Promise
The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion covers a large area and is very imposing once you enter. Although it may not be considered luxurious in Bai Miaoke's opinion, it has a simple and solemn feel.
As she walked and admired, she was soon led to the front hall by the servant.
Before entering the room, she looked around the hall. She deliberately chose a seat near the door so that she could escape if a fight broke out.
Soon, a maid brought tea and cakes and then quietly left.
As soon as Lu Yu returned from the palace, he heard the servant come to report that his savior was waiting for him in the front hall.
He was stunned for a moment before he reacted. What a savior! He was so angry that he laughed. He never thought that this female liar had the nerve to come to him.
He walked quickly toward the front hall.
As soon as I entered the door, I saw the girl sitting on the right side drinking tea. She looked very comfortable, not like a guest but more like the host.
When he stepped in, Bai Miaoke looked up and sized up Prime Minister Lu. He was dressed in a crimson official robe, and stood tall and graceful. His black satin-like hair was tied up with a jade crown. His stern look carried some of the pressure from a superior.
Although Prime Minister Lu looked even more dignified in his official uniform, Bai Miaoke inappropriately recalled the scene behind the screen last night, as if she could see the broad shoulders and narrow waist with water droplets on them, and the messy hair through the official uniform.
For a moment, I felt my face turn red and my heart beat fast again, and I looked away uncomfortably.
Little did he know that in Lu Yu's eyes, this look was a sign of guilt.
He snorted coldly, walked straight to the front hall, lifted his robe and sat down in the main seat.
He said with a cold face: "Why did the girl come through the front door today?"
Bai Miaoke looked at him sitting at the top seat, his tone still so cold and hard, and inexplicably felt like he was interrogating a prisoner, obviously implying that she had climbed over the wall to kill someone to silence him last night.
"Is this how the Prime Minister treats his savior?" she asked without any guilt.
Thinking of the favor he had promised yesterday, Lu Yu's expression eased slightly, but his tone was emotionless: "Excuse me, young lady, what can I do for you?"
She then put on a sweet smile, with two shallow dimples on the corners of her lips, and said shyly, "I miss Master Lu a little."
Lu Yu frowned, unwilling to talk to her, and ordered her to leave: "If there is nothing else, I will send you away."
Bai Miaoke picked up the cake box and winked at him: "I brought some cakes, please try them first, sir."
Lu Yu had seen this kind of scene many times, but when he saw the expectation in the girl's big round eyes, he swallowed back his words of refusal.
He glanced at Fugui, who quickly took the box and handed it to Lu Yu.
Seeing that he had no intention of opening it, Bai Miaoke added: "I have heard about the mastermind behind last night's assassination, and I came here today to ask the Prime Minister if he still wants to know."
Lu Yu raised his eyebrows and looked over, only to see the girl looking at him with a sincere expression and a smile.
He suddenly looked away as if he was burned, and warned himself in his heart that this woman was a liar and should not be trusted.
He still asked in a bad tone: "How did you know? Did you go to the Lu Mansion jail overnight to interrogate that person?"
Why is this guy still holding on to this matter? Bai Miaoke secretly regretted being too careless last night.
"You'll know if you open it." Bai Miaoke signaled him to open the pastry box with her eyes.
Hearing this, Lu Yu opened the exquisite wooden box and found an envelope inside.
The seal of the letter had been opened. He took out the note inside, which read: "At 3 p.m., Lanyue Tower, second floor, kill him."
When Lu Yu was young, he was taught by the Grand Tutor as the prince's companion. Therefore, although the handwritten letter only had a few words, he recognized it as the Grand Tutor's handwriting.
He raised his eyes to look at Bai Miaoke, who looked back at him calmly.
Prime Minister Lu suddenly became curious about the identity of the woman in front of him and how she knew something that even he could not find out.
In fact, Bai Miaoke didn’t know who wanted to kill Lu Yu. She just thought that Lu Yu’s identity could help her investigate the tutor.
So when she visited her own bookstore in the afternoon, she asked the shopkeeper to copy this handwritten letter.
No one knew that an ordinary shopkeeper of Bai's Bookstore had an amazing ability to imitate others. He could make the handwriting of anyone else's handwriting 90% similar.
In addition, Lu Yu already suspected that this was done by the Grand Tutor, so he subconsciously believed the handwritten letter that Bai Miaoke brought.
Although they had different political views in the court, Lu Yu felt somewhat sad when he learned that his former teacher actually wanted to kill him.
He lowered his head to hide the loneliness in his eyes, and asked in a low voice: "What does the girl want this time? One thousand taels of silver?"
Bai Miaoke shook her head and said seriously, "We in the martial arts world have always regarded money as something outside of our body."
Hearing this, Lu Yu almost couldn't help but sneer, thinking that this woman was really shameless.
Before I could reply, I heard the girl continue, "It's just that I need your help with a small matter."
Lu Yu thought to himself that it was as expected, so he didn't bother to explain the formalities to her and asked directly, "What's the matter?"
"Help me investigate what happened to Ma Hongzhe twenty-six years ago." Bai Miaoke didn't beat around the bush any more.
Hearing about twenty-six years ago, Lu Yu was a little surprised, and his slender fingers stroked the dark green ring on his hand.
Twenty-six years ago, a major event did happen, which led to the late emperor ordering the execution of the entire family of Queen Yu.
