Chapter 106: A mysterious visit several months ago
A few months ago, it was also a rainy day, but the rain was very light, fine and dense, and almost no one on the street was holding an umbrella.
At dusk, a beautiful young woman, accompanied by a middle-aged woman, arrived at the gate of the Lu residence. They did not look like master and servant, but more like two partners who were in a relationship but not in harmony.
The young woman knocked on the door. Not long after, Lu Tai's senior disciple Zhang Dafang opened the gate.
"Who are you looking for?"
"Excuse me, is Patriarch Lu Changhua here?"
Zhang Dafang looked at the woman in front of him. The more he looked, the more beautiful she seemed to him, and he had a vague feeling that he had seen her somewhere.
"The master of the house is here, what do you want with him?"
"Please inform them that there's a visitor from Shanghai who wants to see your master. If he asks who I am, just say my name is Yu Zhenzhu."
Zhang Dafang thought about it and seemed to have some impression of this name. It should be that he had seen a movie promotional poster on the street when he went to the provincial capital before. There was a female star named Yu Zhenzhu in it, and her appearance was very similar to the one in front of him.
"Excuse me, are you the actress Yu Zhenzhu who played in the movie?"
The woman smiled. "I have indeed appeared in a few movies. Have you seen them?"
"Not really. I can't stand that kind of foreign stuff," Zhang Dafang replied somewhat stiffly. "But... our master doesn't seem to have any dealings with people in the film industry. I wonder what you're looking for him for, young lady?"
Yu Zhenzhu didn't say anything more. She took something out of her pocket and handed it forward. "If Patriarch Lu asks about it, please give it to him. I'm sure he'll come meet us after seeing it."
Zhang Dafang took it and took a look. It turned out to be a jade pendant with a narcissus carved on it.
"Okay, you two will wait here for a moment. I will go and report to the head of the family."
After saying this, Zhang Dafang bowed, turned around and rushed to the inner house. Not long after, he left and returned.
"Sorry for the long wait. The master asked you two to move to the inner house."
Yu Zhenzhu nodded and turned to smile at the middle-aged woman. The middle-aged woman bit her lip and walked towards the inner house with Yu Zhenzhu, led by Zhang Dafang.
When he entered the room, only Lu Changhua was standing with his back to the door, holding the jade pendant in his hand, lost in thought.
"Master, the guests have arrived." Zhang Dafang said.
"Dafang, thank you for your hard work. Close the door." Lu Changhua ordered.
"OK."
"By the way, go keep an eye on the Madam. If she has any problems, let me know first."
"I understand." Zhang Dafang bowed and then closed the door.
"Haha, master of the house, you are really cautious." After the door was closed tightly, Yu Zhenzhu covered her mouth and said with a smile.
Lu Changhua didn't answer her, but stared blankly at the middle-aged woman next to him, "You...you're still alive?"
The middle-aged woman snorted coldly, "Thanks to you, I'm still living a clear life."
"You still have this jade pendant? The daffodil engraved on it was specially made by me to commemorate your birth of Narcissus. When you passed away, I buried the jade pendant with you. I didn't expect..."
"Mr. Lu," Yu Zhenzhu interrupted them. "Let's not talk about old times for now. Let me introduce myself. I'm a special envoy sent by the organization to recruit people. I've heard that the Lu family's magic tricks are quite famous in Shandong, so I came here in person to visit."
"Organization? What organization?"
"I can't go into detail about this. Anyway, the organization is in urgent need of a magician like Mr. Lu, so I was sent here to invite you to join. As long as this goes ahead, I will certainly not treat the Lu family unfairly."
Lu Changhua snorted coldly, "You guys don't even want to tell me the truth, why should I join you?"
"Mr. Lu, please don't be so harsh. We have given you enough sincerity."
"Sincerity? What sincerity?"
Yu Zhenzhu turned and glanced at the middle-aged woman beside her. "We saved Madam Yan's life many years ago. Otherwise, the two of you would have passed away long ago."
"What? Is that true?" Lu Changhua's eyes widened in shock. "I thought you died of a blood clot shortly after giving birth to Shuiqing, but they... How have you been living these past ten years? Why didn't you return to the Lu family?"
"Mrs. Yan hid her identity because of our request. She has been practicing in a Taoist temple not far from Linqing. She came back with me today just to invite Mr. Lu to come out of seclusion." Yu Zhenzhu answered first.
