Chapter 480: Harsh

Gong Mingcheng couldn't hear the conversation between the people behind him, and didn't know why Wei Qingyan suddenly turned the topic to Donggua.

But he was a smart man and guessed it after just a little thought.

Donggua has followed Gong Jin since he was a child and is loyal to him. Their relationship has long gone beyond that of master and servant.

In addition, it was Wei Qingyan who took the initiative to suggest that Donggua learn martial arts, so he could indeed be considered her apprentice. It would not be easy for the Crown Princess's apprentice to continue to be a slave of the Gong family.

Thinking back to when Gong Jin secretly carried Wei Qingyan's coffin, Donggua accompanied him all the way and kowtowed to Wei Qingyan many times.

He quickly responded, "Donggua was also raised by Chen and Shiran, he is indeed a good child.

I only have two sons, and I would be delighted to have another. When I get back, I'll have your sister find someone to calculate an auspicious date for him to marry into the Gong family. Please, Your Highness, give him a name."

Wei Qingyan thought for a moment and said, "Let's call him Gong Zheng. I hope he can be an upright person in the future."

Gong Mingcheng was delighted. Qingzheng also means honesty and justice. This meant that Donggua would have a career as an official in the future.

Indeed, Qingyan will be the empress in the future. How could the empress's disciple be mediocre? He hurriedly said, "I thank the princess for the name given to the child."

He was happy for Donggua's good fortune, but before he could rejoice for a moment, he heard a commotion outside.

The fifth prince rode over and said, "Sister, there's a fight going on in the back."

It turned out that Lu Yongyan's whip was blocked by Gong Jin in time, and the rebound force of the whip hit his own hand. The pain made him furious and he wanted to hit Gong Jin back.

Donggua didn't want to cause trouble for his master, so when Lu Yongyan whipped him, he didn't dare to fight back. But Lu Yongyan dared to hit his master, so he whipped Lu Yongyan's hand without thinking.

After being whipped twice on the wrist, Lu Yongyan lost most of his mind due to the pain. He actually drew the long sword from his waist and stabbed it directly at Donggua.

Donggua has been practicing martial arts for a short time, but he is very hardworking. Lu Yongyan is just a show-off and can't hurt him at all. Seeing this, he called his long-time attendant for help.

The four of them started fighting like this.

When Wei Qingyan and Gong Mingcheng came over, the four had already been subdued by the National Protection Army. The eldest prince, who came to mediate, stretched out his arms to protect Gong Jin and Donggua.

Seeing Wei Qingyan, he pointed at Lu Yongyan and spoke first, "Sister, I saw that he was the first to make a move and even drew his sword."

On the way here, I heard Wei Qingyan say that he had accepted two disciples and would introduce them to each other when he arrived in Wei.

Wei Qingyan is a good person, and he thinks her apprentice is naturally a good person as well. In addition, he had just met Gong Jin and his servant, and he had a very good impression of them.

He paid more attention, but he didn't expect to see Lu Yongyan beating someone, so he told the truth.

It's no wonder he's biased. It's just that the Lu family's master and servants were ruthless, while the Gong family's master and servants left them a way out.

Lu Yongyan was annoyed at him for meddling in other people's business, but since he heard him call Wei Qingyan "sister" and didn't know his identity, he didn't dare to say anything outrageous.

He only explained to Wei Qingyan, "Aunt, my cousin and I were talking, and this servant didn't know the difference between high and low, and actually spoke rudely. I saw that my cousin was kind-hearted and actually let a servant climb up to his head, so I warned him, but didn't mean to really hit him."

Wei Qingyan looked at Donggua, who subconsciously wanted to lower his head, but then remembered that he was taught by Wei Qingyan.

Being wronged and humiliated was a minor matter, but bringing harm to the princess' reputation was a major one. He hurriedly explained, "It was the young master who spoke harshly to my son, and I want to explain for him."

Lu Yongyan didn't expect him to dare to explain, and said dissatisfiedly, "In the Lu family, servants never have the right to interrupt when the master speaks. It is indeed my cousin who did not manage the servants well."

To put it mildly, this means that Gong Jin does not know how to manage his servants. To put it more seriously, this means the Gong family.

Wei Qingyan had already had a bad impression of the Lu family because of Wei Shijun's incident. After seeing Lu Yongyan's clever tricks during this brief encounter, and his delusion of eavesdropping on her conversation with her brother-in-law, she already felt disgusted with him.

