Zhu Yu scoffed at her lightly: "Foolish, you wouldn't understand even if I explained. Why should I explain to you?! In short, I have always admired the Duke of Zhenguo and would never do the kind of thing where you discard a good bow after the birds are all gone. Heaven and earth can bear witness to my heart. Lu Xiaoyun, I advise you not to think of me in such a despicable way!"
After saying that, he closed his eyes and turned his head to face inwards, not looking at Lu Xiaoyun.
Lu Xiaoyun: "..."
God, how about we make a deal? Cut the lifeline between me and this bastard. I want to kill him right now!
God: "..." Don't drag me into your fight.
For a moment, the room fell silent, with only Lu Xiaoyun's heavy breathing audible.
Zhu Yu opened his eyes a crack, slowly turned around, and glanced at Lu Xiaoyun. Why couldn't this stupid woman understand?
Having served in the military for ten years, he understood best the military spirit ingrained in soldiers and admired their loyalty most. How could he possibly harm people like the Duke of Zhenguo and his son?
Zhu Yu softened his expression, sat up, and asked calmly, "Since you are the eldest daughter of the Lu family, have you ever seen the Lu family genealogy?"
Lu Xiaoyun slowed her breathing, looked at Zhu Yu, and her lips twitched. Given the original owner's situation and her stepmother's constant vigilance against her, how could she possibly allow her into the Lu Clan Ancestral Hall, and naturally, she wouldn't be able to see the Lu Clan Genealogy?
She shook her head: "As you know, my mother died in childbirth because of me. Everyone in the family regards me as a jinx, and they never allow me to step into the ancestral hall during festivals."
Zhu Yu looked at the person in front of him and saw that her expression had softened. Her cool brows and eyes were filled with a trace of sorrow. Her eyelids were lowered and her lips were slightly pursed, as if she had endless grievances to tell.
He slowly said, "The Lu family was a prominent family in the previous dynasty during the time of our ancestors. The entire Lu family numbered no less than ten thousand people, and many of them served as officials in the court. Among them, the civil officials were appointed as Right Chancellors, and the military officials were the Martial Generals who held great military power. Although the Lu family is still at its peak now, it is still quite different from that time."
Lu Xiaoyun looked up at Zhu Yu and nodded: "I know that. That's why the Lu family became a thorn in the side of the previous dynasty's royal family. The royal family's fear of the Lu family has only grown stronger over time."
Zhu Yu gave a soft hum and continued, "Two months before the birth of the old Duke of Zhenguo, who was your grandfather, the former imperial advisor suddenly predicted that if twins were born in the capital within six months, the royal family would be overthrown."
Lu Xiaoyun's expression changed. There was such a thing? But she didn't know that in the limited memories the original owner had given her, there was almost nothing about the old Duke Zhenguo except that he had fought alongside her ancestors to conquer the Great Zhou Dynasty.
She said, "You mean, my grandfather had a twin brother?"
Zhu Yu nodded. Although this matter was not a secret among the current Zhu imperial family members, decades had passed, and those who knew about it had gradually forgotten about it.
Even less is known to the outside world.
"At that time, the entire capital was searching for newborn babies. Any family with twins, regardless of gender, even those who were two or three years old, were all ruthlessly killed."
Lu Xiaoyun sneered: "No wonder the previous dynasty declined so quickly. Believing in charlatans and disregarding human life, they deserved it."
Zhu Yu continued, "Lord Lu was the prime minister of the previous dynasty. The previous dynasty only had one prime minister, unlike now which has two prime ministers, left and right."
Lu Xiaoyun nodded. She knew this too. Now, the Great Zhou Dynasty has a left and right prime minister, with the right prime minister being the most respected. This was actually to reduce the excessive power of the prime minister in the previous dynasty.
Zhu Yu said, "When Prime Minister Lu heard this news, he was extremely shocked. So he gathered a group of civil officials to advise him, but the previous emperor believed the words of the Grand Preceptor and naturally ignored what Prime Minister Lu and others said. At that time, Madam Lu was also pregnant and about to give birth. Moreover, she was carrying twins, but they themselves did not know it."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaoyun clenched her fists. Could it be that her grandfather...
Then Zhu Yu said, "When Old Madam Lu gave birth, she was shocked to find that she had given birth to twins. At that time, there was a great uproar outside, and some treacherous officials even suggested that all infants born within six months, regardless of whether they were twins or not, should be killed to completely eliminate the problem."
"The emperor has shown signs of softening his stance."
"Fortunately, there was immediate opposition, and at that time, the people's anger in the capital was growing stronger and stronger. Thousands of people often gathered in front of the palace gates to make trouble. Only then did the emperor relent and order that only the twins be killed."
"Left with no other choice, Prime Minister Lu had to secretly send the newborn Duke of Zhenguo to a collateral branch of the Lu family in the southern border overnight, asking them to raise him."
"So, my grandfather stayed in the southern border region and never went to the capital?"
Zhu Yu shook his head: "No. It wasn't until the old Duke of Zhenguo was fifteen years old that Prime Minister Lu saw that the two brothers looked nothing alike except for their eyes. In addition, they grew up in different environments and had very different personalities. So he thought of bringing your grandfather back to the capital in the name of collateral relatives."
If my grandfather had gone to the capital back then, then when the previous emperor later attacked my great-grandfather and his family, wiping out the entire direct line of the Lu clan, my grandfather would not have survived.
The original owner had overheard the Duke of Zhenguo mention that when his great-grandfather was forty years old, the previous emperor had all five hundred members of the Prime Minister's mansion killed overnight on charges of "treason and collusion with the enemy."
Lu Xiaoyun asked, "Did they get into trouble not long after my great-grandfather sent the letter? Otherwise, my grandfather couldn't have escaped."
Zhu Yu nodded: "You're right. A month after the letter was sent out, the old Duke of Zhenguo set off for the capital. But little did he know that during that time, the former imperial family suddenly reached out to the Lu family, fabricating various pieces of evidence to close the net and directly accusing the old Duke of Lu of 'treason'."
"In one night, the entire Lu family, including servants, numbering over five hundred, was slaughtered without exception. When the old Duke of Zhenguo arrived in the capital, he found corpses strewn across the ground, and his two elders lying in pools of blood, their heads severed. Had the old Duke of Zhenguo not delayed his arrival in the capital by two days because of his adoptive father's fiftieth birthday, perhaps..."
Lu Xiaoyun's eyes were bloodshot. The destruction of the previous dynasty was truly not unjust at all. If her grandfather hadn't arrived two days late, there would be no Lu family in this world, no Zhenguo Duke's Mansion, and certainly no her.
Zhu Yu's voice was calm, but his heart was filled with sorrow, for he knew all too well that the Lu family of the previous dynasty had been loyal, yet had met such a tragic end. And now, only a few decades had passed, and his father was already suspicious of the Duke of Zhenguo and his son.
The bloody lessons of the previous dynasty are right there in front of us, how come Father Emperor can't see them?
The tragedies of history must not be repeated.
Therefore, he could only use his marriage to Lu Xiaoyun as a pretext to carry out his plans.
Lu Xiaoyun asked, "But my grandfather was only fifteen years old at that time, and he grew up in a collateral branch of the Lu family. He had no ability to rebel against the previous dynasty's royal family."
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