Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Grievances

As night falls, a crescent moon hangs high in the dark sky, with a few evening stars scattered sparsely.

In the east courtyard, Xiaochan took out the medicine box and bent down to apply medicine on Zherou's arm. While applying the medicine, she gasped for breath while crying.

Zhe Rou leaned against the pillow and smiled at her comfortingly, "It's okay, it doesn't hurt. You haven't seen the cane my aunt uses to beat people. It's thicker than this and has barbs on it. I only took this one blow today, and it's not a loss if it can scare them."

But her self-deprecating words made Xiaochan feel even more distressed. The more she thought about it, the more indignant she became. "Back in Taozhou, we had such a good life. If we hadn't come to the capital, how could my wife have been bullied like this! I don't know where my husband has gone. At this critical moment, I couldn't find him. I have to watch him suffer like this."

Zhe Rou's expression paused slightly, she lowered her eyes and said nothing.

Xiaochan's tears fell, "Even if she is my husband's mother, there is no reason for her to bully others like this..."

As they were talking, there was suddenly a sound of hurried footsteps in the corridor. Xiaochan looked up and saw that Lu Chen had reached the door. With a gloomy look on his face, he walked quickly around the lattice and into the room. She was so scared that she shuddered and immediately fell silent.

Zhe Rou glanced at Xiao Chan and signaled her not to be afraid and to go out and wait first.

Xiaochan bit her lip, stood up, bowed to Lu Chen, and retreated to the corridor.

"You're back?" Zhe Rou looked at Lu Chen with soft eyes and a hint of smile, as if nothing had happened.

Lu Chen walked to the couch and nodded silently.

Seeing Lu Chen's eyes on her arm, Zhe Rou subconsciously wanted to put down her sleeve, but Lu Chen grabbed her wrist and turned her over.

The skin on her arm was fair and tender, except for the place where she had been whipped by the cane, which was bruised and purple. There was a slanted bloodstain more than three inches long and as thick as a little finger. The skin was slightly broken, and a few strands of blood oozed out.

Lu Chen's brows were gloomy, and he stared at the hideous and glaring bruise without saying a word, staring at it for a long time.

Zhe Rou felt uncomfortable being stared at, and tried to retract her arm, coaxing him softly, "It's okay, it's just a scare tactic. I've already applied some medicine, and it will be fine in two days."

After a long while, Lu Chen raised his head, his eyes as dark as deep pools, filled with dark emotions. "I'm sorry... I was away and let Mother bully you."

Her heart ached, Zhe Rou pursed her lips and shook her head, "It's okay."

After a long silence, Lu Chen held her arm, gently stroking the skin on her wrist with his fingertips, and said in a low voice, "Does it hurt?"

When I feel wronged, I am most afraid of someone asking me questions.

She didn't feel anything in front of Xiaochan just now, but when she saw Lu Chen's distressed look and heard his low, apologetic voice, those emotions that she had been suppressing suddenly surged up, like a dam bursting, and she found an outlet to vent in an instant.

Zhe Rou's nose felt sore, and she suddenly felt like crying.

She quickly turned her head away, tears streaming silently. Lu Chen raised his hand and touched her cheek. The tears in his palm were warm and moist, burning his heart.

Zhe Rou always cried quietly, only taking slight breaths, closing her eyes, and tears streaming down her face.

Lu Chen knew that this was a character she developed when she was young. At that time, she lived with her uncle. She didn't dare to cry out loud when she was wronged, for fear of displeasing her uncle and aunt and getting scolded. As time went by, she got used to suppressing her crying, and she is still like this now that she has grown up.

As if his internal organs were being twisted into a ball, Lu Chen gritted his teeth, stretched out his hands to pull Zhe Rou into his arms, and said in a hoarse voice, "Don't cry, Xiaoxiao... Wait until I'm done with this busy period."

Zhe Rou's body stiffened slightly.

