Орден Красного Лотоса

Глава 73

She even smiled slightly: "You'er, it's your mother."

Immediately, that sorrow washed over him again, engulfing him like a tide. Tang Keyou swayed, his lips moved, but he didn't ask anything.

Old Man Ren suddenly sighed, tears streaming down his face: "Since you entrusted her to me, yet I couldn't save her life, how can I face you all!"

Everyone was disheartened.

Suddenly, Qiu Bailu's expression changed, and she quickly released his pressure points.

As if without support, the person slowly collapsed.

He actually bit his tongue and committed suicide!

Yang Nianqing suddenly felt very sad. Finding Madam Ye was probably the belief that had sustained him for many years. An old man in his twilight years did all this just for the sake of the younger generation. It was hard to blame him, yet it was also hard to forgive him.

Madam Ye remained silent for a moment, then slowly walked to his body and knelt down: "Thank you, senior. It was all my fault for being unfilial, causing you to commit such a heinous crime. I will come to apologize to you later."

She bowed several times and then stood up.

"Sisi, come here."

Tang Kesi was looking at Nangong Xue with a wronged expression when she heard her mother calling her. She immediately came back to her senses and was about to go over when Tang Keyou grabbed her arm.

"Who exactly is Father...?"

"I killed him."

"Mother!" Tang Kesi exclaimed in terror, unconsciously taking two steps back.

Madam Ye looked at her daughter, then at her son, her eyes filled with heartache: "You'er, don't blame your mother. Although I harmed your father, I will join him sooner or later. Now, I'm just worried about you. You're all grown up now, and you must take charge of the household from now on. You must never be as willful as before..."

Why did you want to harm him?

Madam Ye shook her head and remained silent.

Tang Keyou finally couldn't hold back her emotions any longer and cried out, "Why did you want to harm Father? You two have been on good terms all these years, and Father treated you like this... How could you be so heartless..."

Madam Ye turned her face and said in a trembling voice, "You'er!"

"What exactly happened!" Tang Keyou approached her step by step. "Are you really my mother? How could my mother do such a thing? It was that Lin Xing, wasn't it? For him, you actually had the heart to harm your own husband!"

"Insolence!" Madam Ye trembled with rage. "Do you even remember who I am? Does the Tang family tolerate such nonsense from you? You're becoming more and more outrageous!"

Tang Keyou coldly said, "Are you even considered a member of the Tang family anymore?"

"You..." Madam Ye was stunned with anger.

Finally, she sighed.

"You'er, I..."

Why did you want to harm your father?

silence.

Tang Kesi walked over and tugged at him: "Brother..."

He didn't move, still staring straight at Madam Ye: "Was it Lin Xing? Was it him I heard that night?"

Madam Ye trembled slightly, but still gritted her teeth and remained silent.

Yang Nianqing finally couldn't hold back any longer: "You've misunderstood your mother. This matter was indeed because of Lin Xing, but you've guessed everything else wrong. The problem lies with your father, not your mother!"

Everyone was stunned.

Yang Nianqing took a deep breath and suddenly raised the scroll she was carrying: "Madam Ye is unwilling to speak because of the reputation of Lord Tang, right? But it's not a big deal for children to know about their parents' affairs. Why cause unnecessary misunderstandings within the family?"

Madam Ye shook her head, her face pale.

Tang Keyou hesitated: "You mean... Father?"

"Yes, the person in the painting is the one your father liked."

The painting slowly unfolds.

The inscriptions all contain the character "风" (wind), just like the other two paintings. They all depict the same "Lin Daiyu" (a character from a Chinese novel), and both are incredibly lifelike.

Unlike other paintings, this one is in profile. The woman in the painting is holding a round fan, smiling charmingly with a tender look in her eyes. One of her jade arms is half-hidden, giving her a unique and alluring charm.

Madam Ye suddenly turned her face away.

Everyone was surprised. It was just a painting, yet it made Madam Ye so wary.

Tang Keyou exclaimed in surprise, "This woman looks so much like Lin Xing, could it be... that my father likes her?"

Yang Nianqing nodded and pointed to the signature: "Yes, your father liked her. Look at the signature on this painting, isn't the character 'Feng' written by your father himself?"

Tang Keyou stared for a long time before finally lowering her head and slowly kneeling before Madam Ye: "Mother..."

I realized I had wrongly accused my mother.

Tang Kesi also looked at the painting and suddenly asked in surprise, "But I remember that Uncle Lin doesn't have any family?"

Yang Nianqing nodded: "I didn't say that these were his family members."

She suddenly looked at Li You: "Do you remember that night when I saw Lin Xing's body, I was terrified by the birthmark on his right hand, it was red?"

Li You nodded.

She blinked: "Then take another look at this painting."

