Chapter 60 How He Is Going to Die

As soon as Lady Liang stepped outside, her face turned completely pitch black.

Pei Yanzhou followed closely behind her right rear. After walking out for about the distance of an archery shot, Lady Liang looked back and lowered her voice to ask, "When you went there, what was the situation actually like?"

She could not bear to question Chuchu directly.

With her hands in that state, one could easily imagine that the situation could not possibly have been good. When she had just returned, there were still bloodstains on her face.

To make Chuchu speak of it herself once more would be no different from cutting pieces of flesh from her own body.

Yet Lady Liang could not let the matter rest in her heart.

Pei Yanzhou seemed to have anticipated that she would ask. Following her for another stretch, just as they turned past the moon gate, he spoke in a solemn voice, recounting the circumstances of rescuing her one by one. Finally, he added, "Our cousin is a resolute and steadfast young lady; she would never sit back and await her doom. You can infer much simply by seeing the injuries on her hands."

Heartbroken, Lady Liang cursed, "That damned scoundrel!"

She had originally intended to go straight to the Li residence.

As for trash like Li Ziyang, whatever action she took would only soil her own hands.

Moreover, she figured that Jingxing and his brother would not let him off lightly either.

Yet, having heard the truth firsthand, she found the bitterness impossible to swallow. With a cold snort, she said, "Take me to see him first."

Pei Yanzhou hesitated for a fraction of a second. "He took a beating, and his person is filthy... Madam Chai might not even recognize him if she saw him now. Do you still wish to go over?"

Lady Liang was slightly startled. "Was this Jingxing's doing?"

Pei Yanzhou shook his head. "The attendants were filled with righteous indignation and took action after capturing him. In any case, our cousin is the young lady of our household, and his conduct was utterly despicable; he thoroughly deserved it."

Lady Liang knew better in her heart.

What actions would the guards take on their own? Servants would never act arbitrarily without an order from their masters. If they were bound to do such a thing, it meant they had accurately guessed their master's intentions and acted on his behalf.

When Pei Yanzhou refused to admit it, Lady Liang gave him a couple of extra looks, then dismissed the thought. "Didn't he lay hands on Chuchu?"

A dark shadow crossed Pei Yanzhou's eyes. "The men below were furious and have already broken his hands."

Lady Liang understood. She murmured in contemplation, "Then we won't go. Such a person..."

Her face was filled with utter disdain, and her eyes held even greater contempt. "Go call Jingxing. We are going to the Li residence."

***

The Li household had long been thrown into complete chaos.

Ever since Chai had been forced to hand over her storefronts as compensation to Liang Shanru, the family had not enjoyed a single day of peace.

As long as Li Mingshan was at home, Chai would pester and make a scene with him. If he did not return home, she would send people scouring all over the city to search for him, utterly unconcerned about becoming a laughingstock to outsiders.

Today, fueled by a blood-stained garment, Chai was hounding Li Mingshan relentlessly without end.

The blood-stained garment, of course, belonged to Li Ziyang.

Not long after Pei Yanzhou rescued Liang Shanru, he instructed his subordinates to give Li Ziyang a severe beating, even cutting him in non-fatal areas, causing Li Ziyang to pass out from the pain on several occasions.

Then, he had that blood-stained garment stripped from Li Ziyang's body and delivered right to the doorstep of the Li residence.

Upon hearing that Lady Liang had arrived at their door with the two Pei brothers, Chai, whose mind worked quickly, slammed her hand down on the table and rose to her feet. "I said that Liuqang's blood-stained garment was inseparable from her, but you kept insisting that Lady Liang was not that kind of person, and that the Duke of Xinguo's estate would certainly not raise their children in such a manner!

You babbled on about how since they were compensated with shops, they wouldn't make things difficult for Liulang. Look at this, just look at it!

Could there ever be such a coincidence? They've come straight to our house. Could it be that they're here to return my shops?"

With a cold sneer, Chai turned on her heel and strode away. "I want to see what she's trying to pull! If she doesn't return Liulang to me safe and sound, I'll drag her to the magistrate's yamen myself!"

She had always been domineering, acting as though the gates of the yamen were opened exclusively for her.

