Lu Xiuwen went to see A Yao and, seeing that she did not object, smiled and said, "It is only right. Speaking of which, it has been a long time since Brother Nangong and I have discussed and debated together. If Brother Nangong does not mind that I am bothering you, I will stay with my daughter for a few days."
The head of the Nangong family, holding Lu Xiuwen's hand, smiled broadly, looking like they were best buddies: "I couldn't be happier! This way, Brother Lu!"
"please!"
The two of them went out hand in hand, as if the near fight had never happened.
Xu Lianxin helped Lu Xuening up, and Madam Nangong pulled Ayao to Xu Lianxin's side.
Madam Nangong felt disgusted at the sight of Lu Xuening. She looked past Lu Xuening and turned to Xu Lianxin, smiling slightly. "Fellow Daoist Xu, your Ayao is truly the most perfect girl I've ever seen. I wonder which lucky man will be your son-in-law in the future."
Xu Lianxin had been extremely anxious before, but now that Nangong Qi was alright, she finally felt relieved. Xiao Ba had caused a huge disaster, and Xiao Qi, who had smoothed things over, had mixed feelings. Hearing Madam Nangong's words, she smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Qin, you flatter me."
She glanced at Ayao, whose gaze was intense and sharp, making her heart pound. She seemed to hear Ayao say to her: Everyone treats me like a treasure, but you, my own mother, treat me like trash.
Immediately, Xu Lianxin felt guilty and ashamed.
She instinctively avoided Ayao's gaze.
Lu Xuening was relieved to hear that Nangong Qi was alright, but seeing how the Nangong family treated A Yao as their great benefactor, she became jealous again. Suddenly, she knelt before Madam Nangong, her beautiful eyes filled with tears, and said pitifully:
“Madam Nangong, it was all my fault for not taking good care of my spirit pet. I almost caused a terrible mistake. Fortunately, the Third Young Master is unharmed. Otherwise, I would never have peace of mind for the rest of my life. I am not as capable as my sister, but I am willing to serve the Third Young Master until he recovers, so that I can make amends.”
Lu Xiuwen had already left, but the elders of the Lu family were still there. After hearing Lu Xuening's words, they all felt extremely ashamed.
Are you a maidservant in the Nangong family? Who needs you to serve them? Everyone in the Nangong family despises you. Are they blind? If it weren't for the sake of the head of the family, the madam, and the seventh young lady, they would have thrown you out of the Youyun Mountains long ago.
Xu Lianxin's smile froze, and Madam Nangong and the rest of the Nangong family all lost their smiles.
They even want to harm their third son?
Serving? Who needs you to serve them?
"Serving her is out of the question. Miss Eight is too precious for our Nangong family to afford. You should go back as soon as possible!" said Madam Nangong, showing no respect whatsoever.
After coldly finishing his words, he turned around and smiled at Ayao, saying, "Ayao, I recently got a new batch of spiritual tea. Everyone who has tried it says it's good. You should try some too."
Ayao nodded and smiled, "Okay."
Lu Xuening knelt on the ground, feeling as if every gaze was a knife to her body. She felt humiliated, utterly humiliated.
She was trembling all over and almost fainted.
She had already lowered herself to serve Nangong Qi and make amends for her mistake, so why was she still being humiliated like this? How could all these people be so vicious? Clearly, clearly she didn't do it on purpose!
She bit her lip so hard that it bled.
Madam Nangong then smiled and said to Xu Lianxin, "Fellow Daoist Xu, I see that your Eighth Miss doesn't look too well. Why don't you take her home first, and then we can have tea together!"
Xu Lianxin was extremely embarrassed upon hearing this.
Lu Xuening had just stood up when she was so angry she almost vomited blood.
Madam Nangong then led Ayao away. The other elders of the Nangong family exchanged pleasantries with smiles, and the elders of the Lu family returned the courtesy with similar pleasantries. Afterwards, Xu Lianxin, along with Lu Xuening and the other elders, returned to the Lu family.
————
The moonlight shone quietly on the sea of clouds. Ayao sat in her room with the window wide open, and a gentle breeze blew in, stirring the primrose-purple gauze curtains.
The teacups on the jade table emitted wisps of white steam.
Sitting opposite Ayao was her father, Lu Xiuwen. Lu Xiuwen was dressed in white, and under the lamplight, his handsome face was cold and stern. He wanted to strangle Lu Xuening whenever he thought of her. Fortunately, Xiao Qi had resolved the matter properly.
Looking at his beautiful daughter, he thought to himself: She is indeed my own flesh and blood.
"Xiao Qi, we owe you so much for this incident," Lu Xiuwen said.
Ayao said calmly, "Fortunately, Senior Feng taught me some methods to expel poison, otherwise I would have been helpless."
“That Senior Feng is truly a remarkable person. Since she values you so much, why doesn’t she simply accept you as her disciple?” Lu Xiuwen asked.
Ayao said, "How could I possibly understand the thoughts of such a wise and experienced person?"
After saying that, Ayao changed the subject and asked Lu Xiuwen, "This time Lu Xuening caused trouble, how does Father plan to punish her? It won't be another house arrest for reflection, will it?"
"I remember that year I sparred with Lu Xuening, but I only injured her. I ended up spending ten days in the water dungeon."
Lu Xiuwen was taken aback.
He really didn't want to bring up the past, because every single one of them showed how they favored their adopted daughter and mistreated their biological daughter.
Although A Yao rarely had the chance to see him due to her seclusion for cultivation, and therefore he never punished her, it is undeniable that at that time he did not take his found biological daughter seriously.
If he cared about her, why did he show no reaction after emerging from seclusion and learning that she lived on Yingxiu Peak, a secondary spiritual vein?
If he cared about her, how could he know she had been beaten by her mother and never even went to see her?
If he cared about her, how could he allow her brothers to bully her and her clansmen and servants to ignore her?
So whenever the past is mentioned, he feels that there are countless bloody thorns stuck between him and his biological daughter, making him very uncomfortable, yet he can't pull them out.
After saying what she had just said, Ayao fell silent, holding her teacup and gazing at the moonlight outside, seemingly completely immersed in it.
Lu Xiuwen lowered his eyes, a long silence building up within him. After a long while, he said, "Xiao Ba should be severely punished."
————
At the full moon celebration of the eldest grandson of the Nangong family, news spread quickly that the spirit pet raised by Lu Xuening, the eighth young lady of the Lu family, had eaten the life-saving medicine of the third young master of the Nangong family.
"The third young master of the Nangong family was waiting for the seven-colored begonia to save his life, but who knew that the eighth young lady of the Lu family had raised a celestial dog that swallowed the seven-colored begonia in one gulp."
"Fortunately, it was Miss Lu Qi who was capable and found a way to save Young Master Qi. Otherwise, the Youyun Nangong family and the Kunshan Lu family would definitely have become mortal enemies."
In a teahouse in a certain cultivation city, several cultivators were discussing this matter.
A red-haired monk said:
"This Miss Lu the Eighth, why does she seem like a menace? You know, she had ulterior motives before, deliberately bringing Duan Yong from the Lieyang Sect to annoy Miss Lu the Seventh, and now she can't even keep an eye on her spirit pet, almost harming Young Master Qi the Third. Why hasn't the Lu family expelled her?"
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