Chapter 441 Past Life: The General's Mansion was ransacked and the entire clan exterminated, all sentenced to death!
"Luo'er".
"I've been looking for you for a long time."
"I've been to many places."
"This time, it's finally here..."
"But I'm still too late..."
"If you hear this, come back..."
"Luo'er, I'm waiting for you..."
"Come back soon..."
"Luo'er..."
"Come home quickly...we're all waiting for you..."
Li Qingluo heard his murmur.
She couldn't help but walk towards him, reaching out to touch his eyes.
However, a miraculous thing happened.
Her hand no longer passed through nothingness, but actually touched his face!
Duan Rongshi seemed to sense something.
He immediately turned his face to the side.
"Luo'er?"
Is that you?
He had only been murmuring, so Zhuiyu and the others hadn't heard him.
Now, Duan Rongshi looked around like a madman and shouted out loud.
"Luo'er!"
Did you hear what I said?
"Come back quickly—"
Did you hear me?
"I command you, return—"
The four people chasing the rain were so scared they almost lost their souls.
Did Your Highness really see a ghost?
Moreover, Luo, Luo'er?
This is the maiden name of the true daughter of the Li family!
Your Highness is confused. How could you abandon your reputation and call a young lady by her maiden name?
Is Your Highness possessed by an evil spirit?
Look at Your Highness's crazed state, what else could it be but possession?
The four members of Zhuiyu had grown up with Prince Su since childhood, and had never seen Duan Rongshi lose his composure like this before.
It was even more terrifying to them than being possessed!
The four of them exchanged glances, their hearts pounding, yet they dared not offend Duan Rongshi.
Therefore, they could only rush to Qingyangzi's side as quickly as possible.
"Qingyangzi, is that still His Highness?"
"Is that really His Highness? Should we perform an exorcism?"
"That's right, that's right, His Highness is acting very strangely! He came to someone's house in the middle of the night, ransacked the whole family's house, and even held a memorial service for them on their seventh day after death. This is not something a normal person would do."
"And, is there really a ghost here?"
Qingyangzi: "I've calculated it. He is indeed His Highness himself."
"Although the celestial phenomena have changed somewhat, it will not affect Your Highness's command."
"As for whether there are ghosts..."
Qingyangzi looked at the slightly swaying copper bell, and the fingers he was holding trembled slightly.
"If it's true, so what if it's a ghost?"
"The ghosts you fear may be the very people that others are thinking about day and night."
Zhuiyu almost took off running.
There really is something fishy going on.
This ghost must be a female ghost!
And they've got their prince entangled!
Li Qingluo hugged Duan Rongshi tightly.
Although he couldn't feel himself.
But she didn't want to let go for even a moment longer.
"Duan Rongshi, how exactly did you get here?"
"I'm so surprised."
"However, it seems I really can't go back."
"Promise me you'll forget me, okay?"
"Start a new life."
"No matter which world you are in, you must fulfill your wish and avenge your mother..."
"If there is an afterlife, I will definitely meet you sooner."
"To be your wife again..."
She finished speaking and gave a bitter smile.
Reluctantly, she tiptoed and gently kissed the corner of his lips.
Duan Rongshi couldn't help but raise his hand and touch his lips.
A snowflake fell.
He gazed alone at the dark sky, feeling the emptiness in his heart grow ever larger...
A gust of cold wind blew, and the copper bells jingled.
Duan Rongshi quickly turned his head and looked around with red eyes.
"Luo'er..."
After daybreak.
The news of the Li family's property being confiscated had already spread throughout Nanjing.
Before the Prince Yun's mansion could react, they heard that the Dali Temple had tried the case overnight and sentenced Li Chaojing to immediate execution.
Early in the morning, Li Chaojing was dragged to the entrance of the vegetable market.
The man was still crying out for justice when the executioner beheaded him with a single stroke.
Li Kechuan was being watched by Duan Rongshi, and the four guards took turns personally interrogating him severely.
"Two years ago, did you torture and kill a concubine named Mei Xue?"
"She was six months pregnant, yet you kicked her hard in the stomach, causing her to die in agony in the woodshed! Isn't that right?"
"I heard you also tortured and killed your own sister?"
"Not only were they locked in a small hut next to the stable and left to freeze to death, but I also heard that she hadn't eaten for three whole days before she died!"
"I didn't wear a single winter coat or use a single quilt throughout the entire winter."
"brute!"
"You're so biased towards your adopted sister who isn't related to you by blood, are you harboring ill intentions towards her?"
"To kill you immediately would be merciful; then taste the pain of others first!"
Various instruments of torture were laid out one by one and lined up to be used on Li Kechuan.
He died from the pain before he even finished the last lap.
Li Qingzhu was still delusional, hoping that Prince Yun would come to her rescue.
However, after Prince Yun went to the Dali Temple to inquire and learned about the crimes that Li Chaojing had been convicted of, he disappeared completely.
Actually, he was still somewhat unwilling and went to the palace again.
After all, he had been playing the lovey-dovey game with Liu Qingzhu for so long, and he still hadn't actually gotten her.
However, when Prince Yun instigated people to impeach Duan Rong, he acted recklessly and without any method. He made hasty judgments and even killed the man without reporting the sentence to the emperor. However, Emperor Yan easily let the matter drop.
Duan Rongshi had not yet made a move against the Pei family, and had not harmed Emperor Yan's interests.
