Chapter 147: Mutual Destruction
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
“Father, she… she tempted me,” Lu Jing Huai stammered, tears filling his eyes. “I swear I’m innocent. I’ve studied under a sage and read countless books. I would never commit such an act,” he pleaded, his voice trembling with desperation.
As Su Zhi Qing watched Lu Jing Huai heap accusations upon her, she trembled with a mix of anger and frustration, biting her lip. “Marquis, Huai and I have long been—” Her words were suddenly cut off as Lu Yuan Ze, his eyes bloodshot with rage, clamped his hand over her mouth.
“Wretched woman, wretched woman!” he spat furiously. “Jing Huai is obedient and sensible, and yet you dared to seduce him, to lead him astray! Someone, gag her and drag her out for execution by beating!” he ordered, his breath ragged.
The day’s events had shaken Lu Yuan Ze deeply, but his priority was to protect Lu Jing Huai, his only remaining legitimate son. He couldn’t even bear to look at him now. “Escort the young master back!” he barked, his fists clenched.
[She seduced him? From the first day Lu Jing Huai entered the house, he was the one clinging to Su Zhi Qing! Claiming it was too dark to see, he entered the wrong room by mistake. But when I entered the room just now, I clearly heard Su Zhi Qing’s affectionate murmurs! They were already involved! How dare Lu Jing Huai?!]
Trying to maintain his composure, Lu Yuan Ze felt as if everyone was pointing fingers at him, his breath tainted with the scent of blood. He avoided looking at the crowd as he brought Lu Jing Huai back to the mansion, seething with fury.
“Go kneel in the ancestral hall!” he thundered, his face ashen.
Silent and pale, Lu Jing Huai knelt before the ancestral hall, his body shaking.
“Fetch the family law!” Lu Yuan Ze commanded, and a whip was quickly brought forward.
Before the ancestors, he lashed Lu Jing Huai repeatedly, the whip cracking through the air. The first lash knocked Lu Jing Huai to the ground, his clothes instantly soaking with blood.
“Shameless thing! There are countless women in the world; why her? How dare you covet her! She is your legitimate stepmother!”
As he whipped, Lu Yuan Ze lost all reason, his heart filled with hatred and panic over the potential scandal. [Our family’s reputation is ruined! Disgraced, I can’t face our ancestors!] In a rage, he lashed out again.
A maid, witnessing the gruesome scene, hurried to fetch the old lady and Madam Pei.
The old lady, already frail from her brother’s execution in the autumn, looked even more weakened as she hurriedly approached. “Why is he beating the child? Jing Huai has always been obedient and sensible, never causing trouble.”
Upon seeing Lu Jing Huai on the ground, his life hanging by a thread, she collapsed in shock. Dropping her cane, she rushed forward. “What are you doing? Are you mad? Jing Huai, Jing Huai! My grandson, do you want to beat him to death?” She threw herself over him, trying to shield him.
Her heart tearing apart, Madam Pei cried out, “My son!”
“You all move, move!” Lu Yuan Ze roared, his voice hoarse.
“He’s just a child; do you want to kill him? If so, kill me too!” The old lady, her hands covered in blood, cried desperately. [Oh heavens, her hands are covered in blood.]
“A child? What child dares to sleep with a stepmother and cuckold his own father!” Lu Yuan Ze seethed, each word laced with fury.
Madam Pei, horrified, clung to her son, weeping silently.
“Just a woman, so what if he was with her? He is still a child and made a mistake. You should teach him, not kill him,” the old lady pleaded, her heart breaking for her grandson. “Su Zhi Qing is flirtatious; Jing Huai just lacked willpower. What good does beating him to death do?” She called for a doctor, tears streaming down her face.
Lu Yuan Ze, so enraged by her words, spat out a mouthful of blood, groaning.
“My son, calm yourself. Jing Huai is young and weak-willed; execute that wench instead. He’s still your son, and in three days he must take the national exam. He needs to bring glory to our family,” the old lady implored, feeling suffocated.
She knew her own brother Pei Yaozu well—without heavy bribery, he wouldn’t dare to murder anyone. Therefore, she suspected Lu Jing Huai had manipulated Pei Yaozu to murder Yan Shu, so she had recently been distant towards Lu Jing Huai. However, what’s done was done. In the family records, Lu Jing Huai was the only recognized grandson after driving out Madam Xu and her spawns.
In truth, the old grandmother felt trapped, her loyalty torn. At only eight years old, could Lu Jing Huai really have hired an assassin? And later, the brutal act of gouging out his uncle’s eyes and tongue haunted her. The old lady tossed and turned at night, the guilt gnawing at her, like a thorn embedded deep in her heart.
On one side was her brother, the only male left in the Pei family; on the other, her grandson, whom she had cherished for over a decade.
“The national exam… yes, the national exam.” Lu Yuan Ze, slightly calmer now, wiped the metallic taste of blood from his mouth. “Where is Su Zhi Qing? Drag her out for execution by beating!” His eyes blazed with fury.
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation
Regardless of the truth, Su Zhi Qing’s fate was sealed.
Meanwhile, Su Zhi Qing, gagged with a cloth, was forced onto a bench and beaten repeatedly, the blows echoing through the courtyard. Blood trickled down, staining the stones red.
At the same moment, Lu Yuan Xiao was also at home, kneeling and admitting his faults.
“How dare you, taking your sister to witness such indecency?” Madam Xu scolded, poking his forehead. “Your sister is not even two years old! How could you expose her to such filth? What if it spoils her nature?”
“I know I’m wrong, Mother,” Lu Yuan Xiao murmured, not daring to mention that his sister had also drawn a crowd.
Lu Chao Chao, seeing her brother kneeling, knelt beside him. Being her usual obedient self, she kept her head down and even mimicked him by pressing their dog, Chasing Wind, down beside her, bending its front legs to kneel.
The dog looked up at her innocently.
Madam Xu couldn’t help but be amused. “Chasing Wind did nothing wrong. Why is it kneeling? Chao Chao, do you understand where you went wrong?”
Lu Chao Chao tilted her head, thinking hard, then nodded: “I know, Mommy.”
“And where did you go wrong?” Madam Xu asked, her expression stern yet curious.
“I went wrong by not calling you to watch too,” Lu Chao Chao said earnestly, her baby-like sincerity evident in her voice.
Rofl. Tru, good things must be shared.
hahaha..