Chapter 30: No Precedent for Being a Concubine

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: No Precedent for Being a Concubine

When Fu Hongyi heard that Lu Zhan had requested his presence, he was surprised, and even a little honored.

He dared not delay, so he immediately dropped what he was doing and hurried to Tingyu Building.

Upon entering the private room, he saw Lu Zhan standing by the window, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Mr. Lu." Fu Hongyi bowed in greeting.

Lu Zhan turned his head, his dark eyes glancing at him dispassionately, full of scrutiny.

Fu Hongyi froze. He felt an inexplicable, oppressive pressure under that cold gaze, and a thread of unease coiled in his heart.

The honored feeling from before vanished in an instant, replaced by an icy chill.

His mind raced. ’Have I offended the Minister of the Ministry of Justice recently?’

But no matter how he racked his brain, he couldn’t figure out what the problem was.

Just as Fu Hongyi was growing anxious, Lu Zhan finally looked away and said lightly, "Sit."

With that, he turned and sat down at the tea table.

"Yes." Fu Hongyi quietly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, ’This Minister of the Ministry of Justice is just as the rumors say—cold, distant, and utterly unapproachable.’

Lu Zhan picked up the teapot, poured two cups of tea, and passed one to Fu Hongyi.

"Thank you, Mr. Lu." Fu Hongyi hurriedly accepted it with both hands.

Lu Zhan took a slow, deliberate sip of tea before saying nonchalantly, "I was just returning to my residence when I encountered your mother."

Fu Hongyi was taken aback. "My mother went to your residence?"

"You didn’t know?" Lu Zhan countered.

Fu Hongyi looked bewildered. "My mother never mentioned anything about going to your residence."

Lu Zhan’s gaze swept over his face. Seeing that he wasn’t lying, he paused for a moment as understanding dawned.

’It seems Lady Lin went to Duke Dingguo Mansion to demand that Cousin Zhi Wan be given as a concubine behind Fu Hongyi’s back.’

When Fu Hongyi saw that he had stopped speaking, he grew anxious.

His mother had visited the Duke Dingguo Mansion behind his back, and now Lu Zhan had suddenly summoned him. He had a gut feeling that something terrible must have happened.

Unable to hold back, he asked, "Mr. Lu, for what reason did my mother visit your residence?"

"Heir Fu can go home and ask your mother," Lu Zhan said, setting down his cup. A grim coldness settled on his handsome face, and his tone was as frigid as an icicle. "There is no precedent for a young lady of my Lu Residence to become a concubine, and there never will be. If I hear so much as another whisper about this, I will show no mercy. To uphold the dignity of a lady of the Lu Residence, I will not hesitate to take extreme measures if necessary. Heir Fu, I suggest you watch your step!"

Fu Hongyi’s mind was reeling. He thought he must have misheard.

Lu Zhan glanced at his ashen face, said nothing more, and rose to leave the private room.

Long after Lu Zhan had gone, Fu Hongyi finally snapped back to his senses, his expression darker than ever.

’His mother had actually gone to the Duke Dingguo Mansion to demand Zhi Wan as his concubine?’

’When had he ever said he wanted to take Zhi Wan as a concubine?’

He thought back on how agreeable his mother had been for the past two days and suddenly understood. It was all just a ploy.

His mother had never intended to help him marry Zhi Wan as his wife; she only wanted to bring Zhi Wan into the family as a concubine.

’How heartbroken and humiliated must a wonderful girl like Zhi Wan be, to be insulted in such a way?’

Furious and frantic, Fu Hongyi could no longer sit still. He stormed back to the Xuanping Marquis Mansion in one go.

At that moment, Lady Lin was sitting in her room, pressing a block of ice to the slap print on her face. She seethed with resentment at Lady Wei for striking her so viciously; even now, the swelling on her face had not fully gone down.

So when her son burst in without being announced, her expression instantly darkened.

"Hongyi, where are your manners?"

