Chapter 1361: Side Story: Follow-up of the Lu Family (3)
Editor:
Atlas Studios
The entire room was silent. At this moment, be it the elders who were almost sixty years old or Fourth Master Lu, who was confident of victory, their hearts couldnât help but turn cold. They no longer dared to treat Lu Deyin as a little girl.
Not only did she avenge her parents, but she also suppressed the eldest branch for at least three generations. However, what were the chances that the eldest branch would stand out three generations later without the Lu clanâs protection and foundation?
If killing Eldest Master Lu would make him afraid, then being expelled from the clan would make him terrified and regretful. Itâd be an even worse form of torture.
Everyone looked at Eldest Master Lu, who was about to explode, and sighed slightly. If he had known it would come to this, would he still have done that?
Lu Deyin put away the evidence and left with the two servants who came out to testify. She didnât expect things to go so smoothly. Sheâd thought that the Lu clan would bargain with her. After all, this matter was considered a huge scandal for the Lu clan.
As it turned out, the Lu clan had more qualms about her status than she had imagined.
When Lu Deyin walked out, she saw Qi Wenjin sitting on the carriage shaft. Her eyes couldnât help but soften. It was probably because of this manâs support that she could take revenge so smoothly.
Qi Wenjin jumped off the carriage worriedly and walked quickly to his wifeâs side to support her. "Are you alright?"
Lu Deyin smiled and said softly, "Iâm fine."
The Lu clan was far more ruthless and decisive than she had imagined. She had only returned to the Kingâs Residence for a few days before the eldest branch was expelled from the clan, and their names from the ancestral hall. That night, Eldest Master Lu "died of illness".
To Lu Deyinâs surprise, Lu Yihua also died.
Lu Yihua committed suicide by taking poison. Before she died, she said to her mother, Eldest Madam Lu, "Mother, youâve all misjudged Lu Deyin. Fourth Uncle wasnât capable of finding those evidence by himself. Second Uncle was the one who collected it and handed it to Lu Deyin for safekeeping. If Father had listened to me and dealt with them on their way to the capital, this wouldnât have happened."
Eldest Madam Lu felt as if someone had hit her in the head. She grabbed her daughterâs arm and asked with trembling lips, "You knew, you knew..."
Lu Yihua shook her head with a smile and said softly, "I wasnât aware that Father bribed the mountain bandits to harm Second Uncle and Aunt, but I did know that Second Uncle was poisoned to death by Father. I thought he did it for Second Uncleâs family assets, but it turns out that it was for the position of patriarch."
At this point, Lu Yihua sighed again. "If I had known that Iâd encounter Prince Rong when coming across the mountain bandits, I would have stayed longer. If there was a chance that I could marry Prince Rong, why wouldnât I take this risk?"
Eldest Madam Lu widened her eyes and looked at her daughter in disbelief. "You also knew that your father hired men to impersonate mountain bandits to kill the siblings?"
Lu Yihua smiled and shook her head. "I didnât know before, but subsequently I found out due to Fatherâs actions. However, when we left the foot of the mountain, I did know that there were bandits lying in ambush at the side of the mountain."
Although Eldest Madam Lu was mean and petty, she had never thought that her husband and daughter would be such ruthless people. For a moment, she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave. Her lips trembled as she looked at her daughter, unable to say anything.
Lu Yihua said softly, "Mother, do you think Iâm ruthless? But this runs in our Lu familyâs blood. Look at Grandfather, Father, Second Uncle, Lu Deyin, and I. Which one of us isnât a ruthless person?"
"Mother, the eldest branch has already been expelled from the clan. Lu Deyin will definitely suppress my brothers and stop them from any sort of achievement. If you want to live well, youâll have to go far away. When she forgets about you, my brothers will be able to lead a good life, be it through working hard in studies, becoming an official, or doing business. Regardless, the most important thing is to be ruthless. Only by being ruthless can they amount to great things!"
