Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 136 Li Family Affairs

Lanzhou, Li Mansion.

Several luxurious carriages drove into the Li family's mansion.

A man with ordinary appearance but luxurious clothes got out of the car and walked hurriedly towards home.

He is Li Zhao's most valued eldest son - Li Wu.

Previously, after knowing that the Cang Yun army had come and taken away his father Li Zhao, he rushed back without stopping.

As soon as Li Wu returned home, he felt a heavy and bleak atmosphere.

There were very few people in the dining room, only a few of them, including his father Li Zhao, his mother, his second brother Li Shu, his third sister Li Su, his youngest brother Li Zhou, the housekeeper of the Li family, and the grandmother of the Li family who hardly had anything to do but was like a stabilizing force.

This is a rare day for the family to reunite.

The atmosphere was solemn, even frighteningly heavy.

When the old butler saw the eldest son Li Wu returning, he bowed and said nothing.

"You're back?" Li Zhao's voice was a little hoarse. But after seeing his eldest son, Li Wu, he felt a little relieved. Even Li's mother, who was silently weeping beside him, wiped away her tears.

"Ok!"

Li Wu nodded, sat down, and then asked impatiently, "Dad, I heard that your cousin took you away. What happened?"

Li Zhao sighed sadly and gave him a forced smile: "Let's sit down and eat first!"

……

The dinner was sumptuous, but Li Wu, Li Shu and the others found it extremely uncomfortable to eat because their mother, though forcing herself to smile, would often burst into tears.

Li Zhao, the father, even poured wine for Li Shu, which was rare...

Li Shu's heart sank, a bad premonition nearly bringing him to his knees. He tried to stand up and ask several times, but the heavy atmosphere forced him to swallow his words.

Soon, dinner was over.

After the housekeeper and the servants cleared the dishes, they left. The dining room in the Li Mansion was once again missing someone.

There was a long silence, and the atmosphere was depressing.

When Li Shu couldn't help but want to speak, he heard Li Zhao sigh and asked:
"Shu'er, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?"

When these words were spoken, not only Li Shu was shocked, but even Li Wu, Li Su and others changed their expressions.

"Husband, please save him, save our Shu'er!" Mrs. Li's face was covered with tears.

Li Zhao shook his head, closed his eyes, and sighed deeply: "Zhen'er is furious this time, and there are three hundred Cang Yun soldiers waiting outside the door. How can we save him?"

He always knew that his son was not an easy person to deal with.

But Li Zhao never expected that Li Shu's list could be so big. The blood feud between the people of Shaanxi and the Mongols and Liao had only been going on for a few years, but he dared to collude with the Mongols and Yuan Dynasty, and even dared to frame Zhu Jinzhen, who was a great favor to the Li family.

Although Zhu Jinzhen did not say it explicitly, Li Zhao knew it very well.

No one can save Li Shu this time.

Seeing his father's desperate expression, Li Shu finally got scared and knelt on the ground: "Father, save me, save me!"

"You also know fear? Why weren't you afraid when you used the Li family's connections to collude with the barbarians? Why weren't you afraid when you intended to frame your cousin and prove to the court that he was plotting treason? Do you know that treason is a grave crime that will implicate all nine generations of your family? By doing this, you are not only killing your cousin, but also burying the Li family with you."

"How come you didn't feel scared at that time?"

Li Zhao suddenly stood up and pointed at Li Shu angrily and roared, feeling even more sad in his heart.

Treason is a serious crime that will punish nine generations of your family!

Did Li Shu collude with officials in the court to prove to the court that Zhu Jinzhen was plotting treason?
"Dad, you, what did you say?" Li Wu was stunned. The look in his eyes when he looked at Li Shu changed completely. The brotherhood he had just cared about was instantly thrown out of his mind. He stared at Li Shu with red eyes.

"Brother...you, do you want to kill us?" Li Su's voice was trembling. She had a neither-good-nor-bad relationship with her second brother. She thought that this time her second brother had just caused a little more trouble. Thinking about how much her cousin doted on her, if it wasn't an unforgivable crime, she would ask her cousin or aunt for help, and perhaps there would be room for improvement.

But he didn't expect that his second brother would not only collude with the barbarians, but also plan to report the Su Wang Mansion to the court for treason?