Then he smiled and said, "It is the father's fault if the son is not well educated. He is my disciple and also the adopted son of the Gong family. From what you said, it is my fault that Master Gong and I did not teach him well.

But you ridiculed Jin'er with your words, and as Jin'er's younger brother and junior apprentice, I think it's a gesture of loyalty and righteousness for him to defend Jin'er."

"This... is Yongyan's fault."

Lu Yongyan is not smart, but he is not stupid either. When Wei Qingyan called herself "this palace" and said these words, the closeness between them and him was immediately apparent.

And didn't that dog slave learn martial arts from Gong Jin? When did he become Wei Qingyan's apprentice, and when did he become the Gong family's adopted son?

Didn’t my parents say that the princess favored the Wei family, and by extension the Gong family, and naturally would also favor his Lu family?

But now, for some reason, he felt that Wei Qingyan disliked him. So... could he still do what his father asked him to do?

Not only was he confused, Donggua and Gong Jin also looked bewildered.

Gong Mingcheng did not explain in public why Donggua became a son of the Gong family. He just said to Donggua in a clear voice, "The name Gong Zheng was given to you by His Highness. Zheng means upright and honest."

Donggua had been with Gong Jin for these years, and had also learned calligraphy along with him. He naturally understood the meaning of the two words "Qingzheng" (clear and upright). He knelt down and said, "Gong Zheng thanks Master for the name."

He kowtowed to Gong Mingcheng again, "Gong Zheng thanks his adoptive father."

He knew that it was his master who was backing him up, and that his master was paving a path to success for him, and that his master had saved his life before.

Thinking of this, tears filled his eyes uncontrollably, and he swore in his heart that he would serve his master wholeheartedly and forever.

Wei Qingyan signaled everyone to get up, and then took Gong Mingcheng back to the carriage to talk about what they had not finished before.

Gong Mingcheng hesitated to speak.

"Brother-in-law, feel free to say whatever you want." Wei Qingyan smiled.

"Your Highness, do you see anything wrong?"

Otherwise, with Qingyan's character, he would not be so disrespectful to the Lu family.

Wei Qingyan asked in return, "Why did Lu Yongyan come along?"

When Gong Mingcheng heard her ask this, he became more and more convinced that there was something wrong with the Lu family, so he told her truthfully that after he received the imperial order, the Lu couple came to ask him to take Lu Yongyan with him.

He also told Wei Qingyan in detail that when the emperor sent him to Pu State, Lu Chengren also wanted to go with him, but was rejected by the emperor.

"I just thought the Lu family wanted to get closer to you so they could plan their own future. I was careless."

Now it seems that the Lu family is too enthusiastic.

"This is not my brother-in-law's fault."

He and his eldest sister didn't know about the third sister's affairs. His eldest sister was a sentimental person and would not be wary of her own sister and brother-in-law unless there was something unusual.

Wei Qingyan said, "I don't know what's wrong with the Lu family, but we can relax our vigilance for the rest of the journey."

When Lu Yongyan urged Gong Jin to come to her carriage, she suddenly thought of something.

That was Lin Wanzhi's understanding of her third sister.

Previously, she attributed it to Lin Wanzhi being a reborn prophet, but now she thinks that in her previous life, she died in battle and Shi Yu was possessed by another body, so they did not go to Fengzhao, and there was no relationship between the third sister and Lin Lanting. Then why would Lin Wanzhi pay attention to the declining Wei family?

The possibility of hearing it accidentally cannot be ruled out.

But if we take into account what Yan Lan discovered in Tongzhou, Wei Qingyan came up with a guess.

Is it possible that Lin Wanzhi is paying attention because the Wei family is related to the pawn she planted in the Wei Dynasty?

If the Lu family is that chess piece, it is not surprising that Lin Wanzhi knows about Lu Chengren.

This also explains why Yan Lan sent the rumormonger to the government office and then released him soon after.

Because the person who spread the rumor was working for the rebels, and the rebels and the Lu family were both pawns of Lin Wanzhi and her son. Therefore, Bai Ri saw that Lu Yongyan was not a deep-minded person, so he deliberately humiliated him.

If he had come here with a purpose, he would definitely feel resentful after being ignored by her and would take some action.

However, these were just guesses, so Wei Qingyan did not tell Gong Mingcheng, but only ordered people to keep an eye on it secretly.

This went on for three days.

The group settled in the post station. In the darkness of the night, the secret guard knocked on Wei Qingyan's window, "Master, Lu Yongyan went to the room where Cao Yizhao was imprisoned."