Chapter 820
The murderer was actually you?
Pei Yifeng couldn't bear seeing Lu Yunqi humiliate his father like this any longer, and said to the three Lu brothers, "Since you don't believe me, then I might as well make things clearer. We have the royal family backing us up."
The Emperor drafted the edict this afternoon and is waiting to announce it tomorrow. How dare you lay a hand on us? I ask you, how many heads do you have to chop off?
After hearing Pei Yifeng's words, and recalling the extremely hostile attitude of the Pei father and son towards the Lu family, Cui Wenying quickly sensed something was amiss. She made a bold judgment: Lu Zhenyuan's death might be inextricably linked to the Pei father and son.
Otherwise, how could he become a general so soon after Lu Zhenyuan left? How could things happen so quickly? The more Cui Wenying thought about it, the more convinced she was that her guess was right.
So she turned to Pei Chengyuan and said, "Lord Pei, you became a general quite quickly. Is it because of your outstanding abilities, or have you been planning this for a long time?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhenyuan's three sons looked at their mother and said, "Does Mother mean that the deaths of my father and my sister are related to the Pei family?"
Cui Wenying said to her three sons, "That's right, that's what I really think. Think about it, your father and your sister died in an accidental fire. It was such a sudden thing. We received the news in less than two days. But Pei Chengyuan was able to get the emperor to draft an edict appointing him as general in such a short time. Don't you think that's incredibly fast? There must be something from the Pei family interfering!"
Upon hearing his mother's words, the eldest son, Lu Yunqiao, wholeheartedly agreed, saying, "Mother, you are absolutely right. When my father was still alive, the Pei family treated him with such respect. But now that my father is gone, they have shown their fangs and repeatedly insulted our Lu family. It seems that the Pei family has harbored resentment towards our Lu family for a long time. In addition, the fact that Lord Pei was able to take over as general less than two days after my father's death is definitely the work of the Pei family!"
Lu Yunmin, the second son of the Lu family, and Lu Yunqi, the third son, found their mother and elder brother's analysis very reasonable. Then, they walked up to Pei Chengyuan and Pei Yifeng and said to the father and son, "Tell me honestly, is the death of my father and my sister related to your Pei family?"
Upon hearing their question, Pei Chengyuan burst into laughter and said, "Your Lu family's pillar, Lu Zhenyuan, is already dead. What's the point of asking this now?"
Lu Yunqi said to the Pei father and son, "Of course it's meaningful. If the deaths of my father and sister are related to you, we will tear you to pieces. You just witnessed how powerful my elder brother is. We will definitely keep our word and avenge them so that they can rest in peace!"
After hearing Lu Yunqi's words, Pei Chengyuan smiled sinisterly, then took out something from his sleeve and said to Lu Yunqi, "See this? As long as I gently pull this thing, my people will immediately arrive at the Lu family to rescue me. If your elder brother kills me now, none of your Lu family members will escape!"
Everyone looked at what Pei Chengyuan was holding and saw that it was a signal flare. Lu Yunqi said, "Lord Pei, do you think we'll be afraid of you just because you have a signal flare? Let's see if your signal flare can call people faster than the swords and blades in front of you!"
Pei Chengyuan laughed loudly, "Do you even need to ask such an idiotic question? Of course, your swords are faster, but it's worth it to exchange the lives of my father and son for the lives of everyone in your Lu family!"
Upon hearing his father Pei Chengyuan's words, Pei Yifeng turned deathly pale. During his fight with Lu Yunqiao, he had clearly sensed Lu Yunqiao's strength.
Moreover, when his father, Pei Chengyuan, fought him just now, the two only exchanged five rounds before Lu Yunqiao easily defeated his father. He knew very well that if Lu Yunqiao were to make a move now, neither he nor his father would have a chance to survive.
Pei Yifeng shook his head unconsciously and murmured, "No... I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
Lu Yunqi pointed his sword at Pei Yifeng and angrily shouted, "If you don't want to die, then confess honestly whether the deaths of my father and sister have anything to do with you!"
Pei Yifeng was about to speak when Pei Chengyuan yanked him hard and then gave him a wink, so Pei Yifeng stopped talking.
