Chapter 35 Beat them to death
Cheng Yunxiu and Jiang Mingchang had very complicated feelings towards Qi Yuanhong. Qi Yuanhong had been living with them since he was seven or eight years old. Although they didn't raise him as their own son, they were close enough to do so, providing him with food, clothing, and education, and showing him a lot of care in his daily life.
They thought that since they knew their child inside and out, and that Jiang Yu and he were childhood sweethearts who grew up together, their marriage would surely lead to a happy and fulfilling life.
But no one expected that Qi Yuanhong would abandon Jiang Yu, and even knowing that Su Yuezhen wanted to kill Jiang Yu, he did not stop her.
Last night, Cheng Yunxiu sadly told Jiang Mingchang that perhaps their parenting methods were wrong, which was why Qi Yuanhong did such a thing. Jiang Mingchang told her that some people are inherently bad and cannot be taught properly. If their parenting methods were flawed, how come Jiang Yu is so filial, upright, and kind?
Hearing his words, Cheng Yunxiu felt a little better. Now, seeing Qi Yuanhong, Cheng Yunxiu felt only hatred—hatred that the couple had raised him, yet he had betrayed them, and hatred that he had let Jiang Yu down.
Cheng Yunxiu took the shoe and slapped Qi Yuanhong's face repeatedly, feeling relieved but also heartbroken again. After all, they had raised him for thirteen years, and their bond was undeniably deep.
Qi Yuanhong felt extremely humiliated as the sole of the shoe struck his face repeatedly. However, the one hitting him was Cheng Yunxiu, who had raised him. No matter how angry he was, morally he could not retaliate and could only endure the pain and humiliation, suffering each blow.
After hitting her for a while, Cheng Yunxiu got tired and said to Qi Yuanhong with teary eyes, "You and Yu'er are divorced. My family and you, our Yu'er and you, have no relationship anymore. Don't come in front of us and annoy us anymore, or I'll hit you with my shoe every time I see you."
After saying that, she spat out a mouthful of blood.
Qi Yuanhong propped himself up with his hands, looked at Jiang Yu, then at Cheng Yunxiu and Jiang Mingchang, feeling an indescribable bitterness and regret in his heart.
After bowing deeply to Cheng Yunxiu and Jiang Mingchang, he turned to leave. But just as he took a step, Lu Yifang arrived with several burly women. Seeing Qi Yuanhong, she looked him up and down, then gritted her teeth and said, "Beat him! Beat him to death!"
At her command, four or five old women rushed forward and surrounded Qi Yuanhong, then began to punch and kick him. These old women usually did manual labor and were quite strong. Qi Yuanhong wanted to maintain his dignity as a scholar and didn't shout or scream, but after a few blows he began to wail.
But the people inside the room wanted him dead; they just wanted him to suffer more.
Later, Qi Yuanhong's wails grew fainter and fainter until they stopped. Jiang Yu said to Lu Yifang, "Mother, tell them to stop. He can't die yet."
Lu Yifang knew that since the Emperor hadn't ordered Qi Yuanhong's death, he couldn't die in the Duke of Chu's mansion. She waved for the old women to stop, and Li Zhong stepped forward to check Qi Yuanhong's breathing as he lay sprawled on the ground. Seeing that he was still breathing, he silently breathed a sigh of relief and then asked Jiang Yu what to do.
Jiang Yu looked at Qi Yuanhong, who was like a dead dog, and after a moment of silence, said, "Throw him at the entrance of the Qingshan Marquis's residence."
Since Qi Yuanhong and Su Yuezhen's engagement is still valid, the seriously injured Qi Yuanhong should naturally be placed under the jurisdiction of the Qingshan Marquis's Mansion.
Li Zhong responded and waved for several guards to drag Qi Yuanhong away. Watching him being dragged away like a dead dog, the people inside felt a renewed sense of satisfaction.
At this moment, Cheng Yunxiu was still holding her shoes. After realizing what was happening, she looked at Lu Yifang and smiled awkwardly. Then she put her hand on Jiang Mingchang's shoulder and started to put on her shoes.
Jiang Mingchang felt that she was uncomfortable wearing the shoes, so he took them from her and bent down to put them on for her. This action surprised everyone present except Jiang Yu.
Seeing everyone's expressions, Cheng Yunxiu felt even more embarrassed and quickly whispered to Jiang Mingchang, "Stop it, I'll do it myself."
Jiang Mingchang then realized there were so many people in the room, and his manly image was shattered; his face flushed red. It was truly an unconscious action; it was all because he was used to doing it.
Seeing her parents' awkward expressions, Jiang Yu wanted to laugh, but kindly held it in. She pulled Cheng Yunxiu and Lu Yifang aside to talk and ease the awkwardness, while Jiang Mingchang quickly took the opportunity to escape.
Lu Yifang looked at Cheng Yunxiu with envy. She had been married to Jiang Chengye for over twenty years, and Jiang Chengye rarely even poured her a cup of tea, let alone put shoes on her.
...
Meanwhile, the guards of the Duke of Chu's mansion threw Qi Yuanhong onto the carriage and headed towards the Earl of Qingshan's mansion. Upon arrival, before the gatekeeper could even ask any questions, they threw Qi Yuanhong off.
She also left out a sentence, "Our young lady said that your fourth young lady should keep an eye on her people."
After saying that, he drove off in his carriage in a flash. A servant from the Qingshan Marquis's mansion trotted forward to see who it was, and upon seeing that it was Qi Yuanhong, his face showed disdain. But someone still trotted off to inform the Qingshan Marquis.
Meanwhile, in Uncle Qingshan's study, the scene was quite lively.
Su Yuezhen knelt on the ground and cried, "Grandfather, if I am flogged at the execution ground tomorrow, not to mention whether I can withstand thirty strokes, our Qingshan Marquis's Mansion and the Imperial Concubine will lose all face!"
"How dare you say that?" Uncle Qingshan said with a livid face, "If you hadn't acted so recklessly, would things have come to this? Qi Yuanhong and Jiang Yu have already divorced, why did you still go and kill her?"
“She summoned Song Yushu and exposed my shameful deeds in front of so many people. It was an insult to my reputation! How could I spare her life?”
"Hmph, then you'd better be more careful!" Uncle Qingshan wished he could crack open Su Yuezhen's head to see if it was filled with straw.
He added, "Setting people on fire was a clumsy method, and in the end, they didn't even burn anyone to death. Instead, they got Yang Tianfu arrested. There are witnesses and physical evidence, so I can't deny it even if I want to!"
"Idiot, idiot, idiot!"
Uncle Qingshan cursed him several times as a fool, but it couldn't quell the hatred in his heart.
“Lord,” Lady Qingshan sat down next to Lord Qingshan and handed him a cup of tea, saying, “Things have already come to this point, there’s no use in getting angry. You should think about how to resolve this.”
Upon hearing her words, Qingshan Bo's anger subsided somewhat. He took a sip of his tea and said, "The Emperor has already spoken. How should we resolve this?"
Lady Qingshan said, "Let the Imperial Concubine plead with the Emperor to pardon Yuezhen's punishment."
Her words nearly made Lord Qingshan choke on his tea. He slammed the teacup down on the table and roared at Lady Qingshan:
"I think she learned her stupidity from you. The Emperor's words are imperial edicts, and imperial edicts cannot be changed. Do you want the Imperial Concubine to die, or do you want our whole family to die?"
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