The housekeeper of the Lu family led the British Duke Lu Qing and Lu Zheng to the mourning hall. Before they got close, they heard miserable cries.

Lu Qing sighed: "Have you taken care of my eldest cousin's funeral?"

The housekeeper wiped his tears and said: "Duke Lao was worried about me. My old man passed away suddenly. There are mostly women in the mansion. All matters are handled by the second young master."

A tall and thin man came over. He was the second young master Lu Yuan of the Lu family's eldest branch, but he was just a bastard. The eldest son of the Lu family passed away three years ago. He has been in charge of the Lu family's external affairs. Lu Yuan is about 40 years old, which is the prime of life, but he looks tired and haggard because of the hard work during this period.

He bowed to Lu Qing and said, "My nephew has met Uncle San."

Lu Qing helped him up and said, "Okay, we are family, so let's not be so formal. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Lu Yuan's face flashed with embarrassment for a moment, but he still said to Lu Qing, "Tomorrow's funeral will take place. I will trouble Uncle San to take care of it." After all, he was just a bastard. Although he had been taking care of the family affairs for these years, he could not come forward on behalf of the man in the family in such an occasion.

Lu Qing also understood his difficulties. He had always had a good impression of this nephew. He acted steadily and knew when to advance and retreat. It was just a pity for his status.

When they walked into the mourning hall, they saw a graceful figure lying on the coffin and crying loudly: "Master, why did you go so early, leaving us orphans and widows... Master, I wish I could go with you..."

Lu Yuan's face darkened, but he still saluted and said: "Mother, the third uncle and the seventeenth brother are here." Lu Zheng is the seventeenth male in the Lu family.

The woman stopped crying, wiped her tears and turned around. She had a delicate and gentle face, with a few tears hanging on her cheeks. The mourning clothes made her look more delicate.

"I, Lu Wu, have seen uncle."

Lu Qing frowned, and he couldn't say "sister-in-law" no matter what, so he could only nod and say: "Please accept my condolences."

Wu wiped her eyes and was about to cry again.

Lu Qing was very annoyed. He took the incense from Lu Yuan, and together with Lu Zheng, he lit the incense and was about to leave.

He had long been fed up with his eldest cousin's step-wife, who had beauty but no brains, and was not presentable at all. Fortunately, the Lu family was not in the court now, otherwise who knows what kind of trouble would have happened.

Wu was so angry that her face turned pale. Lu Yuan chased after her awkwardly while saying "Mother, calm down." The Duke of Ying's Mansion had long been divided. Lu Qing could be scornful of Wu, but he could not. Otherwise, the hat of filial piety would be pressed down on him, and he would be skinned alive.

Lu Qing followed him to the nearby compartment and asked, "Have you found out the cause of your cousin's death?"

"It was poisoning." Lu Yuan whispered, "The doctor said it was the poison of the hook and kiss. When father was found, he was already deeply poisoned and there was no hope of saving him."

Lu Qing frowned, because Lu Che was also poisoned by the hook and kiss poison, but the symptoms were much milder. Now the poison has been resolved, but he is still recuperating at home because of his weak body.

As soon as Lu Yuan saw Lu Qing's expression, he understood. He couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "Our Lu family is now just a farmer. I don't know who has such a deep hatred for the Lu family and even implicated my third brother."

"You can't say that." Lu Qing shook his head, "Che'er is bound to make enemies in the court. I am worried that the murderer will not harm him, but let my eldest cousin lose his life."

While Lu Qing and Lu Yuan were talking, Lu Zheng looked around in the garden and saw a maid scolding someone in a doorway.

Lu Zheng wanted to go around, but accidentally saw the mourning clothes on the scolded woman. This was clearly for relatives to wear. The maid who scolded her was not qualified to wear mourning clothes and could only tie a white cloth on her arm.

This is interesting. A master of such stature would actually be scolded by a servant. From Lu Zheng's angle, he could not see the woman's face, but he could hear her voice.

The servant was still scolding her fiercely: "...Sweeper, the mistress told you to stay in the room, what are you doing out here?"

The woman just kept her head down and didn't say anything.

Lu Zheng wanted to go over to take a look, but was stopped by a big hand.

"Seventeenth brother, what are you looking at?"

Lu Zheng turned around and found that it was Lu Yuan. He pointed at the doorway and asked, "Who is that?"

Lu Yuan glanced at him and then looked away, saying, "That's Seventh Aunt."

In Lu Zheng's memory, the Lu family had two legitimate sons on the eldest uncle's side. In addition to the eldest uncle, there was Seventh Uncle. However, Seventh Uncle had polio when he was a child and one of his legs was atrophied, so it was very difficult for him to get married. Later, he married the eldest legitimate daughter of Yan.

The original owner had never seen this Seventh Aunt, but he didn't expect her to be such a weak person.

Lu Yuan didn't explain much, and took him to the mourning hall, but he happened to see the eldest young lady Lin and the stepmother-in-law Wu quarreling directly.

"…My father-in-law died of poisoning, and we don't know who did it. Why are you in such a hurry to bury him? Are you hiding something?" Since her husband and son died one after another, Lin's temper has become much weirder. She doesn't care about her face at all and directly mocks Wu. Wu is so angry that she trembles all over.

She rushes over and slaps Lin in the face: "You bastard! I'll let you slander me!"

Lin is not someone to be trifled with. She grabs Wu's hair and throws her to the ground.

People around are trying to stop the fight and persuade them. Some people who are accidentally affected scream. The scene is simply chaotic.

Lu Zheng was stunned. Lu Qing on the side was so angry that veins popped out on his forehead. He shouted, "Stop it!"

