Chapter 39

It's time to get a good night's sleep.

Seeing Hao Jingshi's calm voice and composed expression, Lu Ming's face gradually turned ashen.

He snorted, a heavy breath emanating from his nose, and his lips twisted into a grotesque grimace.

"Nonsense! Don't think I don't understand. You're just making this up to embarrass me, aren't you?"

"Still don't believe me?" Hao Jingshi leaned forward slightly and narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll ask you again."

"You're drowning in debt at the gambling den, everyone hates you, so why are you still living so comfortably?"

"He paid off all your gambling debts, right? That was a huge sum of money. He's just a small business owner with no real wealth. What did he get out of helping you?"

"..." Upon hearing this, Lu Ming stiffened, feeling increasingly powerless and dejected the more he thought about it.

Cold sweat began to bead on his forehead, as if someone had ripped off his fig leaf and left him standing naked in the street.

Hao Jingshi chuckled as he looked at Hao Jingshi's ashen face, straightened up and continued, "Helping you pay off your debts has already drained all his savings. The two of you haven't starved, you've survived by stealing chickens and dogs everywhere. Am I right?"

He weighed the sword in his hand. "As for whose house it was stolen from, I'll have to find out carefully so I can act on behalf of Heaven."

What exactly do you want?

Seeing that Hao Jingshi had no intention of letting him off easily, Lu Ming gradually panicked and his eyes flew to Lu Qin, who was standing silently to the side.

"Lu Qin, this was all your idea, wasn't it? You're so vengeful and narrow-minded. You're trying to drive me to the brink." His eyes widened, and his head trembled uncontrollably. "But have you ever thought about Father? What would he think if he knew about this? What if he gets angry and falls seriously ill? You'll feel guilty for the rest of your life!"

"Pah, you really are a greedy and cowardly coward."

Lu Qin listened coldly from the side for a long time. When she heard him angrily rebuking her, she couldn't help but spit out, "You still have the nerve to threaten your father, Lu Ming. I truly despise you from the bottom of my heart."

Lu Ming, however, was quite pleased with himself. He started to smile strangely and then turned to Hao Jingshi to provoke him, saying, "See? My dear sister has lost her mother, and now her biggest concern is her father. You can't just say anything like that."

Seeing that he was not repentant and was even more proud, Lu Qin immediately ran over, grabbed a broom from a corner, and smacked him hard.

"Do you have a mother? Do you have a mother? Where is your mother? You were born but not taught by one. You have crooked thoughts and now you want to blame others! You're just a lazy gambler who thinks he's something. Even I, your grandmother, have limited patience!"

"Slap, slap, slap!" The blows were heavy, making Lu Ming grimace and fall to the ground, covered in dust.

Seeing this, Hao Jingshi stepped forward to add fuel to the fire, crossing his arms and saying, "Do you think Master Lu is a fool?"

"In my opinion, he probably already knew about this, but he didn't expose it out of consideration for your feelings and to save you some face. Otherwise, why would he abandon you when he knew you owed gambling debts, and why would he not care when you disappeared?"

These words utterly pierced his heart. Lu Ming was stunned, as if he had been struck dumb by a blow to the head, and his body went limp in an instant.

No wonder his father was always indifferent to him, but doted on Lu Qin.

He used to think it was because of his status as a legitimate or illegitimate son, but now he realizes that he is not actually of the Lu family bloodline.

Impossible. His mother clearly told him that he was the only man in the Lu family who could continue the family line, a noble young master. His father didn't give him money because he wanted to leave all the wealth to his legitimate sister. She had taken everything from him...

He had resented Lu Qin for so long, wishing she would die quickly so she would repay him for everything...

But his mother lied to him too?

"Nonsense, impossible, impossible..."

Lu Ming found it hard to accept and kept repeating the same sentence.

His voice grew weaker and weaker, like a mosquito's buzz, just as thick, inky clouds outside the window obscured the crescent moon, making the room even darker.

