Retribution

"Old Madam, please don't shout when the master comes over in the future. If you keep shouting like that, he'll be even less likely to come see you."

Nanny Yan sighed, as if she were very sad for Old Madam Lu.

But she didn't even look at the Old Madam's expression.

She stood by the bedside, sighing to herself, "That Concubine Ge really has some tricks up her sleeve. First, she coerced and bribed everyone around you one by one, and then she made you paralyzed without anyone noticing. Even the Physician couldn't figure out the cause."

"You suspect a servant, and the master comes and sends him away. After sending away three or five, the master gets annoyed, and now there are hardly any servants left in this Courtyard."

"If you ask me, you should stop struggling. Actually, life isn't bad. You have this old servant to take care of you, Concubine Ge only comes a few times a month. You might as well just be content, and everyone will be better off."

Old Madam Lu wouldn't listen, crying and shouting, "Why... why... you betrayed me too! Why did you listen to that whore!"

"I had no choice, Old Madam."

Nanny Yan's face was bitter. "Now, what in the Lu family doesn't rely on the Duke's Residence? My son and daughter-in-law's future is all in my Concubine's hands. I'm so old, and if I don't care for my son and grandson, what can I do?"

"Why... why..."

Old Madam Lu repeated weakly.

Recalling the events of the past years, Nanny Yan sneered, "Didn't you force Madam old servant to poison Concubine Ge before? I tried to dissuade you, but you wouldn't listen."

"Now..."

"It's just that Concubine Ge is taking her revenge on you. It's an eye for an eye, don't you understand?"

Old Madam Lu choked up for a moment.

She suddenly burst into tears, crying, "Yun Wan, Yun Wan, Yun Wan, come back... come back... Yun Wan."

"Old Madam, what's the use of regretting it now?"

Nanny Yan said, "This old servant only understands now that the Pure Stream Di Daughter is truly upright and honest. No matter how wronged she is, Madam would never resort to such despicable means Concubine Ge."

"From the day my Madam passed away, the Wuding Marquis Residence fell apart. Look at it now, it's a Wuding Marquis Residence mess!"

Nanny Yan truly misses the days when Lin Yunwan was alive.

She couldn't help but shed two tears. "This old servant has no choice. Everyone is going their separate ways, and this old servant can only follow suit."

Old Madam Lu wept with her eyes closed, murmuring, "Yun Wan... Yun Wan... Yun Wan..."

After calming herself down, Nanny Yan covered the Old Madam with Thin Blanket and said impatiently, "Please don't wet the bed again tonight, it smells awful!"

As she was leaving, she suddenly remembered something and asked, "Old Madam, there's something I don't understand. Why are you so dissatisfied with the Eldest Young Master? How did he harm you? He didn't harm you, did he?"

"The Eldest Young Master and the Lu family are in cahoots; he would never harm the Lu family. I don't know what nonsense you're spouting!"

Old Madam Lu showed no reaction.

Nanny Yan also stopped worrying about it; the Old Madam had been mentally unstable for so long, it was possible that her feigned madness had turned into genuine madness.

Fortunately, Concubine Ge gave them a lot of money and treated her son and daughter-in-law well.

She didn't want to treat the Old Madam this way; she had no other choice.

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"Chang Gong, don't take the Old Madam's nonsense to heart."

Fearing that Lu Chang'gong might have some ulterior motives, Lu Zhengliu spoke first to reassure him after leaving Hall of Longevity.

Lu Chang'gong said, "I didn't take it to heart."

Lu Zhengliu nodded in satisfaction, but with a hint of melancholy. "The Old Madam's mental instability is getting worse."

Lu Chang'gong lowered his head slightly and didn't say much.

Lu Zhengliu couldn't help but confide in his eldest son, "Chang Gong."

"Father?"

Lu Chang'gong felt that Lu Zhengliu's calling him was very sudden.

