Chapter 281 Is the Crown Prince the Pei Family's Way Out?

Zaina nodded.

"yes."

"However, although Pei Lang is unconscious, I am unable to speak or move, but my mind remains clear."

Upon hearing this, Li Qinglu felt a deep fear of the Gu poison.

For her, this was truly worse than death.

However, Li Qingluo was more concerned about something else at the moment: "So, you have nurtured Pei Sanlang."

"It planted the seeds of hatred in his heart, making him kill countless young women for the sake of the Duke Pei's mansion, and make countless blood-clotting pills for his maternal uncle who has already turned into a monster, just so that his maternal uncle could continue to live on in a state of utter misery, while you were nothing more than a beautiful corpse?"

Upon hearing this, Zaina's eyes flashed with anger.

"He is a member of the Pei family, isn't this what he should be doing?"

"If Pei Lang hadn't died once, how could he have become sober and stopped being blindly loyal and filial?"

“The emperor wants to kill him, yes, a subject must die if the emperor commands him! But now that he has already died once, shouldn’t he consider the sake of the entire Pei family, and for his own sake as well?”

Li Qinglu shook her head: "I didn't say your plan was wrong. But did those girls who were killed deserve to die?"

Zaina: "There will always be bloodshed on the road to planning; that's the fate of those women."

Li Qingluo gave a cold laugh: "The lowly in this world are like ants. Only the noble are human beings?"

"The Pei family has suffered injustice and unfair treatment, and my maternal uncle certainly has reason to hate. But even ants can build towering structures! Throughout history, how many commoners have overthrown dynasties?"

"Just because they are women, they deserve to be looked down upon and despised, their lives defined by a single word?"

"I do not agree with your approach."

"For there are countless ways to plot revenge, but what you have done is the most shameful!"

Zaina took a deep breath.

"Let's just consider it our sin. Things have come to this point, haven't we suffered enough?"

Li Qingluo: "Can that be worth the lives of so many women over the years?!"

Zaina: "You!"

Li Qingluo hadn't even said anything more hurtful yet.

"The Duke Pei's mansion has indeed been wronged. But what you have done over the years, haven't you also been squandering the good karma of your ancestors?"

"The Pei family has a distinguished military record and outstanding achievements, which are unforgettable in the annals of history."

"But if the disgusting things the Pei family has done over the past thirty years are revealed to the world, wouldn't that be tantamount to destroying their own foundation?"

"The fact that people don't call you evil spirits is out of kindness!"

Zaina remained silent, simply staring blankly at Li Qingluo.

Li Qingluo knew she was angry.

She didn't care.

Prince Su, who had been listening to these words from around the corner, came out at this moment.

Accompanying him was Doctor Du, who had been captured by a fast horse.

Dr. Du was still panting heavily and was pushed into the ward in a daze.

Zaina took the opportunity to stand up and glance anxiously inside.

In fact, she was a witch doctor, and she could also heal the old Duke Pei.

But for some reason, she didn't dare to intervene this time and instead begged others.

Before Doctor Du had been inside for even half an incense stick's time, Old Madam Pei and Doctor Luo also rushed over.

Judging from their travel-worn appearance, they had clearly arrived at breakneck speed.

Feeling sorry for her grandmother's arduous journey, Li Qingluo immediately went over and took her arm, asking, "Grandmother, are you alright?"

Madam Pei patted her little hand: "Don't worry, Grandma's bones are still strong."

As Madam Pei said this, she saw Zaina instead.

Upon seeing Zaina's remarkably youthful appearance, Madam Pei was utterly shocked: "Zaina!? How... how could she...?"

Doctor Luo was also surprised: "Is it really her?"

Li Qingluo: "Grandmother, before you came, she was already more beautiful than me. It's a long story, let me go aside and tell you first."

Madam Pei could only suppress her turbulent emotions for the time being. "Alright. Luo Fan, go and save my brother!"

Doctor Luo quickly followed Zhuiyu into the room.

When Zaina saw Madam Pei and Doctor Luo appear together, she was shocked, but more than that, she felt guilty.

She almost dared not look into Madam Pei's eyes.

Li Qingluo took this opportunity to briefly explain the situation to Madam Pei.

After hearing this, Madam Pei exclaimed, "What!?"

If Li Qingluo hadn't been supporting her, she definitely wouldn't have been able to bear the truth and would have stumbled backward.

"Brother...brother, you...the truth is actually like this!?"

"Quickly, bring that Pei-ge'er to me now. I want to ask him myself what exactly happened!"

Li Qingluo: "Grandmother, Pei Sanlang is still imprisoned, and His Highness Prince Su still wants to investigate him."

Madam Pei looked up at Prince Su.

"Your Highness, I know my request is unreasonable, but I implore you to let Sanlang come here. I want to confront him personally! Why did he do such a heinous thing? Did my brother really order him to do this?"

"What exactly is their plan?!"

Zaina: "Xiuzhen... if you want to know everything, I'll tell you everything..."

Madam Pei: "Did I ask you?! You're the one who caused all of this! You witch!"

"You have ruined all the honor of our Pei clan!"

