Even an Honest Official Finds It Hard to Settle Family Disputes

Lu Zhanyuan leaned against a table leg and began to recount his past.

Lu Zhanyuan said with a melancholic expression, "When Mochou and I first met, I was already in poor health, but it was still very mild back then, and I thought it could be cured. Therefore, after getting engaged to her, I headed to Tianlong Temple in the Dali Kingdom to seek medical treatment. Relying on the lingering shelter left by my ancestors, I received attentive care from the masters of Tianlong Temple."

"It seems Tianlong Temple had no way to cure your illness, either," Wang Ming said.

Lu Zhanyuan sighed. "Yes, I stayed at Tianlong Temple for two months, and six masters took turns using One Yang Finger to clear my meridians. They could be said to have given it their all, but unfortunately, it was still ineffective. Upon learning that my illness was incurable, I wanted to go and break off the engagement with Mochou."

Wang Ming said mockingly, "Oh? Your way of breaking off the engagement was to just marry someone else without giving any notice?"

Lu Zhanyuan said helplessly, "I originally intended to return to Lu Family Manor and make it clear to her that the engagement was off, so she wouldn't be dragged down by me.

"However, she had no fixed abode and I could never find her. By the time Yuanjun and I got married, she appeared on the very day of the wedding."

Lu Zhanyuan glanced at his wife beside him, his expression complicated. "That day, I saw a different Mochou; she was no longer the gentle and kind Mochou. That day, she was extremely hysterical and completely crazy."

Wang Ming said, "Just because she wasn't the person you imagined, you treated her like that? And while watching her get defeated with your own eyes, you still kept that indifferent expression?"

Lu Zhanyuan shook his head. "No! It was also at that moment that I realized how deeply she felt for me, and I understood that if I had explained it to her clearly, she would never have left me. When I died, she might have followed me to the grave, and that was something I was unwilling to see. Since she considered me a heartless man, then so be it! At least that way, she could live a proper life."

Wang Ming suddenly clapped his hands. "Hahahahaha!!! What a silver tongue, what a great story."

After laughing, his expression suddenly turned cold and fierce. "If I hadn't watched the loving scene between you two husband and wife, I might have actually believed it. You truly live up to the name of Hero Lu, famed for your resourcefulness. Did you think I was that easy to fool?"

Then Wang Ming struck him across the face with another slap, the residual force carrying Lu Zhanyuan flying through the air until he slammed into a wall and passed out.

Wang Ming had held back with that slap; otherwise, a hand that could shatter stones would have long since treated him like a watermelon, splashing juice everywhere.

Seeing her husband's miserable state, He Yuanjun grew even more anxious, but with her acupuncture points sealed, only her eyeballs could move.

With a surge of inner breath, Wang Ming unsealed He Yuanjun's acupuncture points.

As soon as her points were unsealed, He Yuanjun scrambled up to check on her husband's injuries. Finding it was only some superficial trauma and unconsciousness, she temporarily set her mind at ease.

"Senior, my husband did not deceive you. Back when we married, it truly wasn't out of love for each other; he did it to help me." He Yuanjun knew the danger had not passed; as long as she didn't send this mysterious person away, the matter wasn't over.

"Oh? Then please begin your story," Wang Ming said with growing interest.

"When we married, the uninvited guests who arrived weren't just Li Mochou, but also Wu Santong, the adoptive father who raised me since I was a child. The reason we were able to marry was because of my adoptive father, Wu Santong." He Yuanjun began to narrate.

"Yuanjun lost both parents at a young age, but fortunately obtained the adoption of Wu Santong and his wife. They cherished me deeply and cared for me with meticulous attention—those were the happiest days of my life. But later, as I kept growing up, I noticed my adoptive father's feelings for me becoming increasingly subtle, gradually no longer pure father-daughter affection." A trace of bitterness surfaced on He Yuanjun's face.

"If not for my adoptive father taking me in, I might have starved to death or been sold to a brothel when I was little. After I sensed his intentions, feelings of both terror and inner conflict continuously tormented me. I owed him my very life, and had he used his kindness to coerce me, I would have found it hard to refuse. But by name and status, we were father and the daughter after all—this was a monstrous betrayal of morality, and moreover, I could not wrong my adoptive mother Wu Sanniang." He Yuanjun had originally intended to bury this matter deep in her heart, not wanting to ruin Wu Santong's reputation, but if she didn't make it clear today, she feared Lu Family Manor wouldn't survive this ordeal.

