Inside the Lu family's spring dock.
Lu Bingzhen, who was at the center of all this whirlpool, was completely unaware of it all. Today, she was given a rare leave by her mother, Mrs. Li, and she was currently looking through the Beijing newspaper in recent years.
Cai Bing offered a cup of tea, "Ninth lady, please have some tea." Lu Bingzhen only looked at the newspaper in his hand, without even raising his head, and just motioned to Cai Bing to put the tea aside. At this moment, Rong Xue hurried in.
The sound of the bead curtains hitting each other made Lu Bingzhen subconsciously look up at Rong Xue.
Cai Bing and Rong Xue have been serving Lu Bingzhen as maids since they were young, and they each have their own strengths. Cai Bing is bold and astute. He often follows Lu Bingzhen around for dinner parties and copes with various emergencies. Rongxue, on the other hand, has a reserved personality but has a photographic memory. She mainly helps Lu Bingzhen take care of various jewelry, satin, toys and ornaments.
Rong Xue is in a hurry right now, I'm afraid there is some trouble at home.
The two people in the room heard Rong Xue panting and saying, "Ninth lady, quickly dress up. His Majesty will personally designate you as the Lord of Qingning County. The angel delivering the decree has already arrived on the street in front of the door."
Along with this sentence appeared a group of maids and nuns who were cheering and cheering. Mrs. Li was worried that the maids around her daughter were young and ignorant, so she specially sent the maids and nuns she relied on to come to the scene.
It was Agate who was leading the charge, "Quick, quick, put the dress prepared by the lady on Ninth Lady. Caibing, go and open the makeup box and dress up Ninth Lady. Melt Xue, pack out the set of ruby head and face jewelry, and the jade pendant as well." Can not be less."
The well-trained maid took care of everything in a busy and orderly manner. Not long after, before the angel arrived, Lu Bingzhen had already packed up and was sitting securely on the embroidered pier in front of the table, quietly listening to the orders that would be received later. various etiquette.
"The ninth daughter of Lu Qi, the Lu family of Fanyang, is smart and intelligent, her virtues overcome her beauty, her appearance is soft and graceful, and she is sober and virtuous. Shenxi has a good reputation and is named the Lord of Qingning County."
Lu Bingzhen bowed down and said, "My lord, I thank you for your kindness."
The angel quickly helped Lu Bingzhen up. Fan Yang, the daughter of the Lu family, bowed down as a courtesy, and he did not dare to accept this ceremony. "Qingning County Lord, please come quickly."
Lu Qi and Li on the side looked at each other and hurriedly exchanged greetings with the angel and ordered people to prepare a banquet. However, the angel refused and said that they would go back to the palace to report the matter to His Majesty. Lu Qi could only order someone to prepare generous gifts and send him out politely.
After leaving the door of the Lu family, the angel Zhao Dehuai couldn't help but sigh, "As expected of the Fan Yang Lu family, a century-old family, even when dealing with an eunuch like me, there is no flaw. There is neither contempt nor flattery, just It makes people feel like a breath of fresh air. No wonder His Majesty still relies on Mr. Lu no matter how much he hates the pretentiousness of the aristocratic family."
It can be said that everyone is happy with this imperial edict of canonizing the county king.
The emperor was very satisfied. He felt that he had only given a false name to a county king who had no land to live in, so that Lu Qi could continue to work conscientiously. Lu Qi and Li were also very satisfied. Even if their daughter was half-royal with the title of county king, going to the palace for a banquet during the Laba Festival would not attract too much attention, and there would be no other hints.
At this time, there was a commotion outside the house. Neither Lu Qi nor Mrs. Li took this matter to heart. They only thought it was because the servants at home did not know in advance that Jiuniang was canonized as the county king, and they dared to exclaim at this moment when the angel left.
But when the couple carefully looked at their daughter's outfit today and lamented that in the blink of an eye, their daughter was already a girl with haircuts, the noise outside the house had to stop, and instead became louder and louder.
Li sent Man Nao to see what was going on, and saw Man Nao come back with a tense face. "Agate, what happened?" Agate replied, "Madam, it's the fifth lady who is crying outside. She said, she said..."
It seemed that Agate herself found it difficult to believe what she was about to say, and she hesitated not knowing how to speak.
Hearing the words "Fifth Lady", Lu Qi thought of the gold-weaving satin and the palace banquet again, and frowned slightly, "Agate, what did she say? Just tell her directly."
"The fifth lady said that she should be the king of the county, and it was the ninth lady who robbed her of her honor. The fifth lady also said that the husband was enjoying the glory of the family in peace, but her father was a loyal martyr of the country. He sacrificed his life and fought for the country. On the border of death. The fifth lady said that her father asked you to take advantage of her father's military exploits for the sake of the family's face, and now she is left alone as an orphan and a widow to be bullied."
As soon as these words came out, the faces of everyone present became extremely ugly. People who knew the inside story of the old incident showed dissatisfaction on their faces.
Lu Qi rolled up his sleeves and snorted, "What a joke, am I enjoying the glory of a noble family? Her father died fighting on the border? It turns out that I have been away from home for many years, and this is what my family has told me. I want to see where this word came from. from."
After saying this, Lu Qi ordered people to help Lu Wuniang and took his wife and daughter to Yuanshan Hall where his father Lu Zhi was.
The usually quiet Yuanshan Hall was now dark and filled with people.