If the imperial court is furious and conducts a thorough investigation, will the Li family be able to escape unharmed?

Even if the court took the Li family's report into consideration and spared them, what benefits would the Li family gain? Once the Su Palace fell, especially when it was known that it was the Li family who reported it, there would be no place for the Li family in the entire Shaanxi Province, and even the entire Ming Dynasty.

No, not a place to stay.

But they will die without a burial place.

Li Su and others lived in Lanzhou and knew better what kind of prestige Zhu Jinzhen had among the people and the army.

How many civilians and soldiers have a way to survive and hope because of the Prince Su's Mansion. Anyone who dares to touch the Prince Su's Mansion will be cutting off their livelihood and future, and will definitely fight to the death with the Li family.

What's more, can he move to Prince Su's Mansion just because of a little frame-up?

Others didn't know the power of the Prince Su's Mansion, but as relatives of Zhu Jinzhen, how could they not understand it at all? Putting aside the distant past, would a prince of the frontier with a million troops under his command be afraid of a mere unfounded accusation of treason?

And if the matter really came to the attention of the court.

They may not know what happened to Prince Su's Mansion.

What awaits the Li family is definitely a dead end.

Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people and businessmen, the Li family has gradually become qualified to become a behemoth, but in the eyes of Zhu Jinzhen, the first prince of the Ming Dynasty, the Li family is no different from an ant.

"Father, I was possessed by a ghost for a while. Please save me, save me..." Li Shu kept wailing, trying to ask for Li Zhao's forgiveness.

pity……

Li Zhao just closed his eyes and shook his head slowly: "I can't save him!"

A light bulb suddenly lit up in Li Shu's mind, as if he was grabbing a life-saving straw: "Aunt, yes, aunt, grandma, dad, ask aunt to save me, my cousin is the most filial, he will definitely listen to aunt."

"For other matters, Yuyao might plead for mercy for the sake of an old woman. But when it comes to Zhen'er..." Li's grandmother shook her head slowly. No one knows a daughter better than her mother. Once Li Yuyao knew about this matter, which was caused by Li Shu's attempt to frame and put Zhu Jinzhen to death, not only would she not plead for mercy, but she would directly let Zhu Jinzhen skin Li Shu alive.

He even took his anger out on the Li family.

After hearing his grandmother's words, Li Shu stopped wailing, his eyes filled with despair and gloom. If even his aunt Li Yuyao, Zhu Jinzhen's biological mother, could not save him, then no one in the world could save him.

Li Shu slowly stood up, looked at his mother, then at his father Li Zhao and grandmother...

Just when everyone thought Li Shu had accepted his fate, no one noticed the hostility in his eyes.

suddenly!

Li Shu's hand shook violently, and he grasped a dagger flashing with cold light. Then he rushed towards his unsuspecting sister Li Su and directly pressed the dagger against Li Su's neck.

Li Zhao was furious: "Asshole, what do you want to do? Let Su'er go!"

"Su'er is your sister, how dare you, how dare you..." Mrs. Li burst into tears, not understanding why she gave birth to such a disobedient and unfilial beast with a human face and a beastly heart.

He fainted due to the excitement.

"I know she is my sister, and I don't want to hurt her. I just want a way to survive. Dad, give me 100,000 taels of silver and three fast horses, otherwise..." Li Shu said this, tightening his hand holding the dagger, and the threat was clearly revealed. A trickle of blood seeped out from the neck of the confused and painful Li Su.

Li Zhao closed his eyes in pain: "Why bother, why bother!"

Li Wu looked at Li Zhao's reaction, frowned slightly, and sighed: "Let Su'er go, I will be your hostage."

"Oh, big brother, you and I are brothers, how could I not know you?" Li Shu sneered, holding Li Su hostage and retreating to a corner. "Even my cousin says you have excellent roots. Although I don't know what your current cultivation level is, with the resources my aunt gave you, you must have reached the Vajra Realm by now, right?"

"Hold you hostage? Or let me surrender?"

To take hostage a sickly younger sister since childhood, or to take hostage an older brother who has at least reached the Vajra Realm, even a fool would know what to choose!
(End of this chapter)