Chapter 28 Prediction Comes True
Chapter 28
The next morning, Xie Zhan received replies from the Lu and Qin families, and they both returned the posts.
Both posts were rejected at the same time, and Xie Zhan was puzzled.
He could understand the Qin family's refusal of the invitation. After all, the Zhao family had broken off their engagement with the Qin family, and the fate of the three families, Zhao, Lu, and Xie, had little to do with the Qin family. Moreover, the Qin family had their own pride as military commanders, so it was understandable that they refused to accept the peace talks he organized.
But the post he sent to the Lu family was also returned, which was beyond his expectation.
In his estimation, Lu Songli's status as his fiancée was now being challenged. In addition, the Lu family had just beaten the Zhao family to the ground yesterday. He felt that no matter what the reason, the Lu family should accept the invitation and come to negotiate with a high attitude.
At present, the Lu family pretended to refuse to negotiate, as if they didn't care about the thoughts and opinions of the Xie family and their fiancé. Xie Zhan was keenly aware that something was happening that he didn't know about.
Just as Xie Zhan was still pondering and pondering the possible problems, the servant from his yard ran towards him, yelling, "Oh no, oh no, Master!"
"What happened?"
"Miss Zhao committed suicide by cutting her wrists in the middle of the night last night. It's said that blood was all over the floor, staining the room red."
After the initial surprise, Xie Zhan calmly asked, "What else?"
He didn't ask if Zhao Yutan was dead or not. She was definitely still alive. The Zhao family would definitely not let Zhao Yutan die like this. If she died, the Zhao family would really lose everything. However, this time she committed suicide by cutting her wrists, plus the previous hanging, it was the same trick twice. If the previous one was just a show, then the Zhao family would definitely not dare to fool people again.
"The maidservant who accompanied the bed was awakened by the smell of blood and discovered what had happened. The imperial physician speculated that Miss Zhao waited until the maidservant fell into a deep sleep before taking action."
"Did the Zhao family hire a royal physician?"
"Yes, the doctors we called in shook their heads after examining the patient. The Zhao family had no choice but to use ginseng to keep the patient alive, and then they went to the palace to seek help from the imperial physician."
"So what's the situation with the Zhao family now?"
"Miss Zhao is still in a coma. The imperial physician said that if she wakes up, she will survive. If she doesn't, she will die."
After hearing the servant's words, Xie Zhan fell into deep thought. Was he wrong? Did the Zhao family get into trouble? Did Zhao Yutan really commit suicide because he couldn't stand it anymore? But his intuition denied his guess.
Then, this was still intentional on the part of the Zhao family. They had invested heavily this time, seeking nothing more than a desperate escape, and this 'resurrection' also required an opportunity. Xie Zhan thought again, the Zhao family's desperate move didn't seem like Zhao Wenkuan's style; it seemed more like they were confident someone was backing them up...
He narrowed his eyes slightly and ordered, "Go find out if there's any follow-up news from the Zhao family! Also, find out who has been to our house in the past two days, and where the master has been and who he has met."
Not long after, his people brought him the news he wanted.
Because Miss Zhao left a suicide note before committing suicide, saying that her reputation was tarnished because of the drowning incident, and she had already decided to die: later, the family was slandered and impeached because of her, and she wanted to resolve it but failed. Her behavior might even bring a second blow to the family, and she felt that she had no face to live in this world.
Mrs. Zhao, Luo Shi, went to the yamen alone and requested the Chang'an magistrate to order the arrest of the gossipmonger who had recently spread rumors and slandered her daughter. Since Zhao Yutan was still unconscious and likely never to wake up, the magistrate agreed. At that moment, yamen runners were arresting people everywhere, and Chang'an was in chaos.
Xie Zhan saw at a glance that the Zhao family was killing two birds with one stone: first, they could frame the Lu family and directly dispel the rumors; second, they could pressure the Xie family, effectively giving them another opportunity to break off the engagement. Ultimately, everything the Zhao family did was aimed at the Lu family.
The other thing Xie Zhan had asked him to investigate had also yielded results. When he saw Zhao Wenkuan's name on the visitor list, his face darkened slightly. His father had accepted the Zhao family's surrender. No wonder the Zhao family acted so radically.
Xie Zhan was in a bad mood at the moment. His father was really too impatient. He had clearly said that there was no rush and that we should wait and see before making any conclusions. This was also the first time he had tasted the bitterness of being a young patriarch.
Xie Mingtang: It’s not that he is anxious, it’s just that the Zhao family gave too much and it’s hard for him to refuse.
