Resplendent – Chapter 424

Chapter 424 — Who Spared Her?

Gu Qiao had several molars knocked out and spoke unclearly, “When I went to Yan City to learn business, that money was cheated out of me! I’m drowning in debt. Otherwise, why would I be hiding out here in this poor mountain valley?”

That was part of the truth. The other part was fear of being implicated by his wife’s former masters. If the authorities discovered that they had been harboring the child of a criminal, they could be executed!

“It’s all because of that vicious woman! My Lord, the abuse of the young lady was all her doing! Ask anyone! When Lanxiang was alive, we treated the girl better than our own children. For Lanxiang’s sake, please show mercy and spare me this once, my lord!” Gu Qiao was terrified. He shifted all the blame onto Mrs. Liu.

That’s it! It was all that vile Liu! If it weren’t for her for being averse to feeding an extra mouth of someone else’s child and treating Gu Ye’er cruelly—he would have raised the young lady of the Duke’s Manor safely. No glory, but at least some merit.

If back then she had treated Ye’er a little better, he might have shared in those generous thank-you gifts now. Maybe the Duke and his heir would have even found him a decent, easy job, certainly a hundred times better than slogging through life in this mountain valley!

Gu Qiao’s regret turned his gut green with envy. He glared at Liu with pure hatred. It was all this calamity that ruined his future!

“Oh? So, you not only never helped us, but you’re claiming to have done the Duke’s Manor a favor?” Chu Muhua’s words dripped with thick sarcasm.

“No, not at all! In any case, the young lady of the Duke’s Manor was raised in our house. And she and my son… Right, Gu Ming is my son! For Gu Ming’s sake, My Lord, please spare my life!” Gu Qiao thought of the son who had moved to Yan City with Gu Ye, and his heart swelled with jealousy and envy. 

That little brat, an ungrateful wretch, went to enjoy life in the city without so much as honoring his father!

“If it weren’t for the fact that your family treated my sister tolerably for the first seven years, would you even still have the nerve to stand here in front of me?” Chu Muhua coldly stared at the mud-like wretch.

Back then, Lanxiang really had blind eyes. How could she have chosen someone like this! When his mother entrusted him with guardianship, she never imagined that although Lanxiang was loyal, her husband would have such a character!

“Manager Liu, reclaim the medicinal fields leased to him!” With one command, Chu Muhua cut off all of Gu Qiao’s financial resources and hopes. He half-squatted down and said to the kneeling Gu Qiao, “Here’s a piece of advice: it’s best if you never leave Qingshan Village for the rest of your life. I make no promises about what could happen if you do!”

Gu Qiao, who had been eyeing the herbs he could soon sell for silver, shivered all over at the warning from the young lord. He clamped his mouth shut and didn’t dare say another word.

Chu Muhua straightened up, exhaled slowly, and continued, “I’ve heard there’s an ungrateful traitor in this village. She took my sister’s generous wages, yet betrayed her, colluding with outsiders to poison the workshop and frame my sister. Who could it be? Step forward so I can see you clearly!”

Chu Muhua had decided to fully back his sister. Anyone who wronged her would not go unpunished.

Widow Li’s face instantly drained of all color. Her daughter’s misdeeds had long been the talk of the village; returning employees from the pharmacy had spread the story so widely that there wasn’t a single person in the village who didn’t know. She had even angrily beaten her daughter in frustration, crying over how she refused to stay on the right path.

Miss Ye was such a good girl. Without her, their whole family might have already frozen or starved to death during that blizzardy winter. 

With two acres of medicinal fields at home and her daughter working as a junior manager at the pharmacy, life should have been getting better and better. But her daughter lost her head and committed a colossal mistake.

The family’s entire savings, along with the one hundred taels of ill-gotten money collected by Li Xiuniang from others, all went to cover losses from the halted work at the pharmacy, leaving them deeply in debt. Still, with two acres of medicinal fields and her son occasionally going into the mountains to gather wild herbs, a few years of hard work could make up for it.

But in the village, their reputation was ruined. Wherever they went, people pointed fingers, and some even mocked them to their faces, saying they ‘took blessings for granted’ and were ‘ungrateful.’

Families that had once been eager to propose marriage to them now wouldn’t step foot in their door. Li Xiuniang, two years older than Gu Ye, was already at the age when it was appropriate to consider marriage. 

Widow Li was so worried that, not yet forty, more than half her hair had already turned white.

Widow Li looked at her daughter, who was so frightened her legs were weak and her face blank. She gritted her teeth and stepped forward. “My Lord…”

“Was it you who poisoned the workshop my sister works at?” Chu Muhua’s voice was full of a dangerous edge.

The Gu family’s medicine was selling like hotcakes, and most of their clients were prominent figures from all over. If the plot had succeeded, not only would the workshop have suffered, but his sister’s life might not have been saved.

His sister’s kind heart had only insisted that they compensate for the losses and sent the culprits back. If it were him, would he have spared them? Not a chance.

“It wasn’t her; it was her daughter!” Li Zhu’s wife, ever eager for drama, piped up. “Your Lordship, back then, if it weren’t for Miss Ye helping the Li family, they would have frozen or starved to death! Li Xiuniang looks obedient, but her heart is poisonous. She’s like a venomous snake hiding in the grass, waiting for the chance to strike!”

The villagers watching stepped back, and Li Xiuniang, her legs too weak to stand, slumped to the ground, coming fully into Chu Muhua’s view.

“No, no! Mother, save me, mother!” Having witnessed the tragic fate of Gu Qiao and his wife, and knowing how utterly hopeless their end had been, Li Xiuniang’s eyes widened with fear as she scrambled backward using both hands and feet.

Widow Li lunged forward and knelt before Chu Muhua, banging her head against the ground repeatedly. “The child is young and ignorant! She was misled by a villain, her mind clouded for a moment, and committed the wrong deed. She already knows her mistake and lives in regret every day. My Lord, please be magnanimous and spare her this once!”

“You all keep asking me to spare you, but who has spared my sister? She’s young? Isn’t my sister young too? She endured so much suffering, finally pulled through, and painstakingly built the pharmacy. How much effort did she pour into it? And her? What has she done?” Chu Muhua’s face was cold as frost, and his piercing gaze seemed to cut straight through one’s soul.

“If the poisoning hadn’t been discovered, did any of you think about the consequences? Did you think about what kind of fate my sister would have faced? You all beg me to spare you! But has anyone thought about her situation?!” Chu Muhua kicked a nearby tree as thick as a bowl — snapping it clean in half. 

“My Lord! Please spare my poor daughter. She’s already suffered retribution! If you need to vent your anger, hit me, scold me, anything you want. I failed to teach my daughter properly. I’m willing to take the punishment in her place!” Widow Li cried, gritting her teeth. 

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TL Note: Poor Widow Li