Chapter 230: Chapter 230: The One I Couldn’t Bear to Hurt
"Why exactly did you do this? What threat did Ren Hua’s child pose to you that you had to act so ruthlessly?" the Second Madam asked through gritted teeth.
Cheng Ru was already too ashamed to lift her head, fear and panic engulfed her heart, rendering her speechless.
Yet someone spoke for her, one of her own people.
"Because Miss Cheng said that Ren Hua’s lowly merchant status meant that if she gave birth before her, her child would have to address the merchant’s child as elder brother or sister. She couldn’t tolerate her child being overshadowed in terms of seniority."
Yes, such a ridiculous reason became the motive for harming the fetus.
Even Pei Yuan was enraged; if Cheng Ru hadn’t been a woman, he might have struck her.
The old lady closed her eyes, "I also managed the inner household affairs before. Women who have been through life’s hardships sometimes do excessive things, and as long as it didn’t threaten lives, I would overlook it. But now, it’s the first time I’ve seen an unmarried woman be so malicious."
Cheng Ru knew she couldn’t seek the old lady’s help anymore and, thoroughly panicked, turned to the Second Madam, "It was my clouded mind that caused me to make a mistake, Aunt, please forgive me for the sake of our kinship. I won’t dare again..."
The Second Madam spat through clenched teeth, "I treated you like my own niece, allowed you to live in the Pei Mansion for so long, let you manage the household, and trusted you entirely. How did you repay me? When you harmed my unborn grandchild, did you ever consider our relationship? A woman with such a wicked heart, so narrow-minded and intolerant, doesn’t deserve to be called human!"
The Second Madam now truly regretted it. If she had known, she wouldn’t have let the Cheng mother and daughter stay, and so many things wouldn’t have happened. Now she felt too ashamed to face anyone in the Pei family.
She almost made her the Young Lady. If she was this malicious without even being officially granted the title, what would happen if she truly became Young Lady? The Second Madam’s heart filled with fear and regret.
"Second Brother, how do you plan to resolve this?" Pei Yuan asked.
Although Pei Yuan also wanted to deal with Cheng Ru, with everything his second brother had done today, he figured he had made his decision.
Pei Ji’an didn’t glance at Cheng Ru from start to finish, and now he spoke indifferently, "An eye for an eye."
Not mentioning the report to the authorities meant he was going to use private punishment, which legally wasn’t allowed, but this was the Pei family.
Even if Pei Ji’an went out today and killed the son of a minister, the emperor wouldn’t do anything to him.
A person who could fight and contribute to the country versus someone who only knew how to indulge in pleasures — who had more value was not something that needed weighing.
Hearing that they were going to use private punishment, Cheng Ru immediately trembled in fear, "No... Aunt, save me, Old Madam..."
In the end, Cheng Ru was dragged away, crying and pleading for mercy, but no one paid attention.
In the dimly lit cellar, Cheng Ru was tied to a stake, watching Pei Ji’an approach her step by step. The affection she once had for this person now turned into fear.
She wanted to scream, wanted to shout, but it seemed as if her throat was blocked, as if it were too cold. She was brought here wearing only a thin inner garment, so she was both cold and scared, only able to let out trembling whimpers and the sound of chattering teeth.
But soon she wasn’t cold anymore, because Pei Ji’an walked over, picked up the red-hot branding iron from the burning coals, and pressed it directly to Cheng Ru’s heart.
The thin clothing couldn’t withstand the red-hot iron; smoke rose immediately, followed by Cheng Ru’s miserable scream, "Ah—"
The branding iron seared into her flesh, releasing the smell of burning meat, and Pei Ji’an remained unmoved, pressing down with force, uttering each word clearly, "Even the one I couldn’t bear to harm, you dared to touch!"
Pei Yuan, observing from not far away, felt a chill run down his spine, yet, recalling the deceased fetus, he closed his eyes.
How dark must a person’s heart be to not even spare a fetus.
When Mrs. Cheng found out, she fainted and was unceremoniously expelled from the mansion by the Second Madam.
She and Mrs. Cheng were not born of the same mother, and providing them shelter was a mistake.
Once Cheng Ru’s issue was resolved, the old lady remained at the Gaoyi Lane house, caring about Qu Fulan’s condition.
"She’s taken the medicine; it’s just that the illness has been prolonged for too long that recovery will take time. With proper care, there will be no danger to her life."
The old lady, having aged, couldn’t bear such matters anymore and her eyes rimmed red, "Poor child, nearly lost her life due to manipulations. She’s intelligent and competent, extremely cautious, yet still fell victim. It only shows that vicious people in this world have no bottom line, making it impossible to guard against."
Every day after that, the old lady would send Hua Hao and Yueyuan to Gaoyi Lane to see Qu Fulan. This child, with no one to rely on, was nearly killed by relatives of the Pei Mansion, leaving the old lady with a sense of guilt.
Elders always emphasized accumulating good deeds. By sending people to check on Qu Fulan daily, she was both accumulating merit and atoning for her sins.
However, this ’burdened’ Qu Fulan. Originally, she could’ve recovered in a day, but with Hua Hao and Yueyuan coming daily with their concerns, she couldn’t recover too quickly, or it would arouse suspicion.
Thus, Qu Fulan could only honestly lie in bed healing, making herself a proper patient, obediently drinking various soups and medicines, suffering to the point of questioning life.
Everything was so meticulously calculated, yet unexpected was the old lady’s kindness, who insisted on having people visit her every day, staying for half the day, truly worrying her to death.
However, from another perspective, the old lady’s regard for her was entirely beneficial to Qu Fulan.
All her connections were tied to the Pei Mansion, and having the Pei Mansion’s highest status person like her, she was only too willing to remain ’sick’ for a little longer.
In truth, the old lady’s guilt towards her was genuine, but her illness was not.
Just by consuming a certain medicine from her space, she could appear near death, with various chaotic pulse indicators baffling even doctors, when in reality, she was fine.
The reason she chose to feign illness was simple.
She had to make herself appear gravely ill, creating a big fuss to bring Cheng Ru down.
Initially, she purposefully let some information slip to Cheng Ru’s lackeys, to make them aware that her home was running out of charcoal, short of this and that. With Cheng Ru’s nature, she would definitely go against the grain, wishing to control others fully.
In the end, everything went as planned.
The return date of the Heir Pei, others might not know, but she did.
Having endured hardships together at the border, there was no way a capable aide and partner could be treated as if they were on the brink of death without igniting fury in any man.
Sure enough, Heir Pei was furious.
The final resolution of the incident left Qu Fulan extremely satisfied.
Yet she hadn’t anticipated that Ren Hua’s child was also lost due to manipulations, unable to discuss it for various reasons. Cheng Ru was indeed venomous; had it not been for her own strategy of playing a victim to eliminate obstacles, one couldn’t predict how miserable Ren Hua’s future might have been.
No, whether she could safely give birth to other children in the future was uncertain too.