Lu Guodong, far from hastily bowing his head to admit his errors, relied on his connection as a relative by marriage of the Yang family and ordered his servants to beat those men to death. A fierce brawl erupted, and somehow Lu Guodong’s legs were broken, rendering him completely crippled.
Insulting a respectable woman in Yongchang Town was punishable by fifty heavy strokes, but considering Lu Guodong’s serious injuries, Magistrate Zhou exempted him from corporal punishment. Naturally, the woman’s family was no longer held responsible.
Madam Jia, wailing and shouting that those people should pay with their lives, was sternly reprimanded by Marquis Xuanping, and she was so frightened that she dared not make any more fuss.
After examining Lu Guodong’s injuries, Yang Mengchen was confident she could heal him, but she chose not to.
Doctor Luo and Yang Cheng’an, among others, also kept silent
They were fully aware of the Lu sisters’ sordid intentions; as for Lu Guodong, who was ignorant and arrogantly hot-tempered, not to mention the numerous troubles he had caused in just the few days he had been in Yongchang Town, each time expecting Yang Chenghong to clean up his mess. It was better for such a person to be crippled, to prevent further harm to others.
This was the first time Marquis Xuanping resolutely decided not to wait for Lu Guodong to recover. He insisted on leaving with his family the next day. Upon returning to his mansion, he confined Lu Guodong indoors, demoted Madame Jia to concubine, and within a month, married off Lu Mei and Lu Xiang to distant lands; they never returned to The Capital until their deaths.
When the Jia family came to make trouble, Marquis Xuanping presented evidence directly to them of Madam Jia’s abuse and devastation of her legitimate children and harm to concubines and offspring (to avoid bringing disaster to the Lu family, he did not mention Madam Jia’s instigation of Lu Mei and Lu Xiang’s schemes against Hua Ziyu and Situ Wenkai). These were enough to divorce Madam Jia (Marquis Xuanping was not heartless and also considered the reputation of his children), but now that she was merely demoted to a concubine, the Jia family had nothing to say, secretly relieved that they were still relatives by marriage and could hopefully share some glory of the Lu family, considering Lu Ningshuang was Princess Chen’s sister-in-law.
Of course, all these events occurred later.
Yang Mengchen chose an auspicious day to hold the weddings for Shao Yao and Qing Qing, and Wu Tong and Qing Hen. The weddings for Bai He and Ning Simin (Store Manager of Prince Mansion), Mo Lei and Mo Ju would be held later at the Prince Mansion.
The third day of the third month was the wedding day for Yang Cheng’an and Long Ruoshui. The families of Yang, Wu, Liu, and Shen from the Green generation had arrived in The Capital ahead of time to arrange the wedding matters (which had already been mostly prepared), while Long Xuanmo and Yang Mengchen accompanied the Empress Dowager and others to return to The Capital later. ƒrēewebnovel.com
On the day of departure, watching Grand Prince and Qing Yang and Qing Yun unable to hide their reluctance, the Empress Dowager suddenly exclaimed, "Since your Imperial Uncle’s wife and Yilin passed away, it has been a long time since I have seen your Imperial Uncle as happy as he has been these past days."
"Your Royal Grandmother, rest assured, Imperial Uncle’s days will only get better," said Yang Mengchen.
Glancing sideways, seeing Yang Mengchen’s smile brimming with warmth and her eyes alight, the Empress Dowager raised her eyebrows thoughtfully and then nodded with a smile after a moment.
Taking advantage of Long Xuanmo arranging for the Empress Dowager and others to get into the carriage, Yang Mengchen had Hai Tang summon Madam Mu and spoke in a hushed tone, "I am relieved and admire that you did not impose your hatred onto Qing Yang and Qing Yun."
Madam Mu’s face changed dramatically, and as she turned to look at Yang Mengchen, her eyes filled with panic and wariness.
"If I had meant to harm you and your son, would you still be standing here well and good?"
If it weren’t for the princess, they—mother and son—would have long been turned to bones. Madam Mu concealed the odd expression, but her eyes still held a trace of vigilance.
With a serene expression, Yang Mengchen spoke in a calm voice that seemed particularly meaningful, "It was because of him that I had someone save you in time."
Following Yang Mengchen’s gaze, Madam Mu saw her sons bidding the Grand Prince a lingering farewell. Her eyes flickered briefly before she withdrew her gaze and looked at Yang Mengchen, not understanding the purpose behind Yang Mengchen’s actions.
"You very much want to kill him for revenge," Yang Mengchen stated matter-of-factly, not as a question.
Madam Mu lowered her eyelids, hiding the shock in her eyes. Her hands, concealed under her long sleeves, clenched into fists, betraying her extremely unsettled state of mind.
She indeed had thought more than once of killing him, but when she saw how much he adored and diligently taught her sons, and the deep admiration her sons had for him, she could not bring herself to do it.
"By not taking action, you have saved yourself," Yang Mengchen said, the corner of her mouth curving into an enchanting smile, her soft voice flowing from her lips gently yet each word struck Madam Mu like a plunge into an icehouse, spreading a bone-chilling cold throughout her body in an instant, "Otherwise, even if you were the victim, I would still let you die with nowhere to bury your body!"
In that moment, Madam Mu could not articulate her inner feelings—she thought she had concealed her deep-seated hatred well, with her close contacts none the wiser. How could Yang Mengchen have known that she carried a vendetta drenched in blood?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
