Chapter 72 Your father is a real scoundrel!

Li Qingluo: "What?"

She stopped in her tracks and looked at Chen He in astonishment.

Shen He held a lantern in her hand, and the smile on her face looked somewhat eerie against the backdrop of darkness and shadows on the wall.

"I'm not lying to you. I presume you already know that there used to be a concubine named Zheng in the General's Mansion?"

Li Qingluo nodded: "Yes."

"Master, what exactly is your relationship with Aunt Zheng? Did you pretend to be a ghost at Yueming Garden for her sake?"

Shen He did not deny it.

"How about I tell you a story, Master?"

"Take Jinling City for example. There was once a woman whose beauty was unparalleled in the city. She was the legitimate daughter of a third-rank general. She loved reading from a young age and grew up to be a talented woman who was well-versed in poetry and could compose poems and paint."

"Unfortunately, this general was implicated in a bloody case involving the tragic death of a palace concubine, and his entire family was imprisoned. Some were beheaded, some were exiled, and all the women in the family were forced into prostitution."

"This young woman was destined to suffer a terrible fate, but fortunately, her father had some close friends in the martial arts world who helped save her and her younger brother."

Unfortunately, they were discovered by the authorities while fleeing Nanjing.

"In order for her younger brother to escape, the woman took the initiative to run out and lure people away, and then she lost contact with them."

"Where did that woman go? Why don't you guess?"

Li Qinglu's heart pounded.

She blurted out, "Could she be Aunt Zheng?"

Shen He stopped and stared at Li Qingluo from inside the tunnel, smiling: "Luo'er, you are very clever. Yes, she is Aunt Zheng, Zheng Wanxiu, the eldest daughter of the Zheng family."

"Back then, when she was desperate and almost caught by the authorities, she was saved by your father, Li Chaojing. In fact, they had known each other for a long time."

"Your father had a bad reputation in his early years, so although he had long been in love with the eldest daughter of the Zheng family, the Zheng family did not agree to his marriage proposal."

"He may have been heartbroken after marrying your mother, but he never expected to see the Zheng family girl again. So after rescuing Zheng Wanxiu, he couldn't wait to imprison her in the backyard of the General's Mansion."

"It was in that Moonlit Garden. He disregarded Zheng Wanxiu's wishes, her desire for freedom, and her wish to reunite with her younger brother, and forcibly took Zheng Wanxiu as his concubine. He turned her, a once proud legitimate daughter, into a mere concubine!"

"He thought that the favor he gave to Aunt Zheng was a sense of security and happiness that she should no longer be able to hope for, but in reality, Aunt Zheng only suffered endless pain."

“He did indeed do Zheng a favor, but how many children did Zheng lose because of him? She has already paid back what she owed him.”

“Even back then, after Aunt Zheng gave birth to twins, her son was taken away and killed, leaving her with only a daughter.”

"In the end, even the girl's life couldn't be saved. Luo'er, your father is truly a scoundrel!"

Li Qingluo nodded noncommittally.

But then she suddenly woke up with a start.

How do you know so much about these things? Who are you?

Aunt Zheng gave birth to twins back then, a fact that even the spies that the grandmother had planted in the mansion did not know. It was Aunt Lou who revealed this secret to Li Qingluo!

But Chen He knew everything!?

Shen He stared at her: "Didn't I tell you? Aunt Zheng, she has a younger brother."

Li Qinglu stared at the person in front of her with a confused look in her eyes.

"Brother? But you..."

Her gaze suddenly fell on Shen He's Adam's apple.

Li Qingluo suddenly took a step back!

She knew that Shen He must have been faking it.

But she always thought that she was just pretending to be the real Shen He, wasting some effort on the identity!

As for her somewhat rough voice, it's simply because she's practiced martial arts since childhood and has a masculine personality!

But now, Li Qingluo suddenly realized!

This 'Chen He' not only has a fake identity, could it be that even her gender is fake?!?

Li Qingluo gasped sharply.

She then backed away step by step, only then realizing that she had really been rash!

This is hardly a master!

Absolutely a complete fraud!

Li Qingluo turned to leave, but Chen He shouted, "Luo'er!?"

He was about to give chase when another voice called out, "Ling Zhou, come back! A group of officials have arrived. You can't go out with them."

Chen He suddenly stopped walking, and then watched helplessly as Li Qingluo's figure disappeared at one end of the tunnel.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and 'Chenhe' turned around and sighed, 'Sister, what brings you here?'

The newcomer was a beautiful woman. She stared at her younger brother and said, "If I hadn't come, how would I have known how much more of my affairs you would have revealed?"

It turned out that this beautiful woman was none other than Zheng Wanxiu, the concubine of the Li family who had disappeared years ago and whose fate was unknown.

The fake 'Chen He' is actually her younger brother, Zheng Lingzhou, who was separated from her years ago and grew up in the martial arts world.

Zheng Lingzhou was born with a delicate face that rivaled the beauty of women, which is why she was able to deceive Li Qingluo and everyone in the Red Maple Pavilion so flawlessly by pretending to be a woman.

“Sister, I’ve investigated her. Luo’er is different from the rest of the Li family. You can trust her!”

Zheng Wanxiu: "I still need to consider this matter."

"It's you, Ling Zhou! You're not allowed to go see her on your own again."

"Last time, she saw through your identity, and now you dare to reveal your gender again! I told you not to risk going to the Li family with this identity, but you insisted on going anyway! Now you've scared her. Let's see how you handle this situation."

Zheng Lingzhou sighed: "Let's put this aside for now. This place is no longer safe to stay. Let's leave quickly!"

As for Li Qingluo, he knew she had brought ten skilled maids and servants with her today, so he wasn't worried about her safety.

Li Qingluo crawled out of the tunnel, panting. Before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, a short knife was already at her neck.

"come out!"

Li Qingluo: "..."

She slowly crawled out of the tunnel, and as soon as she stood up, she was forced to walk forward.

Li Qingluo saw that the once empty courtyard of the mortuary was now filled with government officials!

When Que'er and Granny Deng saw her appear, they rushed forward eagerly, their faces full of anticipation.

"girl!"

"girl--!"

Li Qinglu shook her head at them to indicate that she was fine and reassured them not to worry.

In fact, she had already secretly gripped the dagger hidden in her sleeve.

Just as she was preparing to make her move, the officers suddenly parted and a man strode out from behind.

Upon seeing this person, Li Qingluo's pupils suddenly contracted!

Is it Prince Su?

Why is the Dali Temple handling a case here?

Why is she so unlucky?

I should have checked the calendar before I left home today!

Could it be that he'd kill her too, just to catch the person behind her?

As expected, Prince Su only glanced at Li Qingluo before immediately raising his hand in greeting.

Behind them and even on the courtyard wall, twenty archers immediately nocked their arrows and were ready.

Li Qingluo's heart pounded, and she heard the person behind her shout nervously, "Prince Su, are you... are you willing to risk the life of this innocent young woman for the sake of solving this case?"

Duan Rongshi's eyes remained cold and unmoved: "You know she's innocent, yet you still used her as a scapegoat, didn't you? Besides, trespassing into the mortuary in broad daylight, I don't think she's an ordinary girl. Could it be that you're all accomplices?"

Granny Deng, who was standing to the side, was the first to object. She slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "No! Your Highness, please see the truth! Our young lady is the second young lady of the General's Mansion in Dongyin Lane. She is not an accomplice of any fugitive!"

"Our young lady is absolutely innocent; she has no idea what happened. Please, Your Highness, save her!"

Duan Rongshi then took another look.

This glance, naturally, lingered for a while.

Is it her?

The second daughter of the Li family?