Chapter 94: A Dog-Eat-Dog Scuffle

"Do you know why I had to keep your identity a secret from you? It is all because of him! This man was your biological mother’s lover!"

"Back then, while your father was away in the capital, your mother abandoned her virtue and committed adultery with this man. They were caught in the act. You were still an infant at the time. I took pity on you, stuck with such a loose and base biological mother. I feared the Chu family would despise you, that no one would raise you, and even more, that you would be pointed at and branded with infamy.

I took you in as my own and brought you to the capital with your father. Do you know why I never let you return to Jinzhou? It was because I feared you would discover the truth of that year and be humiliated by our clansmen. Even though you aren't my own flesh and blood, I raised you with my own two hands. My heart aches for you."

As she spoke, the old matriarch wept bitterly, her grief profound. "The reason I kept Du Kang all these years was that I did not know whether you were the child of your mother and your father, or the child of your mother and Du Kang. Your father did not know that Du Kang was your mother's lover. I was afraid that if you lost your mother, you would then lose your father as well. So, when I encountered Du Kang fleeing to the capital, I dared to bring him into the household and had him sign a contract of servitude to keep him by your side. At the time, I thought that if you were truly his child, he would treat you well."

The old matriarch paused. "He did treat you well, following you through battles and life-and-death struggles. I felt comforted that I hadn't kept the wrong man. But who would have thought..." Her voice rose with agitation. "Who would have thought he was such an ungrateful wretch? All these years, the Chu family treated him well, and I treated him well, but he repaid kindness with malice. Harboring old grudges, he first plotted against your father's life. Mu-er, did you know... on the day your father had his accident, I investigated privately."

The old matriarch’s eyes grew cold and cruel. "Your father’s favorite horse had been drugged. The person who administered the drug was the medicine boy of Du Kang, who had been kept in the household. I dealt with the boy and had your father’s remains carefully examined. He had been poisoned with a chronic toxin for a long time; even if he hadn't fallen from his horse that day, he would have died from the poison sooner or later."

Her voice turned sharp. "It was him! It was him who poisoned your father. Your father received a health check every month, yet the doctor never once detected the chronic poison in his system. This is proof enough that the poison came from him. He hated your father for destroying everything he had with your mother, so he poisoned him to death."

"I never revealed his crimes back then because I was afraid... afraid of ruining your reputation, Mu-er. I feared that if he were backed into a corner, he would reveal the truth of the past and destroy you. Now that he is stirring up trouble, determined to ruin the Chu family, no matter who he is, he cannot be allowed to live. I am afraid... afraid that one day he will turn on you."

Upon hearing this, Chu Mu was surrounded by a chilling, murderous aura; his face was terrifyingly cold. His eyes, burning with intense light, stared fixedly at the old matriarch. The ferocity and overwhelming hatred in his gaze made him, despite his frail appearance, look sinister and ghastly. He clenched his fists until they cracked. Du Kang was her lover, not his mother's. They had killed his mother, and now, they were still smearing her name. He did not believe a single word she said. It was she who was the adulteress, the loose, base, and shameless one.

How could she be so thick-skinned and shameless as to push her own crimes onto someone else, speaking of them so righteously?

The old matriarch shivered under Chu Mu’s gaze. What was that look in his eyes? Those cursed eyes were fixed on her with sharp, bone-chilling hatred, like a poisoned dagger stabbing straight into her heart. The damned wretch, why was he looking at her like that? Did he know she wasn't his biological mother and wanted to take revenge? She must not have realized how much Mu-er protected her.

Shen Zhao felt the killing intent emanating from Chu Mu and immediately reached out to grab his wrist. She squeezed it gently, trying to soothe him before he lost control. Chu Mu’s wrist tightened, and the warmth brought him back to his senses. He looked up slightly at Shen Zhao, his eyes red-rimmed and pitiful, the sorrow within them threatening to overflow. He knew Ah Zhao wanted him to stay calm, but how could he be calm now? The hatred in his heart had been stirred up time and again by this wicked woman. He was a man of flesh and blood, with emotions and desires.

Shen Zhao shook her head at Chu Mu. She knew he wanted nothing more than to kill the old hag, but now was not the time. Killing her now would not clear his mother’s name; it would only cast Chu Mu into hell, burdened with the infamy of matricide.

Du Qi’an looked at Chu Mu with a strange expression. This was a difficult leverage to handle. It was a situation where one false move could trigger a collapse, and if not used well, they might all be dragged into the filth.

At that moment, the long-suffering Chu Renqing could no longer bear the old matriarch’s slanders against his biological mother. He let out a roar, "Mother! How much longer will you continue to slander my biological mother? She would never have betrayed Father or committed adultery! It was this damned, base scoundrel who ruined her back then. He deserves to die!"

After saying this, Chu Renqing kicked Du Kang hard. If it weren't for his collusion with the old matriarch, if it weren't for him parading about the gates of the Chu estate back then, his mother would not have been executed so quickly. Not only that, but judging by the old matriarch’s words, he had not only killed his mother but also his father. How dared he? How could he? It was all his fault—he should never have listened to the old matriarch’s words. If he hadn't, his mother would not have died, Du Kang would never have had the chance to enter the Chu household in the capital, and his father would not have been murdered!

Du Kang, who had barely regained his strength, was kicked by Chu Renqing and vomited a mouthful of blood. *Hah!* So they all wanted him dead! Was he really that deserving of death? If not for him maneuvering for them all these years, if not for him taking on all their dirty work, did they really think they would have a place in the Chu household with their own meager abilities?

As Chu Renqing raised his foot to kick him again, Du Kang finally could not help but speak: "Enough! Stop it, Chu Renqing! Isn't it your goal to clear your mother’s name? If I die, your mother will forever bear the stigma of having committed adultery."

Chu Renqing pulled his foot back abruptly. Seeing this, Du Kang felt a profound bitterness. This was the "great son" he had protected. He looked at the old matriarch with gloomy eyes: "You wicked woman, since you have no heart for me, do not blame me for being heartless. You know the truth of that year, I know it, and Renqing knows it! Do you really think a few words from you can deceive everyone? Do you really think I am still the Du Kang who would sacrifice everything for you? I tell you, from the moment you went to such lengths to erase me today, I am only Du Kang."

He lifted his head and stared straight at Shen Zhao with immense disdain: "You are not a descendant of mine. Seeing you kept in the dark all these years, treating that bitch with such reverence, risking your life for this family, sacrificing your inheritance and your lover to maintain 'brotherly harmony' just to please these so-called relatives—do you know that every time I saw you acting out of filial piety for that bitch, hurting those who truly cared about you, I had to suppress the laughter in my heart? How could there be such a dull-witted person in the world? Did you never notice the abnormalities of this bitch, the abnormalities of this house? Sadly, you never did... Hahaha!"

Du Kang laughed wildly. "Do you know how unjustly your mother died back then..."

"Du Kang!" the old matriarch shrieked.