"Not going to talk?" Shen Qingtang sneered, her gaze falling on Lu Jiaojiao, who was still acting crazy not far away. "Have you forgotten what happened to Lu Jiaojiao? She's now a living dead, unable to live or die. If you insist on not talking, she will be your example."
These words struck Madam Pei and Second Uncle Pei like a thunderbolt.
They were terrified by Lu Jiaojiao's empty eyes and stiff movements, and the color drained from their faces instantly.
Pei's father also heard these words, and a glimmer of survival flashed in his eyes. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but it was as if his throat was blocked.
It could only make indistinct hoarse sounds and couldn't utter a single word.
He blinked frantically, his eyes filled with pleading and panic, trying to tell Pei Wuwang and Shen Qingtang the truth, but no matter how hard he tried...
They couldn't make any sound; their tongues seemed to have lost all feeling and they couldn't even move them.
He was horrified to discover that he had become mute!
"What's going on? I... I can't speak?" Pei's father screamed inwardly, but could only utter meaningless gasps.
He looked at Pei Wuwang and Shen Qingtang with despair in his eyes. The feeling of weakness in his body grew stronger and stronger, and his consciousness began to blur. Finally, everything went black and he completely fainted.
When Madam Pei and Uncle Pei saw their father faint on the ground, and then saw that they were unable to speak or move, they were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground.
Tears and snot streamed down their faces, but they still dared not utter a single word, afraid of revealing the person behind them.
They would face even more terrible retaliation, but in their current state, they are clearly doomed.
Looking at their cowardly and stubborn appearance, Shen Qingtang's eyes turned completely cold, and she had already made up her mind.
Pei's father was completely ruined. He lay paralyzed on the ground, only able to utter incoherent "ah ah" sounds. His body was weak, his eyes were empty, and his former vigor had vanished, leaving only endless misery.
Da Qin rushed to his side, embracing his body and crying her heart out: "Husband! What's wrong? Say something! Don't scare me!"
She shook Pei's father, but apart from groaning meaninglessly, he didn't even have the strength to look up at her, and the tightness around his neck didn't intensify.
The symptoms lingered for a long time, leaving the person looking like a puppet whose soul had been taken away, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.
Pei Wuwang turned to look at his second uncle, who was huddled to the side, trembling all over. His eyes were as cold as knives: "Tell me, who told you to add this stuff to the pumpkin? Who else is behind this? Don't tell me it was your brother's idea alone. He doesn't have that kind of guts or that kind of insidious intention."
Uncle Pei was so frightened that his legs went weak. He kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead hitting the ground with a dull thud, quickly turning red: "It really is my brother! It was all his idea! He said that now that you're successful, you've forgotten your roots and refuse to help the Pei family, making us suffer so much. He wanted to take this opportunity to harm you, maybe he could get some benefits from the Shen family! I was just following him to make up the numbers, I didn't know anything, I didn't dare to really participate in harming anyone!"
He spoke while crying, his voice trembling uncontrollably, his eyes filled with fear, afraid that Pei Wuwang would not believe him and that he would suffer the same fate as Pei's father.
Pei Wuwang then turned his gaze to Old Madam Pei, who was already sobbing uncontrollably and slumped to the ground.
Seeing Pei Wuwang looking over, he immediately lunged forward to grab his trouser leg.
But Pei Wuwang dodged it by stepping aside.
"My son! I am your own grandmother!"
Old Madam Pei beat her chest and stamped her feet, crying her heart out, "How could I possibly harm you? That pumpkin was a token of my affection. It was your father who was bewitched and added something himself. It has nothing to do with me! You can't treat me like this, you can't treat the Pei family like this! Have you forgotten how much I doted on you when you were little? When you were hungry, I would find you food; when you were cold, I would warm your bed. Now that you've become successful, do you no longer care about your own grandmother?"
She tried to use their past relationship to morally blackmail Pei Wuwang, hoping he would soften his heart.
Pei Wuwang remained unmoved, coldly staring at her: "You loved me? Back then, you watched me being bullied, watched my father beat and scold me, why didn't you say you loved me? Back then, you forced me to marry someone I didn't like for money, why didn't you say you loved me? Now that you've done evil, you think of family ties? Too late."
He turned to the guards behind him and ordered, "Take them all away and lock them in the old courtyard. Assign someone to watch over them every day, make them work non-stop, don't let them slack off, and don't give them a kind look. They can stop when they come to their senses and are willing to reveal who's behind them."
The guards immediately stepped forward and helped up the still crying Madam Pei, Second Uncle Pei, and Madam Qin.
Dragging his limp father, he walked towards the backyard.
The men cried and cursed incessantly, but no one paid them any attention. They could only watch helplessly as they were taken away. The thought of toiling day and night without a moment of peace filled them with hatred and fear. They were almost driven mad with anger, yet there was nothing they could do.
After dealing with the Pei family's affairs, Pei Wuwang had just returned to the front hall when Wang Xiulian sneaked in with a fawning smile on her face: "Young Master Pei Wuwang, I have something to tell you."
Pei Wuwang frowned, his tone indifferent: "What is it?"
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