Fu Hongyi gave a bitter laugh. "I must have learned it from you, Mother."

"What?" Lady Lin stared at him in disbelief, thinking she must have misheard.

"If you had any sense of propriety, Mother, how could you go to someone’s home and demand that their perfectly respectable young lady become a concubine? What kind of propriety is that?" Fu Hongyi demanded in a furious voice.

Hearing this, Lady Lin’s expression turned ugly. "Who’s been running their mouth to you?" Her sharp, cold gaze swept over Nanny Chen and the other maids in the room.

They all shook their heads frantically, denying it was them.

"If you dared to do it, Mother, are you afraid of me finding out?" Fu Hongyi sneered.

Lady Lin slammed the ice, still wrapped in its handkerchief, onto the table with a loud BANG.

"Fu Hongyi, I am your mother! Is that any way to speak to me?"

"Yes, you’re my mother, which means you can do whatever you want and completely disregard my wishes!" Fu Hongyi said with bitter resentment.

Lady Lin’s expression was grim. "Don’t you like Zhi Wan? Wasn’t I doing this to grant your heart’s desire? I humbled myself and went to ask on your behalf, and in the end, not only are you not grateful, you blame me for it!"

"I do like Miss Zhi Wan, but I never once thought of taking her as a concubine! What you did wasn’t helping me—it was putting me in a dishonorable position.

Besides, Miss Zhi Wan is a wonderful person. What right do you have to humiliate her like that?" Fu Hongyi’s fists clenched, his anger mounting with every word.

Lady Lin was livid. "Have you lost your mind? That Zhi girl is just an orphan! What makes her worthy of your high esteem? The Fu family being willing to take her as a concubine is a great honor for her! It’s that Lady Wei who’s muddle-headed, making such a big deal over a mere orphan!"

Upon hearing this, Fu Hongyi looked at her as if she were a stranger.

’For the first time, he realized just how foolish and narrow-minded his own mother was.’

"She may be an orphan, but don’t you know that the entire Duke Dingguo Mansion treasures her? You weren’t honoring her, you were insulting her! I’m afraid the Duke Dingguo Mansion has already marked this offense against the Fu family. We had better not make a single misstep from now on, or we’ll be waiting for our own destruction!" Utterly disappointed, Fu Hongyi roared, kicked over a chair, and stormed out of the room.

Staring at the overturned chair and the door that had been slammed shut with a thunderous crash, Lady Lin stood frozen on the spot.

When she came to her senses, a flicker of panic entered her heart.

It wasn’t her son’s anger that scared her, but his final words.

’Could the Duke Dingguo Mansion really hold a grudge against the Fu family over this? Would they really be waiting to seize upon any mistake we make?’

’Surely it wouldn’t come to that?’

’Besides, Lady Wei was the one who struck me today, and I haven’t even pursued the matter.’

’She didn’t feel she had done anything wrong.’

’She had gone to their home to ask for Zhi Wan to be her son’s concubine, but she hadn’t forced them or insisted they agree.’

’If anything, it was that Lady Wei who was out of line. She had merely said one thing, and Lady Wei had exploded as if she’d eaten dynamite. A complete shrew.’

Despite these thoughts, Lady Lin still felt a sliver of unease.

Especially since her son, who had respected her all his life, had actually turned on her!

...

「Xuzhou, Red Stone Town.」

The small town was perfectly silent at night.

That night, Ouyang Lei and his companions were once again on the inn’s roof, lying in wait.

Just when they thought the night would be another dead end, they spotted a furtive figure emerging from the darkness and heading for the inn’s back door.

The person looked around in all directions and, certain no one was watching, raised a hand to knock on the door.

The rhythm was peculiar: three short knocks, followed by two quick ones. It sounded like a secret signal.

A moment later, the back door opened, and the figure slipped inside.

Ouyang Lei and his two companions exchanged a look, excitement flashing in their eyes.

’Just as they’d expected. That person must be the real killer of the innkeeper, Guo Yong!’