Chapter 144: Chapter 108: The Break (Supplement 2/20)
The prodigious intelligence of Li Hao deeply impressed all the madams, but they had not expected it to be so miraculous.
If it hadn’t been for the fact that they were in the Divine General Mansion, with an extremely acute sense of demons and certain exceptional conditions, they might have thought Li Hao had been possessed by someone else.
However, such individuals with extraordinary memory from birth were not unheard of.
Therefore, beneath their shock, they couldn’t help but turn their gaze towards Liu Yue Rong.
At this moment, Liu Yue Rong’s heart was icing over, trembling within. She realized that this monstrous child must have remembered the incident since he was very young.
But the other party remembered it clearly, and yet, over the years, he had always maintained a smile in front of her, responding innocently to her caring inquiries.
Even, the child would occasionally give her things to eat, and although they did not taste particularly good, they seemed to demonstrate filial affection.
Turns out.
It was all an act?!
Liu Yue Rong had always considered herself to be quite shrewd, but she didn’t expect that this child, who had grown up without the guidance of his parents, could actually achieve this extent.
Monster! Demon!
Liu Yue Rong was terrified in her heart, but upon feeling the gaze of others upon her, her mind quickly cleared, knowing that she absolutely could not admit to it now, or else Qianfeng’s future would truly be ruined.
“This is your evidence?!”
Liu Yue Rong couldn’t help but scoff, saying, “What a deep plot. The words you speak are full of holes!”
She looked at the people around her, saying, “This kind of thing, he could easily learn by casually asking Zhao from the Mountain and River Courtyard. It’s not anything special, and you call this evidence?”
She looked at Li Hao, saying, “You claim that I poisoned you back then, why didn’t you go and report to the senior madam? Why didn’t you say anything at that time?!”
Upon hearing this, people felt there was some validity to it.
If Li Hao had been just a child back then and had said something like this, coupled with the fact that he later failed to awaken the Divine Blood, everyone would naturally have no doubts.
But the Li Hao of now… although still a youth, he was no longer a child.
If he were two or three years old, with an innate innocence and too young to understand, his words would carry a high degree of credibility. But the current Li Hao was a young man capable of competing for the title of True Dragon!
He already had the ability to lie and fabricate.
Seeing her quibble, Li Hao said with a cold voice, “Even if I had said something back then, before I started cultivating and before awakening the Divine Blood, who would have believed a child’s words? You could easily claim that the child was speaking out of turn, unknowingly influenced by some servant, and then find a servant to take the fall!”
“But with my parents not by my side, once I exposed this matter, you would surely try to harm me again. How could I defend myself?!”
Liu Yue Rong angrily retorted, “After all is said and done, you have no evidence, just creating fabrications with your mouth here!”
Indeed, Li Hao had no concrete evidence. After all, too many years had passed since the incident, and when she made him take the poison, she was well-prepared for the fallout. Thus, despite repeated health check-ups over the years, he couldn’t detect any problems.
Not a single trace left!
The only proof he could offer was to use his own memory to verify the truth of his words.
But as Liu Yue Rong said, such matters were controversial, and Li Hao had anticipated this, so he planned to take action first and report later during the True Dragon conflict—either to depose or kill his son. Unexpectedly, he was thwarted.
He Jianlan glanced at Li Hao and then at Liu Yue Rong, her eyes slowly turning cold.
Li Hao was like a child she had watched grow up, and despite the shock from his performance and words today, she still chose to believe in Li Hao.
The other ladies hesitated, their expressions uncertain. With no evidence, the matter became a debate with each side claiming righteousness.
Moreover, if what Li Hao said was true, recalling his acts over the years, a chill rose in their hearts—this child’s thoughts were too profound!
Li Qingzheng’s gaze was fixed on Li Hao, but realization dawned within him. His contact with Li Hao was deeper than any of these young ladies. Chess Tao reflects the person, so naturally, he believed Li Hao’s words.
