As Lu Linglin stepped out of the room, the soldier couldn't help but say, "The world is in chaos right now. Where can an orphan like you go? Besides, you need a household registration permit to go out..."
"Thank you, I've made preparations." Lu Linglin nodded to the soldier, then looked back at her room, took a deep breath, and said, "There are still a lot of valuable fabrics and antiques in there. I can't take them away. If there's anyone who knows their value, I can give them a home."
The soldier's eyes lit up. After seeing Lu Linglin leave, he hurried in to check. He didn't dare to take the big things, but it would be nice to put two pieces of good cut fabrics in his arms and take them back to make clothes for his wife.
Lu Linglin never came back, and Old Lady Lu didn't react at all. It was only when she saw her dowry being carried out that she became anxious: "This is my dowry! It's not something from the Pingyang Marquis Mansion!"
The Grand Commander took the faded list presented by his men and said, "We have found the list of the old lady's dowry and will keep it for her. If it is not on the list, please forgive my rudeness, but I will take it away."
The Grand Commander was very polite, but Old Madam Lu was so angry that she almost fainted. She had been married into the Lu family for many years, and except for the farms and shops, the items on the dowry list had been replaced many times.
"No! This was all bought with my dowry!" Old Lady Lu reached out to stop him.
The Grand Commander raised his hand with a smile, and the soldiers immediately separated Old Lady Lu: "What are you talking about? This screen is sold for five hundred taels of silver, and that jade bonsai is sold for three thousand taels of silver..."
"Your dowry was only five thousand taels of silver, and the things we moved out are worth tens of thousands of taels of silver in total, so these things are definitely not yours."
Old Lady Lu was furious: "You are just making up excuses! Don't you know how to run a business? Huh?"
"No matter how you run the business, we don't have time to check the accounts, right? It's only because I respect the elderly and care for the young that I'm letting them take their time. Otherwise..." The Grand Commander suddenly lost his smile. "Have you ever seen anyone's property being raided so peacefully like we are?"
Old Lady Lu immediately shut up, fearing that if she continued speaking, she would lose even this little thing.
The Grand Commander took advantage of the opportunity to search the mansion of Marquis Pingyang and turned it upside down, almost digging three feet into the ground. However, he only found some manuscripts and other things in the study.
"Let's go! Return to the palace and report."
Before leaving, the Grand Commander ordered his men to take all the Lu family members out of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion. He took with him the things he had searched in the study, as well as Jia Yi Niang, Jia Yue and other people from the Fourth Prince's Mansion.
Old Lady Lu stood at the door and looked up at the Pingyang Marquis Mansion which had withered overnight. She then looked around herself and saw that of the sixty loads of dowry, only six were left. She couldn't breathe and fainted.
Lu Lingjiao, who had rushed over after hearing the news, hid in a corner. When she saw Old Lady Lu faint, her eyes rolled and she rushed forward with a cry, "Grandma, Grandma, what's wrong with you? Someone come quickly."
Lu Lingjiao's maids and servants hurried forward and carried Old Madam Lu away.
The second and third masters of the Lu family, as well as the second and third masters of the side branches, all stood in the street in a daze, watching Lu Lingjiao take Old Madam Lu away.
"Uncle, where are we going?" Master Lu looked at Master Lu.
Master Lu Er spread his hands and said, "We haven't even split up yet. If the Pingyang Marquis Mansion is gone, we have nowhere to go."
As he spoke, he looked in the direction where Lu Lingjiao had left, and said regretfully, "I had originally wanted to live in my mother's dowry yard, but now my mother is..."
Second Master Lu's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "I know where Grandmother's dowry house is. We can just go there! You are Grandmother's son, and we are Grandmother's grandsons. Even if we are born out of wedlock, we still have to call her mother and grandmother. She has to take care of us, right?"
A group of people were bustling around carrying their belongings and leaving.
The Grand Commander's main focus of the search was Lu Yan. He ignored all the branches of the Lu family and just threw out their things.
Only Lu Yan's brothers and sisters suffered heavy losses. Apart from rescuing some clothes and jewelry, they were unable to bring anything else out.
Aunt Qi held her son in her arms and glanced at her maid, who was holding a box and a bundle in her arms, nothing else.
The maid looked around and asked, "Auntie, where are we going?"
Aunt Qi pondered for a moment and said, "Let's go to the other courtyard first, and then go to the old lady's dowry courtyard."
The other courtyard had just been searched. Qi's father and mother, as the managers of the other courtyard, had suffered heavy losses this time and were sitting at the door crying.
Aunt Qi asked them all to stand up: "Don't cry, you have hidden a lot over the years, be content."
"Then this courtyard..." Qi's mother looked back. The Pingyang Marquis' Mansion was in decline, but this courtyard was privately owned by Lu Yan. He could at least live in it, right?
Aunt Qi shook her head and said, "The Marquis is guilty of treason. This courtyard will be searched sooner or later. My daughter has a small courtyard. You can live there. Please take this thing for me."
Aunt Qi asked the maid to hand the box to Mother Qi: "We are all good people now, and we can live well even if we leave the Marquis' Mansion. You can take your brother and live there first, and we can plan the rest later."
The elder brother of the Qi family looked at his younger sister worriedly: "What about you?"
Aunt Qi looked at the child in her arms and sighed: "The child belongs to the Lu family. I can't just leave it alone. I have to take it one step at a time."
After saying this, she pulled her sister-in-law aside and stuffed a stack of banknotes into her hand. "This is the private money I saved, a total of more than fifty taels. Sister-in-law, take it, but please don't give it to my mother or my brother. The family expenses are high, and it will be hard for you to manage the household."
"Aunt..." Qi's sister-in-law's eyes were filled with tears. It was already this late, and she was still thinking about home.
"Hurry up and pack your things." After giving the order, Aunt Qi gave the key to Sister-in-law Qi and told her the location of the house. Then she took the child and went to meet up with the Lu family.
The maid was a little worried: "You gave everything to your family, didn't you keep some for yourself?"
Aunt Qi touched the small seal hanging around her son's neck and sneered, "Eighth Miss took the old lady away, so there's no way she can bring her back. Even if she does, there's no guarantee where the old lady's things are. How can such a large family spend their own money on food and clothing? If I keep all that money and things, how much can I save? It's better to give them to my parents. It's better to give them to my family than to outsiders."
The maidservant thought of the young masters and young ladies of the Lu family and suddenly stopped talking.
Married young men might be able to keep some of their wife's dowry to get by.
But there are many unmarried young masters and young ladies in the Lu family. Not to mention other things, this little brat is eating me out of money. How can I support him?
No matter how the Lu family supported these young masters and young ladies, the Grand Commander returned to the palace and reported: "Lu Yan and Bai are missing."
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