When he saw what he was holding in his arms, Lu Qiuci’s expression instantly turned cold.
It wasn’t an item from the Princess’s residence, but something Lu Qiuci had brought from home—his own zither.
This zither was extremely valuable; it had been given to him by an elderly master who was highly skilled in the art of zither playing. Lu Qiuci did not know the man’s identity, only that the instrument had an extraordinary history. The two had formed a rather compatible friendship despite their age difference.
Lu Xuan also practiced the qin, and he had long coveted this ancient instrument.
But Lu Qiuci never imagined that the other party would dare to snatch it right out in the open at the Princess’s residence.
“Brother, I know you didn’t mean to forget gifts for me and my sister—you didn’t know we’d be coming today.”
“Once you marry into the Crown Princess’s residence, it’ll be hard for our family to see each other. I learned to play the qin from you in the first place, and Her Highness the Crown Princess will surely give you a new one. Why don’t you just give me your old one?”
“That way, I won’t hold it against you for not preparing a gift!”
“And Mother won’t be angry anymore, will she?”
“As for Sister’s gift, you can give it to her next time. As her older brother, you’ll never let your younger siblings down, will you?”
Lu Huan suddenly felt a wave of comfort wash over her. Indeed, only Lu Xuan and Lu Rong were the children who truly stood by her.
So she said, “Your brother is right.”
“Give the zither to him, and I won’t hold the matter of the calligraphy against you either.”
“I know your worries, but rest assured—you’ve grown up, married well, and made something of yourself. I won’t treat your father unfairly.”
“You’re such a sensitive child. Your father is my lawful husband; a husband and wife are meant to spend their lives together. Han Jun, don’t you agree?”
Lu Huan looked at Wei Hanjun, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction.
Lu Qiuci wanted Lu Huan to realize that the situation was no longer what it used to be. If she continued to treat the legitimate wife as she had before, Lu Huan—backed by the Princess’s Mansion—had more than enough power to make her life miserable!
Since Wei Hanjun would ultimately have to live in the Lu Manor, Lu Qiuci, after weighing her options, chose this subtle approach to avoid a public showdown.
However, as things progressed, she realized that there was a reason Lu Huan, after a lifetime in the bureaucracy, had only managed to rise to the rank of a Fifth-Rank Official.
A wise person understands hints, sees the pros and cons, and can suppress personal likes and dislikes for the sake of gain.
But fools—especially those who are both foolish and arrogant—only grow more convinced that others fear them and that they hold the upper hand the more they are hinted at.
How dare Lu Huan and Lu Xuan—how dare they think they could take anything from him within the Princess’s residence?
A fierce emotion welled up within Lu Qiuci at that moment. He did not want—he absolutely did not want—his father to remain at the Lu residence any longer.
Because he lacked confidence. Even if they reached a superficial consensus, once they returned to the Lu Mansion, might Lu Huan—for all sorts of reasons—cast his warnings aside and do something to harm his own father?
He could certainly exact a brutal revenge and make Lu Huan regret his actions, but what good would that do by then? The events that had occurred and the harm they had caused were already irreversible.
At this thought, Lu Qiuci shuddered, his expression darkening further; he longed to take his father away that very day.
But he couldn’t do it.
He had secured this visit from Xu Chen, fabricating the illusion that Xu Chen favored him greatly, in order to put pressure on Lu Huan.
Only he knew the truth, however. He had no confidence whatsoever that Xu Chen would stand up for him and meddle in the trivial affairs of a lowly minister’s household.
Wei Hanjun sensed that his son was in a strange mood and, thinking Lu Qiuci was grieving over the loss of the zither, instinctively took his hand.
Lu Qiuci was lost in his thoughts, unable to pull himself out of them, but those around him could no longer bear to watch. Di Liu could barely resist waving for the guards to come in and arrest these audacious members of the Lu family!
