Chapter 71: When the Wall Collapses, Everyone Pushes Back
Ever since Li Ao angered the head of the Li family last time and was scolded and confined to his room, and with the instigation of Young Master Li and his mother, the relationship between the two has become increasingly tense.
But after all, the head of the Li family still felt sorry for his son, and after a few days when his anger was diluted, he released Li Ao on New Year's Eve, on the pretext that Li Ao's mother cried and pleaded for her son.
Li Chu and his mother felt it was extremely ironic when they saw that Li Ao had made the head of the Li family so angry, yet the head of the Li family still had a soft heart towards Li Ao.
No matter how bad Li Ao is or how disrespectful he is to the head of the Li family, he still regards him as a treasure. And no matter how well Li Chu and his mother do, the head of the Li family still turns a blind eye.
Fortunately, Li Ao is a fool, so their plan will not fail.
On New Year's Eve, the whole family gathered around the table for dinner. Li Chu saw that Li Ao was still dissatisfied with the head of the Li family, so he deliberately advised Li Ao, saying how much his father cared about him and asked him to stop being petty with his father, and that the two of them should live in harmony.
On the surface, these words seem to be trying to persuade the father and son to reconcile, but in fact every word is biased, implying that Patriarch Li was right and it was Li Ao who was being unreasonable, and asking him to admit his mistake to Patriarch Li.
In the eyes of Mr. Li, this was indeed the fact, so he did not suspect that his eldest son had any ulterior motives in saying this.
But Li Ao thought completely the opposite. He always felt that the head of the Li family did not love him enough, so he did not help him find out who had played a trick on him in the brothel.
He just wanted the truth, he didn't think he was wrong.
So when he heard what Li Chu said, he immediately got angry. Regardless of what day it was, he stood up and threw the chopsticks in front of Li Chu.
He yelled, "Stop pretending. You all want me to stay grounded, but you let me out pretending to feel sorry for me. You are so hypocritical and mean. If you really love me, why don't you help me find the culprit who bullied me?"
When he said these words, his eyes were looking at the head of the Li family. This was undoubtedly a provocation.
But Patriarch Li still held his temper and said calmly, "Ao'er, sit down. Are there any more rules?"
Li Chu also asked the servants to bring another pair of chopsticks and personally handed them to Li Ao, but Li Ao not only refused to take them, but also frowned at Li Chu: "Brother, now you also want to stand on Dad's side, right?"
Li Chu smiled: "What's the point of standing or not? We are a family."
Li Ao looked at Li Chu with disappointment on his face.
At this time, the head of the Li family finally became serious and said in a stern voice: "Li Ao, I told you to sit down!"
Seeing that the head of the family was really angry, the aunt next to him quickly pulled Li Ao's sleeve.
Li Ao looked at his mother's pleading eyes, gritted his teeth, and finally suppressed his anger and sat down.
Everyone had no appetite for the New Year's Eve dinner. In the days that followed, Li Ao was no longer under house arrest, but he was still in a cold war with his father, and he also lost his temper towards Li Chu.
This situation gave the head of the Li family a false sense of "sympathy", because he felt that he and Li Chu both cared about Li Ao, but were not understood by Li Ao.
Once, he patted Li Chu's shoulder gently and sighed, "Ao'er is still too childish. I hope he can grow up quickly. Then he will understand our painstaking efforts."
Li Chu thought it was funny, you want Li Ao to get better and better, but what I want is for both you and him to die.
However, he had indeed worked hard for many years to achieve his wish, so he deserved what his father said.
"Don't worry, father. Ao'er is very smart. I believe it won't be long before we don't have to worry about him anymore."
Li Chu knew that Li Ao had always wanted to get Rong Yin, so he had sent people to keep an eye on Li Ao. It turned out that Li Ao also asked servants to monitor the palace gate every day and inform him once they saw Rong Yin leaving the palace.
Li Ao met Rong Yin several times using this method, but Rong Yin was just too lazy to pay attention to him.
