CH 271

Chapter 271 – My Son Has Facial Paralysis (part 2)

“Empress Dowager!” Li Su tugged at the corner of the empress dowager’s clothes and looked at her eagerly.

“We are afraid that you will regret it in the future!” The empress dowager stretched out her hand and pulled her up, then asked Li Su to sit down beside her again.

“No! I won’t regret it!” Li Su said with bright eyes.

“You don’t understand! No matter how powerful a woman is, she will eventually return to the family. Besides, if you don’t get married, won’t the Li family end?” The empress dowager sighed. “Well, if you have someone you like in the future, as long as he isn’t a traitor, you can come and tell Us and We will call the shots for you.”

Li Su smiled. “Empress Dowager has forgotten that my father was not my grandfather’s child. He was the son of an officer and was adopted by my grandfather. I will follow my grandfather’s example in the future. My father said that as long as the spirit of the Li family is there, the Li family will never end!”

The empress dowager couldn’t help but laugh when she thought of General Li’s life history. How could she forget this? “Okay, just do what you want!”

“Thank you, Empress Dowager!” Li Su smiled.

“Just stay at Peaceful Age Palace tonight! You don’t need to come forward for the rest of the matter. We will handle it. Zhao Tianfu.” The empress dowager smiled.

Zhao Tianfu, the chief eunuch of Peaceful Age Palace, bowed and said, “Yes, this servant will follow the orders.”

After the empress dowager came forward, Li Su didn’t need to worry about the future. Next, she only needed to quickly find Li Chen, the cheap son who was taciturn and gloomy, and who finally died for the original owner’s revenge.

In the story, when the original owner and Jiang Hewen got married, Jiang Hewen was also late. He said that he drank too much. He was afraid that the smell of alcohol would bother her, and so he took some time to bathe and change outside.

The original owner had no doubts. The two successfully consummated their marriage in their chamber.

Jiang Hewen was gentle, considerate, and caring to the original owner. The original owner was well protected by her parents and had a simple temperament. It didn’t take long for her to be enamoured with Jiang Hewen. In addition, she wasn’t very healthy, so she handed over her dowry, people and things, as well as the network resources left by her father, to Jiang Hewen to handle.

It took Jiang Hewen three years to quietly change all the people around her, and for him to steal her dowry for his own. The original host had no children for three years after they married. Jiang Hewen resisted the pressure and did not take a concubine. He said that he would not adopt a few children to raise. The original owner was very moved, so she adopted a boy named Li Chen. Jiang Hewen also adopted a son and a daughter. The family was harmonious and beautiful, and their days were warm and happy.

A few years later, the original owner’s health deteriorated and she finally died of a disease.

Jiang Hewen had maintained filial piety for the original owner for three years before he married a daughter of a small family in the south, Mrs. Xue. Although she was a little older because she was a widow, she was gentle and generous. She took care of the children and was praised by everyone. Soon after the marriage, Mrs. Xue became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Jiang Hewen’s adopted son and daughter liked their stepmother and younger brother very much, and the family lived happily together.

Only Li Chen had been suspicious of his adoptive mother’s death, and had been secretly investigating the cause of his adoptive mother’s death. The investigation finally led him to find out that this stepmother, Mrs. Xue, was actually Su Ruxue who had passed away a few years ago! She was Jiang Hewen’s second older sister-in-law. They had hooked up for a long time, and the son and daughter that Jiang Hewen adopted were actually his and Su Ruxue’s children.

The reason why his adoptive mother, Li Su, became weak and sickly and could not bear children was also because Jiang Hewen put medicine in Li Su’s food.

In fact, most of the Jiang family already knew what was going on as early as when Mrs. Xue came into the house. However, now that Jiang Hewen, who was useful to the emperor, had a high position, and was the head of the Jiang family, plus the fact that Jiang Hewen’s eldest brother had no son, and Jiang Hewen promised to let his eldest brother adopt his youngest son, the Jiang family chose to turn a blind eye.

Li Chen was shocked and angry when he learned the truth. He was determined to avenge his mother. He found old servants from his adoptive mother and wanted to file a lawsuit against Jiang Hewen to expose the true face of Jiang Hewen. Unexpectedly, the news leaked. When Jiang Hewen found out, he strangled Li Chen, pushed him into the river, and made it appear that Li Chen had drowned.

In fact, when the original owner was alive, because of Jiang Hewen’s words and Li Chen’s gloomy and unpleasant personality, she did not like Li Chen as much.  Li Chen was seven or eight years old when he was adopted. Under Jiang Hewen’s intentional or unintentional hints, the original owner felt that the child was not well-raised, so she and Li Chen were not close, and she preferred the two children Jiang Hewen adopted.

But in the end, this child paid the price with his life for her.

In this life, Li Su had transmigrated to become the original owner, so Jiang Hewen and the Jiang family should stop thinking about continuing to drink her blood and climb up on her bones!

This night, Li Su slept well.

When she woke up, Eunuch Zhao had put the divorce agreement in front of her and the empress dowager. “The County Princess’ guards have brought back the County Princess’ dowry. This servant has gone to count it, and it is not bad at all.”

The empress dowager smiled with satisfaction, and Li Su also smiled and said, “Thank you for running this errand for me. I’ll invite you to drink tea.” Then, in front of the empress dowager, she gave Eunuch Zhao a purse.

