Li Xiu's fate was destined to be a complete tragedy the moment Shen Weiwan threw the evidence of his secret meeting with Shen Ruoruo before the head of the Li family. The lame scumbag who had once attempted to cling to the general's mansion through marriage ultimately fell into an abyss of irretrievable shame amidst his own schemes and Shen Weiwan's shrewd counterattacks.
[The impoverished life after the rumor of "The Broken Sleeve"]
Rumors of "Young Master Li and Second Miss Shen's secret meeting in the garden, caught by First Miss Shen," spread like a plague throughout the capital. Even more devastating, rumors that "Young Master Li actually preferred men" quickly followed, completely shattering the last vestiges of Li Xiu's dignity. The already declining Li family, dragged down by this scandal, was quickly banished from the social fold of the capital.
Li Xiu first experienced being deserted by his family in his own ancestral hall. The clan leader, pressing his correspondence with Shen Ruorou, trembled with rage: "Evil creature! Not only have you ruined the Li family's reputation, but you've also attempted to curry favor with the general's mansion and extort money. Now you've been tricked into becoming a laughingstock for homosexuality. How can I face our ancestors?" The ancestral hall's ruler fell on his back, each blow accompanied by the clan's spitting, and his limping leg trembled even more violently in fear.
It was late autumn when Li Xiu was expelled from the main residence of the Li family. Leaning on a cane, his back hunched, he walked out of the vermilion lacquer gate that had once symbolized the family's glory. He tried to straighten his back, trying to maintain a last shred of dignity, but his footing gave way, and he fell into the mud. Passing children pointed at him and laughed, "Look! It's that lame fellow with the gay sleeves!" He struggled to his feet, his face smeared with mud and a disheveled look, unable to maintain any semblance of respectability.
From Silk to Rags: Poverty and Ridicule
Li Xiu rented a dilapidated courtyard in the outer city of Beijing, his silk clothes replaced by patched coarse cloth. To make ends meet, he once tried to work light labor at the docks, but his lameness and reputation as a "homosexual" were shunned. Once, he finally landed a job moving goods, but amidst the laughter of the crowd, his leg injury caused him to fall again, scattering the goods. In return, he received only beatings and scolding from his employer and the laughter of the onlookers.
What frustrated him most was going out. When people saw him, they would either avoid him or whisper about him, their harsh words piercing his ears like needles: "That's him, Li Xiu, the man who tried to deceive a woman into marriage but ended up being gay. I heard he's even limping more, so I'm afraid he's got something to hide." The more he tried to straighten his back and act impressive, the weaker his legs became, as if mocking his presumption.
On a winter's day, the broken windows of the courtyard couldn't keep out the wind. Li Xiu curled up in his cold bed, listening to the laughter from next door. He recalled how he had tricked Shen Weiwan into marrying in his place in his past life, how he had coveted the general's estate. Now, the wealth and honor that had once been within his grasp had become an unattainable dream, while Shen Weiwan had become the envied consort of the Seventh Prince, enjoying boundless glory. Jealousy and regret gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes, keeping him awake every night.
【The final blow of croton powder: complete madness】
The final straw that broke Li Xiu's back was a sudden "accident." That day, he passed by a pastry shop and smelled the familiar aroma of croton cakes. The scent instantly reminded him of Shen Weiwan, the humiliation of being made a laughing stock, and Shen Ruorou's grotesque torture at the Spring Banquet with the itching powder—all the farces he had participated in or witnessed now became arrows shot at him.
He rushed into the shop, grabbed the croton powder, and stuffed it into his mouth, shouting as he ate, "I'm not a homosexual! I'm not a homosexual! It was Shen Weiwan who tricked me!" The shopkeeper thought he was crazy and chased him away with a broom. Li Xiu ran out of the shop like a madman, shouting in the street that Shen Weiwan had framed him with the croton powder and that everyone was laughing at him. His lame leg could no longer support him, and he stumbled all the way, finally falling into a stinking ditch.
From then on, a crazed cripple appeared in the outer city of the capital. He wore tattered clothes and spoke ill of Shen Weiwan to everyone he met, claiming he was framed. Children chased him, throwing stones at him, shouting, "Broken-sleeve cripple!" He would pick up stones and throw them back, but they always missed, drawing even louder laughter. His back could no longer straighten, and his lame leg was completely broken, forcing him to crawl. His former arrogance and self-conceit had vanished without a trace.
[Freezing to death in a ruined temple: the ending where no one collects the body]
The winter of the eighth year of the Yuanqi reign was exceptionally cold. Li Xiu's body was discovered in a dilapidated temple outside the city. Huddled beneath an icy altar, covered in straw, he had long since frozen stiff. A frozen expression of terror remained on his face, as if he had been terrified until his death. There were no burial objects in the temple, only a few leftover crumbs of croton cake scattered around him and a distorted clay portrait of Shen Weiwan, covered in curse symbols.
The Li family had long since fallen on hard times, and no one wanted to claim this humiliated corpse. Finally, a few kind-hearted beggars wrapped him in straw mats and buried him in a mass grave. There was no tombstone, no offerings, not even a sigh of relief. The wealth and glory he had longed for, everything he had planned, ultimately turned to dust, scattered by the wind.
At this moment, Shen Weiwan was sitting in the warm room of the Prince's Mansion, listening to Chuntao cautiously mention the news of Li Xiu's death. She was teasing the little prince in her arms, and upon hearing this, she only said a faint "Oh" and wiped the corner of the child's mouth with a handkerchief. "I know. Ask the housekeeper to prepare some paper money to send. After all... it was a human life." Her tone was calm, as if she was discussing a trivial matter that had nothing to do with her.
Xiao Yu came in from outside and saw her like this. He reached out and held her hand: "Are you still thinking?"
Shen Weiwan shook her head, watching the snowflakes drift outside the window, a faint smile playing on her lips. "There's nothing to think about. He ended up like this; it was the path he chose." To her, Li Xiu was just a clown on her path to rebirth, his presence simply adding a touch of glee to her counterattack. Now that the clown had left, she felt neither pleasure nor pity, only a sense of peace at the end of the day.
After all, true winners never linger over the fate of losers. Li Xiu's life, from his attempts to cling to the powerful to his eventual death by freezing in a dilapidated temple, exemplifies the old saying: "Evil intentions lead to evil consequences." His soul, twisted by inferiority complex, ultimately failed to escape the trap he had set, becoming another forgotten example of the "fool's daughter's comeback" story, as told by the people of the capital. When spring arrives again, weeds sprout from the mass grave, and no one remembers the lame, scumbag named Li Xiu, whose pathetic life, filled with calculations and ultimately became a laughingstock, once lay buried there.
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