Chapter 226: Torment
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation
Madam Pei roughly shoved the bald man out the door, her eyes darting nervously around.
“Put on your monk robe! If anyone finds out about this, no one will escape unscathed!” She fastened the robe around him tightly, making sure it was secure.
The man looked at her lazily. “So what if they find out? Lu Yuan Ze doesn’t manage things. You’re the one in charge around here.”
“The children have been disowned, and only your son will inherit the family. Who would dare go against you in this household?” He tugged lightly at Pei’s hair, a smirk playing on his lips.
Madam Pei sneered coldly. [But the glory I wanted wasn’t like this! I wanted Madam Xu to leave in disgrace with her children. I wanted to see her suffer, to trample her underfoot.] Instead, Madam Xu was thriving, while she was trapped.
Nearby, the sound of low crying grated on her nerves. “Why is that old woman still crying? Can’t you shut her up?” she snapped.
The bald man followed her leisurely as they walked towards the Deshan Hall. As they approached, the stench hit them before they even entered.
Madam Pei waved a hand in front of her nose, her eyes filled with disgust. “Why does it smell so bad in here?”
A maid at the entrance greeted her in a panic, “The old madam has been lying on the ground, shivering terribly. She wet herself, probably because it’s cold…” The maid’s voice trailed off, fearing Madam Pei’s wrath.
“Cold? What’s there to be cold about? She cries and wails every day. She must be burning up with anger.” Madam Pei’s face was icy as she glanced at the shivering old lady on the floor.
The maid lowered her head, not daring to say more. “You can leave now. I’ll personally take care of the old madam,” Madam Pei ordered, her eyes never leaving the old lady. The maid quickly retreated.
The bald man shut the door behind him, sealing the room from the outside world.
The old lady, dressed in thin clothes with wet pants clinging to her body, shivered on the cold floor. Outside, snow fell heavily, and the unheated room inside was bone-chilling.
When she saw Madam Pei and the bald man, the old lady’s eyes filled with intense hatred. But she could only wriggle on the floor like an old worm.
“Don’t look at me like that!” Madam Pei slapped her across the face. “Punishing me? Punishing me!”
When the old lady first became paralyzed, Lu Yuan Ze had hired several nannies to watch over her day and night. She would constantly demand food, drink, or to be moved, torturing Madam Pei to the point of exhaustion. Every morning and evening, Madam Pei had to massage the old lady’s legs, causing her hands to tremble with pain. The old lady deliberately soiled herself just to make Madam Pei clean up, ruining her appetite.
“A long illness proves the unfilial nature of a child. How long has it been since your son last visited you?” Madam Pei taunted. When the old lady first became paralyzed, Lu Yuan Ze visited daily. But after a few months, he stopped asking altogether.
The old lady looked at her with venomous hatred.
“Do you think I’m like Madam Xu? She would stay by your bedside all night, bringing water at your slightest cough, massaging your shoulders and legs to make you comfortable?” Madam Pei slapped her again. “I don’t have her patience. Servilely being someone’s maid.”
Madam Pei scoffed. “Xu served you like a servant, cleaning up after you, massaging your shoulders and legs. I won’t do it.” She admired her new nails, ignoring the old lady’s regretful wails.
The old lady’s eyes were cloudy with tears. [How could I not regret it? Xu was gentle and kind, the daughter of a prestigious family, humbling herself to make me happy. Despite never having cared for anyone before, she learned to look after me step by step. She never showed displeasure or flaunted her status.]
The old lady, a country bumpkin, feared Madam Xu’s disdain and constantly used her status as the mother-in-law to make things difficult for her. But Madam Xu never complained. Without comparison, there is no pain. The old lady wept and drooled. [If Xu were here, she would surely care for me meticulously, wouldn’t she?]
Madam Pei sneered, seeing the regret in the old lady’s eyes, but she didn’t care. “Why this pitiful act now? I’m not Madam Xu; I won’t pity you! I’m not as lowly as her, serving you day and night.”
“If you truly cared for me, you would have brought me back to the marquis’s mansion long ago, not kept me outside for eighteen years. Did you really think I would be grateful?” Madam Pei looked at her coldly. “Don’t look outside. Lu Yuan Ze isn’t coming.”
“Jing Huai stole Yan Shu’s article, and Lu Yuan Ze was furious. Oh, you didn’t know, did you? Jing Huai’s genius reputation is stolen from Yan Shu. You old hag, you’re lucky. The marquis’s family produced a real genius!”
“But you weren’t blessed. Heaven gave you a genius, and you drove him away.” Madam Pei knew what hurt her the most and struck her heart. As expected, the old lady’s face twisted in anger. She crawled forward bit by bit.
“Ah! Ah! Poison… poison… poisonous woman!” The old lady howled, looking at her in fury. But she couldn’t control herself, unable to speak clearly.
“You think I’m a poisonous woman? I’m nothing compared to you!” Madam Pei spat on her face. “You think you’re so kind and innocent? You’re worse than me!”
“Old Marquis fought for years, conquering the land with the previous king. The king bestowed many concubines upon him. The concubines were young and beautiful, skilled in all arts…”
“You cried and made a scene, forcing the old marquis to dismiss them. And then? Out of hatred and jealousy, you sent people to slash their faces!”
The old lady paused, barely remembering such long-ago events.
“That wasn’t the worst of it. Do you remember your personal maid?” Madam Pei continued, her voice dripping with contempt. “Her surname was Li, called Lady Qiao, right?” Madam Pei, having been in the house for a year, knew everything.
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation
“When you first arrived in the capital, you saw the dignified and beautiful women here, afraid the old marquis would be tempted. You sent your maid to his bed to win his favor…”
“The old marquis had no intention of taking concubines, but you drugged him, and it happened.”
“Afterward, the old marquis pitied Lady Qiao and made her a concubine. But you regretted it!!” Madam Pei’s voice grew louder, more accusatory.
“Seeing the old marquis cherish Lady Qiao, being tender and loving, you had her drowned in the city moat while she was eight months pregnant! Killing both mother and child!”
Madam Pei hadn’t noticed the bald man behind her, his breathing heavy, eyes red, fists clenched in rage. “Lady Qiao was eight months pregnant then, the child almost born. How cruel you were…”
“The old marquis distanced himself from you because of this, and even Lu Wan Yi was conceived when you drugged him again…”
“Over time, you really thought yourself kind? What kind of good person are you?!”
Madam Pei pinched her nose in disdain. “Li Yuan Xi, throw her into the ice water and wash her off.” Madam Pei glared at the bald man behind herself.