Zaina seemed unable to accept being scolded like that by Madam Pei.

"Why? Do you also think your brother deserves to die?"

"Pei Xiuzhen, if Pei Lang hadn't tried to save you and your husband, how could he have been so badly injured in the maze and unable to recover? How could he have been killed by just a few assassins?!"

"He hasn't seen you all these years to protect you. Yet you also feel that he really deserves to die?"

Madam Pei: "Of course my brother shouldn't have died!"

"But he shouldn't be living like this, neither human nor ghost!"

"The children of the Pei family, the soul and bloodline of the Pei family, all the heroes of the Pei family for generations, they protected the stability of the country and the common people of the world!"

"Though dead, the Pei family's innocence will live on forever!"

"And even dying cleanly is better than living a life of darkness, crawling around in the shadows, and harming others with your own honor!"

"As for who killed him, I owe him. If I find out the truth, I will risk my life to avenge him!"

"You're the one who turned him into this, into a puppet for your selfish gain. Do you expect me to still like you?!"

Zaina was devastated.

With a deathly pale face, he slumped down, his belief that he had always held dear completely shattered.

"Did I... really do something wrong...?"

Madam Pei turned her face away.

Tears streamed down my face from the pain.

Prince Su looked at Leng Dian, and it took a while before Pei Sanlang was dragged up.

Li Qingluo looked at Pei Sanlang and saw that he had been given a clean set of clothes, his hand injury had been temporarily treated, and even his messy hair had been combed.

Li Qingluo nodded gratefully to Prince Su. Seeing her like this, her grandmother probably wouldn't feel sorry for her anymore.

Unexpectedly, when Madam Pei first met Pei Sanlang, she slapped him across the face.

"brute!"

"You bastard!"

"It's truly my third brother's greatest misfortune that the Pei family has produced such a foolish, ignorant, and vicious wretch as you!"

Pei Qinghong stared in astonishment at the scene before him, then looked at Old Madam Pei, speechless.

Fearing he might not know his grandmother's identity, Li Qingluo introduced her, saying, "This is my grandmother, and also your grandfather's younger sister."

Pei Qinghong: "Aunt, great-aunt... I don't know what I did wrong? Everything I did was under the orders of my great-grandfather. I only wanted to earn a brighter future for the Pei family. What wrong have I done?"

“Our Pei family has been loyal to the emperor and loved our country for generations, yet we have met tragic ends one after another. Shouldn’t we hate them?”

“My great-aunt has never interfered in the Pei family’s affairs all these years, so she shouldn’t be scolding us so righteously now.”

He doesn't seem to realize he's made a mistake.

Madam Pei gave a cold smile.

"So, your way out is to depose the crown prince? Support the deposed crown prince to regain the throne, and in the future, you can restore a brighter future for the Pei family?"

Pei San remained silent.

Madam Pei said, "So, back then, my brother resolutely gave up all his military power, even though he became a demon while ill, even though he was disfigured and harmed so many innocent maids in the Pei family, and even more innocent women, all for this stupid plan!?"

"His Majesty was able to eliminate, guard against, and deal with the Pei family when he was wary of them. Does that mean his son can't do the same?!"

Pei San: "Of course not—!"

Madam Pei stared at him.

What is that?

Pei San fell silent again.

He just gritted his teeth and stubbornly turned his head away.

Madam Pei turned to Zaina again: "So, are you going to tell me or not? I'm giving you a chance. Didn't you say you wanted to tell me everything?"

Zaina glanced at Pei San: "This..."

Madam Pei: "You wouldn't happen to be colluding with the Lotus Sect, would you? Are you using the Lotus Sect to overthrow the dynasty and exact revenge?"

Zaina: "No. Of course not!"

Li Qingluo pressed on, "Then how did you end up in the hands of the Lotus Sect?!"

Pei Sanlang became agitated: "No, you can't say it... you can't say it!"

Zaina closed her eyes and said, "I was taken away."

"A few years ago, when Pei Lang became increasingly confused, I also gradually became unable to move."

"Actually, Pei Lang had already wanted to end his life at that time. Whenever he was sober, he had the thought of not wanting to live on with me anymore."

“But I am a Gu, so if he dies, I will die with him.”

"So even though he persisted all these years, it was all for me! The lives of all the women he killed later were also for my sake, weren't they..."

"However, before we could make up our minds, my... my older sister appeared."

“My elder sister came to the Pei residence to find me. She lied to me and took me out of the Pei family. For the past few years, I have been locked up by her.”

Li Qingluo: "Your sister? You mean, she's also a witch doctor, right? She also knows the art of Gu poison?"

Zaina: "Yes. And my older sister's Gu poison technique has always been very powerful. She is more talented than me and is also more favored by our master."

"Therefore, she was able to secretly poison all the young men in the Pei family with a kind of Gu poison called 'Tethering Silk'."

Upon hearing this, everyone was horrified!

All the young men of the Pei family!?

They've all been poisoned by a Gu curse!!

Is Zaina's sister really that powerful and terrifying?!

Pei Sanlang let out a mournful and defeated cry: "No..."

All the darkness and weakness of the Pei family were now exposed to the light...