"My lord, allow me to sort this out first!
So, the supposed Mr. Li, Li Yuanwai, was actually Li Bei impersonating him the entire time?
And the real Li De Rui was already pushed off a cliff and killed by Li Bei's wife, Wu Cai Lian, nineteen years ago?
After cleaning up the scene, Li Bei, claiming to be Li De Rui, reported the incident to the yamen, making them believe that Li Bei and his wife, Wu Cai Lian, were the ones who fell off the cliff and died?
Afterward, Li Bei hid his wife, Wu Cai Lian, in a secret room in his study, where she remained for over a decade?
During this period, Wu Cai Lian gave birth to a daughter. To give their daughter a legitimate identity, Li Bei lied and claimed he adopted her from a friend and would raise her as his own.
In other words, although Li Xiao Lian is the daughter of Li Bei and Wu Cai Lian, she is also Mr. Li's daughter, as Mr. Li is the prosperous Li Bei.
Wait a minute...
If, as you say, Li Xiao Lian is indeed the murderer of Mr. Li, then she would have killed her own father?"
"No—!!!"
Li Xiao Lian screamed in despair, covering her ears with her hands.
As if by doing so, she could block out all the sounds she didn't want to hear.
"It's not like that, it's not like that!
He killed my father, he took my mother, it was him, it was him..."
Lin Qing Ge glanced at the completely distraught Li Xiao Lian and then looked at Uncle Wen, who opposite her wore a look of regret and entanglement, and said softly,
"At this point, Uncle Wen, are you still not going to tell the truth?"
"This..."
Uncle Wen hesitated for a long time, then finally gritted his teeth and spilled out everything he knew.
It turned out that back then, Li Bei, under the name Li De Rui, married the daughter of a wealthy family, Madam Xing, as his wife.
However, he was only devoted to his betrothed, Wu Cai Lian, so on their wedding night, he merely got Madam Xing drunk and did not touch her.
But Li De Rui did not see it that way. No matter how Li Bei explained, he refused to believe him.
What puzzled Li Bei the most was that even though he hadn't touched Madam Xing, a month later, news spread that Madam Xing was pregnant.
This left him even more speechless.
It wasn't until one morning that he saw Li De Rui, wearing his clothes, stealthily leaving Madam Xing's room...
Li Bei felt that this situation could not continue. He wanted to set things right and return his identity and name to Li De Rui.
But Li De Rui said that they had not yet established a firm footing, and if they revealed everything, they would surely face fierce retaliation from the Xing family. He repeatedly stated that he didn't mind.
Time flew by.
As Li Bei's wedding to Wu Cai Lian approached,
Li Bei and his wife falsely claimed they were going out of town for business and used this opportunity to return to their hometown.
Li Bei, with the money he earned as a live-in son-in-law in Jingzhou, married Wu Cai Lian in grand style.
Li De Rui also took the opportunity to return home to see his mother, Madam Qin, and told her that he had married a daughter from a wealthy family in Jingzhou.
However, he said that his wife's family was a prominent one, and he probably wouldn't be able to fulfill his filial duties to Madam Qin. But he would arrange for someone to send money back periodically and repeatedly emphasized that Madam Qin should not come to Jingzhou to find him, as it would embarrass him.
After all, he had a 'home' in Jingzhou. Li Bei and his wife stayed in their hometown for over a month before preparing to return.
During the newlywed bliss, Li Bei was reluctant to part with his beloved wife, Wu Cai Lian. In the end, unable to resist Wu Cai Lian's persistent pleas, he brought her along, intending to rent a house in Jingzhou and settle her there.
Though they couldn't see each other every day, it would at least alleviate their longing.
However, Li Bei's good wishes had yet to be realized.
A change occurred on their return journey.
He could never have imagined that his closest brother would take advantage of their stay in a ruined temple, and when Wu Cai Lian went to relieve herself at night, drag her to the small grove behind the temple and commit indecency!
When Li Bei realized something was wrong and went out to look for them, it was already too late.
Enraged, he landed a heavy punch on Li De Rui.
Li De Rui spat and retorted sanctimoniously, saying that they were brothers and not outsiders. Since his wife could sleep with Li Bei, why couldn't he sleep with Li Bei's wife?
Li Bei argued back, but Li De Rui felt that he was being ungrateful.
The two began to fight.
Li De Rui, outmatched by Li Bei, basely pulled a dagger from his boot and stabbed Li Bei.
Fortunately, the stunned Wu Cai Lian rushed forward and pushed Li De Rui.
Li De Rui stumbled, and although the dagger he held managed to hit Li Bei, it was off target.
Whether it was Wu Cai Lian's eagerness to save her husband or her extreme hatred for the hypocritical Li De Rui, the force with which she pushed him was immense.
Not only did she push Li De Rui off the cliff behind them, but she also staggered forward and fell into the dark abyss.
Regaining his senses from this series of events, Li Bei, ignoring his own injuries, quickly went down the other side to search for them.
Perhaps fate was on their side. Although Li De Rui died on the spot from the fall, Wu Cai Lian, who had Li De Rui as a cushion, miraculously survived.
The price, however, was her legs.
Furthermore, her face was also covered in scars of various sizes from being scraped by branches during the fall.
After treating his own wounds simply, Li Bei settled the leg-broken Wu Cai Lian in a nearby farmhouse. Then, he returned to Jingzhou alone and reported the incident to the yamen in the identity of Li De Rui.
From then on, there was no longer Mr. and Mrs. Li in the world, only the increasingly prosperous Mr. Li.
In fact, Li Bei had no intention of keeping Wu Cai Lian in seclusion at first.
However, after Wu Cai Lian broke her legs, her disposition changed drastically. If she didn't see Li Bei for more than half a day, she would go mad and self-harm.
What surprised and excited Li Bei the most was that the doctor who examined Wu Cai Lian informed him that she was actually pregnant!
After this ordeal, although there were signs of miscarriage, it was still possible to save the baby with proper rest.
Thus, Li Bei decided to make some modifications to his study where he usually stayed and brought Wu Cai Lian closer to care for her meticulously.
Li Bei had initially thought that the birth of their daughter, Li Xiao Lian, would be a cure for Wu Cai Lian. He never expected that after a single trip out, Wu Cai Lian would nearly kill her own newborn daughter.
Wu Cai Lian claimed the child was a bastard and should not have been born into this world.
Even though Li Bei was very certain that Li Xiao Lian was his daughter, Wu Cai Lian merely repeated the same words obsessively.
It was then that Li Bei realized the events of that day had left an indelible shadow on Wu Cai Lian, causing her mental state to deteriorate.
Under duress, Li Bei had no choice but to lie and claim Li Xiao Lian was the child of a deceased friend, handing her over to Madam Xing for upbringing.
These were things Li Bei, in a drunken state one night, confided to the housekeeper, Uncle Wen.
"The master said that he had told so many lies in his life that he sometimes couldn't distinguish between what was true and what was false.
Despite that, his feelings for Madam Wu Cai Lian were genuine, and his love for Miss was also true."
As Uncle Wen spoke, tears moistened his eyes.