Fire

Chang Gong is just a child; how could Lin Yunwan possibly go out first and then let him go out?

The fire in the Buddhist hall slowly began to burn.

She frowned and said, "Chang Gong, you go out first."

Lu Chang'gong helped her to the window and said, "Mother, hurry up. It must have been very difficult to achieve tonight's situation. Don't let it all go to waste."

Lin Yunwan broke out in a cold sweat.

It wasn't for any other reason than that she had made it to tonight smoothly step by step, with almost no mishaps, except for that child Chang Gong! Yet this child had managed to seize her weakness with just a single sentence.

She always knew that Chang Gong was intelligent and Filial Piety, but she didn't know that he... was even more shrewd than she had imagined.

He was just a ten-year-old child.

This made her, as a mother, very worried about her son.

Lu Chang'gong, seemingly unfazed by any source of composure, spoke urgently, yet his actions in pushing Lin Yunwan out were decisive. "Mother, if you don't leave soon, the fire will reach my heels."

That's obviously an exaggeration. The Buddhist hall is more spacious than a regular room, so it didn't catch fire so quickly.

But the flames shooting into the sky behind them were already quite frightening.

Lin Yunwan went out first. As soon as she landed, someone was waiting for her outside the window. Lu Chang'gong smiled faintly at her and actually closed the window!

"Chang Gong! Chang Gong! What are you doing! Get out here!"

"Chang Gong! Come out here right now!"

Lin Yunwan was extremely anxious!

Since her rebirth, she had never lost her composure like this. She pounded on the window, using her status as his mother to threaten him. "Chang Gong, if you still consider me your mother, come out here!"

Fearing that Chang Gong might misunderstand and think she was going to abandon him, she quickly added, "I won't leave you alone..."

Of course, she had considered his future as well!

Lu Chang'gong placed his palm on the small bolt of the window, rested his forehead against the window, and whispered, "Mother, I know you won't abandon me..."

"But if you die, your son will go with you, so your death won't be perfectly covert."

"Mother, your son will be alright, you should go now..."

"Chang Gong... Chang Gong! You don't need to take this risk to help me!"

Lin Yunwan was anxious and wanted to break the window.

But the people inside were no longer talking to her.

"Madam, if you don't leave now, it will be too late!"

The people behind me kept urging me on.

Inside, Lu Chang'gong smelled the fireworks and gradually could no longer hear Lin Yunwan's voice.

He could do nothing else, but he had to stay in the same house with his "dead mother".

Hall of Longevity.

Old Madam Lu had already gone to bed, but she couldn't fall asleep, so she got up again to chant scriptures.

"I don't know what happened to me tonight, I woke up as soon as I lay down."

After setting up the wooden fish drum, Nanny Yan sat down and said, "It's too cold!"

Old Madam Lu hummed in agreement, closed her eyes, and began chanting Buddhist prayers, feeling inexplicably uneasy.

There was some commotion outside the Courtyard. When Nanny Yan went out to see what was happening, she saw Lu Zhengliu over, still wearing his clothes from when he went out, and smelling of alcohol, as if he had just come back from outside.

"Sir, what brings you here?"

Second Gates were locked by then, so how did the old man get in?

Nanny Yan was puzzled, but Lu Zhengliu didn't speak to her. He glanced at the empty Side Room, walked past her, and rushed to Old Madam Lu, demanding, "Grandmother, did you send Ge Bao'er and Yun Wan to the family nunnery together?"

His face was grim and extremely unpleasant.

Old Madam Lu put down the wooden fish, looked up at her grandson, and frowned as she asked, "She said she was going to serve the mistress, and Yun Wan herself didn't send her back. What's the rush?"

Lu Zhengliu angrily asked, "Aren't you afraid she might do something to the mistress?"

"Don't you know what people outside are saying about the Lu family? How dare you put her next to Yun Wan!"

Old Madam Lu sneered, "You're overthinking it."

She put down the wooden fish, untied the prayer beads from her wrist, and began to count them one by one, saying, "If anything happens to the mistress, she'll be the first one to be implicated. She wouldn't dare do anything."

Lu Zhengliu was still furious, with nowhere to vent his anger.

Old Madam Lu then gently comforted her, "Who else but Ge Bao'er could recognize that jade Jade Pendant? You? If you can't find it, why not let her try?"

"Yun Wan can't really stay in the nunnery forever. If she doesn't come out soon, Chang Gong shouldn't study anymore; he should go to the nunnery and stay with her."

"I don't think she'll stay long; she'll be back soon. Zhengliu, don't overthink it."

Lu Zhengliu didn't think so!

He turned around abruptly, staring at Old Madam Lu, and said, "Grandmother, what are you going to do if something happens to the matriarch of the Lu family at this critical moment?"

Old Madam Lu was stunned.

Just in case...

If something were to happen, there would be nothing she could do! Lin Yunwan cannot be allowed to get into trouble at this time.

"I'll go pick her up..."

Lu Zhengliu in a huff, knowing he couldn't bring Lin Yunwan back, but bringing Ge Bao'er back first was still a good thing.

Watching Lu Zhengliu figure, Nanny Yan sighed and asked, "Old Madam, should we try to persuade him or not?"

"Never mind. He has a point. Let him go pick it up."

Still preoccupied with the Jade Pendant, Old Madam Lu muttered to herself in annoyance, "Where did she hide Jade Pendant?!"

I wonder if Ge Bao'er has been found yet.

Nanny Yan sighed again, "Don't think about it anymore, go to bed now!"

Old Madam Lu nodded; her grandson's commotion had actually made her a little sleepy.

He yawned, half-closed his eyes, and went to bed in his bedroom.

She had just lain down and hadn't fallen asleep yet when a sound came from the Second Gate.

Nanny Yan was startled and said, "It sounds like the sound of a clapper!"

Old Madam Lu immediately sat up, one sound, two sounds, three sounds, four sounds...

Something's happened!

Nanny Yan cold. Three claps of the gong meant good news, but four claps meant bad luck!

Let's hope the old man's prediction doesn't actually come true!

Old Madam Lu's heart sank. She stood up in her shoes and said, "Quickly, help me out to see what's going on!"

The master and servant hurriedly changed their clothes and rushed out to find out what was going on.

Thick smoke billowed from the Lu family Temple, white smoke drifting from the roof tiles, startling the neighbors.

Ge Bao'er brought over a bucket of oil, and was dumbfounded when she saw the fire in front of her.

"What's going on...?"

She didn't even have time to set it on fire, how did the Buddhist hall catch fire!

Did Lin Yunwan accidentally knock over the candlestick, causing the fire?

In other words... even God is on her side!

Ge Bao'er was overjoyed, but when she saw the bucket of oil she was carrying, she felt a little panicked.

She doesn't need to do it herself now, but she can't let anyone see her carrying oil over.

We need to get going!

Ge Bao'er turned around carrying the oil, she saw a cold, dark face.

"Brother Azhen... you... you..."

What are you doing here in the middle of the night?!

Lu Zhengliu looked at the bucket in her hand, smelled the oil, and his voice trembled. "Ge Bao'er, what are you doing? Is anyone in the Buddhist hall?"

Ge Bao'er opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a word.

There were definitely people inside; she locked the door herself, not even a fly could get out!

"Fire! Fire!"

Seeing the flames soaring into the sky, the older and younger sisters-in-law started beating drums and gongs, alerting the neighbors to help put out the fire. When the Lu family nearby saw the ancestral temple on fire, they all got up and searched the house for buckets of water.