Chapter 255 Xiao Yan hugged Tang Ning: Let’s die
It's not about shifting the blame.
What they said is true.
Lu Chongyuan's heart, which had been stable since he met the Fourth Prince, suddenly became uneasy. If it was true, even if it was only partially true, it would be a catastrophe for the Lu family...
The female members of the Lu family who were of the right age were all in a panic, especially the wives of the Lu family, who had legitimate sons and were over thirty but under fifty years old. They were all in this situation.
Mrs. Lu said anxiously, as if she was dazed by this shocking injustice.
"Father, I'm not familiar with Prince Cheng at all. After marrying the Second Master, I've been keeping to my duties. Jing'er grew up under your care. How could he be Prince Cheng's son?"
Madam Lu's face was also pale. "Yes, father, we are all women of the Lu family. If we let them into the backyard to search today, how will we be able to face people in the future? How can Xuan'er and the others live with innocence? And how can the other women in the mansion live?!"
"Father, we can't let them search!"
"We are innocent, why should we be insulted like this?"
Several other female members of the Lu family also spoke up.
Women who can marry into the direct branch of the Lu family must have a fairly low family background, and the Lu family is extremely particular about "equal status" when selecting daughters-in-law.
They were all brought up with pride, so how could they tolerate being blamed for "adultery"? It would not only implicate their children, but also the women in their natal families, and married and unmarried girls would be implicated.
The Black Armored Guards' visit to the house could not be concealed from outsiders. If they really searched the house under the pretext of "catching an adulterer", even if they found nothing in the end, people would still look at them strangely in the future, and some would even question the origins of their children.
No one would endure such humiliation!
Naturally, Lu Chongyuan would not agree to let anyone search. Seeing the black-armored guards trying to approach, he took a half step forward and shouted angrily, "Let's see who dares to search my Lu family!"
"Grandfather..." The Fourth Prince frowned and looked at him: "Are you trying to disobey my order?"
"Your Highness said it was His Majesty's will, but what about the imperial edict?"
Seeing the Fourth Prince's frown, Lu Chongyuan said in a cold voice, "The Lu family is an aristocratic family with a history of a hundred years. Your Highness can arrest someone if he has solid evidence, but bringing people to search the residences of the Lu family's women without anything is absolutely impossible, and the Lu family will not tolerate such humiliation!"
"Grandfather, this is the emperor's order..."
"Since it is an oral order, I will go with Your Highness to the palace to see His Majesty!"
The Fourth Prince was startled, then heard Lu Chongyuan say sternly, "My Lu family has diligently assisted Your Majesty for many years, devoting ourselves to the court. Even if someone as foolish and greedy as Lu Zhao truly appeared, should all our contributions to the Great Wei over the past century be wiped out?"
"Your Majesty has punished Lu Zhao and confined me. I have no complaints, but he should never have used the traitor Prince Cheng's nonsense to humiliate the Lu family."
"If Your Majesty truly cannot tolerate the Lu family, you can simply execute everyone in the Lu family. I, this old minister, will never tolerate such humiliation."
He stood there, his hair, which had turned pale at some point, looked particularly solemn and cold, and his eyes were also calm.
"Since Your Highness says that today's events were ordered by His Majesty, I will follow Your Highness into the palace. I want to ask His Majesty why he treats the Lu family this way. He humiliates the family of meritorious officials and humiliates the veteran officials of the court. Isn't he afraid of disheartening the people of the world?!"
The Fourth Prince was shocked by Lu Chongyuan's words and his expression changed.
His father had instructed him to investigate the Lu family, but there was no direct order to arrest them. If this really came to the attention of the emperor...
The Fourth Prince's heart trembled and he hesitated for a moment.
Seeing how Lu Chongyuan had stunned the Fourth Prince with just a few words, reversing the situation that had just been unfavorable to the Lu family, Tang Ning couldn't help but whisper, "This Lu Chongyuan is indeed worthy of being the head of an aristocratic family."
The Lu family was just below them. Although the place where they were squatting was a blind spot, Tang Ning was still afraid of being noticed, so he lowered his voice very low, and when he turned his head to speak, his whole body was pressed against his arms.
"He must have sensed something was amiss, and he knew the Lu family couldn't avoid what was happening today, so he wanted to delay things by entering the palace..."
Regardless of whether what Prince Cheng said was true or false, he could use this to stop the Fourth Prince from leading people to search the women of the Lu family.
If it was false, he could use this incident to create a quarrel with Emperor An, and use the mouths of the people of the world to help the Lu family out of trouble, and force Emperor An to make concessions on the grounds that he was mean and ungrateful, so as to help the Lu family out of trouble, and he himself might be able to return to the court.
If it was true, he could go to the palace and make some noise, which would give the Lu family some time to react and allow the people in the mansion to find a way to dispose of any "evidence" that might be found.
The little girl spoke in a soft voice, breathing lightly, the warm air from her breath swirling around and landing on his neck.
"Lu Chongyuan is so smart. Even though things happened suddenly, he was able to react so quickly. No wonder he almost hurt my brother several times before."
Xiao Yan put his arm around her waist, and his eyes darkened a little when he lowered his head.
Tang Ning didn't notice anything was wrong, and just lowered his voice: "Brother, Lu Chongyuan wants to use the opportunity of entering the palace to break the impasse. If we miss this opportunity, and the Lu family makes some moves, I'm afraid today's matter won't be accomplished."
After she finished speaking, no one responded behind her.
Tang Ning couldn't help but look up: "Brother?"
