Chapter 213 The Truth Behind the Scumbag Father's Attempt to Drive His Grandmother to Her Death!
Granny Zhang sighed, "She's still asleep and we can't wake her up. But thankfully, Doctor Du said there's nothing seriously wrong."
Li Qingluo: "Grandmother must be too tired. Let her get some sleep. How are your injuries? Have Granny Deng and the others returned?"
Zhang Mama smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Miss. This old servant is fine."
“Granny Deng and the others were brought back by His Highness Prince Su’s guards in the middle of the night. You were also tired yesterday, so we didn’t wake you up.”
Li Qinglu sat down beside Madam Pei's bed.
She reached out and grasped Madam Pei's hand, her gaze low and melancholy.
"That's good. However, we can't stay here for long. But Grandmother can't do without Dr. Du right now, so let's wait until her condition stabilizes before we leave?"
Granny Zhang: "Miss, the old lady entrusted everything to you last night. From now on, you can make all the decisions yourself. You don't need to ask this old servant. No matter what you want to do, this old servant will listen to you."
Li Qingluo quickly waved her hand: "No, no, no! Granny, everything last night was a misunderstanding. That plaque should be returned to Grandmother. After Grandmother wakes up, she will still be the head of Tianfeng Trading Company."
"As for me, I am still far from it. I still need my grandmother's guidance and training, and I need to grow and be tempered."
Granny Zhang was in a dilemma: "But this..."
Li Qingluo: "It's settled then."
"If one day I really have the ability to take over Tianfeng Trading Company, and if my grandmother gives it to me then, I will definitely accept it without hesitation. But right now, I am really not qualified."
Granny Zhang smiled and said, "Miss, you are joking. You are the most talented person I have ever met, apart from the old lady. Whether it is martial arts or business, you have the same charm as the old lady when she was young."
"Given time, young lady, you will surely achieve great things, just like the old lady back then!"
"However, since you are concerned about the old lady right now, I will not force you."
"But there is one thing you cannot shirk. You are the future heir of Tianfeng Trading Company, personally and unequivocally chosen by the old lady. Do you acknowledge this?"
Granny Zhang stared at Li Qinglu with a smile.
Li Qing blushed.
She would be a fool not to accept such immense wealth.
Li Qingluo gritted her teeth and said, "Yes! I accept it! In the future, I hope you will continue to teach and guide me."
Granny Zhang couldn't help but laugh.
"You're so generous, young lady! From now on, you'll be our young master."
Li Qingluo still felt a little uneasy.
I know my own worth.
It seems she needs to grow up faster and learn more humbly from the nannies.
Having finished discussing this matter, Li Qingluo naturally moved on to the most important point: "Granny, regarding Grandmother's poisoning, have you recalled anything unusual?"
Granny Zhang: "This old servant has been thinking about it all night. I was just thinking about it just now. The old lady's small kitchen is managed entirely by our own people, from the ingredients to the cooking. How could something go wrong?"
"Doctor Du also said that the old lady has been taking poison for some time, but when exactly? This old servant... really... could it be that there is a bad seed among our own people?"
Li Qingluo: "Don't rush, think about it again. Has anything been different from usual these past few days?"
Granny Zhang: "If there's anything different, it's that there is. In the past, the fresh vegetables and meat that the old lady ate were all sent from the estates under her own name."
"But on the sixth day, the vegetables from the estate were not delivered on time."
"When the steward rushed over to report that the estate had been robbed, all the chickens, ducks, and fish had been destroyed overnight, and a large number of the vegetables had also been ruined."
"There's nothing we can do. Since the seventh day, we've only been able to deliver a very small amount to the manor... Could something have gone wrong at the estate?"
Li Qingluo: "And what about you guys? What kind of food have you and I at Red Maple Pavilion been eating lately?"
Granny Zhang: "It was sent from the Li family's estate!"
The Li family?
Is that the manor where Aunt Deng used to live?
The estate provides vegetables and meat for the entire general's mansion, so if everyone eats the same thing, there might not be any problem.
The problem was that Grandma ate different things than them.
"Granny, investigate!"
"This matter must be investigated and clarified as soon as possible to find out exactly what happened!"
"If I ever find out which villain dared to plot against my grandmother, I will make him pay with his blood!"
Li Qingluo knew that this matter was definitely related to Li Chaojing and the Qu family!
They were clearly prepared that night to drag their grandmother to her death.
She would never believe it, even if it cost her her life!
General's Mansion.
After court, Li Chaojing immediately inquired with the steward of the mansion whether they had found any trace of Li Qingluo and Madam Pei.
The answer he received was, naturally, very disappointing.
He flew into a rage and punished all the servants who had failed in their duties.
"Not only have we not found the people, but several have gone missing. What are you all doing?"
"You can't even find a teenage girl or a dying old woman? You bunch of good-for-nothings are worse off than those old maids, aren't you?!"
The butler approached tremblingly: "Master, please calm down..."
Li Chaojing: "Go and fetch my wife!"
The steward wiped the sweat from his brow: "Madam, she went back to her parents' home early this morning..."
Upon hearing this, Li Chaojing's face was full of impatience: "Fool, what are you going back for? All these messes in the manor are her fault, and she still doesn't know how to reflect on her actions!?"