Chen Hefang had just left seclusion and was not very knowledgeable about these matters. Although she had quietly observed some things over the years, she only had a superficial understanding. Now confronted with this shocking secret, she realized that not only was she in the dark, but even He Jianlan, who had been managing the nine courtyards, was unaware.
Looking at the youth, her eyes were complex, perhaps showing a certain fondness. Something about the youth always reminded her of Jiulang, making her, against her will, favor him a bit more.
“You say I wasted your Divine Blood. When your father sent a message from the Frontier Pass, everyone learned that he had attained Immortality at twenty-three!”
Seeing the silence in the Mountain and River Courtyard and everyone seemingly lost in silence and contemplation, Liu Yue Rong bit her lip and said, “Before that, who could have known about your father’s situation, or the possibility that you had Divine Blood awakening within you?!”
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the people present subtly changed. Indeed.
Unless Liu Yue Rong had known in advance, but that depended on whether Li Tian Gang had ever revealed it to her.
In an instant, all eyes in the courtyard turned to Li Tian Gang.
Li Tian Gang’s face was sullen; his eyes filled with rage. Facing the gazes from everyone, he understood their meaning.
Even though Li Hao was his son, he couldn’t show favoritism. Having led the Ministry of Punishment for many years, he had always valued the law and order from childhood!
Without law, there can be no Tao. Only with strict laws can there be continuity!
“My sister-in-law should not know about my situation,” Li Tian Gang said solemnly.
Hearing him say this, Liu Yue Rong couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief and said, “At least you, Li Tian Gang, have some conscience. It looks like Qianfeng’s injury may not have been instigated by you. Could it be that he contacted someone and concocted this story!”
Li Hao’s expression suddenly turned somber, glaring at his father:
“Have you really never exposed anything in her presence, or anywhere else? She must have known; I heard it with my own ears. How could it be false?!”
Li Tian Gang, upon hearing Li Hao’s accusation, couldn’t help but look at him. At this moment, he too was recalling the past. His attainment of Immortality was extremely secretive, and he had not informed anyone, except his own wife knew.
But his wife had been by his side for many years, and besides, her talent and intelligence were greater than his. How could she have leaked it?
Seeing Li Tian Gang’s silence, disappointment that Li Hao couldn’t hide appeared in his eyes.
If others didn’t believe him, he could understand, but even his father didn’t believe him and didn’t even have the heart to show any favoritism!
But then, Li Hao laughed at himself internally.
Fourteen years apart, where would the affection come from? Apart from blood ties, what else was there like father and son?
Favoritism? Why favoritism? Could it be he was hoping for familial affection based on blood ties?
“Talking nonsense, trying to kill Qianfeng under this pretense, what a vicious heart!”
Liu Yue Rong looked at the lone, silent young man in the field, her eyes flashing coldness: “Moreover, even if we step back and say this is a dispute between you and me, how can you be so ruthless to your own cousin?!”
“Has Qianfeng ever offended you!”
Li Hao came to his senses, his gaze suddenly became icy cold, staring at her intently: “Whether he knows about this matter or not, I don’t care. He owes you a debt of gratitude, and he must bear the consequences!”
“Originally, I only intended to cripple him, but he made the first move to kill!”
“Today, neither you nor your son will leave!”
Seeing Li Hao’s murderous aura, everyone’s faces subtly changed.
Liu Yue Rong laughed mockingly, saying, “Very well, Li Tian Gang, is this the son you have raised, so utterly lawless? Are you just going to let him bully us, a widowed mother and her orphan?”
“Your second brother Feng Ping once took a sword strike for you!”
“Without that sword strike, you would have died long ago!”
Her eyes, burning with anger, stared at Li Tian Gang: “If it weren’t for blocking that sword for you, causing your second brother to be injured, how could he have ended up dead?”
Li Tian Gang was shaken, his pupils slightly narrowed, and his breathing became ragged.