In the days leading up to the Lantern Festival, Li Chu discovered that Li Ao had met with the leader of a street gang and they were discussing something.
On the day of the Lantern Festival, Li Ao went out early. Li Chu's people went to monitor him and saw him secretly follow Zong Zhengxiao and Rong Yin first, and then turned around and went to a small courtyard near the restaurant after the two of them entered the restaurant.
Then Wang Da, who had contacted Li Ao before, appeared in the restaurant. Rong Yin was kidnapped after a while, and what happened after that is known to everyone.
Rong Yin's fighting power was so strong that it was beyond Li Chu's expectation. He thought that if Li Ao really succeeded in humiliating Rong Yin, Zong Zhengxiao's anger would definitely reach its peak, and then Li Ao would die a more miserable death.
But unexpectedly, before Li Ao was beaten up by Zong Zhengxiao, he was beaten half to death by Rong Yin.
Li Chu's people watched Li Ao being carried away, and Li Chu told his mother immediately after receiving the news.
Knowing that Li Ao was finally finished, the mother and son, their desire for revenge satisfied, finally revealed sincere smiles.
It was not until Li Ao was sent to jail that the head of the Li family knew what had happened.
The head of the Li family knew that his youngest son was not at home during the Lantern Festival, but he just thought that his son went to the brothel Nanfeng Pavilion or to one of his mistresses.
In fact, the head of the Li family guessed half right. He guessed that his son was going to sleep with someone, but he didn't expect that the person he wanted to sleep with was the person in the room of the current emperor.
After hearing that Li Ao was seriously injured and imprisoned, the head of the Li family felt dizzy and almost fainted on the spot.
Fortunately, Li Chu supported him in time and pretended to be worried and said, "Father, cheer up. If something happens to you, I will be doomed."
The head of the Li family was helped to sit down, his face as pale as paper.
"How could this happen? How could Ao'er be related to that mermaid?"
Li Chu suddenly fell silent. The head of the Li family turned to look at him, and his eyes suddenly became very sharp.
"Do you know something?"
Li Chu knelt down in front of the head of the Li family, but he refused to say anything.
The head of the Li family could only call all of Li Ao's servants over and interrogate them one by one, and finally pieced together the whole process of the incident.
Because of Li Chu's deliberate concealment and guidance, Li Ao's servants actually did not know the real role Li Chu played in these events.
In their eyes, it was Li Ao who took the initiative to provoke Zong Zheng Xiao and Rong Yin, and it was Li Ao who chose to hide it from the head of the Li family.
Li Ao still had lust for Rong Yin, and it was Li Chu who advised him not to cause trouble for the family. In order to appease him, Li Chu even spent a lot of money to find a Hu man who looked similar to Rong Yin for Li Ao.
But Li Ao was still not satisfied. He spent one hundred taels to buy milk tea that time, not because he wanted to research the formula of milk tea to make money for the Li family, but because he brought that Hu man to Rong Yin to show his disdain for him, and Rong Yin took revenge on him.
During this period, Li Chu repeatedly advised Li Ao not to be obsessed with Rong Yin anymore, but Li Ao not only did not listen, he also resented the kind-hearted Li Chu.
It was Li Ao's own idea to kidnap Rong Yin this time, which was why he did it in such a hurry and made so many mistakes that he ended up sending himself to jail.
After hearing the servants' confessions, Patriarch Li felt as if the sky had fallen.
It turned out that Zong Zheng Xiao had deliberately targeted him before, not because he just happened to dislike him, but because his son had provoked someone else's merman.
When he was exhausted from the torture, his youngest son not only chose to continue hiding the truth from him, but also followed Rong Yin again and again, and finally kidnapped him.
Patriarch Li seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. At this moment, he suddenly laughed like a madman, but his eyes slowly turned red.
"Haha, this is the good son I have spoiled all my life."
The Li family head's smile is uglier than crying.
At this time, Li Ao's mother also received the news and ran over. As soon as she saw him, she knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the head of the Li family: "Master, you have to save Ao'er. He is our only son. If he is killed by the emperor, what should I do?"