Sensing disaster, Li Mingshan muttered to himself that things looked grim. Yet no matter how he had tried to dissuade her earlier, she refused to listen. Now, she was bound to offend the Duke's estate, and those storefronts had been compensated for in vain as well.

Liulang had been dissolute for more than a day or two. Since those people could secretly spread rumors around the city to provoke trouble, why couldn't they use this opportunity to retaliate against Liulang and stir up further conflict?

Li Mingshan hurried after her in a trot, finally catching up with Chai just outside the main hall.

He grabbed her by the wrist. "If you go storming in like this, you're going to ruin everything!"

Chai cared not a whit whether their guests had already been invited into the main hall; her entire mind was consumed by Li Ziyang's blood-stained garment and her son who had yet to return home.

With a flick of her arm, she even shoved Li Mingshan backward. "You're afraid of the Duke of Xinguo's estate, but I am not! The Chai family isn't afraid either!

They'd better return my precious son to me safe and sound today, or else none of us will have peace!

Just look at your pathetic spinelessness. How on earth did I ever marry you? You've been a coward your entire life, not even daring to demand justice for your son.

If you don't dare, then don't try to stop me! Whoever hurt my son, I will make them pay with their life!"

"How formidable of Madam Chai. Just how do you propose I pay with my life for Li Ziyang?"

***

Pei Yanzhou's voice drifted in from the doorway.

Li Mingshan and Chai looked up simultaneously, only to see him standing with his hands behind his back right inside the threshold of the main hall, having apparently emerged after overhearing the couple's conversation just moments before.

Because these very words constituted an admission of injuring Li Ziyang, Chai was instantly about to fly into a rage.

However, before she could begin her shrieking, Pei Jingxing also strolled out from the room, standing shoulder to shoulder with Pei Yanzhou, gazing at them with a face full of fury. "You must include me as well. Is Madam Chai planning to slice us into a thousand pieces or what? Pay with our lives—"

He let out a sneer, as if he had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world. "Madam Chai certainly has a lot of nerve, expecting us brothers to pay with our lives for a brute like Li Ziyang."

As a young gentleman raised on the study of the sages and classics, he truly did not know many harsh curses; this tirade was already the most infuriating and venomous he could possibly muster.

True to form, Chai lunged forward. Had Li Mingshan not been quick-eyed and fast-handed, she likely would have clawed at Pei Jingxing's face. "So it really was you! It was you who harmed my Liulang!

Let go of me, you coward! Let go of me, I'm going to kill them..."

"According to Madam Chai's logic, if my brother and I had taken Li Ziyang's life today, we ought to pay for it with our lives. Then, if Li Ziyang committed heinous acts and injured others, shouldn't he likewise pay for it with his life?"

Even though Pei Yanzhou knew she could not possibly reach Pei Jingxing, he nevertheless raised his long arm, creating a physical barrier in front of Pei Jingxing. "What goes around comes around—is that what Madam Chai means?"

Li Mingshan still retained a shred of rationality. The moment he heard these words, he knew something grave had happened. Now, observing the posture of Pei Yanzhou and Pei Jingxing, it indeed looked much more like they had come to demand justice, just as they had when visiting days prior.

His heart skipped a beat. "What does Your Lordship mean by this? Did Liulang do something to offend or trespass against someone?"

"What nonsense are you spearing? Liulang's blood-stained garment is still lying right on your desk, and you ask who Liulang offended? Let go of me!"

"In broad daylight, abducting a noble lady, attempting to ruin her purity to force a marriage, and coveting her family's properties—Lord Li, do I need to spell it out any clearer?" Pei Yanzhou forced these words out through clenched teeth.

Whenever he thought of the target of Li Ziyang's actions being Liang Shanru, his blood boiled, and to be able to stand here and speak of it with even a semblance of calm control was an immense struggle.

Darkness danced before Li Mingshan's eyes; how could he possibly fail to understand?

Even Chai grasped the meaning at last, wrenching herself free from Li Mingshan's restraint. "You can say whatever you please! I..."

"We caught them red-handed. My third brother and I rescued her ourselves, and Li Ziyang confessed to it with his own mouth. Instead of wasting time with sophistry, Madam Chai would do better to consider just how Li Ziyang ought to die in order to offer even a fraction of compensation?"