BVAHEDLA[W Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Ancient 20 Human Witnesses

Chapter 46: Ancient 20 Human Witnesses

A plot…

What if the deaths of Father and Mother Lü were deliberately plotted?

“The couple was first poisoned to death, then thrown into the sea to fabricate a drowning result.”

Minister Feng’s words echoed in Chu Li-fei’s ears once more.

Now, everything was connected.

Qi Fu coveted the Lü family’s wealth, so he deliberately plotted the deaths of Father and Mother Lü, then took over all of their inheritance under the pretext of “managing it on their behalf,” thus colluding with the forces behind Rainbow Pavilion.

And if he wasn’t mistaken, the forces behind Rainbow Pavilion were none other than the Crown Prince’s faction.

In this way, the “accidental deaths” of Father and Mother Lü could also be explained.

From beginning to end, bribing the coroner, officials, sailors who went to sea with Father and Mother Lü, and all related personnel required not only money but also power to ensure the entire plan was foolproof.

And after everything was done, the relevant personnel would be silenced one by one, so that there would be no evidence left.

Looking at the entire Great Yan, there were not many people who had the strength to do these things.

Unfortunately, Crown Prince Lu Mo-chen was one of them. His mother’s family, and the officials who supported the Crown Prince behind him, all of their combined forces accounted for at least a quarter of the entire court!

Chu Li-fei suddenly felt goosebumps all over his back. The deaths of Father and Mother Lü had occurred nine months ago. When did they collude together? And when did they start planning all of this?

What did they want with so much of the Lü family’s property?

When did they set their sights on the Lü family’s wealth? Was it from the moment of his marriage with Lü Ying? Or was it even earlier…?

Speaking of which, according to Feng Rao, the marriage was originally decided by the deceased Old Master Qi and Old Madam Qi. Did they know about this?

Were they also kept in the dark? Or did they silently condone Qi Fu’s behavior?

Chu Li-fei voiced his guess, and the three of them fell silent at once.

Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants were ranked last. Generally, families with any reputation, no matter how poor, would rather marry a daughter of a ninth-rank official.

How could Qi Fu, the eldest son of a marquis family, be matched with a merchant’s daughter?

Although he was physically disabled, as long as the Marquis’s mansion was still standing, it would be more than enough for him to marry the daughter of a ninth-rank sesame seed official. Not to mention some people willing to exchange their daughters for a better future, who would rush to get married if they heard of such a “good thing”…

Qian Ming felt a pang in his heart when he thought of this. He came from a poor family, and the people around him when he was young were also from similar households. He had naturally seen some people, for the sake of their own future, put on smiling faces and betroth their young daughters to the prefect or magistrate as concubines.

The one thing he couldn’t forget was that someone had betrothed a 10-year-old girl to a 50-year-old wealthy businessman as a successor wife, saying it was to bring good luck. Everyone in the village knew that the old man had lost almost all his teeth and didn’t have many days left to live.

Later, on the wedding day, the old man in this family passed away on the spot during the ceremony.

Perhaps this was a blessing for the girl…

Lu Mo-chen sighed slightly, “In this case, it seems certain that Qi Fu colluded with the Crown Prince to frame Qi Lu.”

Chu Li-fei took over the conversation, “It’s a pity that so far, it’s all just our speculation. If only we had some evidence.”

Qian Ming slightly clenched his right hand, placing it near his nose in a pensive manner, “Do you think it’s possible that Qi Fu’s wife—that is, Lü Ying—might know something? If she could be a witness, that would be great.”

Chu Li-fei shook his head slightly upon hearing this, “I think Lü Ying is hiding a lot of secrets. But with her strange personality, would she really be willing to talk?”

“Otherwise, I’ll go to Rainbow Pavilion again tomorrow. If I can get their account books or a list of names, it might be a new breakthrough.”

“No!” Chu Li-fei’s words were immediately denied by Lu Mo-chen. In his previous life, it took him a lot of troops to destroy Rainbow Pavilion. How could he let Chu Li-fei go alone?

“If Royal Uncle goes, then I’ll go too!”

“Nonsense!”

Just as the two were about to argue, several cries faintly came from Old Madam Qi’s courtyard.

