While the country was in a state of utter chaos, the Ministry of Works in the capital was in complete disarray.
After leaving a letter, the son departed for his post in Guyang County without even saying goodbye, becoming the final straw that broke the camel's back for the Cheng family. Even without obtaining any favorable evidence, the Cheng family was prepared to unleash a massacre!
She's put up with that mother and son for long enough. This time, even if she can't kill them, she'll skin them alive!
So, on the day Fu Ting was away, Cheng sent her trusted confidants to tie up Aunt Li and beat her in front of all the servants in the courtyard until her skin was torn and bleeding. Aunt Li fainted from the pain.
The servants in the mansion dared not say anything. A loyal servant from the Qingyang Marquis's mansion bribed the gatekeeper and hurriedly ran to the Imperial Guard to inform Fu Qichen.
Fu Qichen, who had been appointed as a centurion of the Imperial Guard, asked his superior for leave and rode his horse back to his residence without even changing his clothes.
The guards in the mansion, under orders from Madam Cheng, rushed forward and subdued Fu Qichen when he clashed with them in an attempt to protect his concubine. They forced him to kneel before Madam Cheng.
Fu Qichen had practiced martial arts since childhood, and a few guards were no match for him. Since he was in his own home, he didn't intend to hurt anyone, nor did he put up much resistance. He simply asked, his eyes red and his voice trembling with suppressed anger, "Mother, what crime has Aunt committed that made you treat her so severely? Aunt is a concubine, a noble lady from the Qingyang Marquis's mansion, not a servant you can beat or scold at will!"
Madam Cheng sat upright in her chair, sipping her tea without even lifting her eyelids. She merely snorted coldly and said hatefully, "You still have the nerve to ask? No wonder you're the son of a lowly woman; even your despicable methods are the same! Don't you and your son have any idea what you've done to Yuan'er?"
Fu Qichen's heart skipped a beat, but his expression grew even colder: "I don't understand what Mother is saying. Apart from working at the garrison, I don't come home often, so how could I have offended my elder brother? As for Aunt, she hasn't been back to the Qingyang Marquis's residence for a long time, and she hasn't even left the gate of the Minister's residence. How could she have the ability to harm my elder brother?"
Madam Cheng slammed the teacup in her hand at Fu Qichen, snarling, "You beast! I ask you, did you go to Guyang County with Yuan'er? Did you order someone to give Yuan'er those potent drugs? There wasn't even a royal physician in that rural area. It's only because my Yuan'er was lucky that you and his mother didn't kill him! This kind of beast is worse than an animal; keeping him alive is just asking for trouble! Men, beat him! Beat him hard! Beat him to death!"
Fu Qichen had considered that the matter would come to light, and he also thought that his elder brother would probably not let him off the hook, so he had been staying at the garrison almost all this time to avoid getting tired of each other.
But he didn't expect that Fu Qiyuan wouldn't betray him, but Cheng Shi would seize on his weakness. This woman is truly formidable. Even though she has been tolerant of them and their son on the surface all these years, and hasn't done anything underhanded behind their backs, now that her own son has been found, she can't wait to show the sharp claws hidden in her sleeves.
After living under the same roof for three years, Fu Qichen gradually realized that his real opponent was not necessarily the older brother he had taken in, but his stepmother who wished she could tear him to pieces.
“If Mother has evidence that we, mother and son, poisoned my elder brother, you can hand us over to the Ministry of Justice for punishment. If you have no evidence, please release the concubine immediately. A dignified wife of a high-ranking official abusing her power to harm a noble concubine in the mansion—you cannot bear such a crime!” Fu Qichen said expressionlessly.
Cheng thought to herself that if she found evidence, she would never let Fu Qichen kneel here and speak. No one could save Li Yiniang's worthless life!
She had no evidence; it was all just Fu Zhi and her speculation.
But so what? Her Yuan'er was indeed poisoned and forced into a relationship with a lowly country woman. Now, she has given up her promising future for this woman, destroying all her hopes.
The two culprits were right in front of her, enemies she had hated for half her life. How could she let them go so easily?
Madam Cheng stared intently at Fu Qichen and said coldly, "Once she enters the Ministry of Rites, Li Yun is nothing but a servant. I can beat her and discipline her as I please. If you have the guts, let the Marquis of Qingyang's family come and argue with me about right and wrong over an unfavored concubine's daughter. Go ahead and do it!"
Fu Qichen's expression grew increasingly grim.
Lady Qingyang is the Emperor's own niece, and has the title of a princess. She only has disdain and disgust for his birth mother, Li Yun. As long as Lady Qingyang is around, no one in the entire Qingyang Marquis's mansion would be willing to offend the current top scholar for the sake of his mother.
Seeing the fleeting sadness and resentment in Fu Qichen's eyes, Madam Cheng laughed heartily, saying with no small amount of sarcasm, "Back then, your mother used every means at her disposal, even offending the Lady of Qingyang Marquis to enter the Minister's mansion. She knew she had no way out, so she tried every means to please your father and scheme for you. It's just a pity that she was born with a lowly fate and didn't have the fortune to enjoy the wealth and glory that her own son could bring her!"
These words were quite hurtful. Fu Qichen knew his mother's personality well. She had spent half her life trying to survive in those shady and underhanded schemes. Her only wish in this life was for her son to earn her an official title so that she could hold her head high in front of others.
So she kept scheming and striving, and just when her son was about to grow up and she thought she was about to get through it all, she was dealt the most fatal blow.
He saw the boundless despair and fear in his mother's eyes, and her desperate desire to fight back in her dire situation. He couldn't bear it, so he took action.
Everything felt like a joke. He even wondered if his father had known about what he and his mother had done all along, otherwise he wouldn't have specifically told him things like "the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, and the respect between brothers." That was clearly a warning!
The servants in the mansion surrounded him menacingly, holding wooden sticks. Fu Qichen pursed his thin lips and slowly clenched his hands, which were bound behind his back.
"If you dare to lay a hand on me, I will immediately order Li Yun to be killed!" Madam Cheng coldly curled her lips, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in her cold eyes.
Fu Qichen met Cheng's gaze, slowly released his hands, and lowered his head slightly.
The next second, the dull sound of sticks striking flesh echoed in the courtyard.
Perhaps it was a mother's instinct, but the unconscious Aunt Li woke up just in time. Seeing the scene before her, she cried out in anguish, "Stop! Stop! He is the second young master of the manor, he holds an official position, how dare you use such force! Stop it all, the master will not let you off when he finds out! Stop hitting him, stop! Stop it all!"
However, having finally found this opportunity, how could Madam Cheng easily let the mother and son go? This time, she was determined to unleash a massacre on the mother and son she had loathed for over a decade!
"Give him a good beating, and don't stop!"
Aunt Li herself was beaten half to death, so what ability did she have to save her son? She watched helplessly as her son was beaten until his skin was torn and bleeding, and the despair and helplessness in her heart reached its peak at that moment.
"No……!"
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