Chapter Ninety-Three: Human Relationships

  Lu Dasou looked at the little brother guarding the door, then at the little sister standing beside him, and anxiously glanced at the curtain inside: "Dad, what are you talking nonsense about? Be careful not to let Mom hear..."

  "She heard it, I'm not going to harm her master!" Lu Changxiu stared at his eldest son, "Listen well, the girl and brother have promised to think of a way for our family to get out of this predicament with a fair and just method. The girl has even thought of a way to help your sister get out of this situation, it's very clever. As for your younger brother, I've also made plans. As long as we honestly help the old lady and brother expose the plot of Xiaolongfang, our family will regain the master's trust, and getting out of this predicament won't be a problem anymore. Compared to Xiaolongfang's idea of changing names and sneaking around, the girl's method is safer and more stable, we don't have to abandon our ancestral surname, nor do we need to take risks, it's the best possible outcome!"

  Lu Dazhou looked at his father's expression and finally realized that he was not joking, his face turned ugly: "Dad, you want me to admit that I was instructed by Xiao Changfang to poison the master. Do you know that as long as I don't say anything, the higher-ups won't know, and even if I'm accused of theft, it's no big deal, at most I'll just be idle for a year or two. After the storm passes, with your and mother's status as high-ranking officials, I'm not afraid that I won't be able to find work again. But if I admit to this crime of poisoning, even if nothing happens in the end, it will still be difficult to have a good outcome. I brought the poison from Beijing alone, saying I was innocent and only deceived by Xiao Changfang, who would believe me? My life is over! You can get a good reputation for being righteous and filial, but what about me? Even if the master beats me to death, I won't have anywhere to appeal. Have you ever thought about me?"

  Lu Changxiu's face turned ugly when he saw his son not listening to him: "Are you questioning me? When you were talking nonsense to that woman on the boat, did you ever think about your family?"

  Lu Dazhou's face suddenly turned red, he also regretted saying those words to his wife, but wasn't it unavoidable at the time? He was a man too, although he used to be an official slave, relying on the influence of his master's family, he always put on airs in front of his wife, and was trampled by her like that. How could he bear it? He didn't expect his wife would ruthlessly expose him, how could his father blame him for it?

  Just as the father and son were at a stalemate, Lu's mother burst out from behind the curtain. Her face expressionless, she stared at her husband and eldest son, her eyes blazing with anger that she couldn't conceal.

  "Xiuju, you also heard that, I was telling my son to report Xiaozhang Fang. Absolutely won't do anything to harm Old Madam and the siblings!"

  Lu's mother sneered: "If Big Sister hadn't said she was willing to help us think of a way to get out, you could do this?" She asked again: "I have to ask clearly, what exactly do you want to do? According to Big Sister's method, it's not difficult for the daughter to get out, but we can't."

  Lu Changxiu laughed with a dreamy tone: "I've already thought of it. It just so happens that the other day, I went to Jiading to deliver gifts on behalf of my young lady, and on the way back, I met a distant relative of the Lu family in Songjiang by chance. We chatted about our relationship. Although he is a member of the Lu family, he is still a good citizen, but now he is living in poverty and has no one to inherit his property. His wife is ill, his son died early, and he doesn't even have anyone to carry on his family line. He can only make a living by doing odd jobs for others and is too ashamed to ask the clan for help. I gave him a few taels of silver then. Now it's just right, I can bring him over and let him sign a contract to be a servant in our old house for a year or two. At that time, my young lady and he will both be servants, and we are also brothers of the same clan. We can adopt Little Full as his son. In the future, when he redeems himself, Little Full can follow him out with the status of a son, and there won't even be any record of his lowly origin. He has been diligent since childhood, so it's not a problem for him to study in the future either. I can also support them to return to their hometown and let Little Full formally enter the Lu family genealogy. Little Full will become a child from a scholarly and aristocratic family, and when he grows up and becomes an official, we will have someone to rely on. When we are old, we can let him take care of us, and even if we cannot escape our status as official slaves, we can still live like old masters and enjoy life. This is even better than what Little Shangfang promised!"

  Lu's mother was furious, her face turned green again, and she scolded him: "You're just after wealth and glory, aren't you? For this, you don't even recognize your own son! How blind I was in the past!" After finishing speaking, she pulled along her pale-faced younger son and daughter to walk outside: "Let's not bother with them, let them go crazy!" She had to ask them clearly, said the younger son, brother wants to report Xiaolongfang on his birthday, and also said that sister promised to help her escape, what does it mean?

  Lu Changxiu didn't mind, he believed that his current plan was perfect and would not harm the master's family in the slightest. His wife would eventually agree, the key was to convince his eldest son. He had to make his eldest son willingly agree, while also excluding himself and the rest of the family from blame. Zhao Wei's meaning was very clear: as long as they helped him pin down Xiao Changfang's crime, he would help them get rid of their troubles. Even if the plan with the girl didn't work out, they could use Xiao Changfang's method instead. The matter of getting rid of their troubles was now more stable than ever. A goal he had been thinking about for decades was now within reach, and even if it meant sacrificing one son's future, he couldn't care less. This time, his eldest son had brought this upon himself, so to make up for the mistakes he had made, he should sacrifice a bit more for the family. When his younger son grew up, he wouldn't neglect his older brother either.

  Lu Changxiu looked at his eldest son again, with a fierce glint in his eyes. A lifetime of being a servant, everything he saw and touched was the wealth and luxury of others, but unfortunately none of it belonged to him! Now, he finally had hope to fulfill his lifelong wish!