Seeing his reaction, Hao Jingshi knew he was powerless to refute and already believed him, so he narrowed his eyes and asked, "Madam, what do you want to do?"

Lu Qin threw the broom aside and looked at her pitiful yet hateful older brother.

He shook his head blankly, as if he had lost his mind, repeating "impossible" over and over again, then suddenly covered his face and broke down in a howl and sob.

"Wrong, all wrong, they all lied to me, hahaha!"

Hearing this pitiful cry, for some reason, through this person, Lu Qin's mind was filled with images of the original owner's childhood.

She was only four or five years old at the time, a naive child, while Lu Ming was only eight or nine years old. He spent his days reading, writing, and practicing martial arts, and even if he fell down, he would get up with a smile.

In her eyes, her older brother was like a little hero, wielding his sword with great style. She followed him around like a little shadow, watching him practice martial arts.

During breaks, her older brother would run over, lift her up, and spin her around so she could see the eaves of the higher rooftops. He would also buy her candied hawthorns, tell her stories from his books, and clumsily braid her hair, even if it looked terrible.

But as he grew older, his older brother gradually changed and began to keep his distance from her.

She gradually developed her own opinions, realized Aunt Zhao's malice towards her, and understood that she and her elder brother were not actually that close.

Later, after his mother passed away, his eldest brother was flattered and taken to Chang Le Fang, where he became a gambling addict. His personality changed drastically, and he only cared about gambling and no one else.

From then on, she not only completely lost her loving mother, but also her loving older brother.

She changed her address for him from the affectionate "Big Brother" to the distant "Luming," and they rarely spoke when they met.

The neighbors all knew about his bad habits and kept their distance from him. When he reached marriageable age, not a single matchmaker was willing to arrange a marriage for him. So the elder brother remained a lonely widow, and his path became increasingly crooked.

Full of desires and greed, yet in the end, they don't even know who they are.

Thinking of this, Lu Qin felt a growing bitterness in her heart and began to struggle, feeling both that he deserved it and that she pitied him.

After some deliberation, I finally gave in.

She raised her hand, extended a finger, and said to the people on the ground, "I'll give you two choices. First, you go back to your biological father, and I'll send someone to dump you in the middle of nowhere, so you never come back to bother me again."

He then extended a second stick: "Secondly, if you return every single thing you stole, I'll leave you some dignity and allow you to live in Lu Hua's pigsty, where you'll have food and drink, and I'll let you visit your father from time to time to fulfill your filial duty and make amends."

"You choose for yourself."

...

The hateful eldest brother was eventually dragged away by Lu Hua by the collar and thrown into the pigsty to keep company with the pigs.

A few days later, Lu Hua came to tell Lu Qin that Lu Ming was in good spirits, was able to eat a pound of pig feed every day, and was even going to various houses to return the stolen goods.

Because Lu Ming behaved well and helped feed the pigs and clean the pigsty, he specially added chicken legs to Lu Ming's food.

Lu Qin visited Lu Ming once and found that he had become quiet and sullen. She put down a box of food, and before leaving, Lu Ming suddenly called her back.

"Qin'er, I want to go see Father."

Lu Qin paused for a moment. In her memory, this was how Lu Ming had addressed her when she was a child.

Looking into his pleading eyes, she felt as if she were seeing her beloved older brother from the past, and she was moved. She nodded in agreement and took him back to the Lu residence.

Lu Ming cautiously walked inside. When he entered, he found a group of bandits outside chopping wood and washing clothes, making quite a scene.

He walked through the crowd, knelt before Master Lu, and kowtowed three times.

Master Lu looked at him, said nothing, and silently went back into the house, taking a bag of silver.

“I don’t want to see you again, but you are still a child, and what your mother did has nothing to do with you.”

He placed the heavy silver in Lu Ming's palm and said slowly, "Take this money and do something worthwhile. Stop gambling and live a good life."