"Go, hurry to the Qu family and bring her back to me!"
The butler hurriedly retreated, saying, "Yes, sir..."
The steward and the servants withdrew, and Li Kechuan wheeled himself over from the corridor.
"Father."
Li Chaojing rubbed his temples and, seeing Li Kechuan arrive, could not contain his anger: "Chuan'er, your sister is outrageous!"
"Her temperament is just like your grandmother's—fiery and stubborn. Once she's made up her mind, she never easily backs down. She's really difficult to deal with!"
"Look at her! This little girl has run off with your grandmother, whose fate is unknown, and disappeared without a trace! It's absolutely outrageous!"
"Once we bring her back, I'll give her a good beating! I'll teach her a lesson she's learned!"
Li Kechuan: "Then do you think... Grandmother will give her the thing you want?"
Li Chaojing: "What did you say?"
His expression changed, and he immediately denied it vehemently: "Absolutely impossible! I am your grandmother's biological son! She is a girl after all. Your grandmother must be crazy to give her to her?"
"Why give it to her? To give it to someone of a different surname later? Your grandmother would only do something like that if she were senile!"
Li Kechuan stared at Li Chaojing with a sinister look and asked again, "But Father, do you really not know that you want to use this to force Grandmother to her death?"
Li Chaojing roared in fury, "Chuan'er! What nonsense are you spouting?"
Li Kechuan: "Although Father and Grandmother have always been at odds, I can see that you still have some affection for Grandmother in your heart."
"Why must we allow Mother to act this way this time?"
Li Chaojing looked utterly astonished: "You...you knew?"
Li Kechuan: "Ever since you discovered Mother's plot, you've tacitly allowed it to happen. So, do you really want Grandmother dead? Why is that? Is it because you want the money from Tianfeng Trading Company?"
"Father, what exactly happened? Why won't you tell me?"
Li Chaojing's eyes slowly reddened.
He slumped down, leaning on the chair for support.
"If your grandmother hadn't been so reluctant to give me those things, why would I have done something so heartless?"
"I did all this for the General's Mansion, and for you!"
"Do you still remember the time your father returned wounded from the battlefield? Your father actually... actually claimed military merits fraudulently!"
"The person who truly made a contribution was a deputy general surnamed Jiang. This man, by sheer luck, used his strategy to turn the tide and lead our Great Liang to victory."
"But even though he won, he had to be so smug in front of his father! He even said some... some boastful, sarcastic, and provocative things that deserved to be torn to pieces."
He said that I was able to become a General of the Cavalry today because of the protection and glory of my ancestors, especially my grandmother and grandfather. Otherwise, I would be nothing!
“When I was young and hot-blooded, I couldn’t contain my anger and… I accidentally killed him.”
"Afterwards, in order to cover up the truth, I fabricated the story that he was drunk and accidentally knocked over the candlestick and wine jar, and then burned his remains..."
“I thought no one would know about this. So after returning to the capital, I took credit for the military achievements and thus solidified my position as a general.”
"And it was also on that occasion that I used this merit to secure a military post for you!"
Upon hearing this, the color drained from Li Kechuan's face.
I never imagined that my once proud position as a junior general would come about in this way!
"Could it be that someone suddenly found out about this and is using something to threaten Father?"
Li Chaojing looked grief-stricken: "It's the Jiang family."
"I don't know why they suddenly produced that letter from Vice General Jiang from back then. That letter contains details of the battle and strategy in which my father falsely claimed military merits, and it is definitely his handwriting!"
"If this letter reaches the Emperor, not only will I be finished, but our entire General's Mansion will face the calamity of having our property confiscated and our clan exterminated!"
Li Kechuan's breath hitched: "Father, what does the Jiang family want?"
Li Chaojing: "They asked for 500,000 taels of silver right off the bat!"
"I'll pay them, and they'll hand over the letter written by Vice General Jiang back then to me for disposal. That's it, the money and goods are settled, and the matter will be buried in the dust, with neither family having anything to do with the other! Our General's Mansion will be completely worry-free!"
Li Kechuan snapped the armrest of the wheelchair in half: "How much!? Five hundred thousand taels!? Our entire Li family... we... we can't come up with that..."
Li Chaojing closed his eyes and sighed: "Yes, even the entire Li clan can't raise 100,000 taels, so how are we going to find 500,000 taels of silver?"
"If I hadn't been forced into a corner, I wouldn't have been so heartless and inhuman as to scheme against and drive your grandmother to this point!"
"She is, after all, my own mother!!"
Overwhelmed with grief, Li Chaojing shed a few tears.
"It shouldn't be difficult for your grandmother's Tianfeng Trading Company to come up with 500,000 taels."
"So... when I discovered that your mother had conspired with the Qu family to poison your grandmother, that's when I..."
Li Kechuan: "But if we tell Grandmother about this situation, wouldn't she take out 500,000 taels of silver to save the entire Li family?"
Li Chaojing chuckled wickedly: "Your grandmother? She will surely put righteousness above family ties and be the first to report me to the Emperor."
Just as he finished speaking, a faint sound came from outside the door.
Li Chaojing drew his sword and thrust it out: "Who—?"
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