Chapter 54: He's Not Your Son At All
"Good thing they're not dumb! Ting Yue, help this consort make preparations. This consort's taking a trip to Yao Residence!" Yao Mowan elegantly got up as cold light flashed through her eyes.
Just as she was about to leave Guan Osprey Palace, she seemed to recall something and walked back to Ye Junqing with a slight smile.
"Prince doesn't plan to make this trip with Mowan?"
"I don't," replied Ye Junqing firmly. Most of the time, when Yao Mowan suggested something, it was never something good. This was something Ye Junqing had concluded from his experiences so far.
"Then forget it. I guess Ben Lei's going to be disappointed!" Yao Mowan shrugged and turned to leave, but Ye Junqing immediately got up.
The carriage had already reached Prime Minister Yao's residence, but Ye Junqing saw no trace of Ben Lei.
"Didn't you say that Ben Lei would be here?" Ye Junqing frowned as he looked towards Yao Mowan.
"Mowan said that? Mowan didn't though?" Yao Mowan looked towards Ye Junqing with an innocent expression.
"You clearly said that Ben Lei would be disappointed if this prince didn't come!" Ye Junqing suddenly felt like he had been tricked.
"Mowan had said that, but how did Prince come to the conclusion that this meant Ben Lei would be here?" As Yao Mowan replied, she had already gotten off the carriage with Ting Yue's help.
Ye Junqing was speechless!
The moment Yao Mowan stepped into the residence, she heard angry shouting come from the main hall.
"You wretch! This old man will ask one last time, where is Boan!? Where's my Boan!" Yao Zhenting was swinging a whip madly with a sinister expression. His hand trembled as he clenched the handle of the whip and the end of the whip was dripping with dark red blood.
"Father…" Yao Mowan looked timidly towards the ground at Wu Zicheng whose body was covered with lash marks. Inwardly, she felt a little pity. The most innocent party in this entire event was probably this teacher's family. She hadn't expected for Yao Zhenting to be this ruthless.
It was probably due to the fact that Yao Zhenting was seriously furious, because he didn't pay any attention to Yao Mowan and Ye Junqing's arrival. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Li Qingqing and Wu Zicheng.
At the side, Yao Tu first greeted them respectfully, then made to lead them away. However, when he saw that Yao Mowan had no intention of leaving, he could only carry over chairs for them.
"Yao Zhenting… you killed my family! I won't let you see Boan again in this lifetime! Never! You're destined to die without any sons to send you off! Cough cough…" Wu Zicheng clawed at the ground as he spat these words out while coughing blood. His body was covered with bloody gashes, some so deep that bone was showing.
"Li Qingqing! This old man's asking you where Boan is!?" Yao Zhenting's dark glare shot towards Li Qingqing who was kneeling on the ground.
"Qingqing begs you, Lord, please let off my parents…" Li Qingqing's cheeks were swollen, but she paid no attention to the stinging pain and repeatedly knocked her head against the ground. She never thought that the benevolent looking Yao Zhenting would actually be this ruthless. Her body trembled involuntarily from fear.
"As long as you give me Boan, I'll forgive everything you've done in the past! I'll still guarantee that your Li family can live worry-free for three lifetimes and you, Li Qingqing, will continue to be Prime Minister Yao's residence's female master!" Yao Zhenting tossed the whip aside and walked towards Li Qingqing.
"Lord… Could you… could you please let Qingqing's parents go first?" Li Qingqing gathered up her courage to beg. As of now, unless she could see that her parents were fine with her own eyes, she refused to reveal the child's location even in the face of death.
"Yao Tu! Send people right now to the imperial prison to bring them back here!" Yao Zhenting gave this instruction without hesitation. When Yao Tu heard this, he left the main hall respectfully.
"Qingqing! You can't tell him! Even if you tell him, this bastard won't let you off! Qingqing!" Wu Zicheng used all his strength to try and reach for Li Qingqing, but before he could touch her, Yao Zhenting stomped hard on his hand.
"Ah!" Wu Zicheng screamed in pain and his face twisted in agony.
"Listen, if even the slightest thing happens to Boan, if he gets just a pound skinnier, I'll make sure that you wish you were dead!" Yao Zhenting glared at Wu Zicheng. Even though he had already whipped Wu Zicheng into a bloody mess, he still didn't feel like it was enough.
"Qingqing… You can't tell him… Otherwise… He'll kill you…" Wu Zicheng endured the pain and forced out this warning.
Yao Mowan's heart turned cold as she took in Yao Zhenting's bloodthirsty glare. This was probably her sanctimonious father's true face. He looked refined but in reality, he was a heartless twisted pervert.
"You don't plan to stop this?" Ye Junqing couldn't really bear to look on anymore.
"You shouldn't forget that I'm a fool. What could I possibly say? And you also saw his attitude. Even if you were the one that rushed up, he'd probably still swing the whip at you." Yao Mowan's words weren't exaggerated at all.
After about fifteen minutes, Li Qingqing's parents appeared in the main hall in ragged attires. Li Qingqing abruptly turned around and hugged them while crying.
"Daughter ah! How can you be so foolish!? The prime minister treats you like a precious pearl, how could you do something so disgraceful!?" Mother Li hugged her daughter as she sobbed.
"It's all because of you, you seduced Qingqing! You implicated my entire family! You deserve to die! All the people in your Wu Residence deserved to die!" When Father Li saw Wu Zicheng, he immediately pushed the blame for all the suffering they had to experience these last few days onto Wu Zicheng and kicked him.
"Li Qingqing, where is Boan?" Yao Zhenting spoke again, his tone cold as ice.
"Lord… Qingqing was wrong. It was a moment of muddled thinking, that was the only reason I believed this vile character's flowery speech and left Prime Minister Yao's residence. Lord, please forgive Qingqing…" In this moment, Li Qingqing finally understood that no matter who you offended in this world, you couldn't offend people in authority.
Originally, she thought that if she ran away with the money, she could live happily and freely. She hadn't expected for Yao Zhenting to react so intensely. However, even if she regretted things now, there was nothing she could do. All she could beg for now was that he'd let her and her parents live.
"Li Qingqing…" Wu Zicheng looked towards Li Qingqing in despair. Back then if Li Qingqing hadn't seduced him, why would he ever abandon his job and his family to elope with her? But the result!? His parents were dead and his family was gone! And now, Li Qingqing had betrayed him!
"This old man has said that as long as Boan is fine, your entire family will be fine! If anything happens to Boan, your entire family is to be buried with him!" Even though Li Qingqing was weeping pitifully, Yao Zhenting just looked towards her with cold indifference.
"Lord, Qingqing will tell you. Qingqing will tell you everything. Boan, he's…" Li Qingqing looked towards Yao Zhenting with hope. Just as she was about to talk, Wu Zicheng cut her off and spoke first.
"Boan's not even your child! He's my son! Hahaha… Yao Zhenting! The son you had treasured so much is my, Wu Zicheng's son! You'll never have a son in this life! Your fate is that of an eunuch's! Haha!" Wu Zicheng's words were a bolt from the blue. This shock was so much that Yao Zhenting collapsed into his chair and was too stunned to react for a long while.
"Wu Zicheng, how dare you slander people!? Lord! Boan is your son! He's your son!" Li Qingqing's face was ashen. She never imagined that Wu Zicheng would actually reveal this huge secret. Doing this was the same as pushing Boan into a pit of fire! How could he bear to do this?
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
