As July came, the weather became hotter.
In the Duke Dingguo's mansion in the capital, Duke Dingguo Lu Minghan had just returned to the mansion, his slightly pale face full of fatigue.
Butler Lu Fang frowned and stepped forward to support Lu Minghan.
"My Lord, are you feeling unwell again? How about I ask the imperial physician to come and take a look?"
Lu Minghan shook his head. "It's nothing, it's just an old ailment caused by the hot weather. I'll be fine after I go back to my room and rest for a while. You should pay more attention to the old man. Although it's very cool in the other courtyard, you still need to be more careful."
"Don't worry, Duke. I've remembered everything! I had the servants prepare a lot of ice and send it over early this morning, along with a lot of medicinal herbs."
Lu Minghan, supported by Lu Fang, came to the study and sat down and asked.
"How's the young lady doing? Has Madam been in good spirits these past two days?"
When talking about the eldest lady, Lu Fang's old face was full of smiles.
"My Lord, the young lady is doing well. Both mother and child are in good health."
"Madam has been visiting the eldest lady from time to time these past two days, but I heard that the prince of Dingnan seems to be frequenting a small courtyard in the north of the capital these days. I sent someone to investigate and found that it was the eldest brother-in-law's concubine, who seems to be pregnant now."
Upon hearing this, Lu Minghan's face instantly darkened and he glanced at Lu Fang.
"The Lord of this country did not hear what you said today, do you know?"
Lu Fang was stunned for a moment, then said, "My Lord, this matter is only known to me."
Lu Fang left the study and returned to his home. He understood what the Duke meant just now, which was to let him resolve the matter without implicating the main family.
After sending Lu Fang away, Lu Minghan frowned, "Alas, my father is old, and I am in poor health. I don't know how long I can hold on. Now I have no children to inherit the title, which makes the third son have wild thoughts all day long."
"I don't know if I'll ever be able to find the second brother in my lifetime. If I do, and he has children, that would be wonderful. But it's been so many years, and there's no news of that wet nurse. I don't know where she sent my second brother to."
When he heard voices outside, he knew that his wife had returned, and then he saw Cui walk in.
"Madam is back. How are my daughter and grandson?"
Cui smiled and said gently, "They are doing well! The little one has grown very well recently. He has changed a lot since I last saw him. He has become even whiter and plumper."
"By the way, Master, when I went to Delicious Food to buy some snacks today, I seemed to see the Third Brother and Prince Qing's steward meeting in the backyard. They looked suspicious. Do you think the Third Brother is hooking up with Prince Qing? If the Emperor knew about this, would it implicate us?"
Lu Minghan sneered when he heard this, "Don't worry, the emperor won't doubt us. He knows everything about what happened in our family back then. How could he doubt me because of him?"
"But your concerns are valid. I'm going to the palace now to talk to the emperor and mention the matter of the third brother."
"Master, it's getting late. We can't enter the palace now! It's not too late to talk about it tomorrow!"
Only then did Lu Minghan realize that he was too anxious, and he smiled embarrassedly.
"Look at me, I'm so busy that I even forget the time."
In a villa in the eastern suburbs of Beijing, two elderly men with gray hair were walking slowly together on the tree-lined avenue.
The old lady looked up at the sky and said, "Old man, let's go back! It's getting late, let's come back tomorrow!"
The old man also looked up at the sky and said helplessly, "Why is it getting dark so quickly? Oh, let's go back!"
The two old men had just returned to the yard when they heard the servants come to report
"Old Master, the Third Master is here and is in the house!"
The old couple frowned upon hearing this. The old lady said, "Old man, I'm tired, so I'll go downstairs to rest. Don't stay up too late. You're old now, so you should worry less if you can."
The old man nodded and said, "Okay, you go and rest first, I'll be back soon."
After saying that, he walked towards the lobby.
When Lu Minghong saw his father come in, he quickly put down his tea bowl and stood up to greet him.
"Father, your son comes to see you today."
Lu Lanqing didn't even look at Lu Minghong, but walked to the top and sat down, then glanced at Lu Minghong and said.
"What are you doing here at this hour?"
Lu Minghong felt a little uncomfortable when he heard the disdain in his father's words. He knew that he had not been liked by his father over the years, but he was still his son. Although his aunt did something wrong, it was not his fault! Then he smiled bitterly.
"Father, I went out to visit my farm today and passed by the other courtyard, so I came to see you and mother."
Lu Lanqing closed his eyes. He knew that his son was innocent, but he had not wronged him over the years and had given him everything he deserved. As for the title of Duke, that was impossible. No matter how high he jumped over the years, it was useless. He had already agreed with the emperor that if the eldest son was gone, the title would be taken back by the court, and the third son's branch would not be able to inherit the title.
Lu Minghong didn't know that his old father had already excluded him and his son from the title.
Lu Minghong came out of the villa, turned his head to look at the villa, turned around and got on the carriage. At this time, there was an extra person on the carriage. This person was dressed in black and hiding in the corner. If he didn't say a word, it would be difficult for people to find him.
"Third Master, you should have given up. Why did you insist on coming again? Look, what our prince said is right! So, if you want to inherit the title of Duke Dingguo, you still have to rely on our prince."
Lu Minghong didn't say anything, just glanced at the man in black in the shadows.
The man in black continued, "You should know that when the emperor was still a prince, he relied on those old ministers. Now most of these old ministers are old, and they need young and promising people like the Third Master to support our prince."
"Also, Third Master Lu, the prince asked me to pass on a message to you. There's a man in Luzhou Prefecture who looks about 70% like your eldest brother. I don't know if that's your second brother who was lost when he was young. That man is very blessed, with three sons and one daughter. What a blessing!"
After the man in black finished speaking, he stopped the carriage and disappeared in a few seconds. Lu Minghong in the carriage was shocked at this time, and then he thought of something and said to the coachman with a heavy face.
"Hurry up and get back to the farm near the capital."
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