Now that things have come to this, Xie Zhan plans to wait and see how the Zhao family is going to continue this drama!
People's joys and sorrows are not shared. Compared with the gloomy Zhao Mansion, the Lu family seems peaceful and harmonious.
Xu Erge left town early in the morning. He still had to take care of his family's livelihood, butchering pigs. Lü Desheng went to see him off alone. He usually got up early to attend court. After seeing Xu Erge off, he went back to his room to rest.
Because today was a day off, her father didn't have to report to the Censorate. Lu Songli quickly wrote a prescription early in the morning, sent someone to get some medicine from Doctor Zhou, and then boiled two large pots of Chinese herbal shampoo.
Lu Songli took her mother to wash her hair together, using one of the pots. She asked the servants to scoop the other pot of medicine into a wooden barrel and bring it to the main courtyard for her father to use.
In ancient times, women often grew their hair long because they grew it from a young age. Her hair reached her waist, but her health was poor, and her hair quality was also poor. As the saying goes, "hair is the residue of blood," so her poor hair quality is to be expected. Once she takes her own medicine to restore her health and then uses secret Chinese herbal formulas to nourish her hair, her hair quality will surely improve.
In ancient times, washing hair was a big job. There were no hair dryers here, and it would take at least an hour or two to wash and dry such long hair.
Didn't you realize that in order to complete this major project, the imperial court invented a rest day? As the name suggests, this day is for officials to wash their hair and take a bath. Her father washed his hair on his rest day, and he took a rest every ten days, which means that her father only washed his hair once every ten days.
Women in later generations tend to be more or less obsessed with mysophobia, and Lu Songli was no exception. She couldn't handle washing her hair once every ten days. Before she wore it, she washed it every other day. Here, washing it once every five days was the limit she could tolerate. Not to mention her hair was not good, the kind that gets frizzy and oily easily. Mo Bing used to like to apply osmanthus oil to her hair when he combed it, making it greasy and shiny. She couldn't bear to think about it; the thought sent a chill down her spine.
"You know what, after washing your hair with this medicine, it smells pretty good." Her mother said this when the mother and daughter were lying on the couch to dry their hair.
"That's right." Lu Songli had just mentioned that this recipe was a secret hair care recipe she had found some time ago. It contained over ten Chinese medicinal herbs, including Platycladus orientalis leaves, Polygonum multiflorum, dried ginger, and Angelica sinensis. The Polygonum multiflorum was a significant ingredient, so of course it smelled good. Furthermore, regularly washing your hair with this recipe also had the effect of darkening your hair.
When the news of Zhao Yutan's suicide by cutting his wrists reached the Lu Mansion, the Lu family had already dried their hair and were preparing to eat.
Lu Songli curled her lips. It was the same old trick. I had told her in advance not to use it all the time. She was at her wit's end!
Her mother, Jiang, shook her head after hearing this. "Again? It's only been a few days since the last hanging, and now he's slitting his wrists and bleeding again? Isn't this just another cover-up?"
Lu Songli smiled, "That's impossible. If we call the imperial physician, it will alarm the palace. Zhao Yutan must have been operated on, and a lot of blood must have been shed." It is certain that Zhao Yutan suffered a lot.
"Master, Madam, Second Miss, Miss Zhao also left a suicide note." The servant who inquired about the news said with a bitter face.
"What did the suicide note say?"
"The general idea is that her reputation was completely ruined by the drowning incident, and she had already decided to die. Later, the family was slandered and impeached because of her. She tried to apologize and explain, but to no avail. When she thought that her actions might even bring a second blow to the family, she felt ashamed to live in this world."
Lu Songli thought to herself, what a huge mess! Look, these words, implicitly and explicitly, are saying that the father and daughter forced her to death.
Bang! Jiang was so angry that she slammed her chopsticks on the table. "What does she mean by this?"
This suicide note is full of provocative messages, which really makes people think a lot.
"Mother, let's not be angry." Lu Songli sat close to her and rubbed her back to soothe her. The suicide note did have some implications, but it didn't mention anyone by name, so they didn't want to take it personally.
"My daughter is right. The person can write whatever he wants in his suicide note. It doesn't mention anyone. What does it have to do with us? Don't react so strongly." Lu Desheng also looked calm. Humph, this is the only trick the Zhao family has.
Seeing the father and daughter looking exactly like the same asshole, Jiang turned her anger into a smile and said, "Okay, I'm not angry anymore."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