Just then, Lu Rong saw that her brother had received a gift, leaving her as the only one without one. Her arrogant nature was fully exposed, and with a burst of defiance, she wriggled free from Lu Huan’s grasp.
She shouted, “I want a gift too!”
“Why am I the only one without one!”
“If that wicked thing won’t give me one, I’ll just take it myself!”
She ran wild through the room; her chubby little body, plump from Sun Wendan’s feeding, was impossible for ordinary maids to stop.
Her eyes darted around, searching for something she liked, ready to follow her brother’s example and just take it!
After all, Father had said that whatever the “wicked thing” had was theirs!
Lu Rong was running so fast that she didn’t notice a person dressed in a splendid brocade robe walking in through the door. She collided head-on with the person, saw stars, and plopped right down on the floor.
The tense, restless atmosphere in the entire room seemed to encounter ice and snow, freezing solid on the spot.
Everyone turned to look at the newcomer and Lu Rong, who was sprawled on the floor, utterly shocked. In an instant, they all knelt on the ground.
“We pay our respects to Your Highness!”
“May Your Highness enjoy good health!”
Lu Rong, who had fallen to the ground, was about to burst into tears, but the sight of the crowd kneeling before her left her frozen in place. Her expression—a mix of shock and pain—twisted her features into a comically distorted mask.
Xu Chen’s cold gaze swept across the room, taking in everyone’s reactions before finally settling on Lu Qiuci.
*
It was just past noon when Xu Chen returned to her residence.
Her mood was neither good nor bad.
Her visit to the Ministry of War had uncovered Zhao Yu’s misdeeds and revealed her alliance with Xu Zhao—not a complete failure, but far from a maximum gain.
After all, Xu Zhao had been secretly groomed as the Crown Princess by the Yongji Emperor; her basic political acumen was sound, and she had acted decisively in sacrificing the pawn to save the king.
She had lost a large sum of gold and silver, but she had protected Zhao Yu and covered up her own crime of embezzling treasury funds.
For someone like Xu Chen, only a major profit counted as a win; anything less was a loss.
All things considered, Xu Chen felt she had still come out short.
So while her mood wasn’t exactly bad, it certainly couldn’t be called cheerful.
Upon returning to the Crown Princess’s residence, she immediately recalled that Lu Qiuci had sent a summons to the Lu residence the previous day; by now, Lu Qiuci’s mother and father should already be at the Crown Princess’s residence.
Just as Lin Yi knew the purpose behind Lu Qiuci’s request for the Lu family to pay a visit, Xu Chen also understood Lu Qiuci’s true intentions.
The moment she decided to make Lu Qiuci a pawn in her plan, she had someone investigate his background.
Lu Qiuci had come to Tai’an City with his parents at a very young age, making his life story particularly easy to trace. His family background was almost identical to Xu Chen’s.
A mother who favored a concubine over her husband, a legitimate son who was oppressed and humiliated, a life of struggle just to survive—it was as if heaven had handed down a crude, vulgar script.
In a way, Xu Chen felt that she and Lu Qiuci could be called kindred spirits, both cast adrift by fate.
With these thoughts in mind, she was supposed to return to Chenghua Hall, but suddenly changed course and decided to pay a visit to Yuhe[1]Meaning Jade Lotus jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2423976_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2423976_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); Courtyard.
The success of Lu Qiuci’s plan depended on her; what the Lu family had witnessed upon arriving at the Princess’s residence was proof enough of that.
Xu Chen believed Lu Qiuci could handle all of this, for he was, after all, a highly intelligent man who knew how to utilize every available resource.
But whether she showed up or not made all the difference.
For a merchant, making money requires an initial investment; upfront costs are inevitable.
And now, her situation with Lu Qiuci was no different.
Seeing Xu Chen suddenly turn and walk in another direction, Xuan Yu froze for a moment. She quickly realized she was heading toward the Yuhe Courtyard.
Xuan Yu’s lips curled into a swift smile, as if she had caught a glimpse of some great secret, and her steps grew lighter.
