When they eventually approached, they saw a few women crying out loudly.
“Our daughter was unfilial and did not abide by a woman’s morals. She even broke all ties with us! Boohoo…”
“My fellow villagers, we need your judgment.”
“Our Qi family is so pitiable.”
Their miserable cries sounded as if they had lost their fathers and it got the surrounding onlookers feeling sorry for them. They sighed. ‘This daughter of the Qi family had actually broken off her ties with her parents. How inhuman!’
Li Qing had come out to town today to buy some things for the Lord Heir. In the end, just as he had completed his errands, he saw the yellow banners. ‘Qi family… the Qi family? Don’t tell me…’
Li Qing thought to himself that it could not possibly be what he was thinking.
For a moment he was dumbfounded, then he decided to go take a look. After rushing up to the scene, he could not help but frown when he heard the cries and complaints.
It seemed to be…
It was her they were talking about…
Li Qing quickly returned to the mansion. When he entered the plum garden, he found the Lord Heir standing in the plum garden with a cane in his hand. He walked around slowly and Li Qing immediately rushed up to him, “Sir, why have you come down?”
“I’m going to rust from laying down in bed the whole day!” Pei Fengtang reached out his hand and grabbed one of the plum branches. He inhaled the fragrance of the blossoms, then threw the branch onto the ground, stomping on it vehemently.
Li Qing said tentatively, “Lord Heir, I have news…that I am unsure if I should report.”
“?” Heir Pei narrowed his eyes at Li Qing, his lofty gaze seemed to be saying ‘if you don’t think it needs to be reported then don’t talk about it’.
Li Qing felt that ever since the Lord Heir’s constitution improved, his hostility had also become more prominent. It was as if his body had suppressed the accumulated anger over the years and it was now gradually teetering on the edge of combustion. He did not even want to talk about it anymore but since it concerned that particular lady, he braced himself and said, “It has something to do with the lady who treated you.”
“What’s wrong with her? Has she confessed to being Su Hexiao?” Heir Pei swept a lofty glance across the hazy sky, his tone light.
“No.” Li Qing did not dare to delay anymore. “I was on the street just now…”
Li Qing relayed the scene he had witnessed just now to Pei Fengtang succinctly. The Lord Heir listened till the end and his brows scrunched tightly into a thin line. Then, he spoke slowly.
“A person who is never content is like a snake who tries to swallow an elephant.”
Pei Fengtang pondered for a moment then said again, “Keep track of the situation. Should you need to lend her a hand, then do so.”
“Yes, sir.”
Li Qing finished, then turned and left.
The Lord Heir remained in the plum garden as he watched Li Qing retreat, a cloudy mist slowly forming in his eyes. He continued moving forward somewhat resentfully, exercising his extremely frail body.
Having laid down for years, his body had been very quickly falling apart. He was finally cured, but having endured long-standing corrosion due to the toxins, his physique had become extremely weak. It caused him some anxiety as well as annoyance. It seemed as if the more anxious he was to leave this cage, the more he could not!
Irritated, Heir Pei tossed aside his cane angrily.
He wanted to take a few more steps through sheer willpower but after having taken just seven to eight steps, his body began to sweat profusely. The soles of his feet became weak and he immediately fell to the ground.
The guards in the courtyard might have seemed far away but they had been keeping their eyes on the Lord Heir’s movements till the moment he fell. Several guards rushed over and lifted Pei Fengtang from the ground.
“Lord Heir, you mustn’t push yourself.”
“…”
Pei Fengtang remained silent as he was lifted by the guards. They supported him all the way back to the small, red sandalwood arhat bed inside and sat him down. A maid wiped his face and then changed his clothes. She even stuffed a warm little furnace into his hands.