Chapter 89: The Lu Family's Internal Conflict

  Lu Dazhou was really confused this time. If his mother hated him and beat him, he could still understand it. His mother was the old lady's confidant after all, and her loyalty was unquestionable. He didn't dare let her know about the things he had done. But when his father hit him, he couldn't figure it out. His father clearly knew what was going on, and this matter was even led by him!

  Lu Dazhou felt wronged in his heart, and with this feeling of injustice, he ignored the fact that his own mother was still present and directly shouted at his father: "Father, why did you hit me? We helped Xiaochangfang do things, it was your idea, I just followed your orders. This time I had bad luck, and that woman betrayed me, so I got exposed. I can tolerate being beaten by the old lady and my brother, but what right do you have to hit me?"

  Lu's mother was struck by lightning, staring blankly at her husband with a face full of incredulity.

  Lu Changshu's eyebrows furrowed even tighter, and another slap flew towards his eldest son: "You scoundrel, what kind of place is this? Do you still want to shout wildly?"

  Lu Dajiu suddenly remembered that his mother was present, and he shrunk his neck, muttering in a low voice: "Mother... it's not... that..."

  Mrs. Lu's eyes turned black, her body swayed slightly, and she stumbled to the table, holding onto the edge of the table to sit down.

  Lu Dajiu saw his mother not making a sound and also felt uncertain: "Mother..."

  "Alright, your mother has a number in her heart." Lu Changxiu was very calm, "She just can't believe it for the time being."

  Lu Dajiu's face showed hesitation, but the scorching pain on his face quickly brought his attention back: "Dad, why did you hit me? And you hit me twice?!"

  "Ah, you scoundrel! I've warned you before, but you still don't wake up! What have you been telling your wife? Can such things be shared with her? I told you long ago that she's not trustworthy, with a coarse temperament, and doesn't match our Lu family's doorframe. You insisted on marrying her, so I thought, considering your age, it was time for you to take a wife and have children. I feared delaying you, so I reluctantly agreed to let you marry her, thinking that if we could escape in the future, we could divorce this one and find a better match. But you should know better! There are some confidential matters that absolutely cannot be shared with her. At least wait until she bears you sons and daughters before letting her know. How did you hear? The incident with the bed screen has been discovered by the master of the house, and both the old lady and your brother have begun to suspect you. You should be keeping your mouth shut like a bottle! Instead, you've gone and told your wife the private conversations I had with you and your siblings. Are you tired of living or do you want to kill me, your father?!"

  Lu Dazhou only then realized what his father was angry about, and he also felt very ashamed. He couldn't help but explain: "Dad, I didn't want to say it, but that woman is no good. On the way back by boat, we were locked in a room together, and she kept scolding me from morning till night. She looked down on us as official slaves, saying she was blind to have married me. Her scolding was really unbearable, and she would say all sorts of shameful private words that made the guards outside laugh at me. I couldn't bear it anymore, so I covered her mouth and quietly refuted her. My family's ancestors were also officials, and we were a big household. If not for bad luck, we wouldn't have become official slaves. She shouldn't even mention marrying me as a young lady, let alone being worthy of serving me! Besides, she married me to take advantage of our Hou Mansion's prestige. If she hadn't been greedy and blocked the message from the Tu Sanyang family, Old Lady wouldn't be so angry. The matter with the kang screen was just an excuse to gloss over it. How could we end up in this situation? And she still has the nerve to blame me..."

  Lu Changxiu coldly snorted: "That matter of the small long house, why did you want her to know about it?"

  Lu Dazhou hesitated for a long time, then said with shame: "She laughed at me for taking out the old calendar to show off, and scolded my grandfather for being demoted to an official slave because of his evil deeds. She said I was even lower than ordinary slaves and didn't have the qualifications to speak in front of her. In a moment of impulsiveness, I mentioned that Mrs. Hui had agreed to help our family remove our slave status..."

  Lu Changxiu raised his arm to hit, and Lu Dasou hastily dodged back: "Dad, I know I was wrong. How could I have known that this woman would be so treacherous? She pretended to obey me on the surface, but as soon as she turned around, she reported everything to Old Lady and my brother! It's not that I wasn't on guard against her; originally, I had been wary of her for a while. But after hearing what I said, she changed her tune and said she was willing to be with me for the rest of her life as husband and wife. She asked me to take care of her when I gained power in the future, so she could also live a good life as a rich family's young mistress. I thought she was sincere, so I told her all the details... who would have thought that she would leak everything out?!"

  Lu Changxiu was so angry that she couldn't speak, and she kicked her son hard, ignoring his cries of pain. She scolded him, "Remember this clearly: if anyone asks you about this matter again, you say it was all your own idea. You asked me what I thought, and I scolded you, so you didn't dare say anything else, and you didn't mention it to the family. But you were momentarily confused and deceived by the clever words of the people from Xiaolongfang, which is why you made a mistake. Apart from that one screen, you didn't do anything else. The old lady of Xiaolongfang spared your life because she planned to use you again in the future. Do you remember all this?"

