The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 790: Death Is Not Far Away (5)_1

Chapter 790: Chapter 790: Death Is Not Far Away (5)_1

Lady Zhu cursed angrily, "Useless wretch! Get the hell back home! Otherwise, I’ll divorce your wretched ass!"

Lady Chen wanted to run again, but in her current state, without anyone to help or save her, she couldn’t get far, much less make it to the capital Jingcheng.

When she sought Pei Qian, she saw that the latter had already returned with her maids and guards.

Lady Chen screamed for help, but Lady Zhu grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back home, then locked her up, forbidding her to go out again.

However, it wasn’t long before Lady Chen’s family received the news and came to see her.

Upon seeing her relatives, Lady Chen cried like she was seeing her saviors, non-stop.

Grandma Chen immediately demanded an explanation, "My daughter has always been fine, how did she suddenly become mute?"

Pei Wenlee had been married off to the capital Jingcheng, and Pei Wenli was also in Jingcheng, supposedly helping with tasks for the Crown Prince’s Chancellery. Faced with people from the Chen family, Lady Zhu was somewhat courteous. She explained that Lady Chen had suffered a fright and was now somewhat mentally disturbed and not thinking clearly.

Grandma Chen was infuriated and wanted to take Lady Chen away.

But Lady Zhu disagreed with taking Lady Chen away, and Old Pei was also adamantly opposed.

Grandma Chen thus demanded to stay and take care of Lady Chen, settling in and refusing to leave.

Lady Zhu couldn’t just throw her out and had to watch her assertively moving in.

Lady Chen breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that with her mother here, they wouldn’t dare to kill her outright to silence her.

Soon, Pei Wenli returned home.

Neither Old Pei nor Lady Zhu had expected Pei Wenli to come back.

Lady Chen also never expected it; she grabbed her eldest son and cried incessantly.

Upon seeing her state, Pei Wenli’s face grew extremely unsightly. On his way back, he had already heard the rumors that Pei Wensheng had smothered his half-brother to death, and their mother, who had caught him, covered for Pei Wensheng. Yet, in a twist of fate, Pei Wensheng died from the vengeful spirit’s claim, and their mother, too, was haunted by the spirit, losing all her hair and the clarity of her sight, and most bizarrely, suddenly became mute overnight.

Old Pei offered a simple clarification.

Without asking further, Pei Wenli simply stated, "I came back this time to take my mother to Jingcheng to see a doctor." If something really happened to his mother, he would have to observe mourning for three years and wouldn’t even be able to participate in the next imperial examination, let alone acquire official status or reputation.

Upon hearing this, Lady Zhu’s face dropped, "Just to let your mother enjoy the good life!?"

"Grandmother! Given my mother’s current condition, we can’t expect you to take care of her, nor can we watch her condition worsen. If something unexpected happens, neither my siblings nor I could bear it. Doctors from both Yuanyang County and Fu City have seen her and couldn’t cure her, so I’ll take her to Jingcheng to have her checked," Pei Wenli said impassively.

Lady Zhu also wanted to go, as she had long wished to have her missing teeth fixed, but there were no skilled doctors in Yuanyang County who could repair them. The gap in her teeth was a source of ridicule? when she went out. Additionally, if their whole family went to Jingcheng, wouldn’t that mean they were all enjoying the good life and leaving the two old folks behind? With that thought, Lady Zhu’s face sullenly twisted, and she started to complain tearfully, "All of you have left, abandoning us two old folks! How are we supposed to live on our own? You’ve gone to live in luxury and glory, leaving us behind!"

"Grandmother! We’re not going to live in luxury and splendor! In Jingcheng, we’re also just renting a few cheap rooms, squeezed into living in a communal courtyard. Business at the noodle shop, as promoted by Fang Liuming and Fang Fuxuan, is very slow, and we’re barely making any money. If it hadn’t been for my mother suddenly turning like this at home, I wouldn’t have come back to fetch her. Regardless of what’s happened, the priority is to get my mother cured. You have a big house here, you have grains and meat to eat, and you have my uncle and aunt’s family to take care of you. Honestly, if you went to Jingcheng, you wouldn’t be able to stand it," Pei Wenli finished, then mentioned that they hadn’t brought much money when they went and barely had enough for decent rice. He also hoped to get some silver to take with them.

Lady Zhu’s face darkened with anger.

However, Old Pei had no desire to leave, "Being at home is a thousand times better than struggling abroad. If you can take care of yourselves and pursue a career, that is enough! As long as you have filial piety, you don’t have to be physically present, you can practice filial piety from anywhere."

Grandma Chen was also thrilled at the prospect. If her daughter’s family was well-off, they would no longer be suppressed by the second house. Her daughter’s current state was all the second house’s doing! She urged Pei Wenli to quickly pack and take Lady Chen to Jingcheng for treatment.

Lady Chen hastily packed all her valuable dowry items that she could take with her, including Pei Houli’s secretly stashed silver.

In the few years that Pei Zongli served as a lecturer, he did not amass a small fortune, and Pei Houli also benefited a lot from it. He didn’t let Lady Chen keep any, but she found his hidden stash.

Having packed all valuables, Lady Chen urged Pei Wenli to leave hastily, fearing that Qian Wanxiu might hear of her departure and send someone to assassinate her.

After packing, Pei Wenli said his goodbyes to the family and left with Lady Chen for Jingcheng.

Lady Zhu cursed loudly several times at home.

Pei Qian also cursed a few times, "Now that Lady Chen has run away, would Lady Qian, that poisonous woman, still dare to attack!?" She was waiting for Lady Chen to die so she could kill Qian Wanxiu too! No matter who did it, she wanted to kill Qian Wanxiu, that vile and poisonous wretch!

"What do you think?" Pei Qin looked at her.

Pei Qian indeed wished to kill Lady Chen, directly framing Qian Wanxiu to let them taste what it’s like to be wrongfully accused and framed!

With Lady Chen headed to Jingcheng, she would only bring the news there. Although killing a half-brother wasn’t uncommon in Jingcheng’s inner chambers, it was definitely enough to cause them a lot of trouble.

Lady Chen... her days were numbered!