Chapter 25 The Marquis was Kicked Away
Xie Changsheng turned and looked at him with a smile.
Seeing that the emperor was happy, Lu Yu continued the topic: "I wonder if the Fu family is to your liking and whether you are satisfied with it."
Xie Changsheng walked over, his dragon boots stopping in front of him: "You are very sensible."
Lu Yu knelt on the ground, looking at the dragon boots in front of him: "I thank the emperor for the praise."
Before he could finish his words, he was kicked out.
Lu Yu was confused for a while before he realized that he had changed his place. He suddenly came to his senses and crawled back to his original position and kowtowed like crazy.
"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!"
He is truly a tyrant, his thunder, lightning, rain and dew are unpredictable.
Xie Changsheng had already sat down at the table, sipping his tea and asking, "Do you think I don't know about the bad things you did to the Fu family?"
Lu Yu didn't dare to say anything. He just knelt on the ground with his butt sticking out, trembling all over.
Chang Le saw the awkward situation and reminded Lu Yu: "Admit your mistake quickly, why are you still dawdling?"
Lu Yu opened his mouth to speak but his tongue was tied: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
Seeing how frightened he was, Xie Changsheng said, "That's enough, get up."
Lu Yu didn't dare to stand up, and Xie Changsheng said again: "I will not kill meritorious officials, at most I will kick them twice."
When Lu Yu heard that he would not be killed, his tension eased a little.
Eunuch Chang called two young eunuchs, one on each side, to help him sit down.
"Give him a bowl of my lotus seed soup to calm his nerves."
Lu Yu was increasingly confused. What on earth was the Emperor trying to do? He was kicking and rewarding.
But he didn't dare not drink it, and after drinking the lotus seed soup, he felt much calmer.
Xie Changsheng continued to ask: "How many stupid things have you done to the Fu family? Tell me one by one."
Lu Yu guessed that Fu Danjun might have complained to the emperor in private.
However, he absolutely could not admit it, otherwise he would be kicked again.
The emperor said he would not kill himself, but he did not say he would not kick himself to death. What can this tyrant do?
"Your Majesty, Mrs. Fu has been resentful of me for seven years, having been away from home alone. She is also jealous of my wife, Mrs. Pei, and has been constantly at odds with me, even over trivial matters. Divorcing her is a move I have no other choice but to make."
Lu Yu, after all, has a decent IQ. He portrayed Fu Danjun as a petty, jealous woman to silence the emperor. Could it be that the emperor would go against a meritorious official for such a jealous woman?
Xie Changsheng snorted and asked, "Then I ask you, how much of Fu's dowry did she take away?"
Lu Yu was so shocked that he slid off his chair and kowtowed again: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I really didn't do my job well in this regard. My concubine liked some of Fu's furniture, so I didn't let Fu take them away."
Xie Changsheng said calmly, "According to the laws of our dynasty, all dowries must be taken away when a divorce is made. Aren't you breaking the law by forcibly detaining them?"
Lu Yu knew that it was all over, the emperor knew everything, and all he could do was kowtow and apologize.
Xie Changsheng stood up, hands behind his back, and paced slowly. "It's not that I don't like to meddle in other people's business, but you guys made such a fuss that it became the gossip of the ministers behind our backs. And you're still lying now. You clearly withheld more than half of the dowry, but lied and said it was a few pieces of furniture."
Lu Yu no longer dared to hope for luck and begged for mercy: "I deserve to die! Please punish me, Your Majesty!"
Xie Changsheng changed the subject: "How much are those dowries worth? Don't make me angry. I will give you a promotion. Just think about the benefits."
Lu Yu came to his senses and said hurriedly, "I will go back and return all of Fu's belongings to make up for my mistake."
Seeing that he had finally gotten the message, Xie Changsheng waved his hand and said, "Go!"
The Lu family was very worried when they saw that Lu Yu had not returned for a long time.
Later, Lu Yu came back, but he had difficulty walking and was holding his waist.
When Mrs. Hou saw this, she hurriedly asked, "What's going on?"
Seeing that Lu Zhao and Yuan Shi were both there, Lu Yu was not in a position to say that he had been kicked: "I fell off my horse, it's just a superficial injury."
Lu Zhao and Yuan Shi expressed their concern. After returning to his own courtyard, Lu Yu told his mother and Pei Shi about being kicked by the emperor and being forced by the emperor to return the dowry.
The old lady of the Marquis was unwilling to return the dowry and was indignant: "Who said anything too much in front of the emperor? It made the emperor meddle in other people's business?"
Pei was reluctant to return it, but she did not dare to disobey: "Mother-in-law, this is the emperor's order, how can we disobey it?"
Seeing his mother and wife getting angry, Lu Yu couldn't help but laugh: "I haven't even finished talking yet, and you're already anxious."
Madam Hou was surprised: "You haven't finished yet?"
Lu Yu became excited and said, "The Emperor has agreed to give me a promotion. I am currently a fourth-rank official. One promotion will bring me to the fourth rank, which means a very generous annual salary."
As expected, the old lady and Pei Xi were both extremely happy and excited and didn't know what to say.
Lu Yu began to calculate their accounts: "The annual salary of a fourth-rank official is 1,440 strings of cash. One string of cash is 770 coins, which is equivalent to 1,000 taels of silver. The salary and rent of official land are 1,900 dan. The silk and other gifts can also be converted into money. In short, it is much better off than a fourth-rank official."
The old lady of the Marquisate was already crying with excitement: "Silly son, the salary is just a small matter. The promotion means that our Marquisate is still valued by the Emperor. Those powerful people who have alienated us will come to visit us again. The days when the gates were deserted and there were few carriages and horses are over."
Pei cried along with her mother-in-law: "Yes, yes, my husband's promotion shows that our family still has a bright future."
Madam Hou was delighted and waved her hand, saying, "Hurry up and send all of Fu Danjun's meager dowry over. It would bring bad luck if she kept it!"
Lu Yu naturally had no problem with this, but Pei Shi had a plan in mind: "Mother-in-law, Mrs. Fu has a very bad temper now and scolds people at the slightest provocation. I'd better take her there instead of bothering my husband and my younger brother-in-law and his wife."
Seeing that she volunteered to take the risk, how could Mrs. Hou disagree?
"After all, it's Miss Pei, who is both sensible and capable. I, an old woman, am also blessed."
Lu Yu said nothing at the time, but when he returned to his room, he said, "It's too dangerous for you to go see Mrs. Fu alone. Besides, a lot of the dowry has been pawned, and there's no money to redeem it. How can Mrs. Fu not make a fuss?"
It's not that Pei Xi didn't think about these things, but she didn't care about them because she was competing for credit and competing with Yuanshi for the right to be the housekeeper.
Seeing her husband so worried, she acted like a submissive wife and said, "Then I'll make whatever arrangements you think are appropriate."
In the end, Lu Yu asked his mother and Yuanshi to accompany Peishi, and he followed too.
On the way, Lu Yu rode in front.
Pei Xi, the old lady and Yuan Shi rode in the same car, and the car behind them was filled with Fu Danjun's dowry.
Madam Hou hadn't slept well that night and was tired, so she asked, "Why haven't they arrived yet? How far is it?"
Pei quickly lifted the carriage curtain to look outside, then turned back and said with a smile, "Just two more streets and two more alleys."
The old lady closed her eyes and rested when she heard this. Yuan Shi heard something was wrong and asked: "How come you are so clear-headed, as if you have been here before?"
The two of them started to get along in the past two days, and Yuan was sarcastic from time to time.
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