Chapter 117 The Truth Behind the Deaths of Lu's Father and Mother
The news that Chu Huaiyu was still unconscious cast a shadow over the entire palace.
This also gave Pei Yuanzheng an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
At this moment, the glazed tiles of Chengqian Palace gleamed with a cold, desolate light under the dim daylight, and the depths of the palace were so quiet that one could almost hear a pin drop.
Pei Yuanzheng, dressed in a plain brocade robe, moved quietly to avoid the patrolling guards.
He bowed and said to the palace servants of Chengqian Palace, "I am Pei Yuanzheng, and I have important business to discuss with Miss Lu."
The palace servants all knew Pei Yuanzheng's identity, so they stepped aside to let him in.
Inside a side hall of Chengqian Palace, the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood.
Lu Zhaoxing was sitting by the window, holding a copy of "Huainanzi" in his hands, his gaze fixed on the words "Xuanwu Gate Incident".
The sword fights and power struggles depicted on the book's pages evoked a sense of shared experience and unease in Lu Zhaoxing.
As she read the climax of Li Shimin shooting Li Jiancheng with an arrow, her heart suddenly tightened.
Just then—
With a creak, the palace door was gently pushed open, and a cold wind carrying the chill from outside rushed in.
Lu Zhaoxing was so startled that he trembled all over, and the scroll in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud," the pages scattering everywhere.
She turned her head sharply, and when she saw who it was, her eyes instantly filled with anger.
Lu Zhaoxing's tone was icy: "Pei Yuanzheng, what are you doing here at Chengqian Palace?!"
Pei Yuanzheng stood at the entrance of the palace, his once handsome face now filled with pain and exhaustion.
His eyes were dark and bluish, as if he hadn't slept well for many days.
Pei Yuanzheng staggered forward, his voice choked with barely suppressed sobs: "Zhaoxing, I... I really had no choice that day."
"On the day of my wedding to Princess Jinde, I tried my best to escape, but... I was ultimately just a pawn for the Pei family to curry favor with the emperor."
They could only watch helplessly as they were manipulated by imperial power, completely powerless to control their own destiny.
He approached Lu Zhaoxing step by step, his tone full of remorse: "I know I've let you down, and I've also betrayed the trust of Lu's parents..."
But I swear, I never touched Princess Jinde. From beginning to end, you were the only one in my heart…
"Shut up!" Lu Zhaoxing interrupted him abruptly, her eyes filled with disgust and indifference.
“Your affairs, Pei Yuanzheng, are no longer my concern.”
Lu Zhaoxing turned to leave, but Pei Yuanzheng suddenly grabbed her wrist tightly.
His fingertips were burning hot, with an almost obsessive force.
Lu Zhaoxing struggled for a moment but failed to break free. Just as he was about to shout angrily, a cold and sharp voice suddenly rang out:
"Pei Yuanzheng, let go!"
Shen Minghe strode in from outside the hall, his black robes making his expression appear even more stern.
His eyes were like knives, shooting straight at Pei Yuanzheng.
"Lord Pei, as the princess's consort, you have trespassed into the palace and harassed a respectable woman. Aren't you afraid that His Majesty will hold you accountable when he wakes up?"
Pei Yuanzheng turned his head and saw that it was Shen Minghe. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes.
But her hand still gripped Lu Zhaoxing's wrist tightly.
He sneered, "Lord Shen is quite free these days, and even has the time to pry into other people's privacy?"
“Likewise.” Shen Minghe stepped forward, pulled Lu Zhaoxing over, and shielded her behind him.
Shen Minghe said sarcastically, "It's still better than some people who have betrayed their loved ones, become puppets of the imperial power, and now still have the nerve to come here and pretend to be affectionate!"
The two exchanged words, each one sharp as a sword, filling the air with a heavy sense of tension.
Pei Yuanzheng gritted his teeth and replied, "Shen Minghe, what you say sounds grand! If you were me, could you make a better choice than me?!"
"Can you disregard your parents, and the lives of hundreds of people in your Shen family?"
Pei Yuanzheng's face turned pale and then red; he was unwilling to fight with Shen Minghe any longer.
His gaze shifted to Lu Zhaoxing behind Shen Minghe, and his voice suddenly lowered, carrying a hint of urgency and gravity:
"Zhaoxing, I have come here today at great risk, not just to tell you about our relationship."
I have a truth to tell you about the deaths of your parents!
Lu Zhaoxing was jolted by Pei Yuanzheng's words.
His previously cold gaze cracked instantly, and even his breathing became rapid.
"What did you say?!" Lu Zhaoxing exclaimed in disbelief.
Pei Yuanzheng took a deep breath and said, word by word, "Your parents did not die of illness, but were poisoned!"
"What?" Lu Zhaoxing staggered back a step, his eyes widening in disbelief.
She gripped Shen Minghe's clothes tightly with her fingertips, her knuckles turning white.
Lu Zhaoxing's voice trembled: "You...where did you hear that from? Back then...they all said Father was driven to despair by anger, and Mother was..."
“That’s because they’ve all been bribed!” Pei Yuanzheng said with certainty, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes.
"I have been secretly investigating this matter for years, and I finally made some progress a few days ago."
The real murderer bribed the servants around your parents to poison them to death, and then, in order to cover up the crime, he killed all the bribed servants one by one!
Fortunately, one person managed to escape, but he has been hunted down for years, living in constant fear.
Pei Yuanzheng paused, his voice lowering: "I have now found him, and I have hidden him in the mansion to protect him in secret."
I'm doing this so that one day I can clear your parents' name and bring justice to them.
Lu Zhaoxing felt a buzzing in his head as countless fragments of past memories flooded back.
My mother's pained expression before her death, the doctor's hesitant diagnosis, and the servants who suddenly disappeared...
It turns out none of this was an accident!
She staggered, and Shen Minghe quickly supported her, which helped Lu Zhaoxing regain her balance.
Lu Zhaoxing's tears welled up uncontrollably, and her voice was trembling with sobs.
Then, trembling, she asked Pei Yuanzheng, "Then...who exactly is it? Who did this to my parents?!"
……………………………………
PS:
The mastermind behind it all is not Chu Huaiyu.
He's not that utterly depraved, nor would he go to such extremes. If he really harmed the female lead's parents, he knew she would hate him even more.
Lu's parents were in a situation similar to Chu Huaiyu's "I didn't kill Bo Ren, but Bo Ren died because of me."
But you can all guess who the murderer is.
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