Chapter 27

I'm a dog

Lu Ming was left in the pigsty by Lu Hua for several days and ate until he became rosy-cheeked and looked nothing like he had suffered.

As Lu Qin had predicted, when the news that Lu Ming was to be paraded through the streets reached the Lu family, Aunt Zhao couldn't sit still and sent several secret guards to stand watch on both sides of the clinic.

Lu Qin remained calm and had her men keep a close eye on them. She then used their own methods against them, returning to the Lu residence under the pretext of delivering good news. She also left a few secret guards there to monitor Aunt Zhao's every move.

Actually, she didn't really want Lu Ming to be paraded through the streets in public. After all, the Lu family couldn't afford to lose face like that, and her father's health hadn't been good lately, so he couldn't handle any more shocks.

She just wanted to use this incident to make Aunt Zhao anxious and lose her composure.

When Lu Ming was ready to be sold, Lu Qin had Lu Hua take him from house to house to apologize and discuss ways to reach a settlement and provide compensation.

When everyone saw that it was the burly man who had caused the most trouble who had personally brought the culprit to explain, they all understood that it was all a misunderstanding.

Upon hearing that Lu Qin was pregnant, they all chose to give up the idea and did not make things difficult for her. They even came to help repair the clothing shop.

After resolving the matter, Lu Qin instructed Lu Hua to continue keeping Lu Ming locked up in the pigsty and watching over him.

While trying to get information out of Lu Ming, asking about the clues from back then, she secretly gathered evidence of Aunt Zhao's wickedness.

The guards, following orders, infiltrated the mansion and found the old maid who had once served the First Madam. They inquired in detail about the First Madam's whereabouts before her death, wrote it down on a note, and sent it to Lu Qin by carrier pigeon.

Lu Qin then learned that her mother had gone to a temple in the mountains before she passed away to pray for her, who was seriously ill. On her way back, she was robbed by bandits and met with misfortune.

Although she had never met this mother since she transmigrated, as she held the note, as if sensing something, her heart began to ache dully, and tears fell onto the paper.

"Why did it have to be a step too late..." Lu Qin murmured to herself, "And why did it have to be so unfortunate, if only..."

If only she had traveled through time earlier and arrived on that day, she would have seen through Aunt Zhao's ulterior motives and stopped her mother.

But what's done is done, and she can't control it or change it.

Hao Jingshi, who was standing to the side, did not understand the meaning of her murmurs. Seeing her tears, he felt very sorry for her and racked his brains to comfort her, saying, "If I had been there back then, neither you nor your mother would have been in this situation. It's all my fault for not proposing marriage sooner. It's not your fault, so don't blame yourself."

Upon hearing this, Lu Qin shrank back even more aggrievedly: "If my mother were still alive, I wouldn't be forced to marry so soon, and to a dog who left me in the bridal chamber on our wedding night..."

"..." Hao Jingshi choked for a moment, then stammered, "Young master... young master is a dog, young master is sorry to you, young master will twist that Aunt Zhao's head off and let you kick it as a ball to vent your anger, okay?"

Seeing his self-righteous demeanor, Lu Qin felt like crying and laughing at the same time, and her mouth twitched into an ugly grin.

"But...you said it yourself."

Hao Jingshi nodded firmly: "I mean what I say."

Lu Qin smiled through her tears, then shook her head: "Never mind, it's too bloody and will dirty my husband's hands... But don't let her get away with it."

"I'll listen to you."

Hearing this, Lu Qin leaned against his shoulder with relief, rubbing her eyes against his clothes to wipe away her tears: "Husband, you are so good."

It's not easy to get Hao Jingshi to scold himself like this, so it's rare for him to back down like this. Let's not bring up the old grudge of running away from the wedding for now.

...

Soon after, the secret guard brought news that Aunt Zhao was very restless after hearing that Lu Ping was pregnant. She also heard that Lu Ping and Hao Jingshi had been in love recently and was afraid that Lu Ping's marriage would fall through. So she was already planning to take action against Lu Ping on the day of the family banquet.

