Chapter 121 End of family, reminiscing about the past After

hearing Liu Mingan's answer, Lou Yuhuan and Lou Baili were both shocked.

"Mingan, your parents are no longer alive, you are alone and helpless--"

Before Lou Baili could finish his words, Liu Mingan interrupted him with a smile: "I am not alone and helpless, I have a beloved girl by my side." Lou Baili

wanted to say something else, but Liu Mingan continued: "When my father was alive, he never mentioned you. He and the Lou family have ended their relationship in this life, so why should I come to look for relatives again?"

"Mingan, do you mean that you don't recognize us?" Lou Yuhuan looked at Liu Mingan with a hurt look in his eyes.

Liu Ming'an smiled gently at the old man: "You know that I am your grandson, I know that you are my grandfather, and you know that the Lou family is my blood relative, that's enough. I will not go back to the Lou family, and I will not change my surname. My children will also have the surname Liu in the future."

Lou Yuhuan closed his eyes, and two lines of tears slowly slid down his weather-beaten face.

Isn't this a severance of relationship?

But he has an unshirkable responsibility for this result.

He has three children. Lou Baili is the eldest son. He entrusted him with important tasks and taught him patiently since childhood, just to pass on the burden on him; Lou Lurou is the youngest daughter, and the whole family pampers and protects her. Only Lou Qingzhi, stuck in the middle, was always ignored, even though he knew that Qingzhi's talent was no less than his and Lou Baili's.

But Qingzhi was too sensible, a natural gentleman, always graceful, calm and indifferent, giving people the illusion that this person would never get angry or sad, and he would always be so gentle and gentlemanly.

This also led to the fact that when the tragedy happened, the whole family went to surround the grief-stricken mother to persuade and comfort her, but the gentle boy was ignored, and silently endured his mother's malicious words, silently bearing this unprovoked disaster.

As a father, he only realized it after Qingzhi disappeared, and he was too incompetent.

He really had no right to ask for anything more.

"Dingdingding!"

There was a sudden knock on the door, and then a man pushed it open from outside.

The three of them looked at the person who came in. It was Lou Lianyu.

Lou Lianyu saw the young man he had met yesterday and was full of doubts, but he still greeted Lou Yuhuan and Lou Baili first: "Grandfather, Dad."

After closing the door and approaching the table, Lou Lianyu suddenly realized that something was wrong. Why was his grandfather, who was always dignified and solemn, now crying? Why was his father, who never showed his emotions, frowning now?

Could all this be related to this person who looked like his second uncle?

Before Lou Lianyu could ask, Lou Baili, who knew his son best, saw through his thoughts and said directly to him: "Lianyu, he is the son of your second uncle, your cousin, Liu Ming'an."

Lou Lianyu turned to look at Liu Ming'an in disbelief: "It turns out to be..."

"What about the second uncle? Where is the second uncle?"

Lou Lianyu asked immediately, but found that the three people present were silent.

The silence at this moment was shocking.

Before Lou Lianyu got an answer, Liu Ming'an stood up and said politely to the three people: "It's too late, and someone is waiting for me at home, so I'll take my leave."

"Ming'an!" Lou Yuhuan was worried that this farewell would be a farewell forever, and asked carefully: "Will you still be in the capital? Will I be able to see you again?"

Liu Ming'an nodded in the old man's expectant eyes: "I am the hero of this class, and I will always be in the capital."

"That's good, that's good..." Lou Yuhuan said repeatedly, and then stood up: "Then I'll see you off."

"No, it's windy at night, you should take a good rest."

Liu Ming'an said, and was about to leave, but was stopped by Lou Baili: "Ming'an, take this bag of crispy candies with you, your grandmother bought them specially."

Liu Ming'an turned his head to look at the paper bag on the table, shook his head after a moment, and lied: "I don't like candies."

After that, he bowed to the three people and turned to walk towards the gate of the Lou Mansion.

Lou Yuhuan stared at Liu Ming'an walking away, with an indelible sadness in his eyes.

"Where is the second uncle?" Lou Liyu asked again, his heart couldn't help but sink.

Lou Baili glanced at his son and said solemnly, "Fourteen years ago, he was buried in the green mountains."

Lou Lianyu's face turned pale, and he swayed. He held on to the back of a chair to stand up.