  "Remember clearly, remember clearly." Lu Dasou rubbed his calf, crying and nodding continuously, then looked at his mother with some hesitation: "Then what about Mother..."

  Lu Changxiu's expression turned serious: "You go out first, I have something to say to your mother."

  Lu Dazhou didn't go out, instead he hesitated for a moment, pulled his father to the corner of the room, whispered two sentences, and then asked in a slightly louder voice: "What to do?"

  Lu Changxiu's face was full of unexpected color, and he immediately furrowed his brow: "No way, just pretend you don't know about this matter. Later, when you have a chance, find a place where no one can see you and get rid of the thing."

  Lu Dajiu was somewhat anxious: "But..."

  "No way!" Lu Changxiu said resolutely, "If we want to be good citizens again, we must first save our lives. Don't let Xiaolongfang really become the master, they are using us, aren't we also using them?!"

  Lu Dasou seemed to understand something, nodded and went out. Their house was located behind the old mansion, occupying a courtyard alone, with three rooms in the main building, two rooms in the wing, as well as a clean room and a kitchen. The main house was naturally where his parents lived, the two wing houses were Xiaoman's and Bilian's rooms, Lu Dasou didn't have his own room, so he had to go live in his younger brother's room at this time.

  After he left, only Lu Ma and his wife were left in the house. Lu Changxiu was silent for a moment, then walked to the table and sat down opposite his wife: "Don't you have anything to say?"

  "What else can I say?" Lu's mother's voice was soft and gentle, as if it had floated in from the horizon. "You've already made yourself clear..."

  Lu Changxiu thought for a moment: "Don't be too angry, we've been husband and wife for many years, and we have three children together. Even if I have the chance to leave in the future, I won't abandon you, as long as you don't always put our master first in your heart and act like a loyal servant everywhere. Your husband, son, and daughter all need to rely on me..."

  Lu's mother sneered and her expression returned to being indifferent.

  Lu Changxiu saw her like this, and instead became somewhat uneasy: "Don't be foolish. The old lady has already believed my words and doesn't intend to pursue the matter further, which is also a reward for our husband and wife's many years of loyalty and dedication. If you tell the old lady about what I said to Dashou just now, we father and son will certainly not come out well. You will still be serving by the old lady's side, won't you feel embarrassed? And there's Xiaoman and Bilian, you should also think for their sake. Bilian is already grown up, in two years she'll have to get married, she's a top-ranking maid by her sister's side, everyone thinks it's respectable, and her future marriage prospects will be good too. If she loses this position, her reputation will be ruined, how can she get married? A son can still turn his life around, but if a daughter marries the wrong person, she'll be stuck for the rest of her life!"

  Lu's mother was extremely sad and sorrowful. How could she not understand this principle? Wasn't she herself the most real embodiment of this sentence?

  She looked at her husband with a sarcastic expression: "I really don't understand, where do you get the nerve from, thinking that Xiao Changfang can make your wishes come true? Do you know what kind of status an official slave has? Can it be compared to ordinary slaves? Even when the old lady was in charge of the Hou Mansion back then and favored us so much, she couldn't change our status. Now that Xiao Changfang has declined, how can they possibly do it?"

  Lu Changxiu moved his lips, but ultimately did not respond. To openly shed the identity of an official slave was impossible, unless he achieved some great merit for the country and dynasty, washing away the shame of his ancestors. But he knew in his heart that he didn't have this ability, nor did his sons. If he wanted to no longer be an official slave, it would require him to cease being Lu Changxiu. What Xiaolongfang promised was to give them a new name and surname, register their household, and provide a sum of silver, allowing them to live as wealthy commoners in another land. Perhaps they could even let his two sons study for the imperial exams, becoming scholars or officials, as long as they didn't go to the capital city and avoid running into people who knew them. Who would know that they were official slaves? After a few decades, when everyone who recognized them had passed away, their lives would be stable.

  Lu Changxiu hesitated for a long time and only said one sentence: "The method is naturally there, don't ask any more questions, you will know when the time comes."

  Lu Mu sneered: "You actually believe them, and you should know that it's not a proper method. Otherwise, we would have gone to ask Old Lady just now!" After a pause, she sternly asked: "What did Da Shou say to you just now? What evil intentions does Xiao Chang Fang have towards Old Lady and Ge Er again?! Don't think about deceiving me, if you dare to harm Old Lady and Ge Er in the slightest, even if it's husband-wife relationship or mother-son relationship, I won't care anymore!"