Lu Zhi, who is sitting high in the throne, has white hair and beard, but he is energetic and has bright eyes. He caressed Meira's chin unhurriedly, "Qi'er, you brought so many people to see your father, but what's the matter?"
Lu Qi bowed respectfully to his father, "The child is unfilial and is bothering my father today. It's just what the fifth niece said, the child really can't bear it. I also ask the father to make the decision for the child and explain the rights and wrongs of the border affairs back then."
Hearing this, Lu Zhi looked surprised. He didn't understand why the eldest son suddenly mentioned this old incident from a few years ago. Today was obviously a happy day for his granddaughter to be canonized as the county king.
Lu Binghui suddenly broke away from the two servants who were forcibly supporting her, threw herself in front of Lu Zhi, cried and begged her grandfather to make the decision for her.
"Grandfather, please look at Hui'er. Hui'er, a widow, is not as noble as her ninth sister, but Hui'er's father also died serving the country loyally."
Speaking of this, Lu Binghui seemed to be afraid of Lu Qi and hesitated to continue talking.
Lu Zhi was not fooled by Lu Binghui's suggestive performance. He smiled and said, "When the old things happened, Wu Niang was still a child. An elder in the family must have told you these words. Do you believe it so deeply in the future?" If you are so suspicious that you dare to say it in front of your grandfather, this person must be someone you trust very much. "
Lu Qi, who thought her niece was just temporarily dizzy, suddenly came to her senses. Yes, things happened a few years ago, why is Wuniang, a junior, so sure of herself. While thinking about it, Lu Zhi already smiled and asked people to invite Li, Wu Niangzi and Ninth Niangzi down together.
For a while, only the father and son were left in Yuanshan Hall.
"Come here, please ask the old lady to come to Yuanshan Hall. Just say that I have something to ask her."
Suddenly raising his head, Lu Qi looked at his father in disbelief, but only met his father's sighing eyes. "Qi'er, it's my father who failed to regulate the family. I told your mother all the facts back then, but your mother has never been able to accept the fact that her favorite son escaped and was shot to death. I told her repeatedly what happened back then. She seemed to believe the truth, but she never mentioned it again. Later, she took Wu Niangzi to her side to raise her, and I just thought she had a new concern."
At this point, this old man who had gone through many hardships in his life couldn't help but sigh, "Oh, I only found out today that she didn't let go of this matter, nor did she believe my words. She just chose to keep those facts that she thought were true. I told it to someone who wouldn’t contradict me at all.”
As for who this person is, both father and son now know it very well.
Mrs. Lu was still a little proud when she walked into Yuanshan Hall, "Where is my Hui'er? Boss, you can't be mean to your niece now that you are back in Beijing. She is an orphan. If you, the uncle, don't do it, She supports her, but she can only let others bully her."
Lu Qi, who usually suppressed her dissatisfaction with her brother's behavior and promised to take good care of her niece when hearing these words, now looked tense and said nothing.
Seeing that her always filial son didn't answer, Mrs. Lu became even more dissatisfied, "Qi'er, what's your reaction?"
Lu Zhi stopped his old wife's aggressiveness in time, "I asked you to come here today because I want to tell you for the last time what Wu Niang and her father Ai'er did back then. He abandoned the city and fled by himself, and was captured by the soldiers guarding the city. Ordering the shooting was self-inflicted. It was Qi'er who cleaned up all this mess. It was Qi'er who risked his life to save a city of soldiers and civilians and the reputation of the Fan Yang Lu family for a century. "
These words seemed to step on Mrs. Lu's painful toes. She trembled and screamed, "You're talking nonsense, you're talking nonsense. My Aier would never do such an unfaithful, unfilial, unkind and unjust thing. My Ai'er is the best son in the world."
Mrs. Lu kept screaming and repeating these words, and finally fainted.
Lu Qi was shocked, "Mother, mother." He rushed over to catch her mother in shock, "Mom, please don't scare me." Lu Zhi also realized that his old wife did not seem to be stubborn, but rather like It's hysteria.
Servants and doctors rushed into Yuan Shan Hall. The servants placed Mrs. Lu on the bed in the back room, while the doctor felt her pulse and made acupuncture, and prescribed medicine for decoction.
Seeing his mother lying dying, Lu Qi blamed herself, "If I had known that my mother was unwell, it wouldn't have mattered if my son had been aggrieved. Today, my son is unfilial and has disturbed his father and mother one after another."
Lu Zhi was calm on the contrary, and even comforted Lu Qi with a few words, "It's not your fault that your mother is like this. If it's anyone's fault, it's Aier's fault. It's also me, the father, who didn't teach him well. He If he had defended the city gate that day, he might have had a chance of survival and waited for reinforcements. But since he dared to abandon the city and flee, even if he was not shot by the soldiers, my father would personally clean up the gate."
The cold determination in these words made Lu Qi couldn't help but shudder.
Lu Qi raised her head and looked at her father, Lu Zhi, and felt that in his father's eyes, the Lu family, which had inherited poetry and rituals for hundreds of years, was the most important. Neither his wife, children, nor even his father himself was as important as the Lu family. The younger brother's words and deeds had tarnished the reputation of the Fan Yang Lu family, so no one in the house dared to mention his younger brother for several years, as if a living person had disappeared after that night of beacon fire.
If one day he, or his wife and children, had to give in for the sake of the future and reputation of the Fan Yang Lu family, Lu Qi only felt that there would be no luck. Thinking of the palace's plan, Lu Qi even tightened his teeth.