Sensing something strange about the person in his arms, Lu Chen lowered his eyelashes, feeling even more uncomfortable. He patted her slender back and coaxed her in a low voice: "There will be a few polo matches by Jinming Lake in a couple of days. I'll take you there to relax. Do you want to watch me play polo?"

Lu Chen was an excellent polo player. When she was in Taozhou, whenever she encountered fellow soldiers in the camp competing with each other, as long as she played, she would win the prizes, which were all kept in the small wooden box she brought from Taozhou.

Thinking of the old days, Zhe Rou couldn't help but smile softly, nodded in agreement, leaned on his chest, and slowly stopped crying.

After resting for a while, Lu Chen asked someone to bring warm water, wet a towel and wiped Zhe Rou's face, then made her lie down, lifted the quilt, and tucked in the corners.

Pulling out, Lu Chen walked to the corridor, glanced at Xiaochan who was waiting outside the door, and said in a deep voice, "Come with me."

Seeing the gloomy look on his face and not knowing how to react, Xiaochan agreed nervously and followed him with trepidation.

Lu Chen walked fast and had long legs. Xiao Chan trotted behind him. They passed through the corridor and entered Songchun Courtyard. They saw that the courtyard was brightly lit, as bright as day. The imperial guards surrounded them in the corridor, and the maids and servants were kneeling on the ground. Together with Nanny Cui, they were held on the ground with their hands and feet pinned down.

Seeing the two men coming, Nan Heng stepped forward and saluted, waving his hands and saying, "Sir, all the messengers in the courtyard are here."

Lu Chen nodded slightly, his eyes passing over the trembling maids on the ground. He was as calm and indifferent as an unrelated outsider, and turned to ask Xiaochan: "Do you remember who did it?"

Xiaochan was startled for a moment, then realized that her husband was trying to stand up for her. She straightened her back instantly, and her fierce eyes searched among the servants kneeling on the steps. She raised her hand and pointed at one of them, saying confidently, "That's her!"

Nanny Wu, who was pointed at, was so frightened that her soul flew away. She collapsed to the ground, shaking like a sieve, crying and begging for mercy: "My dear, please understand! My dear, please understand! This old slave did not mean to hurt you. Even if I had ten thousand guts, I would never dare to offend you again. Please be lenient!"

Lu Chen looked impatient and raised his chin slightly. Nan Heng immediately stepped forward, handcuffed the maid's arms behind her back, and pushed her to the ground. The guards picked up the board and were about to execute her.

"Stop it!"

Zheng Lanbi walked out of the main room at some point, stood at the door, and shouted coldly.

Hearing this, Lu Chen glanced at her and said calmly, "It's better for you, mother, not to interfere in this matter."

"It was I who ordered the Ning family to be taught a lesson today. I was the one who ordered them to do it. Why didn't you order someone to beat me with a stick?"

"My son doesn't dare."

"You don't dare? I think you dare very much!" Zheng Lanbi clenched the door frame tightly, his fingertips turned blue and white with force, and shouted angrily.

"I accidentally hurt someone dear to you. You could have punished me to vent your anger, but you chose to do it in my yard, right under my nose! You made such a big fuss! You're not teaching me a lesson, you're teaching me a lesson, you're trying to slap me in the face!"

"I'm your biological mother! When you were seven years old, you fell seriously ill. I took care of you day and night, without taking off my clothes. I even knelt on all nine hundred and ninety-nine steps of the temple, just to pray for a peace amulet for you... Now, for a mere country girl, you're actually going to humiliate your mother like this?!"

Zheng Lanbi was so angry that her whole body was shaking and her breathing was rapid. At the end of her speech, her tone became more and more sad and angry.

"Isn't Yaoyao my pride?" Lu Chen looked up at his mother and said coldly, "The humiliation of his wife is due to the husband's incompetence."

The look in his eyes was calm and indifferent, yet chilling, like a murderous knife that had tasted blood.

Zheng Lanbi's expression suddenly changed.