Xiao Yan met her distinct black and white eyes, his throat rolling slightly, forcing himself to avoid the white skin on her neck, and lowered his eyes to look at the courtyard over there: "He can't break the situation, there is Cang Lang."
In the yard below, Canglang seemed to sense his own commander's muttering, and sneered and spoke sarcastically.
"Secretary Lu, have you forgotten that you are still under house arrest and are not allowed to leave the Lu family without the emperor's order? As for your merits, all the nobles in the court and the nobles in the capital are loyal to the Great Wei, and many of them have ancestors with outstanding merits."
"If past merits could offset the sins of descendants and threaten the emperor with the merits of ancestors, the He family wouldn't have been destroyed by the late emperor. Simply because of their connection with the Crown Prince, the entire He family was executed, leaving no one alive in the mansion."
"I remember that when the execution was carried out, Secretary Lu was also present, right?"
"In terms of achievements, the He family is not inferior to the Lu family."
Lu Chongyuan's originally stern face could no longer be maintained in an instant, and the other members of the Lu family also turned pale.
Canglang looked at the wavering Fourth Prince beside him and said, "Your Highness, you have received an imperial decree to come to the Lu family to arrest someone for questioning. My Lord Governor is grateful for your impartiality and your willingness to sacrifice your own family for the greater good, so he allowed me and the Black Armored Guards to accompany you."
"The women of the Lu family are already suspects. With Prince Cheng's confession, it's reasonable to take them back for interrogation, not to mention just a search. Since you're here, you should handle the matter impartially. If you have any sympathy for the Lu family, I'll take my people and leave now."
The Fourth Prince's expression kept changing. He had already broken off relations with the Lu family when he came to the family today.
Lu Chongyuan had long intended to abandon him. Even if he retreated now, the people of the Lu family would never let him go. Moreover, he brought the Black Armored Guards with him. Such a big commotion must have made his father aware of it.
If I suddenly turn back, my father will definitely be angry.
He has already lost the Lu family, so he must not lose the emperor's heart again.
The Fourth Prince gritted his teeth, the hesitation in his eyes dissipating. "Grandfather, if you feel wronged, you can personally plead your case with Father later. Right now, the most important thing is to interrogate the person who committed adultery with Prince Cheng."
"Please forgive me, aunts, I am only acting on the orders of my father."
He glanced at the panicked women of the Lu family and said in a deep voice:
"Come here, detain the ladies first and send someone to search their residence. If anyone interferes, arrest them immediately!"
"Xie Guangzheng, you dare..."
"Bang!"
As Silang of the Lu family rushed out to stop them, he was knocked to the ground by Canglang's sword. Madam Lu screamed "Jing'er" and wanted to pounce on him, but was caught by the black-armored guards the next moment.
Seeing that the Fourth Prince actually dared to have someone attack him, the Lu family immediately started cursing. Lu Qin and others even called the Fourth Prince an ungrateful and ungrateful person.
The Fourth Prince's face also turned ugly, and he ordered his men to stop the people from the Lu family.
There were guards in the Lu family mansion, and they rushed out when they sensed any movement. However, the ordinary people guarding the mansion were unable to stop the ferocious black-armored guards and were quickly captured.
Seeing the front yard collapsed, the black-armored guards captured several female members of the Lu family, and the rest rushed straight to the backyard.
Lu Qin said sternly: "Qing..."
"Second brother!"
Lu Chongyuan turned his head suddenly, interrupting Lu Qin's cry, and the person who had been moving in secret retreated almost instantly, and as soon as he retracted his head, he was locked in a cold light.
Hearing the sound of something breaking through the air, he turned around and stepped back without thinking too much.
Xiao Yan protected Tang Ning with one hand and held a short crossbow with the other. All the crossbow arrows he shot were aimed at the man's vital points, forcing him to be unable to hide his body. When he staggered to the ground, he suddenly looked up.
Everyone in the Lu family was stunned. When they looked up, they saw Xiao Yan and a young girl in green standing behind the roof beam diagonally opposite.
The man was suddenly exposed in front of everyone. When he saw Xiao Yan, his face changed and he suddenly wanted to bite off the poison sac between his teeth.
"Don't ask him to take poison!"
Canglang swung his sword towards his head. When he dodged, the scabbard hit his jaw directly, approaching the man like a spirit snake and hitting him in the face twice in a row.
The man's teeth were loose, and it was too late for him to swallow the food in his mouth. He was suddenly surrounded by several people who were left there to "protect" the Fourth Prince. He was kicked in the back and spit out blood from his mouth.
Seeing that the poison didn't work, he turned around and tried to escape.
The next moment, a cold light shot out and nailed the man to the spot.
The Lu family's illegitimate son, who had remained silent the entire time, put down his hand, raised his eyes and frowned, "Where did this thief come from? How dare he sneak into the Lu family and commit murder? Grandfather, are you okay?"
Cang Lang: “…”
Besieged several people: "..."
Are there people who are more shameless than them?
"Lord Governor." Canglang looked up at Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan looked at the man who was pierced through the heart by a sword, and looked thoughtfully at the low-key illegitimate son of the Lu family, so he said that the Lu family still had many cards up its sleeve.
He chuckled softly, "Let him die, he's just a thief. It's just that the Lu family is so easily infiltrated by someone. I will definitely report to His Majesty and ask him to send some guards to protect Secretary Lu."
He put his arm around Tang Ning's waist and jumped down from the roof.
The fourth prince's eyelids twitched: "Lord Xiao..."
Didn't he say he wasn't coming?!
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