READ WEBNOVEL Chapter 235: Determination
Chapter 235
Grandma Gu's eyes turned red with anger upon hearing these words.
As a modern person, she inherently refused to bow to ancient authority, and being cherished by Pei Changying, she had no need for caution. She took a few quick steps towards Lord Li and slapped him hard across the face.
Grandma Gu choked out, "You! You're so heartless! Your daughter is dead, yet you've been promoted!"
"Earlier, when your wife knelt on the ground begging me not to speak out and to protect you all, I kept quiet for Consort Li's sake."
"Now you're alive, but Consort Li is dead!"
"How cruel you are!"
Lord Li's face turned pale as he stepped back. His open mouth seemed to want to say something, but he was unable to make a sound.
Grandma Gu went up and slapped Lord Li twice more furiously, feeling indignant on Consort Li's behalf.
Lord Li, suppressing his anger, instinctively raised his hand to retaliate.
Seeing this, Gu Sang quickly stepped forward and delivered a hard slap to Lord Li's face.
Gu Sang's slap was so forceful that it caused Lord Li's ears to ring.
As Gu Sang raised her hand again, intending to give Lord Li's cheeks symmetrical treatment,
A voice that made one's skin crawl came from nearby.
"Sang Sang, you've really come back!"
Gu Sang's body stiffened, and her hair practically stood on end.
This was undoubtedly the voice she least wanted to hear in this lifetime.
But what could she do?
Things weren't going well, so she'd have to lay low and wait for rescue.
Pei Changying approached with his guards. When he saw Gu Sang standing before him, his eyes lit up brightly, as if beholding the world's most beautiful treasure.
"Haha! Good, Lord Li, you've done well."
"You've helped me find the Empress."
"Lord Li, I hereby promote you to Minister of the Privy Council."
At this moment, Lord Li's face was swollen on one side and covered in finger marks on the other. Hearing these words, he forgot about complaining and hurriedly knelt to express his gratitude.
"This subject thanks Your Majesty for the great honor. Long live the Emperor, long live, long live!"
Pei Changying looked at Gu Sang with devoted eyes, wanting to approach and speak with her, but remembering her personality, he stopped himself.
"Sang Sang, I've had delightful conversations with Grandma these past few days."
"Grandma even said that in your future world, it's one life, one love, one partner. So for your sake, I've already disbanded the harem."
"From now on, you'll be the only woman by my side. This time, I will treat you well, I promise."
To hell with your "one life, one love, one partner."
Those who have tasted light and freedom,
How can they face darkness?
Gu Sang coldly looked at Pei Changying and put forward her condition: "I don't need any of this. If you truly want to make amends, let my grandmother leave the palace!"
"Sang Sang, that's impossible. Without your grandmother, you'll certainly find a way to escape from me."
"I can only use your grandmother to keep you here."
Pei Changying's refusal was within Gu Sang's expectations. She felt no emotional response internally and even wanted to kill him.
Gu Sang smoothly proposed her next demand: "Fine, you know I'm willing to do anything for my grandmother, no matter how difficult."
"Anyone who tries to separate me from my grandmother, I'll fight them to the death."
"I've barely managed to bring my grandmother back to life. If you want to separate us, I'd rather destroy us both."
Pei Changying, fearing Gu Sang might do something reckless, hurriedly agreed: "Alright, alright, I won't separate you two."
"As long as you don't leave my side, you and your grandmother can live together."
Having negotiated the terms, Gu Sang grabbed her grandmother's hand and returned to Xuyang Palace with her.
-
Li Mansion.
The imperial edict of Lord Li's promotion quickly arrived at the Li Mansion. When Madam Li heard about her husband's promotion, there wasn't a trace of happiness on her face.
After the eunuch who delivered the edict left, Madam Li sat sorrowfully in the living room, waiting for her husband to return home.
"The Minister of the Privy Council has returned. In just a few days, you've been promoted repeatedly. How joyous and congratulatory."
Madam Li said with a cold face, using a sarcastic tone to congratulate her husband who had just returned home.
It wasn't hard to hear the underlying hatred in her voice.
Lord Li, already feeling humiliated by Gu Sang's mockery, now faced the same sarcastic tone from his own wife upon returning home.
Lord Li's face instantly darkened.
"What do you mean by this? Our daughter was killed by her own actions."
"If she had willingly handed over the Favored Consort's grandmother to the Emperor, she would have been one of the four consorts by now!"
"But she was foolish enough to help the Favored Consort. Did you think that just because the Favored Consort is from the future, she could oppose imperial power?"
"Unless all the soldiers from the future came here and could annihilate the entire country, how could the Favored Consort alone overthrow this imperial dynasty with thousands of years of history?"
Seeing her husband argue so confidently for his reasons, without a trace of guilt for their daughter on his face,
Madam Li's heart died.
She couldn't help but think, if she had let her family's merchant caravan take Grandma Gu to the plague-ridden city back then, perhaps the outcome would have been very different.
At that time, the Princess would have had no leverage to threaten her with, and could have led her army directly into the palace.
Pei Changying would have been deposed, and her daughter could have been sent home to reunite with her.
Unfortunately, one wrong step led to a series of mistakes.
Just as she had agreed with her husband's idea to send Grandma Gu to Pei Changying, naively thinking that even if the Emperor knew the truth, he would spare her daughter for their initiative in bringing the person to him.
But she never imagined that while the Li family would be promoted, her own daughter would be given a cup of poison.
Afterwards, people from the palace came to report her daughter's death...
And now, another promotion. What unconscionable deed had been done this time?
"Actually, I don't care how high of an official you become. What I loved was the ambitious young scholar from back then."
"Not the Lord Li of today who doesn't even have a conscience!"
"Even if you hadn't passed the imperial examination back then, since I had chosen you and married you, I wouldn't have regretted it. Even if you were just a poor scholar, I wouldn't have looked down on you."
"I had money and banks, I could have supported you and our children."
"Before, when your official rank was low, we were very happy."
"But now as your rank gets higher and higher, I feel you've changed. Changed to the point where you can be utterly heartless, where you can sacrifice anyone."
"This version of you frightens me. Being by your side now makes me feel utterly disgusted!"
Madam Li suddenly stood up, ignoring her husband's ugly expression, and ordered her personal maid to quickly pack her belongings. Then, without any lingering attachment, she left the Li Mansion.
Her daughter was already dead.
Her last attachment was gone as well...
Madam Li was originally the daughter of a wealthy merchant, unlike those sheltered young ladies. She had money in her hands, over a dozen properties, merchant caravans...