Lu Yanzheng's lips curled slightly, his eyes smiling. "Last night I went to the county government office and spent the whole night looking at all sorts of pamphlets from Yongshan County."
Jiang Qinyu nodded upon hearing this, but then a new question arose: "You can look at the things in the county government office as you please?"
Lu Yanzheng's smile disappeared, and he said calmly, "The magistrate of Yongshan County colluded with bandits and embezzled the military pay allocated by the imperial court to the border army. His crimes are heinous and he has already been imprisoned by me. I will temporarily take over Yongshan County."
Jiang Qinyu: "..." This topic was beyond her comprehension.
Upon hearing him mention military pay, Jiang Qinyu clenched her fingers, which were hidden in her sleeves. It was over; it seemed that the supplies could no longer remain in her hands, otherwise this matter might never end.
Moreover, since Lu Yanzheng has personally come to ask for military pay, the situation of the border troops must not be good. Since Dingshui Village has enough supplies now, it would be a bit unfair for her to keep this batch of supplies.
If the border troops are unable to defend the border city due to lack of food, and foreign enemies invade, wouldn't her crime be even greater?
Now is the time to consider these things. Jiang Qinyu pulled Pan'er and looked at Lu Yanzheng, saying, "Pan'er, this is... Uncle."
Nominally, she and Lu Yanzheng are still husband and wife, so Shufan and Pan'er should naturally call him uncle.
"Uncle," Pan'er called out softly, then quickly buried her head in front of Jiang Qinyu, not daring to look Lu Yanzheng in the eye.
Lu Yanzheng had fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield, and he possessed a sharp and intimidating aura that was impossible to ignore. Even Jiang Qinyu didn't dare to make eye contact with him, let alone a little girl like Pan'er.
Lu Yanzheng twitched the corners of his lips, seemingly trying to appear more approachable, and softly replied, "Good girl."
"Ah Zheng, dinner's almost ready," Madam Chen said as she brought in the dishes. Seeing Lu Yanzheng and Jiang Qinyu staring at each other, she instinctively scolded him, "Look at you, why are you wearing a mask even in your own home?"
Lu Yanzheng paused upon hearing this, then looked at Jiang Qinyu and Pan'er, "I have a scar on my face."
The implication was that they were afraid of frightening them.
"So what? We saw them last night, didn't we?" Madam Chen put down the plate. "Besides, I'm your mother, and these are your wife and niece. We're all family. We won't be afraid of you no matter what, right, eldest daughter-in-law?"
As she spoke, she specifically looked at Jiang Qinyu.
If the daughter-in-law doesn't like the scar on her son's face, or even gets scared by it, how will they live together?
Last night, the eldest daughter-in-law saw Ah Zheng's face, and she didn't seem scared at all.
“Mother is right,” Jiang Qinyu nodded, “We’re all family, there’s nothing to hide.”
Moreover, she didn't think the scar on Lu Yanzheng's face was ugly at all. On the contrary, it made his originally overly handsome appearance more rugged and gave him a more masculine look.
Pan'er also looked up from Jiang Qinyu's arms and whispered to Lu Yanzheng, "Uncle is a good person, Pan'er is not afraid."
Last night, her uncle chased away the bad guys. She didn't find him scary; she was just afraid he wouldn't accept her and her brother, which was why she didn't dare look at him.
Hearing them say that, Lu Yanzheng smiled slightly, raised his hand to remove his mask, looked at Pan'er and said softly, "Then I'll listen to Pan'er."
He wasn't a coy person to begin with; the mask was actually just to keep out those in the army who always talked about his appearance, and also to intimidate the enemy on the battlefield.
Just as Madam Chen and Old Man Lu finished setting out the food, Lu Yancai and Madam Ma arrived with Lu Tianbao, followed by Shufan who had gone to call for help.
"Big, big brother..." Lu Yancai came in and saw Lu Yanzheng, and he couldn't speak properly.
There was nothing he could do; he had been suppressed by this older brother since childhood, and even after six years, the fear ingrained in his bones had not disappeared.
Madam Ma had just been given a long lecture by Lu Yancai, so she obediently addressed him, not daring to cause any trouble, "Big Brother."
However, a person's true nature is not so easily dispelled. When Ma thought of how Qin Shen addressed Lu Yanzheng last night, her eyes lit up and she immediately grabbed Lu Tianbao and pulled him in front of her.
"Tianbao, quickly call for help! This is your uncle. Your uncle is now a great general. No one will dare to bully you anymore!"
Lu Tianbao was facing Lu Yanzheng's scarred right cheek. Usually arrogant, he was now tightly gripping Madam Ma's clothes and stammering, "Uncle... Uncle!"
Lu Yanzheng glanced at the three of them indifferently, then said to Madam Chen and Old Man Lu, "Father, Mother, let's eat."
He's not stupid; he can guess many things with just a little thought.
For example, why did the Lu family split up when he was away? If it weren't for the second branch causing trouble, given the character of the two elders of the Lu family, it would have been impossible for them to split up.
After all, Jiang Qinyu is a woman with two children. To outsiders, the Lu family splitting up the family would be seen as abandoning the three of them, aunt and niece, which would be despicable.
Therefore, no matter how timid Lu Yancai's family may seem at this moment, he would not think they are good people.
The Chen family and Old Man Lu were the happiest during this meal. After six years, their eldest son had finally returned!
Not only did he return safely, but he also seemed to be doing quite well in the army, even holding the rank of general. For a village like theirs, this was an incredibly joyous occasion, bringing honor to their ancestors.
After dinner, Madam Chen took Madam Ma and Jiang Qinyu to clean up, while Old Man Lu talked with Lu Yanzheng and Lu Yancai in the main room.
"Ah Zheng, what's your situation now?" Old Lu asked with a smile.
Lu Yanzheng thought for a moment and said, "The magistrate of Yongshan County withheld the border troops' rations and pay, so I brought men to transport the grain."
As for the fact that he is the Grand General Protector of the Nation, and related matters concerning the border war, we will not tell them for the time being.
"Is that so?" Old Lu was also only vaguely aware of these things. "Then how long can you stay at home?"
He had originally thought that since his son had become successful, he should treat the villagers to a meal and have a good time, but his son clearly didn't want to talk about it, so he gave up on the idea.
Lu Yanzheng was silent for a moment after hearing this, then looked at the old man Lu and asked, "Father, are you aware of the matter of the villagers going to Qinggang Mountain to steal grain?"
"Huh? That matter... there won't be any problems, will there?" Old Man Lu's heart immediately jumped when he heard this.
Lu Yanzheng shook his head, "It's nothing, but I want to know all the details of that day."
According to the information provided by Zhu Youcai, there may have been others who transported the grain and provisions from the cave before the people of Dingshui Village that night.
"Then you've come to the right person. It was your wife who suggested that we go to Qinggang Mountain to steal grain that night. Oh, by the way, have Shufan go and call Lao Meng and Ashao. They and your wife were the first to go up the mountain that night..." Old Man Lu said as he told Shufan to go and call them.
Lu Yanzheng was quite surprised to hear that it was Jiang Qinyu who had suggested this.
How could a frail woman possess such courage?
However, as Old Lu recounted his story, he increasingly felt that this unfamiliar daughter-in-law was no ordinary person.
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