A Family Ruined, Lives Lost

Let's go take a look.

Lu Chang'gong heard a commotion at the Second Gate and spoke to Zhu Qing.

Zhu Qing nodded and had someone take Mu'er away.

Mu'er said, "Mother, Elder Brother, I want to go too."

Zhu Qing said no, Mu'er tugged at Lu Chang'gong's sleeve and said, "Elder Brother, I want to go."

Surprisingly, Zhu Qing no longer objected, but instead decided to wait and see what Lu Chang'gong thought.

Lu Chang'gong said with a faint smile, "Mu'er, let's go together."

Zhu Qing agreed, and holding Mu'er, she said, "It's good to see, so you'll know how such a grand marquis's Marquis's Residence was ruined. You'll have to be smarter in the future."

Mu'er smiled and nodded, "I'll follow you from now on, brother. Mu'er 'll listen to you, brother. Everything you say is right."

Zhu Qing paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "That's right."

We went to the Second Gate together.

When the yamen runners from Shuntian Prefecture arrived, they were all armed with swords; there were actually five or six of them.

Lu Zhengliu also rushed over, but before he could even ask, the people from Shuntian Prefecture asked him, "Where is your Concubine, Ge Bao'er?"

Lu Zhengliu said with a stern face, "... Why are you arresting people? Even arresting a woman doesn't mean you should trespass into the Inner Residence!"

The Lu family hasn't had their property confiscated yet, has it?

The constable frowned and asked, "You're not cooperating with the Shuntian Prefecture's investigation?" Before Lu Zhengliu could answer, he ordered the men behind him, "Take him down!"

Lu Zhengliu furious, but he was just a commoner with no noble title, so his anger was useless.

He saw Lu Chang'gong and, as if seeing a lifeline, shouted, "Chang Gong, come here and talk to them!"

Chang Gong was Provincial Graduate.

Lu Chang'gong walked over and said to the man from Shuntian Prefecture, "May I ask, sir, why are you arresting people?"

He was Provincial Graduate had passed the imperial examinations, and a servant beside him was speaking. The yamen runners from Shuntian Prefecture also heard this and said very politely, "Provincial Graduate Lu, your Concubine poisoned your Old Madam. Someone has reported this to Shuntian Prefecture, and we are here on orders to arrest her."

Lu Zhengliu frowned and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Our Old Madam didn't..."

A scream came from Lu Changzong's Courtyard.

Lu Changzong said, "Concubine Ge should be there."

The people from Shuntian Prefecture nodded and went over together.

Lu Chang'gong and Lu Zhengliu said, "Let's go check it out first. The people from Shuntian Prefecture shouldn't have arrested the wrong person."

Lu Zhengliu at ease.

Yun Wan... still left him a good child, leaving the Lu family with a glimmer of hope.

After the constables arrived, they arrested Ge Bao'er.

Xiao Xuan was almost strangled to death by a piece of silk cloth, and she sat on the ground crying uncontrollably.

"Take her away!"

Ge Bao'er asked in a panic, "Why are you arresting me! Let me go!"

The constable, taking a moment of kindness, said, "You poisoned the Old Madam of the Lu family, and you were caught red-handed committing murder. If we don't arrest you, who will we arrest!"

"I... I didn't... I didn't poison anyone! That maid was a servant; she made a mistake. What crime did the master commit by strangling her!"

The constable sneered, "You can save that for your arguments in court!"

Lu Zhengliu composed himself, bowed, and asked, "Sir, the Old Madam is my grandmother. What exactly happened with the poisoning?"

He was much more polite.

Only then did the bailiff reveal, "It was your Second Young Master, the Old Madam's grandson, who wrote the complaint against this Concubine."

"Qing'er..."

Ge Bao'er's mind went completely blank. She asked incredulously, "Qing'er went to Shuntian Prefecture to sue me? How is that possible!"

The bailiff said coldly, "The person and the complaint are both here. Do you still want to deny it?"

Lu Changzong emerged from the back of the crowd, looking somewhat uneasy, but concerned for Xiao Xuan inside the house, and rushed inside in front of everyone.

Xiao Xuan clutched her stomach and cried out, "Second Young Master, my Concubine is trying to kill me and your child!"

Lu Changzong rushed out, all remorse gone, and said viciously, "I'm the one who reported you! You wicked woman! Xiao Xuan is carrying my child, and you won't even spare my child! You also harmed the Old Madam, you deserve it!"

Ge Bao'er stared wide-eyed at her son.

She looked up to the sky and cried out, "Qing'er —I've always loved you so much, and yet you—you—"

She was his birth mother her whole life; it was truly not worth it!

Lu Changzong, however, remained unconvinced. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, saying, "You're doing this for my own good? If you were truly looking out for me, you wouldn't have driven my stepmother to her death, you wouldn't have made me like this, you wouldn't have killed Xiao Xuan and my child!"