  Lu Changxiu furrowed his brow, remained silent for a moment before saying: "No matter what Xiao Zhangfang wants to do, I'll make sure Dashou doesn't do it. You'd better not ask about it anymore. I'm still not muddled, now the whole Xiao Erfang knows that Dashou has dealings with Xiao Zhangfang. If at this time something goes wrong with Old Lady and Ge'er, will our father-son duo still have a life? I want to get rid of my official slave status, but I won't trade my life for it!"

  Tears could no longer be held back in Lu's mother's eyes, the unspeakable pain in her heart, her husband wouldn't let their son do something that would harm his master, and it was all just to save his own life, not out of gratitude towards his master. For over twenty years, she had been blind to this, for the sake of a pair of children, and now she had to hide the truth from her master, how could she go on living like this?!

  Lu Dazhou entered his younger brother Xiao Man's room and saw that everything was neatly arranged, with a desk in the corner. On the desk were writing utensils and two books: "The Analects" and "The Book of History". He felt a pang of discomfort in his heart. In the past, when he was still living in the Jian Nan Hou Fu before it split up, he had also studied hard for several years under the strict supervision of his parents. His father had been very demanding, and if he couldn't recite his lessons, he would be punished with a ruler. He knew he could never pass the imperial examination, but his father still pushed him to study, which made him resentful. So five years ago, when he parted ways with his parents and stayed behind in the capital, he completely abandoned his studies. Now, looking at his brother's things, he could guess how hard his brother had been working. Could it be that his brother would become a scholar-official in the future? What about him, who had wasted his time and neglected his studies?

  He pursed his lips, muttered to himself, and then loosened his belt. From the inside of his close-fitting clothes, he pulled out a package wrapped in oil paper, about an inch square. This was given to him by Xiao Zhang's wife, but his father told him to get rid of it. Although he thought that if he threw it away, his family might not receive any reward from Xiao Zhang's wife, and how could they be good citizens? But he couldn't disobey his father's words. After thinking for a moment, he decided not to throw it away, but to hide it temporarily instead.

  He looked around the room, rummaging through the bed, desk, and shelves, but couldn't find a suitable place. After all, this was his younger brother Xiaoman's room, who was Wei Ge'er's personal attendant and didn't live in the inner courtyard, returning every day to sleep. If things were not hidden well enough, it would be bad if his brother found out. Lu Dasou thought, why not go take a look at his sister Bilian's room? Bilian had to attend to her elder sister, rarely spending the night at home, and no outsiders could enter her room casually, making it a good place to hide things. In two days, when his parents arranged another room for him to stay in permanently, he would retrieve the items then.

  He weighed the package in his hand, then stood up and went out the door, thinking of going to his sister's house across the way. He turned around and saw his sister Bilian standing behind him: "Big brother, where are you going?" She lowered her head, looking curiously at the package in his hand: "What is this?"

  Lu Dajiu broke out in a cold sweat, hastily stuffing the package into his sleeve: "You... how long have you been here? Why didn't you make a sound when you came in? You scared me half to death."

  Bi Lian smiled and said, "Sister said that big brother is back, so I was given a day off. I just got back and saw that Father had just gone out, Mother was sitting alone in the house, angry and not paying attention to anyone. So I thought of coming over to ask someone what's going on." She held up the basket in her hand: "Look, I took it from the kitchen, it's brother's favorite dish, lion's head and braised duck, and I also asked the cook to make Father's favorite red-braised pork, later Mother will make a few small dishes, tonight we'll have a good family reunion dinner!"

  Lu Dazhou wiped his sweat unnaturally: "Mother... is probably still angry with me, and it's impossible for her to cook for me."

  Bilian suddenly said: "Alright, brother, you've made a mistake and been demoted back. What exactly did you do? I asked the girl, but she told me to come back and ask you."

  Lu Dazhou's face became even more uncomfortable, and his eyes darted about as he said, "What's the point of bringing that up? Mother is still in a bad mood, she can't possibly cook, but we can't not eat dinner either. Good sister, can you go to the kitchen and make some dishes?"

  Bi Lian hesitated for a moment: "Actually, I haven't learned much either... Forget it, I can still cook two dishes, but they might not taste good." She turned around and busied herself in the kitchen with her basket. Lu Da Shou looked at her back and quietly made his way to her room.

  Bilian didn't react until she reached the kitchen, thinking that it had only been an hour since lunch and there was no need to rush into making dinner. She thought about asking her brother if he was hungry and offering to make him something to eat. As she turned around to look for her brother, she couldn't find him anywhere. Just as she was starting to feel puzzled, she caught a glimpse of someone moving in her room out of the corner of her eye. Rushing over to take a closer look, she found that it was indeed her brother, who had somehow managed to move her usual dressing stool to the wall and was standing on it, trying to stuff a small paper package into the rafters.

  She furrowed her brow, filled with doubts in her heart. What was her brother doing? What was inside that paper package of his?