Chapter 203 Young lady, please accept my condolences!

The eunuchs and palace maids who were eavesdropping nearby: !!

This Li family girl really grew up in the mountains; she's so clueless about romance.

Look at that Third Young Master Zhuang, his face was deathly pale, and his whole body was stiff as if he had been frozen in place.

You must be extremely heartbroken right now.

Li Qingluo huffed, "Whether Young Master Zhuang becomes a top scholar, a farmer or a warrior, or a high-ranking official or a commoner, what does it have to do with me, Li Qingluo?"

"Our two families have long been innocent, so please, Young Master Zhuang, show some respect!"

Ha, you despicable man!

Even if every man in the world died, she would never go back to him!

Without hesitation, Li Qing led Que'er and Zhang Mama into Zhaohua Palace.

Zhuang Wei stood there dumbfounded, like a piece of wood.

She actually started yelling at him again!

He always seemed to fail to please her.

Zhuang Wei gave a wry smile.

But when he thought about how he had been innocently implicated and resented Zhu'er before, and now that he saw Zhu'er's true colors, he felt ashamed.

Ever since he was badly injured by Pearl, he has locked himself in his room all day and refused to go out. He even hated all the women in the world and thought that women were all deceitful monsters!

During those days, whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see in his mind were images of Liu Qingzhu and Prince Yun having an affair.

Only then did he realize that her self-immolation and faked death were actually just a way to escape her engagement with him.

How ridiculous, how utterly ridiculous!

Zhuang Wei believed that he and Liu Qingzhu had been childhood sweethearts, deeply in love, and would always be true to each other without doubt.

In the end, he was nothing more than a joke that was despised by Madam Zhu!

She would rather be a prince's concubine than be the legitimate wife of the third young master of the Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion!

How could Zhuang Wei not feel bitter?

However, he was not as heartbroken as Pearl was at the beginning of her fake death.

Until one day he woke up, he suddenly had an epiphany and became completely inspired. He picked up a book and read it day and night, and picked up a pen and wrote furiously.

Only today did he finally get a chance to catch his breath.

He thought that perhaps he could see her if he went to the palace today.

The general's real daughter, his betrothed since childhood.

When Zhuang San was young, his grandmother mentioned that he had pointed to the high belly of the general's wife, Qu, and said that if the baby in that belly was a girl, she would be his wife.

The adults burst into laughter.

The two families then arranged a marriage for them from birth.

He always thought it was Pearl.

So from a young age, they cherished, pampered, and doted on her with great joy.

Even when the truth was revealed, although he was somewhat dazed and surprised, he felt even more strongly that Pearl was innocent and remained steadfast in his feelings.

Until that day at Minglou...

Afterwards, Zhuang San felt as if he had just had a dream!

He even kept thinking how wonderful it would be if the daughter of the general's mansion hadn't been switched.

The little baby in Qu's belly will grow up with me, and I won't be so infatuated with Zhu'er and get hurt again.

If the person who grew up with me is Li Qingluo...

Unfortunately, he made too many mistakes, and in her mind he must be a brainless idiot.

Zhuang Wei clenched his fists and murmured, "I will definitely prove myself, and there will be a day when you will look at me with new eyes!"

Li Qingluo felt nauseous, as if she had swallowed a fly.

After she returned and sat down, before she could even comfort Madam Pei, she drank a glass of fruit wine herself.

When the three members of the Qu family saw her return, Qu Shi originally wanted to say a few words of concern, but Li Kechuan interrupted her first: "Grandmother sent someone to look for you. Did you run into something while you were wandering around?"

Li Qinglu ignored him and drank another cup.

Seeing her like this, Li Chaojing frowned and said coldly, "If you want to die, can't you wait until you leave the palace? This is the palace. Anyone with a brain shouldn't drag their whole family into this mess!"

Li Qingluo: "Shut up!"

With a fierce look in her eyes, she slammed her wine glass down on the table, drawing the attention of everyone around her.

Even Madam Pei was stunned.

"Luo'er?"

Whispers arose from all around.

"This eldest daughter of the Li family really has no manners..."

"Their daughters aren't very well-behaved..."

"Who would dare marry such a bride? We should stay far away from her as soon as possible."

Just as someone was scoffing, before Old Madam Pei could even get angry, another rebuke came from the other side: "Are you good people who gossip about others like this?"

The person who defended Li Qingluo was none other than Qu Daoxun, the fourth son of the Qu family. He had been secretly watching the Li family from a short distance all night.

Li Qingluo hadn't returned yet, and he almost wished he could go out and look for her himself.

If his grandmother hadn't stopped him, he would have already exchanged a few words with that Miss Li.

Li Chaojing cast a kind glance at Xun Ge'er, and Qu Shi was secretly thrilled.

As Li Kechuan frowned slightly, Xun Ge'er, holding a wine cup, secretly approached from behind, kneeling on the ground: "Cousin, I haven't been able to visit you at your residence. Your younger brother is here..."

Before she could finish speaking, Li Qingluo had already fallen into Madam Pei's arms and was fast asleep.

Madam Pei: ...

Madam Pei quickly grabbed the cloak and covered Li Qingluo in her arms, so that no one could see her sleeping face at all.

