Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 28 Evil Man
While the two were talking, Zhang and her maid came over with a food box. Li An heard the footsteps and went out to greet them. Zhang told the maid to wait outside while she went in with the food box.

Lu Jing rarely comes back, and Zhang feels sorry for her son, so she cooks for him herself and prepares his favorite food.

Li An watched Zhang fiddling with a few dishes of food, and looked at Lu Jing with some sympathy in his eyes.

"You have lost a lot of weight since your trip to the southwest. You must not have eaten well while living outdoors. Stay at home for a while. Your mother will give you your favorite food to nourish your body."

Zhang loved her son with all her heart. Lu Jing looked at the dishes on the table with a speechless look, including smoked fish, spare ribs, fried cucumber, and a bowl of spicy noodles.

"Mother, just let the servants do these things. You don't have to work so hard."

Zhang said lovingly, "I know you love your mother, and your mother loves you too. I want to make you some delicious food. Please sit down and eat."

Lu Jing lifted his robe and sat down with a heroic attitude. Zhang picked up a piece of smoked fish for him and put spicy noodles in front of him. Lu Jing took a deep breath and ate the smoked fish without changing his expression. It was very salty. He ate the noodles again, and his eyes turned red in an instant, and his throat felt like it was on fire.

"Is it delicious?" Zhang asked expectantly.

Lu Jing drank two cups of cold tea to relieve the burning sensation in his throat. "...It's delicious."

Zhang was visibly happy and kept picking up food for him. Lu Jing felt bitter but couldn't bear to refuse his mother's kindness, so he tried to hold back and took two more bites, but couldn't hold it any longer.

Lu Jing said, "Mother, I still have official business to attend to. It's getting late. Please go back and rest."

Zhang looked at him deeply, wanting to say something but stopping herself. Lu Jing was an expert at reading people's expressions and asked, "Does mother have anything to say?"

Zhang looked sad and said softly, "Zi Yu, your father passed away early. We, an orphan and a widow, are grateful for your uncle's care and support. He hired a famous teacher for you and taught you the six arts of a gentleman. You wanted to join the army, so he asked for help everywhere, hoping that you would follow the famous generals and kill enemies on the battlefield. Mother knows that he has been very kind to you. If your aunt had not interfered in your bedroom affairs, mother would not have quarreled with her. We should repay the kindness, not to mention that we are a family and are connected by blood. But...but..."

Zhang's words were difficult to understand. "Zi Yu, a gentleman has his own way of doing things and his own way of not doing things. You should know the right and wrong in your heart. You should have a sense of propriety and not blindly follow others."

Lu Jing was confused, and Zhang said, "Zhaolan is also a poor person. She fell off a cliff a year ago. Brother Feng married Li Xueying. Li Xueying was born in the Earl of Anping's mansion, and Zhaolan is the daughter of a merchant. Their statuses are very different. Li Xueying is jealous and can't tolerate Zhaolan. There must be disputes in your brother's courtyard. Your uncle and aunt naturally want Li Xueying as their daughter-in-law, not Zhaolan. Zhaolan is in a difficult situation and is very rich. Do you understand?"

Lu Jing drank two cups of tea in succession and said bluntly, "Forgive me for being stupid and not understanding."

Zhang said so many things in a roundabout way. Seeing Lu Jing's confused face, she couldn't help but feel a little angry. "You killed Zhaolan and framed Zhaolan. Was it your uncle and aunt who ordered you to do that?"

"That's not true. My sister-in-law was indeed involved in a case, and I hurt her unintentionally." Lu Jing was realistic, "This matter has nothing to do with my uncle and aunt." Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, her brows relaxed, "I knew Ziyu could distinguish right from wrong, and he is definitely not the kind of ungrateful person."

Lu Jing thought to himself, you almost pointed at my face and called me a beast. He didn't want to talk too much about official business with his mother, and Zhang stopped talking. "Since it was an unintentional mistake, you can go with your mother to apologize to Zhaolan after she recovers from her injury in a few days."

Lu Jing, "..."

Zhang resolved a matter and left. Lu Jing stood up and saw her out. The garden was full of peonies in full bloom, colorful and beautiful under the moonlight. During the peony season, Lu Jing's main courtyard was a great sight, but because of his cruel temper, no one in the mansion dared to come to his courtyard to appreciate the flowers. Lu Jing was not often at home, so no one appreciated the peonies in the garden.

Flowers bloom and fade, each has its own time to return.

After Zhang left, the comfort and relaxation on Lu Jing's face disappeared instantly, and his eyes were cold. He accidentally hurt his sister-in-law, but... his uncle did find him, and although he never said it clearly, he hinted that he wanted Xie Zhaolan to die in this important case. His uncle was very kind to him, and if it was an ordinary matter, Lu Jing would have agreed, but it was related to the remnants of Huainan. Lu Jing had a keen intuition like a lone wolf, and the remnants of Huainan were inseparable from his eldest sister-in-law, so he pretended not to understand his uncle's hint.

He wanted to follow the line of Xie Zhaolan and catch all the remaining gang members in Huainan.

Ever since Lu Zhu scolded Nanny Chen, Su Qingwan had been recuperating at home, with no one disturbing her. Nanny Li felt sorry for her but could not take her place in the pain, so she could only spend time on her food, making thick soups and refreshing summer snacks like a stream of water. When Su Qingwan had a poor appetite, they coaxed her gently. With their meticulous care, Su Qingwan's injuries gradually healed. The doctor said that the knife was too severe and her heart meridians were damaged. Even if she recovered well, she would suffer from deficiency symptoms. If she was not carefully recovered, her life span might be shortened.

Lu Zhu scolded Lu Jing again, but Su Qingwan didn't care.

Ever since her clan members were executed, she had put life and death aside in order to clear her father's name, and she never thought she could live to be a hundred years old.

Su Qingwan didn't like staying in the house, so Luzhu placed a rattan chair under the corridor. In the early morning and evening, Su Qingwan liked to lean on the rattan chair and read.

She was very strict with the rules, and no maid in the courtyard dared to laugh or play, and everyone had to do their job. When she first came to the Lu family, the maid sent by Lin was disrespectful to her because she relied on Lin's support. Su Qingwan scolded her, and someone did it again. Su Qingwan saw the maid's weakness of greed for money and deliberately placed gold and silver jewelry everywhere. The maid really stole and sold them, and was caught by Lu Zhu. After Su Qingwan informed Lin, Lin sold the person. From then on, the maids in her courtyard were very well-behaved, and no one dared to challenge her authority.

Nanny Li was fanning her and telling her about the situation in the mansion. "After Li took over the housekeeping power, she knew that there was not much money in the public treasury. She was not like the young lady who was willing to use her dowry to supplement the household. The monthly allowance for each room, food, clothing, housing and transportation were all adjusted. The monthly allowance for the young ladies was reduced from ten taels to two taels. Originally, they had new clothes every month, but now it is stipulated that they can only change two sets of new clothes every quarter, and the jewelry is also fixed. The fourth young lady made a fuss and was scolded by Li. She went to Lin to make a fuss. Lin felt sorry for her daughter, so she put on the airs of a mother-in-law to pressure Li. Who knew that she simply stopped the special case of Lin's free withdrawal of money. She gave Lin fifteen taels of monthly allowance in the courtyard. When the young lady was in charge of the household, Lin wanted to spend money and went to the public treasury at will. She took a hundred taels at a time. How could she live such a shabby life? Li and Lu Feng also quarreled frequently, which was very lively."

Nanny Li couldn't hide her gloating.

Su Qingwan said, "Evildoers will be punished by their own evildoers."

(End of this chapter)