“Difficult, is there really no other way?” Wang Xiangru’s face was pale as she sat below.
Her husband, Li Fenghua, had also rushed back from Cangzhou with troops. In the previous battle defending Qingzhou, he had nearly fallen and was now seriously injured, yet to recover, looking wan and sapped of strength.
Li Xiaoran gave her a cold glance, not paying her any heed, instead fixing his gaze on Li Tian Gang.
Li Tian Gang’s face was ghastly, having not expected that in just over a month, the Li Family would be brought to such a dire strait.
“I will go and request the ancestral blood ritual now!”
Li Tian Gang clenched his back teeth slightly and rose to speak.
He glanced at Li Xiaoran, wanting to say something to his Fourth Uncle, but the latter’s gaze was ice cold, treating him like a stranger, which caused him a pang of heartache.
He knew why.
When he previously returned with his wife Ji Qingqing, he had also honestly revealed the news about Li Hao to everyone—he had not managed to bring Li Hao back, and Li Hao had died because of him.
This news stunned Li Muxiu and Li Xiaoran, among others. That day, roars of fury erupted from the Divine General Mansion, and several rooms in the Mountain and River Courtyard were smashed to pieces—only the room where the young man once lived remained intact.
Overnight, Li Muxiu seemed to have aged over a decade and had not spoken another half word to Li Tian Gang since. Li Xiaoran, whenever he saw Li Tian Gang, also had that icy look in his eyes, as if seeing a stranger, which grieved Li Tian Gang.
Li Tian Gang walked forward, and Li Xiaoran merely stepped aside slightly, neither speaking.
The others were all silent, already accustomed to this, as these days whenever Li Xiaoran came looking for Li Tian Gang, it was only for matters regarding Liangzhou’s battle reports, and each time he bore a cold tone.
They vividly remembered the explosion of anger at the Mountain and River Courtyard on the day they learned of Li Hao’s death. That most temperamental elder, who had the deepest bond with Li Hao, ignoring the repercussions of breaking the Li Family’s Sacred Soul Oath and injuring himself, had severely slapped Li Tian Gang several times, coughing up blood himself.
You must know that at that time, demons were still attacking Qingzhou, and it was needed for that second uncle to be in command.
Only then did they realize just how profound the second uncle’s affection was for that child, so deep that he would let himself be driven by grief to ignore the entire grand scheme.
However, it wasn’t just Li Muxiu who was in sorrow at that time; many of them also felt dispirited. Although the child was not from their own family, he was nonetheless a lineage of the Li Family, a glory of the Li Family, but due to some misunderstandings at that time, it was now too late for any reconciliation or remedy.
“This time with the ancestral blood appeal, let’s see if your precious children will come back!”
He Jianlan glanced at Li Xiangru, her eyes ice cold.
If it were any other day, she would have considered three parts face, mindful of her position as the chief lady of the house, to avoid gossip about her bullying the other wives relying on her status as a chief daughter-in-law.
Moreover, the clans of these wives were also serving officials in the court, too many people with loose tongues.
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But ever since knowing Li Hao had died, on top of the current situation in Qingzhou, the numerous angers she had been holding back in her heart could no longer be concealed.
After that incident, in her moments of leisure, she often felt heartache and regret, frequently reflecting that rather than blaming Liu Yue Rong, the truly most hateful was this Ms Wang’s indulgence of her children.
Wang Xiangru had always prevented her children from joining others on the martial training grounds to practice, spoiling them arrogantly, leading her children to have no emotional bond or relationship with their peers like Li Hao, Li Yuanzhao, or Li Zhining; this also resulted in her daughter’s lack of manners, offending Li Hao’s mother and getting angrily slapped by Li Hao.
And during the peak of conflicts in that courtyard, Li Rumeng’s tearful complaints were like the final push, completely tearing father and son apart, driving them to opposite sides.
Within all of this, Li Tian Gang’s extraordinary paranoia, Liu Yue Rong’s foolish malice, as well as Wang Xiangru’s coddling indulgence of her children, all led to that great battle erupting, and the one who ended up bearing it all was that lonely and unsupported child.
Every time He Jianlan thought of this, her heart ached and she couldn’t bear to shed tears, hating that she hadn’t been aware of what she was doing at the time to prevent any of it.
The reason was also that everything was so abrupt then; one thing after another happened, all beyond anyone’s expectation, no one could have predicted the outcome.
At the moment, hearing He Jianlan’s icy voice, Wang Xiangru’s face changed slightly. Since Li Tian Gang brought back Li Hao’s death news, now her status in the Divine General Mansion seemed to have become the second Liu Yue Rong, just that Liu Yue Rong was locked away, while she was still outside, forced to always read the faces of others; this made her harbor a boiling rage inside.
“Elder sister, what do you mean by that? If Jiang Ying and Rumeng feel the call of the ancestral blood, they will surely return, unless something entangles them.”
Wang Xiangru said angrily.
He Jianlan chuckled coldly, “Then let’s just wait and see!”
Hearing the mockery in her words, Wang Xiangru angrily said, “Elder sister wants them to come back only to face death together? In the current situation, they haven’t even reached the Heavenly Human Realm, even if they come back, what use would it be?”
Upon saying this, the faces of the other mistresses also changed slightly, looking coldly at her.
After the Li Hao incident, they were not stupid; reflecting on the major event afterward, they all realized the deadly impact of Wang Xiangru’s daughter’s slander at that time.
They were one of the vicious beasts that drove Li Hao away, and Wang Xiangru’s coddling over the years was also infamously well-known. Back in the day, they were secretly displeased, at most keeping to themselves, but now it had brewed a disaster; currently, Wang Xiangru’s words were an even bigger problem!
“If everyone thought like you, then all the soldiers could be dismissed, and you can go as well.”