So Her Highness really does care for the Lord, after all.
She had originally thought that someone like Her Highness would never be moved by the emotions of a normal person.
Xuan Yu and Xuan Ying were disciples privately taught by Xuan Mu. It was only after Xu Chen and Xuan Mu had reconciled that they were given the opportunity to serve as Xu Chen’s personal bodyguards.
Therefore, to them, the former Crown Princess—no matter how tyrannical and cruel others claimed her to be—remained a vague figure; they did not feel the same fear that others did.
This is not to say that Xuan Yu and the others did not fear the current Xu Chen; there are different kinds of fear. If the former Crown Princess always inspired dread, the current Crown Princess inspired awe.
Xuan Yu hurried to catch up, and the group soon arrived at the Yuhua Courtyard. Xu Chen walked into the room, and the next moment, a chubby little girl bumped into her.
Xu Chen’s gaze swept over the girl sitting on the floor, a flash of displeasure crossing her eyes.
She had never been the type to like children, and unruly ones were even more unwelcome.
Moreover, the girls in this world were nothing like the well-behaved, adorable young girls from her previous life. The gender roles reversed between the two worlds meant that these mischievous girls evoked an indescribable uncanny valley effect in her eyes.
She didn’t need to ask; just one glance at the scene in the room was enough for Xu Chen to guess what had happened.
It seemed her young husband’s plan had run into a minor snag.
Xu Chen walked in. She didn’t need to make her way around; someone quickly pulled Lu Rong aside.
Xu Chen sat down and extended her hand to Lu Qiuci, who quickly took it and sat beside her.
“You may rise.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The frozen atmosphere in the room finally began to thaw.
Xu Chen looked at Wei Hanjun, then at Lu Huan, and then at Lu Xuan and Lu Rong.
Her gaze was intensely intimidating; no one dared to meet her eyes directly. Lu Rong was already terrified, trembling uncontrollably as she kept trying to hide behind her mother.
“This is your father, Lord Wei, and this is Imperial Censor Lu, your mother.”
“And what about the two younger ones?”
“You have a younger brother and a younger sister?”
Xu Chen was asking a question she already knew the answer to.
Lu Qiuci’s heart was pounding in his chest. He was still a bit dazed, completely clueless as to why Xu Chen had come.
The fact that Xu Chen had come signified something in itself, yet she shouldn’t have cared about these matters at all.
Lu Qiuci felt his heartbeat had completely spun out of control; his thoughts scattered like autumn leaves. Could it be just as he suspected?
Did the Crown Princess actually care about him, even just a little?
Lu Qiuci’s mind wandered, making it difficult for him to grasp the deeper meaning behind Xu Chen’s words. But he didn’t need to think it through—Xu Chen always managed to steer things in the direction she wanted.
That was a talent.
“They aren’t my full siblings; they’re the children of my mother’s concubine.”
Lu Qiuci answered honestly. Unable to think through the consequences, he instinctively spoke the truth.
And the truth, when spoken, sometimes sounded harsh—even like a form of sarcasm—which, ironically, played perfectly into Xu Chen’s hands.
“So that’s how it is,” Xu Chen said with a smile, suddenly gesturing to Lu Xuan standing nearby.
“He’s holding your zither—I recall it’s one you cherish dearly. Consort, are you planning to give your beloved instrument to your half-brother?”
Everyone’s gaze instantly locked onto Lu Xuan, and in an instant, his face turned pale.
Xu Chen’s arrival had been too sudden, and her presence too overwhelming. In the brief moment it took the few words to be spoken, he didn’t know whether to hold onto the zither or let it go; her very presence felt like a thorn in his back.
Lu Qiuci was now absolutely certain: Xu Chen had come to back him up.
For a split second, a feeling as sweet as honey washed over him.
Author’s Note:
Qiuci: My wife is so awesome, I admire her—
References[+]