Li Ao wasn't dead yet, but my aunt was crying even harder.
The head of the Li family did not blame Li Ao because his aunt was unaware of what she had done. Instead, he said, "You get up first."
When the aunt saw that he did not immediately agree to save the people, she realized that her son had really gone too far this time and had really touched the bottom line of the head of the Li family.
But Li Ao is her son. If she doesn't consider him, who else should she consider?
The aunt did not stand up and begged: "Master, you will definitely save Ao'er, right? I beg you, Ao'er is my life, you can't not save him."
Seeing this, Li Chu also started to follow suit and said, "Father, even though Ao'er was wrong, he is still our Li family's child after all. Let's discuss everything after he returns safely, okay?"
In addition to these two people pleading for Li Ao, Li Chu's mother, who had always had a very low sense of presence, also spoke up: "The child of the Li family can't stay in prison forever, and make people laugh at him for nothing."
Patriarch Li had a cold expression on his face: "You are all begging me to save him, as if it was my fault that he was arrested, and that I am cold-hearted and don't intend to care about him."
Li Chu quickly said, "That's not what I meant. I was just worried about my brother. Mother and aunt are just worried. We never misunderstood father, and we didn't mean to force you."
Li Chu's words seemed comforting, but they were actually irritating.
Hearing his words, Patriarch Li inexplicably felt as if he was forced to do this. In fact, he had originally planned to rescue Li Ao, but after hearing what the three said, he felt uncomfortable.
But no matter how uncomfortable he felt, even if he was heartbroken by Li Ao's actions, he could not let Li Ao die, even if it was just for the Li family's face.
No one in the Li family could sleep that night. The head of the Li family and his aunt were worried, while Li Chu and his mother were excited.
