CHAPTER 65: CHAPTER 65: DEALING WITH THE MAIN HOUSE AND CLEARING GREAT-AUNT’S NAME

Chapter 65 Tidying the Main House, Proving Aunt’s Innocence

Tang Zan returned and shook his head: "Couldn’t find the third master."

Lu Qing returned much later, his face a bit grim, as he spoke to Tang Zan, instinctively adopting a reporting tone from subordinate to superior.

After all, Tang Zan had always been imposing, and even now, his presence was still formidable.

Lu Qing said, "Just now, I saw Tao Boxuan, the third placer who became famous in the Capital five years ago, on another mountain peak. He was among those exiled five years ago."

"He disappeared in a flash, and we couldn’t catch up to him."

Tao Boxuan!

Pei Shu’er was startled, finding the name familiar.

However, the name didn’t surface often enough for Pei Shu’er to recall it immediately.

Zhang Chao hesitated before speaking to Pei Shu’er: "This person is quite sinister and holds grudges. Being so close to the place of exile, I’m afraid it won’t be peaceful for you even when you arrive there."

Pei Shu’er nodded, having long prepared herself mentally.

The group left together. Once they reached back up the mountain fortress, they saw the second master lying there like a dead dog.

As for those who had previously surrendered, they were punished according to the severity of their crimes.

If anyone had killed a government officer, it meant a swift execution.

The rest faced either whipping or beating.

Some were in such poor health that they were beaten to death, and even then, the punishment continued with posthumous flogging.

Amidst the uproar, Liu Xu suddenly knelt before Old Madam Tang.

Liu Xu cried, "Mother, please bring us justice."

Old Madam Tang was taken aback, unsure of what her third daughter-in-law intended, but knowing her to be one who adhered strictly to etiquette, she must have endured a great hardship to act this way.

"Daughter-in-law, what has happened?"

Liu Xu gazed towards the main house, her gentle eyes now filled with ferocity.

"Our entire third household was pushed out by those in the main house!"

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Li immediately widened her eyes, pointing angrily at Liu Xu, exclaiming, "Liu Xu, stop your baseless accusations! If we pushed you out, then why was I also captured?"

Tang Qingning said, "That’s because, Aunt, your evil deeds were exposed when you tried to frame us."

Tang Peilin’s face turned pale: "Mother, this is a deliberate slander from the third household."

Mrs. Li was about to speak again when a stone struck her cheek heavily, knocking out some of her teeth.

She spat out the teeth, eyes filled with dread, glancing around without seeing who threw it, trying her best to make herself less noticeable, not wanting to get hurt again.

Pei Shu’er turned to look at Tang Zan standing nearby and noticed his cold eyes as he tossed the stone in his hand, the air around him becoming oppressively low, instinctively tightening her coat around herself.

No one noticed Mrs. Li’s peculiar behavior; everyone’s attention was focused on the Tang Family members.

Ma sighed and spoke fairly.

"Mother, indeed it was the doing of Brother and Sister-in-law, which led to the exposure of both the second and even our fourth households."

As soon as she said this, those from the second and fourth households who hadn’t been caught all coldly stared at the main house members, and Tang Peiyi and Tang Peixiao rushed forward and beat Tang Peilin severely.

Tang Peilin kept shouting his innocence, but his cheek was hit by another stone mid-shout.

He spat out a tooth, the pain rendering him speechless.

Others assumed he had tacitly admitted it.

As for the women of the main house, they were all blocked together by people from the second, third, and fourth households, pulling hair and slapping faces.

Mrs. Li realized she couldn’t escape this time.

Holding nothing back, she laughed despite the pain of her teeth.

"What good does it do to hit me when you’re protecting two harlots?"

As these words fell, the scene quieted, with outsiders looking at Mrs. Li in confusion.

Mrs. Li pointed at Liu Xu and Tang Qingning, declaring loudly to everyone.

"Do you know? These two were slept with by the second master for three whole hours. It’s said he’s wild, and who knows how many times he’s had them!"

After saying this, her face was one of satisfaction; her reputation was ruined, and she would ensure the third household wouldn’t remain unscathed.

Old Madam Tang’s lips trembled, and even her fingers shook.

In ancient times, when a woman’s chastity outweighed everything, having one’s purity sullied was worse than death.

Tang Qingning and Liu Xu vehemently insisted on their innocence, but no one believed them, especially since everyone in the cell witnessed them being gone for so long.

They hadn’t spoken before, leaving them now with no defense.

Under the mocking gazes, both felt perhaps death would’ve been the cleanest escape.

Tang Zan coldly shouted, "Silence, they are innocent!"

Everyone was momentarily cowed by Tang Zan’s outburst into silence, yet their eyes remained filled with skepticism.

Tang Zan, naturally perceptive, sensed the underlying emotions and disdain towards Tang Qingning and Liu Xu.

His suppressed rage and viciousness surged forth.

If he couldn’t prove Liu Xu and Tang Qingning’s innocence, he resolved to kill these people.

Then no one would know what truly occurred.

After all, they were nothing more than beasts wanting to see shame.

The path was treacherous.

He simply wanted to free them from this burden.

Pei Shu’er sensed Tang Zan’s rising murderous intent, a shiver running through her.

Tang Zan carried a sword now, and if he truly acted, few would manage to escape alive.

These people’s crime, though immense, was not deserving of death, even with their irritating mockery of the third household.

As someone from a peaceful era, witnessing executions at the drop of a hat unnerved her.

Killing truly wicked people was one thing, but those before her were pawns manipulated by Mrs. Li’s schemes.

Understanding that Tang Zan aimed to protect the third household, though his approach seemed radical.

Pei Shu’er bit her lip, delivering a harsh kick to the second master.

The second master glanced at her in fear.

This woman was more beautiful than any other present, yet also the most venomous.

A thriving mountain fortress, ruined by her hands alone.

Pei Shu’er said, "Tell us, did anything happen that day?"

She smirked, applying a blue ointment under the second master’s nose, a remedy for hallucinogenic drugs.

"It’s fine, remember carefully from the start."

Her voice was gentle, her tone slow, causing the second master to shiver inexplicably.

Initially in a muddled state, the second master’s mind cleared swiftly.

He looked up at Pei Shu’er, "I remember when I was about to sleep with two people, I suddenly smelled an intoxicating smoke, then these two women fainted, and I got another whiff of that smoke, before passing out myself."

"Then..."

Clutching his head in pain, his prior vivid dreams haze away with the antidote’s effect.

"Then... then I awoke on the bed, seeing Da Gao and Dwarf, along with the War Princess and War King’s daughter lying beside."

This statement led many to be somewhat convinced.

A woman observed, "No wonder, I thought their hairstyles weren’t disheveled at all, not like someone who’s been violated."

Mrs. Li stubbornly retorted, "I don’t believe it, now that second master’s in our hands, of course, he wouldn’t dare say anything extreme, else his life would be in peril."

Pei Shu’er laughed, "I knew you’d say that."

She looked towards several composed women, mostly of noble status.

She said, "When my stepmother and sister-in-law returned, I already had these ladies examine them."

Upon this reveal, Madam Ru shook her head in amusement.

"I see, you had us examine them to prove this point."

"Indeed, they showed no signs of any intimate encounter."

Mrs. Liao also spoke up.