At that time, the queen had just given birth to the prince, who is now the emperor, and was spared from death and imprisoned in the palace.
From then on, the once glorious Yu family was destroyed.
Although the young emperor made her the empress dowager after he ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Yu died the following year.
Few people knew about this long-standing palace secret, but the timing coincided with what Bai Miaoke mentioned.
Lu Yu was not very clear about the specific details, and he never thought that it was related to Grand Tutor Ma Hongzhe.
It seems necessary to investigate.
Even though he was in a state of confusion, Lu Yu's face showed no expression. He said calmly, "I can help you check, but it's been a long time, so I may not be able to find it."
Bai Miaoke smiled with satisfaction: "Then please, I will give you a surprise when it's done, Lord Lu."
Lu Yu held his forehead helplessly and didn't expect too much from the surprise she mentioned.
His tone slowed down slightly, and he asked, "I still don't know your name, where should I go to find you if I know anything?"
Bai Miaoke said: "My name is Yingyue, if you have anything, you can come to Lanyue Tower to find me."
The name Yueying Pavilion was actually named after her nickname Yueying in the martial arts world. She was more careful and told Lu Yu the opposite way so that the people in Lanyue Tower could understand it.
Lu Yu repeated it silently, knowing that it must be another pseudonym, and did not point it out.
This woman is truly mysterious, like a budding camellia flower, making people want to get closer to see her, but one could easily end up wandering into a swamp.
He nodded slightly and just said "OK", glancing outside the house intentionally or unintentionally.
The sun has already set and it's almost time for dinner.
Bai Miaoke was still eating a piece of cake slowly.
Finally, when the servant came to report to Lu Yu for the second time, saying that Master Lu and Mrs. Lu were waiting for him to eat in the backyard.
Bai Miaoke stood up, patted the wrinkles on her skirt, said goodbye and left.
She followed the servants out of the gate of the Lu Mansion, but turned around and arrived at the wall of the Lu family's backyard.
She spent so much time with this old fox, not just to admire his beauty. She was waiting for Lu Yu to go to dinner so that she could sneak into his study.
Today she heard that the list of corrupt officials presented by Lu Yu was only part of it, and she wanted to find the other part.
Maybe she could use it to negotiate terms with Ma Hongzhe. After all, she had no leverage at the moment, and it was difficult for her to even meet Ma Hongzhe.
Unfortunately, she walked around the wall of Lu Mansion and didn't find any loopholes. It seemed that Lu Yu had strengthened the guards overnight.
She sighed and decided she would have to find another opportunity.
In the backyard of the Lu Mansion, separated by a wall, Mr. Lu and Mrs. Lu were teasing their son.
The servant who had delivered the message earlier reported back that Lu Yu was talking to a girl in the front hall, but the old couple didn't take it seriously.
It was not until dinner time that the servants said that the two were still in the front hall, and Mr. Lu and Mrs. Lu started to overthink it.
This was the first time they saw their son having such a great time chatting with a girl that he forgot the time.
As soon as Lu Yu washed his hands and sat down, he saw his parents staring at him with earnest eyes, as if they wanted to say something but hesitated.
He put down his chopsticks, sighed and said, "Ask if you want to."
Mrs. Lu spoke first: "Which girl is it?"
Mr. Lu continued, "Why don't you invite them to dinner?"
Lu Yu felt helpless towards his parents. He was only twenty-seven years old this year and there was no need for him to be so anxious.
He had nothing to hide, and said, "It's just that we met once. She once saved my life, and today she asked me for help to get some information."
Unexpectedly, Master Lu glared at his son after hearing this and said, "I told you to practice martial arts well but you didn't listen. Now you need the little girl to save you."
Mrs. Lu was unhappy when she heard this: "What's wrong with you, little girl? When I was on the battlefield, I was no worse than any man."
Mr. Lu immediately patted his wife on the back and changed his words, "Madam is right. I am teaching this boy to be grateful. The lady's life-saving grace cannot be perfunctory."
Madam Lu also joked, "I heard from the servants that the girl is very beautiful. It is not too much for my son to repay her for saving my life by marrying her."
Lu Yu helplessly looked at his parents talking to each other and could only answer: "Okay, okay, son knows, let's eat."
Finally, this topic has been brought to an end.
After dinner he returned to his study and took out the envelope he had found during the day.
Suddenly I smelled a faint scent of gardenia, and remembered that the girl had a gardenia on her head today.
He had seen her in red dresses both times, and he had never thought that she actually liked gardenias. He recalled his mother's joke at the dinner table, that if he gave himself to that little liar, he would probably be sold out the next moment.
Fugui looked at his son distractedly holding the letter and thought he was thinking about the tutor.
He spoke to comfort her: "Don't be too sad, young master. Some people are born cold-blooded."
Lu Yu came back to his senses and remembered the important matter.
He and the emperor were taught by the Grand Tutor for seven or eight years. This man is indeed a man of great talent, otherwise the late emperor would not have let him serve as the emperor's teacher.
However, as he grew older and gained more experience, he gradually had disagreements with the Taifu on some political affairs.
Cracks slowly began to appear in the relationship between master and disciple, and unexpectedly it has come to a life-and-death situation.
He convinced himself in his heart that he should have known that he was a cold and heartless person.
He held the note close to the candle flame and watched it turn into ashes, as if he had made up his mind.
He called his men and ordered, "Go check what Ma Hongzhe was doing 26 years ago."
He was a little curious.
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