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Chapter 26: Return My Silver
Chapter 26: Return My Silver
As night fell, Lu Yuanjing sat leisurely in the pavilion, sipping tea.
Baoshu sat on the soft carpet, tugging at his robe with her tiny hands, her face scrunched up in a grimace.
A Jinyiwei guard arrived outside the curtain and bowed, saying, "My lord, the Lu family has left."
Lu Yuanjing asked, "How many strokes did he endure?"
The Jinyiwei replied, "Two hundred and ten strokes."
Lu Yuanjing, in an extremely fair manner, said, "Remember the remaining ninety strokes. When his wounds heal, continue the punishment."
The Jinyiwei bowed and said, "Yes!"
Lu Yuanjing casually waved the teacup in his hand, "Hmph, and to think that after just two hundred and ten strokes, the Lu family would produce such a coward."
Er... that's not how the phrase 'coward' is used.
The Jinyiwei stammered, "In the army, not many can withstand a hundred strokes. Two hundred is already extremely rare, and to endure three hundred... there is only one man under the heavens who can do so."
Speaking thus far, he glanced at Lu Yuanjing through the curtain and swallowed the rest of his words, changing the subject, "With General Lu's strength, he could barely defeat the Prince of Honor of Beiliang. His military achievements should be genuine."
Lu Yuanjing coldly said, "Have I ever doubted his military achievements?"
The Jinyiwei was taken aback.
If you don't doubt Lu Lingxiao's military achievements, then why... change the original punishment of twenty strokes to three hundred? Could it be that you're not trying to test Lu Lingxiao's strength, but have some other motive?
Lu Yuanjing casually waved his hand, "Alright, the punishment has been dealt, and the reward should be given as well. Our Emperor is one who distinguishes rewards and punishments and rules the country with virtue."
The Jinyiwei knelt on one knee and saluted, "Yes, my lord!"
News of Lu Lingxiao spread quickly throughout the capital. Some had witnessed him being carried out on a stretcher, his body drenched in blood, barely clinging to life.
Ever since Lu Yuanjing took power, the Governor's Mansion had become akin to a hellish prison. How could anyone who entered it come out unscathed?
Lu Yuanjing endured another wave of curses from the common folk.
However, Lu Yuanjing didn't mind. Compared to having a loyal and brave subordinate, wasn't it better to be a living Yama, striking fear into people's hearts?
However, there were also those who cursed Lu Lingxiao, saying that he had brought back a concubine from the border and had her pretend to be Lu's wife at the Zhou celebration hosted by the Governor's Mansion.
This was a blatant disregard for the Grand Governor. It would be strange if the Grand Governor didn't teach him a lesson.
Moreover, the common folk had already heard about Lu Lingxiao abandoning his wife to save his concubine from the Northern Liang people. At first, some didn't believe it, but now, with this incident, Lu Lingxiao's reputation for favoring his concubine over his wife was solidified.
"If I were Lu's wife, I wouldn't beg for mercy for such a heartless man!"
In a teahouse, a young woman spoke up for Meng Qianqian.
Most of the women in the capital sided with Meng Qianqian, after all, no one wanted to marry a heartless man.
A young man curiously asked, "Did Lu's wife beg for his mercy?"
The young woman replied, "Otherwise, do you think the Grand Governor would have easily let him go?"
A young nobleman sitting nearby interjected, "Yes, yes, I saw it with my own eyes that day. Lu's mother and Lu's wife went to the Governor's Mansion in the evening, and by midnight, they had taken him away!"
Another person added, "I heard that Lu's wife knelt for half the night in the Governor's Mansion before she could persuade the Grand Governor."
A middle-aged man in his forties sigthed, "Lu's wife is truly virtuous and wise. Any man would be blessed to have such a wife."
"Pui! What virtue and wisdom?"
In the Maple Courtyard, Lu Luo was so angry that she wanted to tear the handkerchief in her hand to shreds. "She didn't kneel at all! If she had knelt, the General would have received fewer strokes... She's truly an evil woman!"
Lin Wan'er waved her hand to dismiss the little maid who had brought the news.
The little maid scurried out, trembling.
Lu Luo gritted her teeth and said, "Miss, it was clearly you who saved the General, but now all the credit has gone to the First Young Lady! Everyone in the capital is praising her!"
Lin Wan'er lowered her gaze and gestured: Go see Lu Lang.