Li You glanced at it, then gave a wry smile.

The painting is in profile, which allows for a greater view of the details. From this angle, you can clearly see Lin Daiyu's right hand holding the fan.

Delicate hands.

A striking red mark was visible on her wrist!

The color was very light, yet extremely clear. Although Yang Nianqing had noticed it at the time, she assumed it was due to a careless use of color and paid no attention, never suspecting it was intentional.

Everyone reacted, then froze in shock.

No wonder that "Lin Daiyu" was always elusive, appearing only briefly in the background. No wonder that even though she appeared in Tang Jingfeng's writing, all the maids and servants in the Lin family said they had never seen this woman before.

Because there is indeed no such woman in this world, only one man, "she" is Lin Xing!

It turns out that the Tang family lord is gay!

Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say bisexual.

No wonder Lin Xing lied!

No wonder Madam Ye is unwilling to talk about him!

Although it was not uncommon for wealthy families to keep male prostitutes in ancient times, once such a thing got out, it would definitely have a great impact on Tang Jingfeng's reputation. Moreover, as his wife, how could Madam Ye tolerate such a secret after such a thing happened!

Regardless, this is an emotional betrayal.

Tang Keyou blushed and stammered, "You...you said, my father..."

He couldn't continue.

Yang Nianqing nodded: "Yes, there is no such woman in this world, but there is such a man, and that is Lin Xing. He is the one your father likes."

Tang Keyou's face turned pale: "Impossible!"

"If it weren't for this painting, I'm afraid we would never have found this person even if we searched for a lifetime. Lin Xing has a red birthmark on his right wrist. His body is still at the yamen. You can go and see for yourself if you don't believe me."

Tang Keyou angrily said, "No, how could Father possibly..."

Madam Ye shouted, "You'er!"

Tang Keyou immediately stopped talking and lowered her head.

Ancient education was not advanced, and Tang Kesi was just a young girl who hadn't thought about these things for a while. She was just wondering, "Isn't Uncle Lin a man?"

Everyone felt awkward.

Yang Nianqing looked at Madam Ye and hesitated, "He betrayed you, but you shouldn't have killed so many people because of that..."

Li You suddenly interrupted her: "You're wrong."

"The lady killed them, but surely it wasn't just for this reason?"

Mrs. Ye was stunned.

Li You simply looked at her and smiled.

for a long time.

Madam Ye finally lowered her head: "Not bad."

Nangong Xue frowned: "I wonder what truly made Madam make up her mind?"

Madam Ye slowly closed her eyes.

Li You paced back and forth: "More than twenty years ago, the Tao family, which was extremely prestigious, was executed by the court for plotting a rebellion. More than a hundred people in the family did not escape alive. At that time, many people believed that they were framed."

When he suddenly brought up this unrelated matter, everyone except He Bi and Madam Ye was stunned.

Nangong Xue pondered and said, "Although Master Tao was young at the time, he was naturally indifferent to worldly affairs, as everyone in the martial arts world knows. However, the imperial court clearly found a large number of firearms and weapons in the backyard of the Tao family back then. The facts are undeniable."

Li You nodded: "Since Sect Leader Tao is of a simple and indifferent nature, what use would he have for privately hoarding weapons?"

This matter was a major mystery at the time, but he brought it up again now, and spoke of it with great interest. Tang Keyou and Tang Kesi were stunned.

Tang Kesi looked at him in confusion: "What's going on?"

Li You did not answer, but suddenly looked at Madam Ye: "Madam lost both her parents back then and was rescued by Master Tao while she was wandering. She has been living in the Tao family ever since. What are your thoughts on this matter, Madam?"

Madam Ye remained silent for a while, then suddenly raised her head: "He was naturally framed."

Li You immediately said, "The Tao family is plotting a rebellion and has been found to be secretly possessing weapons. How did you come to know this, Madam?"

Madam Ye remained silent.

Li You continued, "Although Tao Clan isn't the number one sect in the martial arts world, it should still be heavily guarded. How did the person who framed Master Tao manage to transport these things in advance and hide them without anyone noticing?"

Tang Kesi frowned: "But I heard Father say that Uncle Tao would never rebel. I don't know who harmed him, and Father has been saddened by it many times these past few years..."

Qiu Bailu suddenly interrupted her, her tone full of sarcasm: "I suppose it's because you failed to avenge Master Tao. Back then, the 'Three Heroes Who Walked Arm in Arm' were so deeply devoted to each other. I wonder if Liu Ru has also been heartbroken for many years?"

silence.

Li You suddenly laughed and said, "So many years have passed, Lord Tang must be heartbroken."

Nangong Xue smiled: "Since Tao Men was executed, this matter has been recorded in the court's top-secret archives. No one has ever known who the informant was. Could it be that Brother Li has already found out?"