? Nan Jia, could you tell me a thing or two?"

Pei Nanjia didn't understand why Li Qingluo was asking these questions.

He just tilted his head and looked at her.

Knowing she couldn't hide it any longer, Li Qingluo had no choice but to tell the truth: "You should know something about the relationship between my grandmother and your Duke Pei's mansion, right?"

Pei Nanjia: "I heard my grandmother say that during the war on the border, of the three sons of the Pei family, only one returned. Although my great-aunt had nothing to do with my grandfather's death, I heard that the death of my third grandfather was something that my great-grandfather always held a grudge over."

"Later, your great-aunt and grandfather returned home safely, but our Pei family... Although the grudges of the elders have nothing to do with us younger generation, the Pei State Duke's Mansion and your General's Mansion have been estranged for many years and have no contact with each other. Even if they meet, they treat each other like strangers."

Li Qinglu gave a bitter smile.

"Wasn't my grandmother's unresolved issue also due to her brothers?"

"She heard that the old Duke was unwell, so she was very anxious and thought... that one day she could meet the old Duke again and have a meal with him. Deep down, she hoped that the old Duke would still acknowledge her as his sister."

Besides, Li Qingluo did not think that what happened back then was her grandmother's fault.

On the battlefield, life and death are determined by fate.

Nan Jia looked quite troubled after hearing this.

“I advise you… I advise you and your great-aunt to give up this idea. I didn’t make it clear to you earlier, but in fact, my great-grandfather has become increasingly delirious in the past two years.”

"After he returned from the battlefield, how many servants and maids in his mansion suffered and died at his brutal hands? In recent years, he has become too old to move, but his temperament remains unpredictable. When he can move, as long as he can draw his sword, he will definitely hurt people and draw blood."

"He's almost gone mad."

Li Qingluo never expected things to turn out this way.

It seems that my maternal great-uncle must have suffered a great deal of trauma on the battlefield back then, otherwise he wouldn't be so completely different from the steady and reliable older brother that my grandmother described.

But Li Qingluo didn't want to disappoint her grandmother.

She hasn't even tried, so how can she give up so easily?

Seeing her like this, Pei Nanjia sighed: "If you insist on trying, then meet my third brother."

Li Qingluo looked up: "Your third brother?"

Pei Nanjia smiled: "The eldest grandson of the third branch of the Pei State Duke's Mansion, the third son in the family, Pei Sanlang."