Chapter 376 The Qu Family's Fate! The Crown Prince's Thoughts!
The kinship ties in Jinling City are deeply intertwined.
Although Li Qingluo had paid some attention, she hadn't been back for very long, so she hadn't fully figured things out yet.
After listening to Pan Li's words for a while, I temporarily understood where today's targeting came from.
The Zhong family.
The Qu family.
She had heard about the current plight of the Qu family during her free time a couple of days ago.
Qu Daoyuan, the eldest son of the Qu family and an official in the Ministry of Justice, killed his wife and injured his brother in the street.
Moreover, he abused his power for personal gain and instigated a prison riot in the Nanjing government office, whereupon he was immediately arrested by Zhang Yi, the Minister of Justice.
The scandal of Qu Jia Silang and Qu Jia's eldest daughter-in-law openly having an affair in the street caused quite a stir in Jinling City for several days.
After all, such a shocking and scandalous scandal was unprecedented in the entire history of Nanjing.
The scandalous affair of the Qu family matriarch, Madam He, and the two daughters-in-law of the eldest son of the Qu family, being stripped of their clothes in prison, also spread like wildfire.
Within a day, the whole city of Jinling was buzzing with the news that the prisoners in jail had seen all the women of the Qu family naked.
They even went so far as to vividly describe how the two daughters-in-law were still charming, and how even the smallest mole on their bodies was known to everyone.
How can the Qu family still have any face left?
That day, the entire city of Jinling was utterly trampled underfoot.
Even Minister Qu was impeached for failing to manage his family properly and for corrupting family values. He was temporarily suspended from his post and placed under investigation at home.
He intended to kill herself by running herself over on her way home that day.
Although she was stopped, for the sake of the reputation of all the women in the family, she had already sent white silk and poison to her two daughters-in-law.
Her two daughters-in-law passed away before her.
After being rescued, Ms. He was simply sent to a nunnery.
The Qu family's reputation was ruined, and their married daughters were also implicated.
Zhong Liulang's wife, the third daughter of the Qu family, was the second daughter of He's eldest son.
This girl married a good husband and was pampered by her husband's family.
But her mother was suddenly forced to death, her brother was imprisoned, and her younger brother was crippled.
Her maternal clan was on the verge of decline, and she could not hold her head high in her husband's family. She was also pointed at and gossiped about whenever she went out.
Everyone in Jinling said that her family was not strict and that her family was immoral. How could she not hate that?
She hated him, and Zhong Liulang, who loved her to the extreme, naturally hated her as well.
When Qu San-guniang secretly went to the nunnery to ask her grandmother, she learned that the culprit behind all of this was actually Li Qingluo, the mistakenly switched daughter of the Li family. All the hatred in her heart then fell on Li Qingluo.
Coincidentally, Zhong Liulang was a junior commander in the Imperial Guard.
Therefore, now that they know who Li Qingluo is, they naturally hate her as a thorn in their side.
He was originally racking his brains to find an opportunity to seize on Li Qingluo's mistakes so that he could take the opportunity to retaliate and help his wife vent her anger.
He never expected to run into Li Qingluo so easily.
This opportunity is just around the corner, isn't it?
A surge of hatred welled up within him, and he was about to accuse Li Qinglu of the heinous crime of abducting a princess.
However, Zhong Liulang has messed with the wrong person today.
If Li Qingluo were truly as he believed, someone whom even Zhong Liulang could easily manipulate, the Qu family wouldn't be in this predicament today.
After Li Qingluo learned his identity, she blinked and then grabbed Nanping's arm and shook it, feeling wronged: "It's really a misunderstanding, Princess, you must do justice for me."
"Otherwise, this commander of the Imperial Guards, his eyes are practically devouring us."
"If something goes wrong with you then, I won't be able to explain myself."
Pan Li, who was standing to the side, almost burst out laughing.
Luo'er truly has excellent acting skills.
The image of her ruthlessly killing people in the Pei family dungeon seems like an illusion...
Nanping actually fell for this.