Lu Qin was very satisfied with what she heard, because this was exactly the result she wanted.

The more anxious Aunt Zhao was to harm her, the more steadily she fell into her grasp.

At that time, she will present the carefully prepared gift to this treacherous aunt.

To keep up the act and avoid giving herself away, Lu Qin kept asking for food every day, eating sour things one day and spicy things the next, and ate sour dried apricots and spicy chicken for several days in a row.

She was actually about to vomit. Every time she survived the mealtime, she would go to the clinic with Hao Jingshi, and no one could stop her.

With Hao Jingshi there, Master Hao and Madam Hao had no worries and instructed Ling'er to go with them.

But in fact, Lu Qin sent Xuan Lan and Ling'er to the clinic halfway there, saying that she wanted to take a walk alone with her husband. As soon as the two left, she started pestering Hao Jingshi to take her to buy some good food.

Hao Jingshi was used to it, and would take more money with him when he left. He complained, "If this is how you pretend, it'll be too much trouble. If it were real, I'd have to run my legs off."

“Child, listen to this.” Lu Qin touched her empty stomach and sighed, “Your mother is starving to death, and your father still finds it troublesome. Back when we got married, your father said he would rather die than marry me…”

"..." Hao Jingshi grabbed her hand that was on her stomach, "I'll go with you, I'll go with you, don't say anything bad about me to the 'child' anymore."

"Yeah." Lu Qin's expression changed, and she snuggled up to him. "Child, besides your maternal grandfather, your father is the best man in the world."

"Tch." Hao Jingshi said, "Worthy of nothing," but a sly smile crept onto his lips.

The two walked around the street and passed by a restaurant. Lu Qin pointed to the black plaque with gold characters at the entrance and teased Hao Jingshi, saying that they were going to eat a Manchu Han Imperial Feast. She even pulled him inside.

Lu Qin had intended to joke, but as soon as she entered, she heard a great deal of noise in the lobby and faint sounds of string and wind instruments and singing coming from the private rooms on the second floor. She was filled with longing for it.

Even more enticing was the aroma of wine and food wafting towards her. Lu Qin turned her head and saw the exquisite dishes on the guests' table. She couldn't resist and stared longingly at Hao Jingshi.

Hao Jingshi understood what she meant, and planned to pull up a chair and sit down, then ask the waiter for the menu.

But Lu Qin stopped him, her eyes frantically glancing towards the private room on the second floor: "Husband, I want to hear the beauty sing."

Without saying a word, Hao Jingshi led her upstairs and found a place with a screen to sit down.

Lu Qin happily took the menu booklet brought by the waiter and picked out a few desserts and side dishes.

"Husband, is there anything you'd like to eat?"

After ordering what she liked, Lu Qin looked up and asked Hao Jingshi, only to find him glancing absentmindedly at something else.

She glanced at him sideways, and seeing that Hao Jingshi wasn't paying attention, she said to the waiter, "That's all for now." Then, she moved closer to Hao Jingshi and turned his face back to her.

Who are you looking at?

Hao Jingshi paused for a moment, then came to his senses: "No one, I just saw someone who looked familiar, maybe your sister."

"younger sister?"

That's Lu Ping; she only has one younger sister.

Lu Qin turned her head curiously and, sure enough, saw a familiar figure at the next table.

The woman wore a begonia-red satin dress, her figure graceful. She leaned slightly forward, holding a white porcelain teapot, and intentionally or unintentionally became close to the man in front of her. She teasingly flicked her hand, making the man laugh heartily.

Then, she raised her hand and filled the man's cup again.

A stream of amber-colored nectar slowly flowed from the pot into the man's glass, and she picked up the glass and brought it to his lips.

"It really is Lu Ping. My husband has a good eye; he recognized her just from her back." Lu Qin turned her gaze away indifferently.

It's not surprising to run into her here. Lu Ping has always been arrogant and likes to frequent restaurants to make friends with high-ranking officials and dignitaries.