"How can you all be so disrespectful!" Lu Qing looked at everyone with a gloomy face. "My eldest cousin's body is still warm and you are making a fuss in front of his spirit. Do you want him to have no peace even after his death?" Everyone

was silent. Wu wanted to cry, but was scared back by Lu Qing's glare.

"Everyone will come to pay their respects tomorrow. Are you planning to make a scene like this in front of them and make the Lu family the laughing stock of the whole Yanjing?!"

Lu Yuan knelt down quickly: "Third Uncle, calm down."

Lu Qing glanced at Lin, who was pulled away with a distorted face and was about to hit Wu, and said to the two maids beside her: "The eldest young lady is too sad and has hysterics. Why don't you help her back?"

Under his powerful pressure, the two maids dared not say a word and could only go over and help Lin down.

Lu Qing asked again, "What was going on just now?"

Wu was about to answer, but Lu Qing had already turned his gaze to Lu Yuan: "Second brother, tell me."

Lu Yuan had already heard what his wife had told him. He lowered his head to hide the anger in his eyes: "Third uncle, mother said that the body must be buried after three days of rest, and she doesn't allow us to report it to the police, but..."

Lu Qing looked at the uneasy Mrs. Wu: "How do you explain?"

Mrs. Wu wiped her tears: "Uncle misunderstood me. I am the most sad about my husband's death, but how can he be kept at home for seven days if he died suddenly like this? What if he is still grudgeful? What should this family do... I am considering the whole family, but I don't want to be misunderstood. I might as well go with the old man..."

Seeing that Mrs. Wu was about to cry, make a fuss, and even hang herself, Lu Qing said impatiently: "Enough!" He looked at the people kneeling in the mourning hall, "What do you think?"

There has always been a custom in the Great Xia Dynasty that people who died suddenly are still grudgeful and must be buried as soon as possible. If the body is kept at home for too long, it will offend the family. Therefore, all people who die suddenly in this dynasty must be buried within three days. However, the old man

of the Lu family, Lu Jian, knew at first glance that it was murder. If it was buried directly without investigation, it would be difficult to justify it. Sure enough, after Wu's explanation, the eyes of the female family members were a little flickering, and no one spoke for a while. Seeing this scene, Lu Qing couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

Suddenly, a woman stood up from the female family members: "I think that since my father-in-law was killed by someone, if we, as children, cannot find the murderer and avenge him, I am afraid that my father-in-law will not rest in peace in heaven."

This person is Tong, the fourth young lady of the Lu family.

"That makes sense." Lu Qing's expression relaxed slightly, and he glanced at Tong with approval. He was too lazy to ask other people's opinions, and directly said to the guards who followed him, "Take my letter to Jingzhao Prefecture and ask Lord Jingzhao Yin to give justice to my eldest cousin."

Lu Qing had already spoken, and no matter how others thought about it, it would be useless, and they could only agree one by one.

Back at the Duke of Ying's Mansion, Lu Qing was exhausted physically and mentally. Lu Zheng helped him back to his room to rest, and then hurried to Feihong Court to see his eldest brother.

Lu Che was lying on the bed, and Pei was feeding him medicine. Fortunately, his poisoning was not serious, and Lu Qing had the foresight to ask Xu Yuanpan, so that the toxins were expelled. But now he is still weak and needs to rest in bed.

"Is my eldest brother feeling better today?" Lu Zheng asked.

Lu Che nodded and asked softly: "You went to the eldest uncle's house, what exactly happened?"

Lu Zheng shook his head: "I always feel that each branch has its own selfish motives, and it is really hard to tell."

"My family is busy with many things, it is really..." Lu Che hesitated to speak.

"By the way, brother, do you know what happened to the seventh aunt?" Lu Zheng asked curiously.

"What happened to her?"

Lu Zheng told him about the maid scolding Yan at Lu's house, and then said: "Isn't the seventh aunt the eldest daughter of the Yan family? Even if the family has fallen, how could it be reduced to being insulted and scolded by a maid?"

Lu Che was calm as if he was talking about official business: "The Yan family participated in the case of rebellion by King Wei in the past. After the current emperor ascended the throne, they were liquidated. In these years, It was very difficult. Aunt Qi's mother was the original wife, but she died early, so her father married a second wife. If Yan Shi had not fallen into poverty, she would not have dared to humiliate the daughter left by the original wife. But after Yan Shi fell into poverty, she was basically supported by her dowry, so she naturally had no scruples. Otherwise, Uncle Qi would not have been able to marry Aunt Qi. "

Lu Zheng also sighed when he heard this.

"Seventh uncle passed away six years ago. Seventh aunt has no children and can only live with the eldest uncle's family. It is natural that she will suffer some grievances when living under someone else's roof." Lu Che shook his head, "But according to what you said, even a maid can insult her like this, which shows how bad the rules of our family are."

The Lu family has been going downhill in recent years. If it were not for the support of the Duke of Ying's Mansion, I'm afraid they would not be able to stay in Yanjing. But they don't know how to reflect on themselves, but instead fight at home.

As the two were talking, a maid came in and said something in Pei's ear.

Pei frowned.

"What happened?" Lu Che asked.

Pei sighed: "My father-in-law sent someone to report to the Jingzhao Prefecture, and the prefect Tang took over the case and then went to the Ministry of Justice to borrow someone."

Usually, Jingzhao Yin Tang Min often did this, and Lu Zheng was not surprised. But seeing that Pei was in a bad mood, he couldn't help but ask: "Who did you borrow?"

"Zhao Xueqian."