"I know Wu Santong; he's a disciple of the Southern Emperor Duan Zhixing. I never expected this rascal to be quite the player! Grooming young girls, huh!" Wang Ming sighed emotionally, thinking to himself that no wonder the two Wu brothers turned out the way they did—the upper beam was crooked, so the lower beams were slanted.

"Although my adoptive father cared for me greatly, the one who truly looked after me was my adoptive mother; her kindness toward me surpassed my adoptive father's. Driven to desperation, I could only choose to leap into the river and end my life, but I was rescued by my husband. He subsequently stopped my attempts to seek death a few more times, and at the same time, he came to understand my plight, ultimately coming up with a solution: for me to marry him."

"Then you could have married someone else, too! There was no need to hook up with him. This obviously showed malicious intent and taking advantage of someone's vulnerability," Wang Ming deliberately said.

"No, my husband took a huge risk by marrying me. My adoptive father, Wu Santong, was one of the four close ministers to the ruler of the Dali Kingdom at the time and held immense power. Ordinary people didn't dare cross him, and those with the capability had no reason to offend him for my sake, which is why Brother Lu proposed that we marry,"

He Yuanjun immediately explained.

"Because he failed to help my husband cure his illness, he personally came to witness and officiate the wedding for my husband and me. We were also fortunate for the master's arrival; that day, not only did my adoptive father come, but Li Mochou came as well. We all underestimated their martial arts. The guests present, even with their strength in numbers, couldn't do anything to them, and in the end, it took the master himself to step in and subdue them, forcing them to swear an oath not to come looking for trouble for ten years." Speaking up to this point, He Yuanjun cast another affectionate look at her husband.

"My husband and I were fake husband and wife at first, but later we developed genuine feelings over time and turned the act into reality. Originally, this was a decision for their own good, but they were both too obsessed—one went crazy and abandoned family and children, while the other became a nun and killed countless people," He Yuanjun said helplessly.

"Mochou has become a murdering fiend all because my husband helped me. If you want to kill someone, kill me! I beg Senior to spare the others." Having said this, she knelt down and kowtowed unceasingly.

"Ahem! Wife, what are you talking about? This was my decision; it has nothing to do with you." Lu Zhanyuan woke up at that moment.

"If not for my husband, Yuanjun would have long since drowned herself in the river. Everything I have now was given by my husband. If my husband dies, Yuanjun will definitely not linger in survival." He Yuanjun stopped arguing; in truth, she looked rather indifferently upon life and death, or perhaps she had accepted her fate—she knew Lu Zhanyuan's physical condition better than anyone.

Too lazy to listen further, Wang Ming knocked the pair unconscious once again.

Then he fell into deep contemplation up in the loft.

Wang Ming had been in seclusion for a long time and was merely taking a trip through Jiangnan to relax and sightsee; this stop could be said to have been a detour.

Although he had taken Li Mochou in as a disciple, she was practically used as a tool, but no matter what, he still had to take responsibility for her.

He had initially thought that if Lu Zhanyuan truly was a scumbag, he would drag him over and hand him to Li Mochou so she could untie the knot in her heart.

What did Lu Zhanyuan's life or death have to do with Wang Ming? This was a debt of romantic karma of his own making anyway; letting him settle it sooner meant fewer people would die, sparing his brother's entire family from being implicated.

Wang Ming had initially thought Lu Zhanyuan was simply brain-damaged—it wasn't like this era made taking multiple wives impossible, yet he stubbornly turned it into a bloodbath.

In the original story, Li Mochou had said to Lu Liding, "If your brother were still alive, as long as he begged me and divorced that little bitch He Yuanjun, it is not impossible for me to spare your family of innocents. Now, sigh, you guys are just unlucky; blame your brother for being so short-lived, you can't blame me."

From start to finish, she simply wanted him to marry her and let her be the legitimate wife.

In the end, seeing the embroidered handkerchief left behind by Lu Zhanyuan—their old token of love—she even spared Lu Wushuang's life and continued to teach her martial arts.

Ultimately, if she hadn't stolen the Five Poisons Secret Manual, she wouldn't have been hunted down either.

Therefore, as long as Lu Zhanyuan swallowed his pride and begged Li Mochou to spare He Yuanjun, there wouldn't have been any major issues.

Modern women might find it unbearable for a man to have a second woman, but this was ancient times, where having wives and concubines was normal.

Even an honest official finds it hard to settle family disputes; let Li Mochou handle this herself!

Finally, Wang Ming channeled a strand of Innate True Qi into Lu Zhanyuan's body to extend his life for a while longer. As for his life or death, Li Mochou could decide it herself!