“Your son captured the True Dragon, and now he dares to be so rampant and insolent. If this continues, I fear not the demons will kill the entire Li residence, but rather he will!”
Liu Yue Rong spoke these words filled with hatred as if they were meant to kill.
“Exactly!”
Everyone was silent, but suddenly a clear voice emanated from the crowd.
Li Fenghua abruptly looked up to see who it was, ready to scold, but then he saw his daughter Li Rumeng crying and running over, with a bright red mark of a handprint on her face.
He couldn’t help but change color, asking, “Who did this to you?”
Anger was already gathering in his eyes, for he adored this daughter of his to extremes.
Li Rumeng turned her head and pointed at Li Hao, angrily saying, “It was him, he’s arrogant and domineering. I simply couldn’t stand it just now and spoke a few words, and he hit me!”
“If it weren’t for Brother Mingguang and the others being there, he probably would have killed your daughter!”
“Brother Mingguang and the others can testify to this.”
Hearing his daughter’s words, everyone looked shocked and turned their gaze towards Li Hao and Li Mingguang.
Li Mingguang was also taken aback. Although he was angry with Li Hao, they all witnessed the incident of Li Hao slapping Li Rumeng and knew it was Li Rumeng who was rude first. Li Hao did indeed act to teach her a lesson, but it didn’t seem as serious as Li Rumeng claimed.
Facing the gazes of the crowd, he hesitated.
He Jianlan immediately asked, “Is that so, if you were there, why didn’t you stop it?”
Li Mingguang bowed his head and said, “Cousin Li Hao indeed acted, it was too sudden, and I didn’t expect it, I couldn’t react in time, but… ”
Before he could finish speaking, a crisp sound suddenly interrupted him.
A bright red handprint appeared on Li Hao’s face!
Everyone in the entire courtyard was stunned, turning to look at the person who had struck the blow, it turned out to be Li Tian Gang!
And this slap was extremely harsh; even with Li Hao’s physique, blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and he staggered several steps backward.
Li Hao’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the tall and burly man before him.
But what he saw was a pair of eyes filled with anger and authority.
“You are simply too lawless!”
Li Tian Gang said angrily, “Associating with fools and meddling with prostitutes, you’ve even shamed us by visiting brothels. I don’t know how you’ve been living these past few years!”
“Everyone dotes on you, loves you, and out of respect for me, no one dares to discipline you!”
“Today, I will take it upon myself to teach you a lesson!”
“Only a few days ago, I thought you had become more compliant, reigned in your temper, but today, just after obtaining the True Dragon, do you think no one can control you anymore?!”
As he spoke, he took another step towards Li Hao.
Li Qingzheng’s expression changed, saying, “Tiangang, this matter still needs to be investigated thoroughly, we should think this through, and as for Rumeng’s situation…”
“Uncle Five, don’t interfere, this is my own family business!”
Li Tian Gang did not turn around, but his voice was ice cold.
Li Qingzheng was taken aback.
“Uncle…” Bian Ruxue ran over, her face trembling with shock, trying to plead for Li Hao.
Meanwhile, a white figure suddenly leapt out, dashing in front of Li Hao as if to protect him, it was the little white fox.
Fear was evident in its eyes, but it still stared directly at Li Tian Gang, its fur bristled, and it bared its teeth slightly.
“Outrageous, even this cursed beast dares to be lawless!”
Li Tian Gang, enraged, waved his hand dismissively, and a force swept out, striking the little white fox.
The white fox yelped as its body crashed heavily against the courtyard wall, breaking through it and falling far away like a kite with its string cut, its fate unknown.
Li Hao’s pupils shrank instantly to the size of pinholes as he came back to his senses.
But the next moment, his mind exploded as if struck by thunder, and his eyes turned bloodshot.
“Li Tian Gang!!!”
The youth let out a sky-shaking roar, his eyes almost splitting with fury as he glared at the man.
An aura as deep and vast as the ocean burst forth from his body, sweeping up a tornado on the spot, sending all the dust swirling into the air.