It was just a general's mansion in Dongyin Lane. To Emperor Yan, it was nothing more than cutting off an insignificant and useless minister. Naturally, he didn't care what was wrong with Duan Rongshi.
When he wants to control his son in the future, this matter can be used as leverage.
Why would you want to use this knife for no reason?
The sharper it is, the more comfortable it will be for Emperor Yan to use.
Prince Yun, Duan Rongxuan, did not dare to actually confront Duan Rongshi.
He was even reprimanded by the Empress first.
Why did you provoke him now?
"Your mother knows what you were thinking before, but since the Li family is so corrupt, it's actually a good thing that it's been exposed now."
"Go down, and stop thinking about that fake heiress. You could go to the Dali Temple and ask if you can have your betrothal gifts taken back!"
After Prince Yun left, the Empress hurriedly wrote a letter to the Crown Prince.
With the deaths of Li Chaojing and his son, the sentences for the rest of the Li family were also handed down.
Even Aunt Deng and her second and third wives in the village were not spared.
The entire Li family was sentenced to death!
He will be hanged at the Xichengmen Market forty-two days after he enters prison!
Liu Qingzhu didn't understand until the moment she was hanged.
Why?
She was about to become Prince Yun's concubine and truly have her own life, so why was she implicated by the Li family and turned into a death row inmate?
She also complained, grieved, and even went crazy with Qu while in prison.
She even cursed, "It's all your fault—not only have I lost my chance to become Prince Yun's concubine, but now I've also been implicated and lost my life!"
"If I had known, I wouldn't have come back to this general's mansion!"
"I don't even have the surname Li, yet I'm being dragged into this disaster of confiscation and extermination by your Li family... I hate you all!"
Qu was speechless as she stared at her beloved daughter who had uttered these words.
"Zhu'er?"
"You grew up in the General's Mansion, enjoying wealth and favor... and now you say you hate us?"
"We're not family..."
Liu Qingzhu: "Who's family with you? Your real daughter is Li Qingluo, not me!"
"Mother, you were the ones who killed her first."
"Now that I think about it, isn't it because of the sins you committed that the entire General's Mansion suffered the calamity of having its property confiscated and its clan exterminated on the seventh day after the death of your family?"
Enraged, Qu slapped Liu Qingzhu hard across the face.
"Shut up!"
Her chest heaved with anger.
I just can't understand why I wouldn't even show more pity to my own daughter, but in the end I'm spoiling this kind of person.
Only when disaster struck did I see her true colors.
"Because of your fake death, we pinned all the blame on Luo'er."
"Let her suffer all kinds of grievances and torment."
"So, in the end, that's really how you're accusing us?"
"Li Qingzhu, do you have any conscience at all?"
Liu Qingzhu covered her burning face and retorted angrily, "You are the ones who show favoritism, you are the ones who torture and humiliate people, and you are the ones who drive people to their deaths. What have I done?"
"Mother, did I put a knife in your hands?"
"You yourselves are foolish, so how can you blame me?"
"I was originally going to become Princess Yun... It's all because of you!"
Qu stared blankly at Li Qingzhu.
Listening to her heart-wrenching truths.
He thought about the things he had done to his own daughter.
Kneeling in the mourning hall, kneeling in the ancestral hall, having flesh cut off and blood drained, being forced to kneel, being slapped, suffering hunger and cold, enduring the cold stares and ridicule of the household...
He even froze to death in a dilapidated hut next to the stable!
Her daughter has never had a full meal.
She has never worn a single brand-new piece of clothing.
Her own mother had never even given her a proper look.
Not to mention that I haven't even hugged her once since I came back...
She was taken away by Li Qingzhu's family with ulterior motives from birth, and suffered endless torment and poverty in that remote mountain village in Li Qingzhu's place!
Originally, she should have been the eldest daughter of the General's Mansion!
But what did she get in return?
All I've ever received in this life is disdain, neglect, and all sorts of humiliation and pain.
The more Qu thought about it, the more regretful and heartbroken she became.
He even coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Finally, the regret weighed on her like a mountain, making it hard to breathe, and she went berserk and grabbed Li Qingzhu by the neck.
"In that case, let's die together!"
Li Qingzhu was almost strangled to death.
As the constables pulled her away, Madam Qu was still filled with anger and resentment: "I'm going to strangle you—you're the one who enjoyed sixteen years of happiness for Luo'er, you're the one who took everything from Luo'er—"
From then on, whenever Qu went mad, she would strangle Li Qingzhu.
Whenever Li Qingzhu tried to fight back or was nearly strangled to death by Qu Shi, the yamen runners would appear in time and pull the two of them apart.
Even if they tried to take action secretly in the middle of the night, they would be caught immediately.
It was as if a pair of eyes were constantly watching them in the darkness...
As a result, apart from Qu Shi who had truly gone mad, Liu Qingzhu was also tortured beyond recognition.
She stubbornly clung to life, still hoping that Prince Yun would save her.
The two of them shared a deep and unwavering love, and His Highness was especially devoted to her.
His Highness had also personally promised that he would never betray Li Qingzhu in this lifetime.
However, even after she was hung on the rack with her eyes wide open, she never saw Prince Yun again.
Instead, the entire Liu family was also arrested.
They cried out in despair and terror, unable to understand how simply exchanging a child could lead to the extermination of their entire family.
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