Chapter 248 The Pei Family Secret, Nan Jia's Cause of Death!
"Back then, after the old Duke returned from the battlefield, his temperament suddenly changed drastically. He went to the palace to meet the emperor to resign from his position as the Grand General of the State and handed over all his military power. I heard that the entire court was shocked and found it hard to understand."
"That's hundreds of thousands of troops under their control. I heard that back then on the battlefield, the soldiers of neighboring countries would retreat three points before even fighting, as soon as they heard that it was a member of the Pei family. Their morale would plummet, and they would often be defeated without a fight."
"The Pei family's name has a powerful intimidating force that goes beyond mere bluster."
“Every generation of the Pei family has produced outstanding military talents, and even a beautiful female general like your grandmother. They have never harbored any rebellious intentions and have all sworn to defend the country to the death. Their sons and daughters have served in the army for generations, and the number of soldiers who have died on the battlefield is indeed as Pei Sanlang said. Over the decades, no less than a dozen have died. How could it not be tragic?”
"For the Pei family to suddenly relinquish the military power they hold, who wouldn't be suspicious? I'm afraid everyone in the court is wondering what the Pei family is really up to?"
"I heard that the emperor kept an eye on the Pei family for a full ten years. Finally, when he saw that the old duke was indeed getting sicker and mad, and that the old duke and the old duke had passed away one after another, the Pei family gradually declined and fell into complete ruin. There was a lack of successors in the court, and the Pei family had almost no influence in the army. Only then did the emperor gradually relax his surveillance on the Pei family."
"But Twelfth Sister knows that the Pei family is not as simple as it seems on the surface."
"The old Duke fell seriously ill when he returned because he was poisoned by a strange poison."
"In the first few years, he was normal and could act like a normal person. But once the poison took effect, he became like a madman, killing people, biting people, or simply being bloodthirsty."
“The people in the old Duke’s courtyard changed every year, then every month, and later, apart from one or two regular people, no one dared to serve him.”
"And he gradually appeared in public less and less."
"Only once, when Pei Shierniang was young, she accidentally saw the old Duke go mad and rush out of the courtyard. He was chasing a maid covered in blood with a sword. If Shierniang's father hadn't arrived in time, she might have died."
"Later, she heard her father repeatedly tell her that she must never, ever go near the old Duke's courtyard again. In fact, apart from Twelfth Sister, all the women in the Pei family were also forbidden from going near the old Duke's courtyard on ordinary days."
"Even if you see the old Duke, it's best to take a detour."
"Even chasing, playing, joking, and roughhousing are strictly forbidden. This is a death order!"
"So even though Twelfth Sister was bullied when she was young, no one dared to push her away, for fear that the elders in the family would really get angry."
"When Twelve was young, she asked her father why her great-grandfather had become such a terrifying figure. Wasn't he a great hero who protected the country? He was a hero that everyone admired, but now he had become a madman who was feared by everyone."
"At that time, Twelfth Sister's father replied: He was poisoned by a villain on the battlefield because of the Great Liang Kingdom, so the Pei family must support him in order not to be ashamed of their ancestors."
"Twelfth Sister didn't understand at all. Why would the family continue to support Grandfather, who has so cruelly murdered so many innocent people, even at the risk of decline?"
"Fortunately, their second branch and second courtyard have always been far away from the eldest branch. As Twelfth Sister grew up, the third branch became more and more distant."
"Twelfth Sister's father is also becoming increasingly outstanding in the Ministry of Revenue, and has even gained the Emperor's favor. Her father said that as long as the first grandfather passes away, their second branch can completely move away from the Pei family and stay away from the rights and wrongs of the Pei family's direct line."
"But can they really stay away completely? Twelfth Sister later learned a secret: before her aunt, Guan, entered the Pei family, her future mother-in-law disliked her so much that she tried every means to break up Guan and Pei Yuan, the two lovers. So, at the instigation of her sister-in-law from the eldest branch of the family, she once led Guan to the old Duke's courtyard."
"Fortunately, the old Duke was sober that time. He just stared at Guan Shi for a long time like he was staring at prey, which frightened Guan Shi so much that she fell seriously ill after returning home."
"After that incident, Guan was terrified and for the first time felt hesitant to approach her beloved."
"If Pei Yuan hadn't found out the truth, and hadn't been so angry that he drew his sword and caused a scene at the main house, making the whole Pei family aware of it, and even reaching the ears of the old Duke."
"In the end, it was the old Duke himself who stepped forward and punished his eldest daughter-in-law before the matter was finally settled."
"After that incident, the old Duke became increasingly rare, and until a few years ago, he rarely even left his courtyard."
"However, he only completely lost his mind in the last two years. Outsiders probably only know that his health is getting worse, but no one knows that he has already gone mad."
"Alright, I'll leave the old secrets of the Duke's mansion to you for now. Now let's talk about the death of Pei Shierniang."
"Speaking of the fifth day, Twelfth Sister usually takes a nap after taking her medicine in the afternoon. But on that day, she actually woke up at Shenshi (3-5 PM)."