Lu Luo swallowed her grievances, "Yes."
Just as they arrived at Lu Lingxiao's door, the master and servant pair ran into Lu Xingzhou and the Lu matriarch.
The two of them sidestepped and bowed to each other.
Lu Lingxiao's mother, supported by her maid, entered the room without sparing Lin Wan'er a glance.
Lu Lingxiao was badly wounded, and a physician was tending to his injuries, basin after basin of bloodied water was carried out, filling the air with an intense, iron scent that caused Lu's mother to faint.
The maid quickly supported her, "Madam!"
Lu Xingzhou's expression changed slightly, and he turned to Lin Wan'er, "You..."
"What are you doing here?" The matriarch's voice interrupted Lu Xingzhou.
Lin Wan'er turned around, her eyes sweeping over the matriarch and Meng Qianqian by her side, her fingertips tightening into a fist.
Lu Luo spoke up for her mistress, "Matriarch, our young miss rescued the General. She's here to see how he's doing."
The matriarch glared at Lu Luo, "Are you blind? Clearly, it was I and Qianqian who rescued him! What does she have to do with it!"
Lu Luo trembled under the matriarch's sharp rebuke, muttering unhappily, "But it was clearly our young miss who..."
Lu Xingzhou cut in, "Your young miss is with child and shouldn't be exposed to such blood and gore. Take her back now."
"Yes," Lu Luo replied softly.
The matriarch turned away, pulling Meng Qianqian with her as she entered the room.
As the mistress of the house, Meng Qianqian needed no permission to go anywhere, even to Lu Lingxiao's Pine Court. In the past, she hadn't come because she didn't want to, not because she wasn't qualified to.
Lin Wan'er, on the other hand, was different.
While Lu Lingxiao could grant her the privilege to enter the Pine Court, any master of the Lu family could easily take it away.
Lu Xingzhou said nothing and followed the matriarch into the room.
Lu Luo was furious, "Miss, the Minister knows it was your doing, so why didn't he explain on your behalf? If it weren't for you offering the Black Armored Guard's token, how could the Emperor have ordered your brother's release?"
Lin Wan'er's fingers tightened.
For Lu Xingzhou, what mattered was that his son had returned safely; who had rescued him was of little importance.
Moreover, he had gone to see the Emperor two days ago, and it was indeed after the matriarch and Meng Qianqian had personally visited that they were able to bring Lu Lingxiao back from the Provincial Governor's mansion.
Of course, Lu Xingzhou didn't think that Meng Qianqian had such influence, but the matriarch certainly did.
His grandfather had followed the previous Emperor in his campaigns, establishing great merit, and the matriarch still enjoyed the court's stipend, as well as ice and charcoal gifts. Other imperial concubines didn't have such treatment.
Lu Lingxiao had been unconscious for three whole days. When he finally woke up, the first thing he saw was a stunningly beautiful girl, draped in a cloud-like robe, with a jade hairpin adorning her head, sitting gracefully before him.
He stared at her, transfixed.
"Are you awake?" Meng Qianqian asked, putting down the book she had been reading.
Lu Lingxiao snapped back to reality as he felt a sharp pain from his wounds, causing him to draw in a few cold breaths.
He remembered now. Lu Yuanjing had ordered him to be punished with three hundred strokes of the army rod.
That great traitor! Did he not know that three hundred strokes could kill a man? He might not know martial arts, but surely the people under him did?
Meng Qianqian walked over and crouched down to support him, "Don't move around, your wounds might open."
It was the first time Lu Lingxiao had seen her treat him so gently since his return.
He looked at her face, so close that he could even see the fine hairs on her skin, and suddenly, he felt a strange sense of intimacy, as if they were a married couple.
She lifted the blanket, "There's no blood seeping through, so the wounds probably haven't opened."
After checking, she gently pulled the blanket back over him and yawned behind her hand.
Lu Lingxiao's gaze lingered on her slightly haggard face, and he asked in a daze, "You... have you been here with me all this time?"
"Mhm." Meng Qianqian nodded, her eyes softening as she looked at him, "I wanted the first person you saw when you woke up to be me."
Lu Lingxiao's heart stirred.
Meng Qianqian smiled and handed him a booklet, her eyes full of affection, "Your reward has arrived. Here, this is the account book. Husband, can you return the silver to me now?"
Guess, does Dudu know martial arts?
(End of Chapter)
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