Lu Changhua kept looking at Yan, waiting for her answer, but Yan kept her lips tightly closed and said nothing.
"I understand now. You have been plotting for more than ten years just to find my wife and use her to control me today? Is that right?" Lu Changhua questioned Yu Zhenzhu while suppressing his anger.
Yu Zhenzhu looked innocent. "How can this be considered manipulation? We put in a lot of effort, not only to save Madam Yan, but also to support her for so many years. We never meant to imprison her. It's just that she herself has no desire to return to the Lu family."
"Really? Madam?" Lu Changhua looked at Yan.
Madam Yan sighed, "Changhua, I feel that if I had really taken my last breath, I wouldn't have had any regrets. But when I learned that you made Gao your wife just a few days after my funeral, I gave up on returning. It's not that I blame you for being so heartless, but if I come back like this, I can't face you or Gao. I can't let her give the title of wife back to me, can I? So no matter what, you'll be in a dilemma. It's better for me not to show up and make things easier for everyone."
Lu Changhua sighed, "You've suffered a lot over the past decade. Shuixian and Shuiqing are both good children, but without their biological mother by their side, they have some bad tempers."
"I've heard everything they told me and seen photos of the two sisters, so I've put some of my worries to rest."
Yu Zhenzhu smiled and said, "How is it? We have shown our sincerity by facilitating your reunion. Mr. Lu, could you please do me a favor?"
Lu Changhua frowned and lowered his head to think for a long time.
"What else do you have concerns about?"
"I'm not trying to make excuses. The Lu family's unique skills were originally meant to be passed down to my only son, Lu Jiye, but he died inexplicably three years ago, and the murderer remains unknown. If the skills weren't passed down, even if I joined one of your organizations, I wouldn't be able to focus on them. So..."
Yu Zhenzhu nodded, "I understand. Okay then, let me give you an idea. Don't you want the Lu family's unique skills to be passed down? That's easy. You already have three daughters..."
"You want me to pass my unique skills to my daughter?" Lu Changhua shook his head. "No, no, it's the Lu family's traditional rule - pass it down to sons, not daughters!"
"Don't be anxious, listen to me," Yu Zhenzhu continued, "Your three daughters have all married into the Lu family. Although you don't have any children now, if you give birth to a son in the future, he can inherit the Lu family name, and the inheritance will naturally not be lost."
"But who knows which of my daughters will give birth to a son?"
"If that's your concern, then why not teach the three unique skills to each of the three daughters? If one of them has a child, it would be legitimate for the concubine to teach him the skills. What do you think?"
Lu Changhua frowned and thought about it. This was the best way to solve the problem of inheritance of unique skills.
"Okay, let me think about it. If you can resolve my worries, I will agree to join you."
"Hey, Mr. Lu, this matter cannot be delayed. We hope you can give us an answer within a month at most, and don't make a big fuss about it."
"So what should I do?"
Yu Zhenzhu waved her hand at Yanshi. "Madam is now a Taoist priest, with the name Yanchen. She has taken up a monastic life at Xingquan Temple, over a hundred miles away from here, a rather remote location. I suggest that you, under the guise of becoming a Taoist, go to Xingquan Temple to reunite with Madam. Once everything is settled, we will bring you two into the organization. Of course, before you take up a monastic life, you will have ample time to teach the three of you the unique skills of the daughters, and we will definitely not let the Lu family's magic tricks be lost."
Since everything had been arranged already, Lu Changhua could not find any excuses to delay. He had to promise to pass on the three unique skills to his three daughters within half a year at most, and then go to Xingquan Temple to become a Taoist monk.
Lü Changhua had initially assumed that no one else knew about this, not even Mrs. Gao. But he never imagined that, at that very moment, a dark figure, under the cover of the rain, was lurking on the roof of the inner hall, clearly overhearing the conversation between the three people. He gradually grew filled with hatred, and though he couldn't express it, murderous intent already filled his heart.
But how could this be hidden from Yu Zhenzhu's eyes? She had long known that someone was peeping from the rooftop, and she knew who this person was. So a conspiracy was hatched. After she and Yan Shi left, she secretly returned to the Lu residence alone and visited her uncle Lu Tai.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