"I hate you so much! I've hated you every single day since Mother passed away! I wish you were dead!"

If he hadn't been filled with intense hatred, he would never have said such heartless words in front of everyone.

Ge Bao'er was heartbroken.

This is the biological son she raised; how could he have turned out like this!

The constables had no time to watch the mother and son argue. They put shackles on Ge Bao'er and coldly said, "Let's go!"

Ge Bao'er followed the two constables like a walking corpse.

Lu Changzong turned and ran back, crying, and hugged Xiao Xuan, asking, "How are you?"

Xiao Xuan was terrified and cried, "Second Young Master, I almost died! I almost died!"

"It's alright. She's been arrested by the authorities. She... Concubine Ge will never harm you and my child again."

Xiao Xuan nodded. "Second Young Master, thankfully I still have you to protect me."

Lu Changzong held her close and said blankly, "Xiao Xuan, you're all I have left."

Seeing the chaos in the mansion, Lu Zhengliu felt even more desolate.

The constable said to him, "Take us to see your Old Madam; we need to take her food for inspection."

Lu Zhengliu was numb, but he still had a shred of rationality. He said to Lu Chang'gong, "Come with me." Lu Chang'gong was the only person he could rely on now.

"Good."

On the way there, Lu Zhengliu still couldn't understand why Ge Bao'er would poison the Old Madam. Wasn't the Old Madam perfectly fine? She was just paralyzed in the Hall of Longevity, not dead.

He had barely passed by when Nanny Yan rushed out, stammering, "Master, Eldest Young Master, the Old Madam... she..."

What's wrong with Grandma?

Lu Zhengliu's heart sank.

Nanny Yan said, "The Old Madam seems to be having a final burst of energy before her death... You should go and see her!"

Lu Zhengliu was dumbfounded, "Grandmother wasn't always... always..."

Nanny Yan said, "The Old Madam has been acting strangely ever since she returned from seeing Prince Huan Consort." But the family can't take care of Old Madam at all, and she has been poisoned for a long time. Her days are numbered.

Lu Zhengliu rushed in. Old Madam Lu's face was ashen; she kept muttering, "We were wrong... we were all wrong..."

"Grandmother!"

Her behavior really frightened Lu Zhengliu.

Old Madam Lu slowly turned her head, looked at Lu Zhengliu, and said, "Grandson, we were all wrong. I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have agreed to bring Ge Bao'er back, I shouldn't have mistreated Yun Wan... I shouldn't have..."

But it was too late.

Old Madam Lu let out a roar, then died with her eyes wide open, seemingly calling out someone's name before she died.

"Grandmother! Grandmother! Grandmother--"

Lu Zhengliu cried very sadly.

The constables exchanged glances; their deaths were indeed quite coincidental. The matter of the Concubine poisoning the Old Madam was probably true, and not a false accusation.

Nanny Yan also came over, crying.

Lu Zhengliu around, his eyes red, and ordered her, "Did Ge Bao'er poison my grandmother?! Go and find out what my grandmother's food was like!"

Nanny Yan was already panicked when she saw those yamen runners.

Hearing Lu Zhengliu's words, he panicked even more and immediately tried to distance himself. "This... this is all a matter in the Kitchen, this old servant knows nothing about it."

The constable looked around and sneered, "Isn't the Old Madam's bowl right there on the table?"

Nanny Yan was speechless.

The constable took the bowl away and said to Lu Zhengliu, "Move aside, we're taking the Old Madam with us."

Lu Zhengliu was driven to the brink of madness. "My grandmother is dead! She's dead! You won't even leave my grandmother with a complete body?"

Nanny Yan panicked and shouted, "When you investigate cases, do you even have any sense of human ethics?"

The yamen runners didn't care about any of that.

Regarding the case Wuding Marquis Residence, instructions have been given from above: handle it strictly as instructed.

Besides, the Lu family's murder case was just a minor one.

The most serious crime is the confiscation of property.

Suddenly, someone came to the Front Courtyard. The male steward rushed in, looking completely panicked, and said to Lu Zhengliu, "Sir, it's over! It's over! They've come to ransack the house!"

Lu Zhengliu went weak, and he had to lean on Lu Chang'gong to steady himself. His voice was hoarse as he asked the steward, "... What happened?"

He knew this day would come, but when it actually arrived, he was still afraid.

The steward was so confused he could barely speak, only managing to say, "They'll be right there in the inner courtyard, sir, please hurry..."

There's no time left.

Lu Zhengliu, with his eyes closed, gripped Lu Chang'gong's shoulders tightly and said in a trembling voice, "Chang Gong, come with me. I have something to tell you."

With the Wuding Marquis Residence destroyed, Lu Chang'gong is now the only hope.

He wanted to properly instruct his adopted son and rebuild the Lu family in the future.

Lu Chang'gong said calmly, "Alright."