Chu Li-fei thought something was wrong, exchanged glances with the other two, quickened his pace, and walked towards Old Madam Qi’s courtyard.

The three of them approached the courtyard and found that it was surrounded by many people.

Chu Li-fei pushed aside the softly crying crowd, gently passed through them, and peeked into the room. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw that Lü Ying was also there, stepped aside, left space for Lu Mo-chen and Qian Ming behind him, and signaled them to look.

He saw that Old Madam Qi really seemed to be dying, even breathing was difficult. She held Feng Rao’s hand in one hand and Lü Ying’s hand in the other, her eyes were no longer as turbid as before, but seemed to be showing a final burst of vitality.

Feng Rao in front of the bed sobbed softly, while the woman kneeling beside her, wrapped in plain clothes and with a veil covering her face, had no joy or sorrow in her eyes, like a puppet that had its soul extracted.

Presumably, she was Lü Ying.

Lü Ying mechanically raised her hand and placed it in Old Madam Qi’s outstretched hand. Her eyes were scattered, she didn’t know what she was thinking, and she just knelt there, without any other movement.

Old Madam Qi raised her wrinkled hand and patted the back of Lü Ying’s hand weakly, her voice hoarse and with a hint of regret, “Good child… you’ve suffered in these years…”

Lü Ying’s eyes, which had been as calm as an ancient well, seemed to be touched when she heard this, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye. She did not respond to Old Madam Qi’s words, nor did she react in any way.

Old Madam Qi’s eyes dimmed when she saw this, and she began to cough violently. Feng Rao quickly picked up a handkerchief. When she took it away, a streak of bright red was left on the handkerchief.

A faint smell of blood spread in the room. Old Madam Qi turned her gaze to Feng Rao, her eyes filled with some kindness, “The mansion… I’ll leave it to you to manage in the future…”

After speaking, it seemed that she had fulfilled all her wishes. The light in her eyes finally went out, and the hand stretched out in the air fell straight down. A clear tear streaked across the corner of her eye.

The maids standing in the room knelt down in an instant, sobbing softly.

When Feng Rao saw this, tears instantly welled up in her eyes. Only Lü Ying beside her was still kneeling straight, seemingly not reacting to what had happened at all.

Chu Li-fei and the others silently left.

They waited outside the door for a while, and finally waited for Lü Ying to come out.

When Lü Ying saw that Chu Li-fei and the others seemed to have come prepared, her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

After bowing, she immediately turned around and tried to escape.

Qian Ming was quick-witted and quickly blocked her path.

Chu Li-fei and Lu Mo-chen also surrounded her.

Lü Ying trembled even more violently. She lowered her head, as if she wanted to bury herself in the ground.

Qian Ming comforted her for a few words, and the situation improved slightly.

Lu Mo-chen stared at the only pair of eyes that Lü Ying had revealed, which were originally beautiful and narrow phoenix eyes, but now they were filled with fear.

He lowered his voice and asked Lü Ying, “I wonder if Madam has ever suspected the cause of your parents’ deaths?”

Lü Ying suddenly raised her head, her eyes staring fixedly at Lu Mo-chen, as if she wanted to cut a piece of flesh from him with her eyes.

After a long time, she said faintly, her voice hoarse and vaguely mad, as if she hadn’t spoken for a long time: “You, what… do you mean?”

“Father and mother, he… they… ah ah ah ah ah!”

Lü Ying originally seemed to want to say something, but when she raised her head like a madman and wanted to tell everything, her eyes seemed to catch sight of something terrible, and she suddenly covered her ears and screamed as she ran away.

Qian Ming was caught off guard, and by the time he wanted to stop her, Lü Ying had already run a distance away, and it seemed impossible to catch up.

Leaving the three of them standing there in confusion.

Chu Li-fei turned his gaze to the place where Lü Ying had just looked, but found nothing.

At this moment, Feng Rao walked out from behind them with a maid.

She seemed to have heard the commotion just now and sighed helplessly: “Please forgive me, three adults. My sister-in-law is not usually like this. She must have been stimulated by the death of her mother…”

The more Feng Rao said, the more guilty she felt. She herself didn’t believe these words.

Chu Li-fei’s eyes lit up when he heard this: “May I ask Madam, what is Lü Ying like when you talk to her normally?”