Eunuch Zhao was stunned and looked at the empress dowager. This was too direct! As the eunuch in charge of Peaceful Age Palace, and the eunuch beside the empress dowager, there were not many people who gave him gifts. There was also no one who directly gave him things like County Princess Li.

The empress dowager and the others laughed.

Li Su pretended to be baffled. “Did I do something wrong?”

The empress dowager smiled and said, “Zhao Tianfu, just accept it!”

After the empress dowager spoke, Eunuch Zhao took the purse and bowed. “This servant thanks County Princess for the reward.”

“Eunuch Zhao, please don’t say that. You helped me, so I will give you benefits. That’s right. My father said…” Li Su wanted to continue.

The empress dowager couldn’t stand up since she was laughing so much. “Okay, don’t talk about this. You child, you look like your father!” She remembered that General Li was also like this. It was no wonder that she was born from a military general. Her lack of sophistication was also understandable. The general’s wife came from a scholarly family, but after so many years of hard work, she failed to teach General Li, and the same was true of her daughter. It was said that the daughter was like her father.

No wonder. Su-Su grew up in the frontier fortress, where the conditions were harsh. It was hard to live, so there was no time to talk about etiquette. After returning to the capital, she kept her filial piety at home and stayed behind closed doors. She was a good child.

“The matter has been resolved. Does Su-Su plan to go back to the General’s Mansion, or stay in Peaceful Age Palace to accompany Us for a while longer?” The empress dowager took Li Su’s hand and asked her with a smile.

“I want to go back to the general’s mansion. For the past three years, I have been in a daze. I have no intention of sorting out the things that my father and mother left me. Now that I have woken up from this dream, I have to make a good plan. I have to live a good life. I need to live well for my parents,” Li Su said.

The empress dowager’s eyes were full of relief. “You are a good daughter to your parents! Don’t worry. You have Us. Just do whatever you want!”

“Many thanks to Empress Dowager. I know that Empress Dowager is on my side, so I can rest assured!” Li Su said with a smile.

The empress dowager was amused again. She finally knew that there was a difference between a daughter and a son. Even if this daughter was not the soft kind, she was more caring than her son. At the very least, her son wouldn’t make her so happy.

When Eunuch Zhao heard that Li Su was going to leave the palace and return to the general’s mansion, he frowned slightly and hesitated.

The empress dowager saw this and asked, “Zhao Tianfu?”

“Reporting to Empress Dowager, when this servant came out of Jiang family’s residence, this servant accidentally heard that the woman who seduced the third young master of the Jiang family has committed suicide, and the third young master of the Jiang family seemed to have gone to the gate of the general’s residence to plead guilty!” Eunuch Zhao said quickly.

Li Su couldn’t help but roll her eyes and the empress dowager gave her a strange look. “Don’t make this expression. People shouldn’t see it.”

Li Su took the empress dowager’s hand and acted coquettishly. “I know. I just couldn’t help it just now.”

The empress dowager tapped her forehead with her finger. “You! The capital is not like the border. The people are unpredictable. Don’t let anyone easily see what you’re thinking, understand?”

Li Su snorted.

Eunuch Zhao couldn’t help but glance at Li Su again. He thought that Princess Li had suddenly become enlightened! In the past, although the empress dowager also valued the county princess, she was not as intimate as she was now. It seemed that General Li and his wife were really sending their blessings from heaven!

Over there, Li Su was still saying, “I just can’t stand Jiang Hewen. What a hypocrite! If it wasn’t for my parents sending me a vision, maybe I would have let him fool me. Now that I found out, he thought it would be fine if he came to plead guilty. Is that so? I’m not Lin Xiangru1, so I won’t forgive him!”

The empress dowager nodded slightly. “It’s not worthy of forgiveness. I heard that he is a person from a scholar background. Such a person with corrupt personal morals…” The emperor originally wanted to promote Jiang Hewen, but now it seemed… Hmph!

“Don’t worry, We and the emperor will definitely decide for you!” the empress dowager said with a smile.

Li Su left the palace with the empress dowager’s and the emperor’s reward. Sure enough, she really saw Jiang Hewen pleading guilty in front of the general’s mansion.

Jiang Hewen was still wounded and bloodstained. It was obvious that he had been beaten by his family before he came here. At this time, he was kneeling at the gate of the general’s mansion with a pale face. This miserable appearance made many people who did not know the reason behind it feel sympathy and felt that the general’s mansion was too deceitful.

Li Su didn’t even look at him. She ordered someone to open the door, and entered the general’s mansion in a sedan chair.

Jiang Hewen didn’t say anything. He knew that after this incident, he and Li Su had no chance of being together at all. Whether he would be humiliated or tortured, what he was doing now was to try his best to calm Li Su, and let His Majesty and the empress dowager see the sincerity of him and the Jiang family.

He was in great pain, but the pain in his ** was nothing compared to watching his lover die in front of his eyes!

He and Ruxue met by the beautiful Xunjiang River. They fell in love at first sight and began to exchange letters. But just when he showed his mother’s cards and wanted to go to the Su family to propose marriage, he learned from his mother that he had a marriage contract with the mighty General Li’s daughter. This marriage was very important to him and to the Jiang family, and there could be no mishaps.

For the sake of the family, he reluctantly had a talk with Ruxue and broke up. But not long after, Ruxue married into the Jiang family and became his second sister-in-law. And just like that, they started communicating again.

The two enjoyed the joy of cheating. Later, when second older brother died, they were even more unscrupulous.

1.(藺相如) Lin Xiangru: a famous statesman of the state of Zhao. Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Xiangru