Seeing this, Que'er couldn't help but chuckle and whispered, "Madam, the young lady is always like this. She can't hold her liquor. Once she falls down, even thunder won't wake her up."

"However, this only happens when he has been drinking."

Madam Pei sighed, "That child. We'll deal with her when she wakes up tomorrow!"

Xun-ge couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

He hasn't even said a single word to his cousin yet...

After the banquet, the general's mansion, with a drunken girl and a man with a broken leg who couldn't walk, was trying to be among the first to leave the palace. It was no easy feat.

The Qu family wanted to lend a hand, but Old Madam Pei pushed away Qu Daoxun's outstretched hand: "Young Master Qu, please step aside! Our General's Mansion has no need for your help."

After saying that, Granny Zhang bent down and carried Li Qingluo on her back.

Sparrow and the others quickly covered it up completely with their cloaks.

There were quite a few people who got drunk today, but not many young women did.

Fortunately, the biggest excitement tonight was the resurrection of the Pan family girl and the punishment of Princess Qinyu, so not many people paid attention to this side.

Old Mrs. Qu, surnamed He, saw this scene from a short distance away and angrily threw off the carriage curtain she was holding.

"Go, bring Qu Sanniang here!"

Li Qingluo was put into the carriage by Zhang Mama. Qu Shi was in a hurry to follow and take care of her, but was stopped by the maid next to He Shi.

"Grandma, the old lady is looking for you. She says she has two things she wants to say to you."

Fortunately, they finally managed to squeeze out of the palace in an orderly fashion.

On the way back, snowflakes started falling again.

Madam Pei had the carriage curtains drawn shut to prevent the wind from getting in and catching a cold in Li Qingluo.

"Does your young lady know that she would become like this after drinking alcohol?"

She was sleeping like a dead person; no noise could wake her.

Que'er shook her head: "Only that time with Miss Pei Twelve, when she thought she was drinking tea, did she fall asleep and wake up in the Pei family's Si Garden."

Madam Pei snorted, "That silly girl, if someone sets a trap for her in the future, wouldn't it be easy to find her vulnerable spot? Now that she's awake, I'm going to give her a good talking to!"

Que'er couldn't help but defend Li Qingluo: "Miss was entangled by Young Master Zhuang, and he said some inexplicable things. Perhaps he made you confused?"

Madam Pei's eyes twitched violently: "The marriage between the two families has been called off, so why is this person still so clueless as to pester Luo'er? Could it be that he has changed his mind?"

As soon as we arrived at the gate of the General's Mansion, the snow that was falling from the sky had turned into heavy snow.

When the gatekeeper saw his master's carriages returning, he quickly went forward to open the gate and led a group of servants out to greet them.

Granny Deng rushed to Madam Pei's carriage and said in a trembling voice, "Madam, young lady, something terrible has happened!"

Li Qingluo was woken up by Que'er.

"Girl, girl? Girl—"

Unable to escape the darkness, Li Qingluo vaguely heard the sound of a sparrow.

She mustered her strength and struggled to open her eyes abruptly.

Li Qingluo sat up, panting heavily, clutching her chest, and realized the problem: "Que'er, what's wrong with me?"

With red eyes, Que'er rushed forward, "Miss, please don't drink anymore. You're like last time at the restaurant with the princess... and they were together, and you couldn't be woken up again."

Can't wake him up again?

Li Qingluo raised her hand to look at her tiger's denture. It turned out that Granny Deng had personally given her an acupuncture needle; otherwise, she would definitely not have woken up.

I drank alcohol and I was supposed to lose consciousness. How could this be?

In her previous life, she had also secretly drunk alcohol, but never encountered such a situation. Yet, in this life, there has been such a significant change.

The last time Li Qingluo was at the restaurant with Nan Jia and the others, she thought she was sleeping so soundly because she was too tired, but this happened again.

Could it be because... she was reborn?

Li Qingluo had a bad feeling, but then she saw that both Granny Deng and Que'er had red eyes.

They looked at her with sorrowful expressions, and Li Qingluo's heart skipped a beat.

"But what happened?"

Otherwise, the two of them wouldn't have been in such a hurry to wake themselves up!

Granny Deng spoke in a sorrowful voice, "Miss, please accept my condolences! It was...it was the twelfth young lady of the Pei family...she's gone!"

Li Qingluo: "What do you mean gone? Nan Jia is still perfectly fine at the Pei residence."

"At the banquet tonight, Princess Nanping told me that Nan Jia's poison could be cured. She asked the famous physician in Prince Su's residence to personally examine Nan Jia. How could Prince Su's people be wrong?"

Sparrow silently shed tears and turned her head to the side.

When Li Qingluo saw her crying, she spoke up for the first time and scolded her: "Stop crying!"

She looked at Granny Deng again, her breathing quickening: "Besides, even if the poison suddenly becomes incurable again, doesn't she still have three months to wait for that poison doctor to be caught? Once he's caught, he'll find a way to force that woman to give her the antidote..."

Granny Deng: "Miss. Tonight at three-quarters past dusk... the twelfth young lady was found by the Pei family's servants... her body was found decapitated, dead in a dilapidated and deserted courtyard!"