As he spoke, Master Lu straightened up, gave him one last look, and said resolutely, "You may leave."

"Qin'er, don't bring him to the Lu family anymore."

Lu Qin chased after him to help him up: "Father, please take care of yourself."

She turned around and gestured for her underlings to see Lu Ming off.

The underlings understood and went forward to pull Lu Ming away. Lu Ming was holding a bag of silver, tears streaming down his face.

He said one last time, "Thank you, Father."

...

Lu Ming was thrown into the pigsty again, to keep company with the pigs. A few days later, he suddenly bid farewell to Lu Hua, saying that he was going to take the money elsewhere to start a business.

After all, he was notorious in the area for both stealing and gambling, and would be condemned for whatever he did.

Upon learning of this, Lu Qin did not stop him and let him go. After all, he was staying at Lu Hua's house, and Lu Hua had to prepare pig feed for him, which would be too much of a burden in the long run.

She hitched up a carriage and, at midday, saw Lu Ming off with Hao Jingshi.

After watching Lu Ming leave, the two strolled back to the clinic to prepare for a short afternoon rest.

Hao Jingshi joked, "Actually, I was planning to cut off his hands that day so he could no longer steal or gamble. I didn't expect that Madam would be so soft-hearted and let him go for nothing."

"Forget it, he's just a money-grubbing fool." Lu Qin waved her hand and stretched. "These past few days have been quite a hassle, but we've finally got this matter settled. Tomorrow I plan to have Young Master Lu tend the clothing shop, get some rest, and go back to his residence to catch up on some sleep."

Hao Jingshi casually put his arm around her waist: "Then I'll take a day off and stay with you, Madam."

“That won’t do,” Lu Qin said, placing her outstretched arms on his shoulders. “If someone is sick and can’t find you, wouldn’t that cause a delay?”

"No need to delay, just let Jinglan stay by my side. Jinglan is with me every day, and her medical skills are getting better and better. She can handle things on her own now and won't make any big mistakes."

As Hao Jingshi spoke, he led her to a seat, pulled her onto his lap, and pressed his lips to her earlobe, saying, "Didn't you really want to go to Xuande Street? Let's go again."

Lu Qin's ears tickled, so she tilted her head and leaned against him: "We're going to have some fun, but why don't you ask Jing Lan if she's willing?"

The two gradually locked eyes. Hao Jingshi's eyes darted around, but he didn't speak, as if he was speechless, captivated by her.

Suddenly, a head popped out from under the counter, its eyes shining as it called out with a smile.

"Sister-in-law, I do!"

"!"

The two of them were startled by the loud noise and trembled. They scrambled to their feet, and finally their gazes settled on Hao Jinglan, who had emerged from beneath them.

"Jingjing Jingjinglan?" Lu Qin stammered, "What are you doing down there?"

Hao Jinglan chuckled and crawled out from underneath: "Xi Shi just gave me a glowing bead, which I accidentally dropped and it rolled down there. I came in to pick it up, but who knew you two would come back and block my way."

She stood up, showing the two of them the beautiful beads in her hand, and said impatiently, "Brother, sister-in-law, you can go to sleep without worry. Jinglan will definitely take good care of the clinic!"

Seeing the longing in her eyes, Lu Qin laughed awkwardly a few times.

Hao Jingshi was pleased and raised his eyebrows, saying, "Alright, Jinglan, then tomorrow, I'll leave this place to you."

"Yay!" Hao Jinglan was overjoyed. "Big brother, I'll definitely show off my skills tomorrow. Just you wait and see, or I'll overshadow your reputation!"

"That would be perfect. Big brother is just looking forward to a life of leisure and freedom."

Amid Hao Jinglan's cheers, Hao Jingshi whispered in Lu Qin's ear in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"She and her sister-in-law... really should get a good night's sleep."

[Author's Note]

Sorry I'm late. I've had a lot going on this week and haven't been feeling well. I'll only post two chapters today, and one more tonight. [Please!]