Chapter 124 Old Stories
All of this was observed by Lu Chengyin, who had already hidden it in the closet by his mother, Qingyuan.
The surviving Lu Chengyin fled the Lu family with his twin sister and jade pendants and other items. However, the two young girls got separated as soon as they left the capital.
Lu Chengyin searched for many days but could not find his sister. He was taken back to the capital by a Taoist priest on his way back to the capital and adopted by a Taoist academy.
The Taoist priest who adopted Lu Chengyin treated him as his own son, imparted all his knowledge to him, and even gave him the name Luo Chenzi.
After the Taoist priest ascended to immortality, Luo Chenzi took over his master's mantle and became the most renowned young Taoist priest in the capital, revered by many.
Having witnessed his mother's murder when he was a child, Lu Chengyin's hatred had long been buried deep in his heart.
He pretended to be going into seclusion for cultivation, then disguised himself and, carrying his father's keepsake and his mother's portrait, found Concubine Yang and told her that he was Lu Chengyin.
In order to sow discord between Concubine Yang and the head of the Lu family, he even falsely claimed that his mother was killed by the head of the Lu family.
Knowing that she was a substitute for Qingyuan, Concubine Yang saw through the hypocrisy and cowardice of the Lu family head. At the same time, she worried that Lu Chengyin would fight for his son's inheritance after returning to the Lu family.
She pawned the silk and jewelry that the Lu family head had given her for 5,000 strings of cash, took out 3,000 strings to appease Lu Chengyin, and made him sign a guarantee promising to leave the capital and never return.
After this incident, Concubine Yang completely lost faith in the Lu family head and began to intentionally distance herself from him. Her attitude puzzled the Lu family head greatly.
Lu Chengyin, who was only interested in revenge, naturally agreed. After leaving the capital, he casually threw the jade pendant into the lake, where it was later found by Young Master Wei, who was fishing in the suburbs.
After returning to the capital, Lu Chengyin began to consult ancient books and classics, and eventually obtained two amazing wine recipes.
One of the wine recipes was an evil technique for refining vengeful spirits, and Luo Chenzi named it after a poem his mother once loved most, "Chang Xiang Si" (Longing for Each Other).
After disguising himself, Lu Chengyin pretended to be a reclusive master brewer and sold one of his wine recipes to the head of the Ren family at Tianxiang Restaurant, enabling the Ren family to quickly surpass the Lu family.
Panicked and anxious, the Lu family head searched everywhere for Luo Chenzi, who was pretending to be a master brewer. He also learned that Young Master Gu had fought with Young Master Wei at Hua Man Lou. Frustrated, the Lu family head vented all his anger on Young Master Gu.
At the urging of his mother, Concubine Yang, Young Master Gu went to Hua Man Lou to buy and sell information. However, since the owner of Hua Man Lou was Young Master Wei, he was immediately rejected.
Left with no other choice, Young Master Gu had to visit Luo Chenzi, the disciple of the master.
Just as Luo Chenzi was about to approach him, she pretended to perform divination for him, which allowed Young Master Gu to find her in a natural way. At the same time, she sold Young Master Gu the recipe for the Longing for Love Wine that she had prepared in advance.
Because of the ruthless and insidious nature of the wine, Young Master Gu, who was originally worried about his family's situation, thought about the family business and finally decided to set his sights on Lan Niang, a courtesan in a brothel.
He used sweet words to deceive Lan Niang and gain her trust. Then he lured her to the Lu residence and killed her.
Upon learning that one of his courtesans had gone missing from his Flower Pavilion, Young Master Wei began investigating the matter, but made little progress.
Young Master Gu, who murdered Lan Niang, thought no one knew about it, but little did he know that his wife, Ren Ning'er, had witnessed everything he did.
Left with no other choice, Young Master Gu could only pretend that he was being entangled by Lan Niang, and that during their argument, he accidentally killed her.
Ren Ning'er used this matter to threaten Young Master Gu, forcing him to agree to a divorce three years later, which Young Master Gu had no choice but to agree to.
Over time, Young Master Gu's mother, Concubine Yang, also discovered that Ren Ning'er often had private interactions with others. She carefully recorded the time and place Ren Ning'er left the mansion every day. After discovering the clues, she informed Young Master Gu about it.
Because of Wei Gongzi's official family background, Gu Shao Ye and his mother, Concubine Yang, have been unable to find out who was having an affair with Ren Ning'er for so long.
Despite being threatened by Ren Ning'er and agreeing to keep it a secret, Young Master Gu was eventually pressed by his mother, Concubine Yang, to reveal the truth.
Upon learning that her son had murdered Lan Niang, a courtesan at the Hua Man Lou brothel, Yang's concubine had no choice but to use the remaining two thousand strings of cash to bribe the brothel's madam to go to the government office to drop the case.
After receiving two thousand strings of cash, the madam went to the Jingzhao Prefecture to close the case, attributing Lan Niang's disappearance to a misunderstanding, saying that she had been chosen by a young master and had been redeemed by her lover and left the capital.
Despite his doubts, Young Master Wei, bound by his current status, had no choice but to reprimand the madam and end the case.
At the Lu residence, with Lan Niang's blood, Young Master Gu was able to produce Chang Xiang Si wine on schedule, and the business of Zui Xian Wine Shop was instantly revived.
Little did they know that Lan Niang's body and her vengeful spirit were suppressed within the Lu residence. After three years, they would gather into a vengeful spirit, break through the wine jar, and wreak havoc in the Lu mansion.
Because Ren Ning'er knew that she was not the biological daughter of the Ren family head, and the Ren family head still insisted on marrying her off to Young Master Gu after learning that she liked Young Master Wei, a rift developed between the father and daughter.
On one occasion, when Young Master Gu was drunk, Ren Ning'er overheard him talking about the Qingyuan that he had learned from his mother.
In order to deceive the head of the Ren family, who had been asking her to search for her aunt, Ren Ning'er told the head of the Ren family about the murder of Qing Yuan, pretending it was about the head of the Ren family's sister.
When the head of the Ren family learned the truth, he was naturally furious.
Thinking back to her younger sister's innocent and naive appearance, and the letters she sent home after being sold to the Lu family to let them know she was safe, every word of which described how well she was living in the Lu family and how kindly the Lu family head treated her.
There was also his younger sister who was eagerly anticipating being brought into the Lu family after the head of the family married his first wife. The thought of this made the head of the Ren family feel extremely suffocated.
He first bribed the servants of the Lu family to obtain a map of the entire Lu family mansion and a schedule of the servants changing shifts. He then decided to find an opportunity to kill the head of the Lu family and avenge his sister and her two children.
For years, the head of the Lu family had been eager to know the whereabouts of Qingyuan and her two children, but whenever he asked his wife, Qian Yaqiu, she would have a big argument with him.
On this day, the two argued again about Qingyuan. Qian Yaqiu even demanded that the Lu family head destroy Qingyuan's portrait and continued to threaten him with the reputation of her maternal family and the Lu family head.
When the Lu family head refused, Qian Yaqiu personally threw Qingyuan's portrait into the brazier.
Fortunately, the head of the Lu family was quick-witted and managed to preserve part of the portrait.
From then on, the head of the Lu family began to loathe this extremely jealous woman and secretly decided to find an opportunity to kill Qian Yaqiu without anyone knowing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