Before dawn the next day, the news that Li Ao was thrown into prison spread throughout the capital, and all the dignitaries knew about the bad things he had done.
Zong Zhengxiao suspended court for three days on the grounds of illness, but he still reviewed memorials to the emperor, only refusing to see any ministers.
這回世家沒時間給宗政逍找茬了，因為他們清楚，這次被宗政逍捉住了把柄，肯定不會輕易放過他們。
果然，三日後宗政逍一上朝，言官們紛紛開始彈劾李家主，理由是他縱兒行兇、挑釁皇權，這樣的官員，不配站在朝堂之上。
世家那邊自然不會任由他們謾罵，也進行了回擊，找各種理由将李家主和小兒子進行分割，試圖将“禍不及家人”這個理念貫徹到底。
兩幫人吵得面紅耳赤，只差脫鞋扔對方了，但作為事件當事人的宗政逍和李家主卻是出奇的平靜。
宗政逍平靜是因為勝券在握，李家主則是如喪考妣，沒力氣也沒心情鬧騰了。
事發第二天他就去牢裏看了李傲，發現李傲身受重傷，至今昏迷不醒，一問才知道他想欺辱鲛人，但鲛人是個厲害的，直接将他給“反殺”了。
李家主看着渾身是傷的兒子，心裏是既怨恨又心疼，還有一點嫌棄。
李家主企圖把罪責都轉移給那個小厮和死去的王大，可宗政逍那邊人證物證都有，王大的小弟們作證是李傲找到王大出錢讓他綁架戎音的，他們也在王大家裏搜出了李傲給王大的銀子和信物，容不得他抵賴。
朝堂上那次吵架終究沒分出勝負，宗政逍沒有降李家主的職，只是讓他回家休息幾天，等着事情完結了，再考慮該怎麽處置他。
只不過世家沒想到的是，朝堂上的彈劾僅是個開始。
第二天，曾經被李傲強取豪奪的那位公子和他的父親一起去衙門狀告李家，說當初是李家主利用自己的地位權勢向父親施壓，李傲又去公子的書院糾纏他，公子才被迫成為了李傲的外室，這些年來一直飽受他欺辱。
有一就有二，其他曾經被李傲欺負的人看見李傲這次确實有倒臺的跡象，而且也有人帶頭沖鋒了，便集結起來，全都前往衙門狀告李傲。
從小到大，李傲仗着自己李家少爺的身份，沒少幹欺男霸女的事兒，其中甚至牽涉到好幾條人命。
一時間，所有苦主的狀紙如雪花般飛向衙門，哭訴聲接連不斷，仿佛要震破京城的天。
李家大門口俨然成了爛雞蛋爛菜葉和石塊的聚集地，李家也試圖抓過搗亂的人，但如今他們處于道德窪地，但凡有要傷害路人的舉動，就會被群起而攻之。
久而久之，李家幹脆關緊大門，眼不見為淨。
只不過看不見歸看不見，那萦繞在整個李府頭上的腐臭味，就是李家惹衆怒的最好證明，他們想躲都躲不掉。
直到這時，崔陳兩家和世家這邊的人，還是在積極幫助李家的，因為他們覺得宗政逍是在借題發揮，怕宗政逍會刻意把火燒到他們身上。
他們覺得救李傲，就是在救自己。
但很快，他們就改變了想法。
因為有人舉報李傲曾在青樓肆意辱罵皇上及其家族，所用詞彙不堪入耳，當時在場的青樓舞姬以及一些客人都能作證。
不巧的是，當時和李傲一起喝花酒的人裏，就有崔家和陳家的幾個公子。
雖然都不是嫡系的孩子，但終究是姓崔姓陳，要是追究起來，這兩家也難辭其咎。
這一個終極反轉，直接轉變了崔陳兩家的态度，他們不想救李傲了，救了李傲才是真正的引火燒身。
而且既然李傲都已經出事了，為今之計只有讓他獨自一人承擔所有責任，才能保全另外兩家的孩子。
做下決定後，崔陳兩位家主立即叫來李家主，說出了自己的打算。
“你們想讓我兒頂罪？絕對不可能！”李家主的第一反應就是拒絕。
崔家主也不急，緩緩開口道：“老李，你自己想想看，這些年你為小兒子付出了多少，而他又是怎麽報答你的？他要是真為你李家考慮過，就不會去招惹那個鲛人，你之前一直被宗政逍針對，不就是因為他嘛。”
李家主梗着脖子不說話。
崔家主繼續道：“李傲沒了，你還有李楚，而且李楚本就優秀，是一個合格的家族繼承人，你又何必為撿芝麻而丢了西瓜，棄卒保車的道理，還需要我這個老東西教你嗎？當初對賀家用這招時，你不是很熟練嗎？”
害自己跟害別人當然不同，李傲是很讓李家主失望沒錯，可李家主也不想眼睜睜看着他去死。
陳家主也道：“老李，李傲這次闖大禍了，那小皇帝如此疼愛他的鲛人寵物，李傲竟敢欺辱于他，你覺得小皇帝會放過李傲？既然咱們救不了他，不如讓他為咱們世家奉獻一回，也算是還了你這些年的養育之恩了。”
聽見這樣冷血的話，李家主已經沒力氣發怒了，他算是體會到當初賀家主的那種絕望感了。
所有人都打着冠冕堂皇的理由逼你為大家付出，即便大家都知道你心不甘情不願。
這或許就是天道輪回吧，誰都逃不掉。