Cui Wenying knew that Pei Yifeng was extremely afraid of death, so after thinking for a moment, she said to Pei Yifeng, "Pei Yifeng, if you tell the truth today, I will let you go!"
Pei Yifeng looked at Cui Wenying and said, "What if you still want to kill me if I tell the truth?"
After listening to Pei Yifeng's words, Cui Wenying chuckled softly, then looked at him with a very serious expression and said, "If you tell the truth, will we still kill you? Don't you think your words have already betrayed you? This is enough to show that the deaths of my husband and daughter are inextricably linked to you! If you tell the truth today, I will have Qiao'er spare your life. If you don't, I will have Qiao'er kill you right now! I mean what I say, so you should think it over!"
Pei Chengyuan was terrified that his good-for-nothing son would expose the truth, so he looked at his son Pei Yifeng with great anxiety and said, "Feng'er, watch your words and actions!"
Pei Yifeng whispered in Chengyuan's ear, "Father, what I'm saying to them now is just a delaying tactic. Don't you have a signal flare? Fire it quickly and call for reinforcements to rescue us! If we don't fire it soon, we really won't be able to leave the Lu family's gate today!"
Pei Chengyuan never expected things to escalate to this point when he came to the Lu family today, and he certainly didn't expect that Lu Zhenyuan's eldest son, Lu Yunqiao, would be more skilled in martial arts than him. So he didn't make any preparations beforehand, and he certainly didn't have any smokescreens on him.
The so-called smoke bomb that Pei Chengyuan was holding was completely fake; it was just an empty paper tube. He took it out to scare the Lu family so that they wouldn't dare to make any rash moves against him, giving him some time to escape.
It was getting late, and he had informed his wife before leaving to go to the Lu family to mourn Lu Zhenyuan. If he returned too late, his wife would definitely send someone to look for him out of concern. So as long as he delayed, he would be safe.
But if he told his son Pei Yifeng that the smoke bomb in his hand was fake, wouldn't Pei Yifeng be terrified in the face of such a situation?
Therefore, Pei Chengyuan did not directly tell Pei Yifeng that the smoke bomb was fake. Instead, he lowered his voice and said to Pei Yifeng, "Feng'er, trust your father. We now have people in the palace backing us up. As long as we delay for a while, the Lu family will not be able to do anything to us!"
Upon hearing his father's words, Pei Yifeng said, "But the Lu family is right in front of us now. It would be an easy task for them to take our lives!"
Pei Chengyuan said, "The Lu family is only speculating right now. They don't have any concrete evidence. As long as you don't say anything, they can't do anything to my son and me!"
After hearing his father Pei Chengyuan's words, Pei Yifeng's tense emotions eased considerably, and he said no more. Lu Yunqiao, the patriarch of the Lu family, saw that after the father and son's discussion, Pei Yifeng's expression was no longer as tense as before. He realized that if he didn't scare him a little more, Pei Yifeng probably wouldn't confess honestly!
Lu Yunqiao had already figured it out. At this point, Pei Chengyuan, that old fox, would definitely not confess honestly. If he wanted them to tell the truth, he could only start with the cowardly Pei Yifeng.
Thinking of this, Lu Yunqiao drew his sword from his waist without saying a word and stabbed at Pei Yifeng's left hand. Before Pei Yifeng could react, he felt a burning pain in his left hand. He looked down and saw a finger lying on the ground. When Pei Yifeng looked at the finger on his left hand, he saw that his little finger was gone, and only blood was dripping down.
Upon seeing this, Pei Yifeng trembled with fear, letting out a pitiful scream, and then cried out, "My finger... my finger..."
Pei Chengyuan glared at Lu Yunqiao and said, "Lu Yunqiao, how dare you cut off my son's finger for no reason? Aren't you afraid I'll use a smoke bomb to call in my reinforcements and chop off the heads of everyone in your Lu family!"
Lu Yunqi looked at Pei Chengyuan and said calmly, "Lord Pei, the smoke bomb in your hand is fake. Stop trying to fake it!"
After speaking, Lu Yunqi used his long sword to knock away the smoke bomb in Pei Chengyuan's hand. The paper tube that Pei Chengyuan claimed was a smoke bomb rolled to the ground without making a sound.