I still remember that her son passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi at the age of seventeen. He was talented in literature and handsome in appearance. All the nobles in the capital envied her for marrying into a good family and having a good son.

Although he has now given up literature to pursue a military career, his demeanor still shows some of the elegance and refinement of a scholar. He smiles when he sees people, and there is a hint of gentle and pure youthfulness in his expression.

It was not until this moment that she suddenly realized that her son was no longer the Sanlang of the past, but a fierce general who had truly fought on the battlefield and had countless blood on his hands.

Zheng Lanbi felt her legs go weak and she almost fell down.

The guards on the other side had already swung their clubs to hit the old woman. The old woman screamed and wailed like a pig being slaughtered. After more than twenty hits, her skin was torn and her blood was dripping, staining a small piece of blue brick under her body red.

The other maids and servants in the courtyard were terrified and dared not breathe. They knew that their master was really angry today and wanted to use someone as a scapegoat to establish his authority in the East Courtyard. They were afraid that everyone in Songchun Courtyard would suffer as a result.

After dealing with Nanny Wu, Lu Chen asked Xiaochan to identify the other maids who had committed violence and punished them all with sticks. The smell of rust gradually filled the courtyard.

Zheng Lanbi couldn't stand the smell, so she covered her nose with a handkerchief. Her face turned pale, but she still tried to straighten her back and pursed her lips, not wanting to appear vulnerable in front of others.

After ordering the guards to drag the punished woman out, Lu Chen walked to the corridor and smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes. "Mother, Xiaoxiao is mine. If she has displeased you, I will bear all the consequences. I will kneel in the ancestral hall according to the family rules. I will not argue. I only ask that you do not embarrass her in private again."

After saying that, Lu Chen didn't even glance at her again. He lowered his eyelashes and walked out of the courtyard. "Lu Bingyan! Lu Chen! Stop right there!"

Seeing that he was about to walk out of the yard, Zheng Lanbi let go of his hand, followed him a few steps, panting, and shouted at him to stop.

"Why did I teach the Ning family to keep to their duties? It was all for you!"

"Afterwards, you came to me to show off your power and pretend to be affectionate. But where were you at that time? If you didn't know, you would think the general was really a romantic!"

Lu Chen froze for a moment, his thin jawline tense and hard as iron. After a moment's silence, he walked out of Songchunyuan without looking back.

When I returned to the East Courtyard, Zhe Rou had already fallen asleep.

The crescent moon hid in the clouds, and the dim night seeped in through the window lattice. The inner room was silent, with only an oil lamp lit in the distance, casting a small ball of dim light.

Lu Chen sat down beside the couch and touched her face.

After watching in silence for a long time, Lu Chen changed his clothes, tiptoed onto the bed, lay down beside her, and reached out to hold her in his arms.

Hearing his breathing become even and long, Zhe Rou slowly opened her eyes, no longer feeling sleepy.

There was complete silence all around, with only the rustling of banana leaves in the wind and the occasional chirping of insects in the grass.

Late at night, when everyone was asleep, she suddenly felt an indescribable loneliness.

They were happily enjoying the chance to rent a shop during the day, but within just a few hours, the situation had taken a turn for the worse.

A bitter feeling welled up in her heart, and she couldn't stop thinking about the small courtyard in Taozhou. She thought of the bluestone slabs in the courtyard, the two vegetable plots behind the house, and the pomegranate tree at the door. She remembered sitting under the eaves with Lu Chen in the spring, watching the drizzling rain, and on summer nights, Lu Chen fanning her and catching fireflies. The two of them set up a small table in the courtyard, enjoying the evening breeze and sharing a few pieces of melon cooled with well water...

After four years of seeing each other day and night, she could clearly see that the heartache and guilt in Lu Chen's eyes were genuine. She could also vaguely guess that he was in trouble now.

For this reason, she never mentioned the scent of powder she had smelled on his collar just now, nor did she ask where he had gone today.