Lu Zhengliu hesitated for a moment, then finally clenched his fist and said, "I... I went to Red Elephant Temple today."

Lu Chang'gong was secretly surprised for a moment.

He asked calmly, "Did you go to pray for blessings?"

Lu Zhengliu paused for a moment, then said, "No."

Lu Chang'gong asked Lu Zhengliu, "Then what were you doing at the Red Elephant Temple?"

But in his heart he was thinking that they probably didn't go at the same time, otherwise if Lu Zhengliu knew that he had also gone to Red Elephant Temple, he would definitely ask him about it.

Lu Zhengliu, as expected, seemed unsuspecting. He sighed deeply and said with a hint of shame, "I wanted to see if I could run into that... lady again..."

Fearing his eldest son might not remember, he said, "It's the lady I told you about, the one who looks a bit like your mother."

"No, it's very similar. Very, very similar!"

The more Lu Zhengliu recalled, the more convinced he became.

Lu Chang'gong remained silent.

As the two passed by Lu Changzong's Courtyard, they heard the laughter of a maid inside. It sounded like he was teasing a maid, and the maid's laughter was very coquettish.

They acted as if they hadn't heard a thing.

Lu Zhengliu said coldly, "Shouldn't he be at the Mingshan Academy today?"

Lu Chang'gong said, "I've already moved back home from the Academy; I was unaware of this."

Laughter was still going on in the Courtyard.

Lu Zhengliu quickened his pace, no longer bothering to listen.

He also recognized the maid named Xiao Xuan. He'd heard she was very good at seducing Qing'er, which drove Ge Bao'er crazy, but she couldn't do anything about it. Whenever she touched that maid, Qing'er would threaten to kill herself, Ge Bao'er was at her wit's end.

He only instructed Lu Chang'gong: "You must never follow in Lu Changzong."

Lu Zhengliu Lu Chang'gong on the shoulder and said earnestly, "You were raised by your mother. I know you have her integrity. In the future, the Lu family can't rely on that scoundrel, so we can only rely on you."

"Chang Gong, study hard and strive for officialdom; you are the hope of the Wuding Marquis Residence!"

Lu Chang'gong bowed and said, "Your son understands."

Lu Zhengliu smiled with satisfaction.

When it was time to part, Lu Chang'gong suddenly said, "Father, you don't actually need to go to Red Elephant Temple anymore."

"Why?"

Lu Zhengliu didn't understand.

Lu Chang'gong seemed even more puzzled than him. "Mother is already dead."

Lu Zhengliu was stunned.

"She's dead..."

His first wife was dead, and even if that woman resembled Yun Wan, she was no longer his Yun Wan.

Lu Zhengliu a sharp pain in his chest.

He gave a bitter smile, "Yes. She's dead. I saw her body with my own eyes. How could I still hope she could reappear in front of me..."

It took Lu Zhengliu a while to recover before he said to Lu Chang'gong, "There's a banquet at the Duke Xingguo's Residence in a few days. Would you like to go?"

"My son has an exam coming up, so he won't be going."

Lu Chang'gong refused indifferently.

He never associates with people from Ge Bao'er's side.

Lu Zhengliu nodded. "It's fine if you don't go. But I have to go. The Duke's Residence has invited Prince Huan and Prince Huan Consort. The Prince and Princess Consort have only recently returned to the capital, and many people are coming to make connections. If I don't attend the banquet, I'm afraid I won't be able to see them."

This involves matters of state, and he didn't want to discuss them with a teenager for the time being.

"Chang Gong, you should go back."

"Son takes his leave."

Lu Zhengliu returned to the Drooping Silk Hall with a heavy heart.

"I wonder what kind of person Prince Huan Consort is."

It seems unlikely that he can make any new acquaintances with Prince Huan; the only hope is whether he can establish personal connections within the Inner Residence.

Unfortunately, Jiangqian is too far away, and the Lu family and the Jiangqian Lin family have no connection whatsoever.