Lu Yunmin and Lu Yunqi, the second sons of the Lu family, quickly picked up the paper tube and examined it carefully. They found that it was just an empty paper tube that looked like a smoke bomb but had nothing inside.
The two men said to Pei Chengyuan, "Well, Lord Pei, you've got some skills! If my elder brother hadn't noticed, we wouldn't have realized it. No wonder you only said you were going to use a smokescreen to ask for help, but haven't taken any action yet. Turns out it was all a ruse! Hahaha..."
Then, the brothers Lu Yunmin and Lu Yunqi looked at their eldest brother Lu Yunqiao with great admiration and said, "Big brother, you were able to tell that the smoke bomb Pei Chengyuan was holding was fake. You are really amazing!"
Seeing the smug looks on the Lu brothers' faces, Pei Chengyuan said, "Hmph, don't be so smug!"
Lu Yunqi looked at Pei Chengyuan and said, "Oh, could it be that Lord Pei has some other trick up his sleeve?"
Pei Chengyuan ignored the two of them and quickly comforted his son, saying, "Feng'er, don't be afraid, your father is here!"
Pei Chengyuan comforted his son for two reasons: firstly, as a father, he felt very sorry for his son seeing him like this; secondly, at this critical moment, he needed to calm his son down to prevent him from saying anything that could bring disaster to the Pei family and himself.
Pei Yifeng pressed his still-bleeding left hand, his eyes filled with tears of grievance, and said to his father, Pei Chengyuan, "Father, your smokescreen was fake and the Lu family has already seen through it. We have no other choice now. We are about to die. Do you still want to struggle?"
Looking at Pei Yifeng's useless appearance, Pei Chengyuan said, "Feng'er, do you think the Lu family will let you off the hook if you tell the truth? You're too naive!"
Lu Yunqiao's ruthlessness and decisiveness had completely frightened Pei Yifeng. He said to his father, Pei Chengyuan, "Father, Lu Yunqiao has already cut off one of my fingers. If I don't tell him now, he will kill me without saying a word. If I tell him now, I might still have a chance to live. If I don't tell him now, I will have no chance to live at all!"
Hearing his son's words, Pei Chengyuan said to Pei Yifeng with exasperation, "You unfilial son..."
Pei Yifeng stopped talking to his father, Pei Chengyuan, and turned to Cui Wenying, saying, "Madam Lu, are you serious about what you just said? If I tell you the truth, will you really let me go?"
Cui Wenying looked at Pei Yifeng and said, "I, Cui Wenying, keep my word!"
Upon hearing Cui Wenying's words, Pei Yifeng quickly grabbed her sleeve and said, "Madam Lu, the fire that Lord Lu and Lu Wan'er encountered on their way back to Qingyun Road was indeed caused by someone. It was my father who did it, and it has nothing to do with me! I really don't know anything else! Please let me go!"
When Pei Chengyuan saw that his son, Pei Yifeng, had actually betrayed him to protect him, he felt a chill in his heart. Pei Chengyuan was filled with remorse. He had been too lenient with Pei Yifeng, which was why Pei Yifeng was so cowardly and easily intimidated in this situation.
Pei Chengyuan looked at Pei Yifeng with a very disappointed expression and said, "I've been in this business for so long, and I never thought I'd be defeated by my own son!"
Upon hearing Pei Yifeng's words, Lu Yunmin, the second son of the Lu family, and Lu Yunqi, the third son, glared fiercely at the Pei father and son and said, "Mother, I guessed right, it really is you! You will all die a horrible death!"
After saying that, he took the sword and pointed it directly at Pei Chengyuan and Pei Yifeng's Adam's apples.
Cui Wenying quickly said to her two sons, "Min'er, Qi'er, don't be impulsive! I still have questions for them!"
After hearing their mother's words, the two sons put away their longswords.
Cui Wenying looked at Pei Chengyuan in disbelief and said, "Pei Chengyuan, our Lu family has treated your Pei family well all these years, why would you do such a thing?"
Upon hearing Cui Wenying's words, Pei Chengyuan first burst into laughter, then said to her, "Now that things have come to this, it seems I have no choice but to tell the truth. I admit that I killed Lu Zhenyuan! What can you do to me?" (End of Chapter)