When has her sister Luo'er ever been so delicate and tender?
He immediately put his hands on his hips and glared angrily at Zhong Liulang.
"Zhong Liulang, who do you think you are?"
"Stop accusing my sister Luo'er of all sorts of crimes! It was I who insisted on coming here today!"
"If you're so capable, go ahead and complain to my maternal grandfather, and I'll punish you for your grave crimes first!"
"Knowing that the princess is here, you still dare to make a ruckus while sitting on horseback. What should your punishment be!"
"Men, seize him!"
The princess waved her hand, and Zhong Liulang's expression changed drastically.
I'd heard that this princess was willful and unreasonable, and I never expected it to be true.
He hurriedly turned his horse around to run away, but Nanping quickly took out his slingshot and fired a shot at Zhong Liulang's horse's rump with great speed and accuracy.
The horse neighed in fright and jumped, almost causing Zhong Liulang to fall off.
Finally, he was hung on the horse's back, and the horse went mad and ran away.
Zhong Liulang let out a scream and was carried into the woods.
Princess Nanping laughed until her stomach hurt.
Li Qingluo and Pan Li exchanged a glance and then burst out laughing.
This Zhong Liulang is nothing special.
The three then left hand in hand.
But shortly after they left, two more people rode out from the depths of the woods.
These two men were none other than Crown Prince Duan Rongyin and his bodyguard Jiang Ruiqi.
"Is she the real daughter of the Li family, Li Qingluo?"
"The Qu family was brought down by her?"
A sinister glint appeared in Jiang Ruiqi's eyes: "Yes, Your Highness."
"Furthermore, the evidence that the Eldest Princess suddenly produced makes me suspect... that it was this woman who stirred things up."
The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared in the direction Li Qingluo had left.
"This woman is truly stunningly beautiful. No wonder she has captivated Xiao Wu to such an extent."
The crown prince sneered.
That day, when Duan Rongshi pulled out the blank imperial edict that had been sealed for seventeen years, he and his mother were so flustered that they almost lost their composure and went mad.
They all believed that Duan Rongshi would make greater use of the imperial edict that had been hidden for seventeen years.
With his father seriously ill, isn't this the perfect opportunity for him?
They even resented why they hadn't taken drastic measures earlier these past few days. If Emperor Yan had simply passed away, wouldn't Duan Rongyin have already ascended to the throne?
He insisted on playing the role of a filial son, thus missing out on the opportunity.
If Duan Rongshi were to ambush him, Duan Rongyin would truly go berserk.
He schemed for five years before finally finding an opportunity to return to the position of crown prince.
How could we be willing to give up halfway and watch others take it away?
What neither the Empress nor the Crown Prince expected was that Duan Rongshi would use that extremely terrifying imperial edict, which could grant the rights to mountains and rivers, to ask for only one woman!
Duan Rongyin found it both unbelievable and utterly ridiculous.
Does Xiao Wu truly have no desire or ambition for the throne?
Could there really be someone in this world who is so stupid?
Would you rather have a beautiful woman than a kingdom?
What kind of woman did Duan Rongshi take a liking to?
Upon seeing Li Qingluo today, the Crown Prince recalled what Zongzheng Yu'er had said.
"Crown Prince, Li Qingluo must not be allowed to live!"
"This woman is very scheming and caused Yu'er to suffer heavy losses."
"If there is an opportunity, I implore my Crown Prince brother to get rid of this woman as soon as possible!"
Princess Xia Miaoqinyu was still recovering from her serious injuries, so she pretended to be ill and did not come.
The Crown Prince secretly went to see her.
I've never seen her suffer so much in all these years.
The Crown Prince couldn't help but feel a pang of pity and heartache for her.
In Zongzheng Yu'er's suspicions, Li Qingluo was highly suspected of being the one who led the night raid and massacre at her princess's residence.
But Duan Rongyin had just seen it; the woman was coquettishly pulling Nanping along, which was completely different from what Zongzheng Yu'er had described.
However, the news presented below stated that this woman had dragged the Qu family into their current hellish state.