  Luoma pulled her two children into the room of her youngest son, and made him sit down: "Don't be anxious, mother won't give you away to others. My good son, why should I acknowledge someone else as your father? Don't listen to your father's nonsense!"

  The look of terror on Xiao Man's face slightly diminished, she took a deep breath and nodded.

  Lu's mother asked him again, "Tell me clearly, before you went home in the morning, what did your brother instruct you to do?" Xiao Man had no choice but to repeat the conversation again and also told her sister's words.

  While they were talking, Bi Lian stood by the window. She looked worriedly in the direction of the main house and glanced at her own room across from it. She had noticed that the small packet of medicine powder hidden by her elder brother on the beam was still there, untouched.

  Lu's mother sighed after listening to her son's words. She looked at her daughter and called out, "Bilian, what are you looking at? Come over here quickly."

  "Mother, what else can you worry about? Let's just do as brother and sister said, they will save big brother's life. Besides, there is still old lady at home. Old lady won't wrong you, at most she will just scold big brother a few times. When the time comes, we'll secretly give her some money to make her go easy on him. Big brother will be fine after resting for a month or so." She curled up her lips: "Big brother should have been beaten long ago, he's too reckless, doing all sorts of foolish things!"

  Lu's mother closed her eyes: "If it were just a beating, that would be fine. You tell me, did you really find that packet of medicine powder from your brother's things? Is there really something poisonous inside?"

  Bi Lian looked at her with some grievance: "Of course, that's Big Brother's thing. Could it be that I would frame him? Whether or not it's poisonous, I don't know. Miss said to figure it out, originally wanted to quietly find a living creature to test the poison, but fearing alarming Old Madam and making things big, which would implicate Father and Mother, so she entrusted Brother to take the thing out to ask around. If the thing isn't poisonous, why did Father say that's poisonous? He also said that Big Brother said it!"

  Lu's mother sighed again. With a sad expression, she said: "Your eldest brother... after all, it was this mother who didn't teach him well, and he made such a big mistake. No matter how the old lady scolds me, I won't have any complaints. It's just that the brothers and sisters didn't ask for the old lady's opinion at all, and they took the initiative on their own. That's poison! They are still children, what if something goes wrong? The old lady now only has them two left, both of whom are **, no matter which one gets into trouble, it will be the death of the old lady..."

  Bilian and Xiaoman exchanged a glance, both lowering their heads. They were still children, and in their hearts, they didn't think it was wrong for Zhao Wei and Zhao Xuan to deceive Old Lady Zhang about this matter. Old Lady Zhang was old, and disturbing her before things were clear would only make her worry, which wasn't a good thing. Even if they wanted to report the incident, shouldn't they first figure out whether that packet of powder was poisonous or not? They believed that both young masters had enough intelligence to know what to do and what not to do.

  Just as they were sitting in silence, a loud shout suddenly came from the direction of the main house, followed by the sound of something heavy falling to the ground, accompanied by the shattering of porcelain, which startled the three people. Lu Ma immediately recognized that the loud shout was made by her husband and rushed out: "What's going on?!"

  Bilian and Xiaoman also chased after them, but before they reached the front door of the main house, they saw a figure rushing out and colliding with Lu Ma. Lu Ma was caught off guard and fell to the ground. Bilian let out a sharp cry and hurriedly went forward to help her mother up, but Lu Ma had suffered a severe blow, bent over clutching her abdomen, her face contorted in pain, cold sweat dripping down, and Bilian couldn't lift her up no matter how hard she tried.

  Xiao Man hurriedly chased after him, tightly hugging the person's waist from behind, thinking it was some kind of thug. But Bi Lian recognized the other person: "Big brother?" Xiao Man was stunned, looked up, and froze in place. His arms also loosened their grip a bit. Lu Da Shou took advantage of this to push him away with great force and ran wildly outside.

  Bi Lian helped her mother up while repeatedly calling out to her brother. Lu Ma covered her abdomen, gritting her teeth in pain, and told her youngest son: "Quickly go inside and see how your father is doing!" Xiao Man was like a person waking up from a dream, hastily running into the house. At the sight of what was inside, he couldn't help but burst out crying: "Father!"

  Originally, Lu Changxiu was pushed to the ground, with blood all over his head, and a small pool of blood on the ground below him. It was unknown where he was injured, but his whole body was convulsing, and his eyes were rolled back in his head. Next to him, everything was in disarray, with the wooden frame that had been leaning against the wall now lying on the ground, and the things that had been placed on it scattered all over the floor. A large iron-wooden box was particularly eye-catching, its lock broken, with a corner of the box stained with blood, and its contents exposed. Xiaoman recognized it - it was the Lu family's genealogy, which his father had always treasured like a precious jewel, storing it in that iron-wooden box and placing it on the top shelf of the main house's treasure cabinet, precisely because he was afraid that Xiaoman and his sister would accidentally damage it when they were young.

  Could it be that this box fell and hit Father?

  Xiao Man stood there at a loss, on the verge of tears, and didn't know what to do except call for her father.

  Mrs. Lu supported her daughter as she walked in with difficulty, and seeing this situation, her eyes also turned black. However, she had experienced many things and didn't become flustered, so she quickly ordered the younger son: "Hurry up and invite the doctor!" And called out to her daughter: "Go inform the old lady!"

  Bi Lian sobbed and panicked, hearing this she quickly ran out with Xiao Man. In the courtyard, they saw a group of people gathered at the gate, including Old Lady Zhang, Zhao Wei, Zong Fang's Zhao Jiong, and Eighth Elderly Master of the Third House. Behind them, two strong family guards were pinning Lu Da Shou to the ground.

  Lu Dazhou's clothes were still stained with bright red blood at the hem.