“真的沒辦法了嗎？”李家主還不死心。
崔家主只淡淡看了他一眼：“你非要讓他把所有人都拖死才甘心嗎？”
聞言，李家主渾身一震，長嘆一聲，閉上了眼睛：“我知道了。”
看見父親回來後就魂不守舍地進了書房，并且誰也不見，李楚就知道他的計劃成功了。
李楚克制住激動的情緒，待回到母親身邊才徹底放下防備，趴在母親膝蓋上放聲大笑起來。
“娘，這一天終究還是讓我們等到了，死的他們，不是我和你。”
李楚母親卻是落下了眼淚，她輕撫着兒子的腦袋，唇角上揚：“是啊，我們争贏了，這條命也叫我們争回來了。”
青樓的事情，是李楚叫人去舉報的，都到今天這步了，他絕對要狠狠踩死李傲，不給他任何爬起來的機會。
因為從一開始，他和李傲就是你死我活的關系。
與兩人的歡喜不同，李傲的母親在知道李家主要舍棄兒子後，第一時間就跑去求自己的丈夫，額頭都磕破了，眼睛更是哭得紅腫，在書房外面跪了一整夜。
可李家主直到最後都沒有松口，就像崔陳兩位家主說的那樣，總不能為了一個李傲，把整個李家都拖垮。
他讓人把李傲母親拖回院子，好生看管起來，別讓她出去誤事，而他自己則前往大牢探望李傲。
這些日子，李家主和李楚都時不時會去探監。
李傲因為重傷，過了好幾日才醒，在發現自己已經被關進大牢後，李傲一開始并不在意，認為自己父親和哥哥一定能撈自己出去。
并且都到這個時候了，他嘴巴還不幹淨，要麽就罵獄卒沒把他安排進幹淨的牢房，又覺得大牢裏飯菜難吃，要麽就詛咒戎音，說要不是他，自己也不會受那麽重的傷，子孫根都差點廢了。
這回他對戎音是真的一點旖旎的心思都沒有了，他只想要戎音死！
他還對父親心懷芥蒂，所以父親來看他時，他連句話都沒跟他說過。
反倒是李楚一來，李傲就像從前一樣，要求李楚把他弄出去，要求李楚幫他報仇。
可李楚不僅沒有答應，還一次次帶來了壞消息。
他惹怒了宗政逍，宗政逍不會放過他；有大批受害者狀告他強搶民男民女、草菅人命，朝中言官都在彈劾李家的官員；他曾經在青樓辱罵宗政逍的話被傳到了宗政逍耳朵裏，這次連其他世家也不願意保他了……
随着聽到的壞消息越來越多，李傲逐漸嚣張不起來了，他整日惶惶不安，從一開始的趾高氣昂變為現在的膽小如鼠，每時每刻都如驚弓之鳥，害怕有人沖進牢房把他拖出去砍頭。
到了這種時候，他也顧不得埋怨父親了，每次父親過來，他都會哭着跟他求救，讓他一定要救自己出去，自己以後一定會聽話。
李家主每次都是眼含熱淚地答應，跟他保證定會讓他完好無損地離開大牢。
看見父親來了，本來還躺在床上養傷的李傲不顧身上的疼痛，第一時間爬起來，抓着門欄期待地看向李家主。
“爹，你是不是來接我出去的？你那麽厲害，我們李家在京城又是說一不二的存在，我不會有事的，對吧？”
李家主沒有吭聲，他只是定定地看着李傲，眼圈漸漸紅了。
李傲意識到了不對，他緊張地追問：“爹，你怎麽了，你怎麽是這副表情？”
“傲兒……”李家主哽咽出聲，“是爹對不起你。”
李傲懵了一瞬，很快明白了他的意思：“你要放棄我？你要放棄我了是不是？”
李家主道：“為了李家，我只能這麽做。”
李傲僵硬在原地，滿臉的難以置信，李家主不敢再看他的臉，将頭轉了過去。
“爹，你不是最疼我了嗎？為什麽不救我？為什麽啊？”李傲怕了，眼淚大顆大顆地順着眼角往下落。
“對不起，傲兒，對不起……”李家主第一次在兒子面前落淚，泣不成聲。
Seeing his father like this, Li Ao knew that everything was irreversible. Thinking of his future outcome, his legs went soft and he fell directly to the ground.
When the conversation between the father and son in the cell was heard in the palace, Zong Zheng Xiao had just coaxed Rong Yin to sleep.
Since being kidnapped, Rong Yin has had nightmares almost every night. He is not afraid of nightmares, but they affect his sleep quality and make him miserable.
Rong Yin began to avoid sleep physiologically. Even if he felt sleepy at night, he could not fall asleep. In order to coax him to sleep, Zong Zhengxiao used all his tricks.