Is there some misunderstanding involved?
Even Jiang Ruiqi suspected this woman of the missing letters from the Jiang family.
Does she really have such methods?
But Duan Rongyin preferred to believe that Duan Rongshi was the one manipulating everything behind the scenes.
Duan Rongyin's curiosity about Li Qingluo gradually grew.
"interesting."
"Tomorrow at the hunt, bring this woman before me."
"I want to see just how many faces she has, and what abilities she possesses that can make Xiao Wu so infatuated."
Jiang Ruiqi: "Yes, Your Highness."
Just as Li Qingluo and her two companions returned to the camp outside the forest, Sha Wu came up to her and whispered in her ear, "Miss, the Crown Prince was also around the forest just now, and he saw you."
Li Qinglu nodded slightly.
After killing the five and retreating, Li Qingluo summoned Que'er.
After a few whispers, the sparrow turned and quietly left.
After parting ways with Nanping and Pan Li, Li Qingluo, accompanied by Zheng Mama and Sha Wu, prepared to return to her own courtyard.
Halfway there, they were stopped by Pei Liuniang.
"Li Qingluo, Consort Jing requests your presence for a talk. Please come with me!"
Li Qingluo: "I'm not going."
She turned and walked around Pei Liuniang, who turned green with anger: "Are you crazy?"
"Do you even know who Consort Jing is? How dare you defy the imperial decree?!"
Li Qinglu sneered: "Imperial decree? What is the purpose?"
"If Consort Jing truly wishes to see me, why not send someone from her palace? How can I know if it's true or false if I send you, her cousin, as a messenger?"
"What if you're deliberately using Consort Jing's name to harm me?"
"I'm not stupid."
Li Qingluo knew, of course, that the matter of Consort Jing wanting to see her was most likely true.
But she didn't want to go, so she deliberately used the mistake in this matter as an excuse to make a fuss.
Pei Liuniang's face darkened: "Fine, you just wait! I'll send Fourth Sister's men here right now to teach you a lesson!"
Pei Liuniang turned around angrily to leave, but bumped into an old nanny.
The old woman cried out and fell to the ground.
Li Qingluo quickly stepped forward: "Are you alright?"
She helped the old nanny up, but Pei Liuniang opened her mouth and cursed, "You old hag, don't you have eyes?"
"You bumped into me, and I'll make you pay—"
Li Qingluo reached out and pinched Pei Liuniang's mouth shut.
"Shut up!"
"Who's the one who's blind? Apologize to Granny right now!"
Pei Liu Niang was so angry that she went mad and didn't even care that the nanny was wearing palace clothes.
The Pei family had been suppressing their emotions for too long.
So nowadays, people everywhere look down on them and despise them!
So what if she's just an old nanny in the palace?
She is the direct cousin of the currently favored Consort Jing!
"Get out of my way! Mind your own business!"
Pei Liuniang, feeling ashamed and indignant, pushed Li Qingluo away, glared fiercely at the old nanny, and then turned and led her people away angrily.
Li Qinglu shook her head helplessly.
The old woman comforted her, saying, "Young lady, you are so kind."
"However, this old servant is fine, you don't need to stand up for him."
Li Qingluo: "I'm glad you're alright. Would you like me to take you home?"
"Which palace are you from?"
The old nanny said, "This old servant is from the Empress Dowager's side. I have been ordered by the Empress Dowager to invite General Xiuli's granddaughter to the Empress Dowager to fetch General Pei."
"General Pei drank two cups of wine and kept saying that he wanted to see his beloved granddaughter."
"Young lady, do you know where Miss Li is right now?"
Li Qingluo also looked surprised and slowly bowed to greet him: "What a coincidence. My name is Li Qingluo."
A slight smile played on her lips as she looked down.
Of course she knew that this nanny was someone who served the Empress Dowager.
Today, while peeking at the Empress Dowager from below the hall, Li Qingluo also glanced at the palace servants kneeling behind her.
Isn't this the old woman right in front of me?
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