"But as she listened to the servants talking quietly in the courtyard and on the veranda, and then listened quietly to the sound of the falling snow for a while, she suddenly felt a surge of energy and quietly got out of bed."
"Twelfth Sister had been locked up in her small courtyard for far too long, so long that she thought she would die there. But that day she suddenly felt a surge of energy, as if she had come back to life, and she wanted to go out for a walk."
"So she put a pillow under the blanket and then climbed out of the window."
"It snowed that day. She looked back and the snow quickly covered her footprints."
"Originally, she just wanted to go to the plum garden to take a look, pick a bunch of plum blossoms to give to her aunt, and let the maids in the courtyard see how well the plum blossoms are blooming this year."
"Wearing a cloak, she walked through the long alley and, as she turned back from the plum garden, overheard a servant in the villa saying, 'Pei Sanlang has returned today.'"
"On a whim, Twelfth Sister decided to go see her Third Brother."
“Last time she was seriously ill, my third brother brought her back a lot of strange and fun things, and he seemed very worried about her.”
"Among her brothers and sisters, she was closest to Pei Sanlang since childhood, so she wanted to send a plum blossom to her third brother as well."
"But when she arrived at Pei Sanlang's courtyard, she found that not only was there no one guarding the gate, but he was also talking to a stranger that Shierniang had never seen before in the courtyard."
"Twelfth Sister intended to leave immediately, but she overheard the man say, 'If Vice Minister Pei disobeys, he must be killed to eliminate future troubles!'"
"Someone wants to kill her father?" Twelve Sister listened anxiously, only to hear the other party say that if the old Duke continued to delay, that matter could not wait any longer. At the latest, by the end of February, if the old Duke still refused to cooperate and hand over the last ten chapters, his medicine would be completely cut off.
"Medicine? What medicine?"
"She knew that her great-grandfather had been taking medicine, but who was this person, and why could he order her third brother to stop her great-grandfather's medication?"
"Twelfth Sister intended to leave quietly, but was discovered by the servant who had returned from who-knows-where. The servant exclaimed in surprise: 'Twelfth Sister!'"
"Twelfth Sister was knocked unconscious, and when she woke up, she was in the dungeon."
"She vaguely heard people say that she was the best medicine for the old man, and that if her blood were made into a blood-clotting pill, the old man could stay sober for a few days after taking it."
"However, there are people from the Prince Su's mansion in the mansion now, so the Twelfth Miss cannot be missing for too long."
“When Pei Shierniang was fully awake, she saw someone come in with a lamp. There was a lamp stand on the wall, which was a mechanism to leave. But she didn’t have the strength to get up. She could only watch as the person walked up to her and fed her a pill called ‘Maitreya’s Poison’.”
The man said, "Don't worry, Twelfth Miss. You will leave peacefully and without much pain. Your sacrifice today is for the future of the entire Pei family."
Pei Shierniang asked in terror, "Why must you kill me? Where is my third brother? I need to see my third brother..."
The man said, "Did you hear that? We're going to kill your father, Minister Pei. Who told him to be so stubborn, preferring to go his own way rather than submit to us?"
"Now that you've heard our secret, you can't live either."
"As for your third brother, he's outside. He couldn't bear to see you killed, so I came in person."
Twelfth Sister: "Who are you? I don't believe you! I don't believe Third Brother would let you kill me! Third Brother—save me—save Jia'er—"
Her voice gradually faded.
She didn't know what was going on.
He could only anxiously look at the person in front of him.
The man was wearing a mask, and his voice was neither male nor female. Even Twelve Sister didn't know his identity.
He grabbed the axe beside him and, without saying a word, severed Twelve Sister's arm.
Twelve Maidens was in great pain, so much so that her muscles were twitching all over, but she found that she could no longer make a sound.
She couldn't shout out, and she didn't even have the strength to struggle or resist.
She was as if she were asleep, clearly in excruciating pain that felt like her whole body was being torn apart, yet unable to scream.
She could only watch helplessly as her blood flowed everywhere.
The man, however, happily took the basin and began to chatter on: "Do you know how strange your old man's illness is? Only a blood-clotting pill made with the blood of women in this world can keep him alive."
"Of course, he can drink human blood directly, but it's too wasteful. Besides, it's becoming increasingly difficult to send women with no status or background to your Pei family these days."
"So, we need to be careful with the blood-clotting pills. Ouch—oh dear, we can't waste them, we can't waste all this good blood of yours, please slow down the bleeding."
"If I didn't need to hurry up and get you out of here, I wouldn't be in such a rush to bleed you out like this. Blame your brother for pushing you too hard!"
"Actually, the most effective thing for your old man in this world is a woman who is related to him by blood. One of the women in your Pei family is worth three or four of those other women. If he could drink a few mouthfuls of your blood, he would definitely be sober for a few days."
"Although his brain has been poisoned over the years and is not very useful now, it has not been completely destroyed and is still useful to Your Highness."
"It's a pity that the head of your Pei family is unwilling to sacrifice your daughters."
"Otherwise, why bother with all this trouble?"
"You're just unlucky today. Who told you to run into this mess?"
After saying that, the man swung his axe again and chopped off Twelfth Sister's other arm with one stroke.
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