However, she didn't really want to see her sister at such a pleasant time.

Upon hearing this, Hao Jingshi looked over there again: "Of course I recognize her. I'd never forget her even if she turned to ashes."

You'll never forget me, even if I turn to ashes.

Hearing his reckless remark, Lu Qin was a little annoyed, so she simply let go of his face and covered his eyes.

“My husband has a good memory, but he has forgotten what he told me a few days ago. Now his eyes are constantly glancing at other people. Why don’t you go to that table? It will save you from reminiscing here.”

"What are you reminiscing about?" Hao Jingshi, who was blindfolded, remained unmoved and crossed his arms. "When I saw her last time, I thought she was pretentious. I was thinking that if my mother could see her like this, she would stop nagging about taking a concubine."

"Uh." The anger that had just risen in Lu Qin's chest dissipated before it could even take shape.

That's true. With Hao Jingshi's arrogant and conceited nature, he naturally wouldn't take anyone he didn't like seriously.

He had always despised hypocritical and calculating people, so how could he possibly accept the daughter of someone like Aunt Zhao?

Moreover, most of Lu Ping's friends are scoundrels, and she has nothing to do with Hao Jingshi. To say that she fell in love with Hao Jingshi at first sight is simply a lie.

Lu Qin realized she had misunderstood him, so she pretended to be nonchalant and smiled, "Is that so? My husband really has a discerning eye."

She withdrew her hand and sat back in her original seat, deliberately moving closer to Hao Jingshi and sitting intimately next to him.

Hao Jingshi raised his hand and pulled her into his arms. He was now clearly used to this kind of intimate gesture, and he no longer blushed from his cheeks to his ears as he used to when he held hands.

Lu Qin looked at his hand that naturally rested on her body and felt extremely gratified.

Before long, all the desserts and side dishes were served.

The pastries were served on glass plates, looking delicate and small. Lu Qin couldn't wait to pick them up with her chopsticks and enjoy them.

Just then, screams erupted from the entrance of the restaurant.

"Look, it's the young master of the Lu family, Lu Pan'an!"

"Ahhhh, Young Master Lu is passing by!"

Upon hearing this, all the customers in the shop rushed to the door, and the maids in the shop also glanced at it, their eyes immediately lighting up with excitement, forgetting even what they were doing.

Such a big commotion.

Lu Qin couldn't help but glance at it curiously as well.

Lu Pan'an? That's a name.

How dare someone call themselves Pan An just because they look like him?

Lu Qin looked around curiously, wanting to catch a glimpse of this handsome young man, but found a crowd gathered at the entrance, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

However, the enthusiasm with which everyone followed them did indeed resemble the image of Pan An, whose carriage was filled with fruit thrown at him.

"So handsome!"

"Young Master Pan An! Look at me!"

The people downstairs went crazy and rushed to the door to see what was happening. Lu Qin looked down from her vantage point, but could only see a bunch of heads.

The scene was just as bustling as the opening day of her clothing store.

Lu Qin didn't get a clear look at Pan An's face, but her mind wandered to something else—

With such a great influence and such a good reputation, if this young master Pan An were to promote products in modern times, it would surely attract everyone's love for him and lead to explosive sales.

Her clothing store has just recovered from the storm, and sales are definitely not as good as before, so she needs someone who can drive sales.

Beyond just selling products, if they could collaborate with the handsome Pan An, they might quickly establish a good reputation and erase the bad impression people have of the clothing shop.

In this way... the problem is easily solved!

Thinking of this, Lu Qin was very excited and stood up abruptly, but seeing the huge crowd of onlookers, she wisely sat down again.

It's a bit late to go out now; I'm afraid I won't even see a trace of them.

Lu Qin picked up the remaining pastries, stuffing them into her mouth while lost in thought, deciding that she would have to find out more about Pan An's background when she got back.

We must cater to his preferences and persuade the young master Pan An to agree to cooperate in one fell swoop.