"Second uncle...how could he be...such a good person..."

Lou Lianyu murmured, and he felt a buzzing in his head, as if someone had punched him hard in the temple.

Seeing this, Lou Baili just sighed and stepped forward to pat Lou Lianyu on the shoulder.

Lou Lianyu was his eldest son, and it happened that the few years after he was born, he ran into the time when the emperor was seeking the outline of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, he and Lou Yuhuan, who was still the Grand Tutor, were busy with official duties all day and rarely went home. During the childhood of Lianyu, it was Qingzhi who took on the role of father.

Qingzhi was very patient with Lou Lianyu, playing with him, accompanying him to write and study, and taking him to the streets to buy all kinds of snacks and gadgets. He was far more qualified than Lou Baili, the real father.

When Lou Baili finally had some free time, he wanted to take a good look at his son, but he found that in a blink of an eye, the wrinkled little baby wrapped in a small quilt like a monkey had grown up to the height of his thigh without him noticing, and could write and recite poems, and was clever and polite.

The son was good in every way except calling him "Second Uncle". He stuck to Qingzhi every day and was indifferent to his biological father.

Lou Baili felt a little sour at that time, and was also a little jealous of his brother.

After Qingzhi left, Lou Lianyu refused to eat for several days and cried and shouted to find his second uncle back. Only then did Lou Baili understand how much weight the word "Second Uncle" meant to his son.

"Ah~"

Lou Baili sighed again. He knew that Lou Lianyu had been looking forward to seeing Qingzhi again all these years. It was inevitable that he was shocked when he heard the sad news of his untimely death.

"Bai Li." Lou Yuhuan suddenly called out.

Lou Baili turned around and heard Lou Yuhuan say, "Send someone to Lotus Village to ask, and also find out where Ming'an lives in the capital."

In fact, even without Lou Yuhuan's instructions, Lou Baili would have done these things.

"Also, write to Qiaoxi and Shuyu and ask them to come back from Xiangye Temple as soon as possible. As a family, we should go and see Ming'an properly. Tonight is too rushed..."

Qiaoxi is Lou Baili's wife, Shangguan Qiaoxi, and Shuyu is Lou Lianyu's wife, Cheng Shuyu. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law just got on the carriage to Xiangye Temple this morning.

Lou Baili nodded, and then heard Lou Yuhuan continue to say: "Don't tell your mother these things. Being ignorant has its advantages."

The old lady has been looking for Qingzhi for more than 20 years, and has regretted for more than 20 years. If she knew that he had already died, how heartbreaking would it be for her?

After Lou Yuhuan explained these things, it seemed that he had used up all his strength. The old master, who had been proud all his life, bowed his head at this moment, showing a gloomy and dying old age.

Lou Baili knew his father's grief, so he called the servants and helped the old man back to his room to rest.

"You should also go and rest. You've been investigating cases all day. Don't get tired."

After Lou Yuhuan left, Lou Baili looked at the absent-minded Lou Lianyu and spoke with some heartache.

Lou Baili knew that Lou Lianyu was investigating the murder of Zhu Shangshu's son.

Zhu Shangshu was an important official in the court. His only son was killed, and two servants also died at the same time. The three of them died in the alley on the Lantern Festival for unknown reasons, and the murderer was very arrogant and left a blood letter on the wall to provoke a warning. This case shocked the court and the public.

Lou Baili was delayed in the palace for so long today because of this case.

Minister Zhu wept in front of the emperor's door and knelt in the emperor's study for a long time, begging the emperor to catch the murderer and cut him into pieces so that his son's soul could rest in peace.

This was a natural emotion for a father, and everyone understood it. But the problem was the blood letter left at the crime scene and the testimony of the night watchman.

The blood letter and the testimony directly locked the murderer on someone who had a grudge against Minister Zhu, so he went crazy and accused everyone who had a grudge against him. All officials were suspected of hiring a murderer to kill his son.

Half a year ago, Lou Baili had a dispute with Minister Zhu in the court over the renovation of the imperial mausoleum. This time, he was bitten by him. He had a headache proving his innocence in the palace. He finally returned home and did not even have time to take off his official uniform before he learned the bad news about Qingzhi.

Lou Baili felt heartbroken, but he also knew that Lou Liyu would be even more upset than him.