Eldest Madam Lu couldnât help but shake her head. However, Lu Yihua grabbed her and said with a smile, "Mother, do tell my brothers to go south. Otherwise, go to the north. In the south, they can do business or study; in the north, they can study or join the army. Each of those paths could lead to success. Donât go back to Shanyin, at least not for three generations!"
"Other than remaining unmarried after the death of my betrothed, Iâve never suffered much. Mother, forgive me for being unfilial, but I shanât stay in this world to suffer."
Only then did Eldest Madam Lu realize that something was wrong with her daughter. When she went to catch her, she saw her smile at her and slowly closed her eyes.
Having lost her daughter less than a day after losing her husband, Eldest Madam Lu was greatly grieved. Yet, there was no one for her to hate for it. It seemed that they had brought this on themselves. If she had treated Lu Deyin and her brother better, she could have pleaded with her. However, she had coveted the second branchâs assets back then and was very harsh to the two siblings.
Regret filled Eldest Madam Lu once more. She should have listened to her daughter and killed Lu Deyin back then. Then, nothing would have happened. It was all her fault!
After the eldest branch was expelled from the clan, their fixed assets had been confiscated. Apart from Eldest Madam Luâs dowry, they could only take some cash and books with them. Moreover, they only had half a monthâs grace.
Because of this, Eldest Master Lu and Lu Yihuaâs funerals were extremely simple. Their coffins were temporarily moved to the temple before the burial, and were only buried when the eldest branch had time.
Most importantly, the two of them could not enter the Lu clanâs ancestral grave, so they had to find another burial ground.
However, Lu Deyin, who had taken revenge, was not very happy. She specially found time to go to the Lu clanâs ancestral hall with her brother to pay respects to her parents and also to take a look at her grandfatherâs memorial tablet.
Of course, the person she hated the most was her eldest uncle, and the other was her grandfather, who had always doted on her. Ever since she found out the truth, there had been a knot in her heart.
No one in the Lu clan knew that Old Master Lu was indirectly angered to death by her. Even her father did not know.
At that time, her father had been injured for nine years. His body was gradually weakening, and he was spitting out large mouthfuls of blood. The doctors hired were reluctant to speak and only told them to focus on recuperating. At that time, she knew that her father would not live long.
She was filled with hatred and felt that it was her eldest uncle who had ruined them. At that time, she was only 13 or 14 years old, very much an impulsive age. While buying medicine for her father, she took the opportunity to secretly buy a lot of arsenic. She thought that if there came a day where she really couldnât survive any longer, she would poison everyone in the eldest branch to death and everyone would perish together.
While hiding the arsenic, she realized that her grandfather was secretly meeting the doctor who was treating her father. She heard him instruct the doctor, "Donât let him suffer too much. Itâd be fine to speed it up."
The doctor replied vaguely, "I fear itâd leave traces."
At that time, her grandfatherâs face was hidden in the shadows, so she couldnât see it clearly, but she could hear the helplessness and coldness in his voice. "With me around, you have nothing to fear. But if we delay any longer, Iâm afraid there will be endless trouble in the future."
Lu Deyin knew why there would be endless trouble in the future. It was because her father had worked hard and finally obtained the main evidence of her eldest uncle harming him.
She had known the truth about the bandits since she was seven years old. At that time, she had asked her father why he didnât tell her grandfather and ask him to stand up for them.
Her father replied helplessly, "Your grandfather wonât stand up for us because one of his legitimate sons is already ruined. He wonât ruin another and risk ruining the entire legitimate branch."
Once this matter was exposed, the eldest branch would be finished. Furthermore, because of such a scandal, the Lu familyâs legitimate branch would become weaker than the side branches. They would definitely not be able to hold on to the position of the clan head, which was why they could only hide this matter.
It wasnât that Second Brother Lu didnât understand his fatherâs concerns, but he couldnât agree and endure it. Because of his big brother, his beloved wife had died, his ambitions had been destroyed, his only son had become a fool, and even his daughter wouldnât be able to marry into a good family because of this.
How could he take it lying down? How could he accept this?
Therefore, when he realized that this matter had something to do with his big brother, he wanted to investigate thoroughly. He did not expect that he would immediately be placed under house arrest by his father.
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