Liu Ruyi nodded almost imperceptibly, her face expressionless. "As long as you behave well, I will take you back to the Duke of Yun's mansion from now on."
Ha, what is the Duke's mansion? She's the Emperor's woman now, working for him!
Lu Yanzheng, Jiang Qinyu... she will not let any of those peasants who looked down on her and bullied her get away with it!
...
During the two weeks that Jiang Qinyu and her companions were on the road, Lu Yanzheng's border army—now known as the Northwest Army—accomplished two major tasks.
Aside from occasionally reprimanding Lu Yanzheng for treason, the imperial court took no further substantial action.
However, the Northwest Army, as planned, completely brought Yunzhou and Qinzhou under Lu Yanzheng's command, openly defying the imperial court.
This move caused an uproar throughout the world.
The vast majority of the people were cheering, especially the people of the four northwestern prefectures, who were finally free from the government's complicated and exorbitant taxes and inhumane corvée labor!
Only a few extremely pedantic people would condemn Lu Yanzheng for his wolfish ambitions and attempts to overthrow the court, deeming him a crime deserving of death.
The Northwest Army made no response, but instead focused on reinforcing the city walls at the borders between the four northwestern prefectures and the imperial court, and stationed a large number of troops there.
Upon hearing this, Qin Ziyi looked at Old Master Lu and sighed, "General Lu is really at a huge disadvantage."
"That kid doesn't care about his reputation. Just you wait and see, it won't be long before the two of them bring prosperity to the entire Northwest." Old Master Lu said cheerfully, without any worry.
Qin Ziyi thought for a moment and said, "You're right. I don't think the girl cares about her reputation. Those two kids even said they wanted to be the most powerful rebels. I really don't know how they raised their children."
Imagine the astonished expression on Shu Fan's face when he earnestly asked him how to become the most powerful rebel.
"Haha...wasn't that how I was when I was young? That's why I like them, and their two children are lovable too, much better than the ones in my family." Old Master Lu laughed heartily.
Upon hearing this, Qin Ziyi suddenly asked, "Are you really willing to give them everything you've worked so hard for over the years?"
He had always been curious about this question, since no normal person would want to answer it.
As far as he knew, Lu Zhenting's personality was such that he wouldn't easily hand over his possessions to outsiders.
Old Master Lu said nonchalantly, "What's there to be unwilling about? You know my family members. Let alone taking the Lu family to the next level, they'll have a hard time even maintaining the status quo. Rather than waiting for them to squander the family fortune after I pass away, it's better to hand it over to those who can use it now. It's also a way for me to accumulate merit for my descendants."
"I never knew you could be so open-minded," Qin Ziyi said with a smile, happy for his friend.
Finding someone to whom you can entrust your life's work is actually not an easy thing. For example, he still hasn't found a true successor.
With a nostalgic smile on his face, Grandpa Lu said, "Besides what I just mentioned, the main reason is that... that girl looks very much like my wife when she was young, and sometimes their ways of doing things are exactly the same."
"Now that you mention it..." Qin Ziyi had naturally met Old Master Lu's wife, "It seems that it really is true."
Old Master Lu didn't say anything more. In fact, if Jiang Qinyu and Lu Yanzheng were not virtuous, he would have had plenty of ways to take back what they had handed over. Ultimately, it was because the couple genuinely cared about the people that he was willing to hand over even Shunfeng Tower.
Just then, Pan'er's joyful laughter came from ahead, "Auntie, look, aren't we almost home?"
Grandpa Lu lifted the car window curtain and looked ahead. Sure enough, Yongshan County was right in front of him.
At this point, Jiang Qinyu couldn't help but relax.
Finally, it's time to go home.
...
"Er Leng, why haven't my niece and the others arrived yet?" Village Chief Li paced back and forth at the village entrance for almost half an hour.
Liu Erleng rolled his eyes. "Village chief, you've asked me that a million times already. Didn't your sister-in-law's letter say it wouldn't arrive until late this evening?"
He looked at the sun, which was now just beginning to set in the west, and was utterly speechless.
Village Chief Li stamped his foot to shake off the mud from his shoes, then said, "I was just thinking, what if they arrived early?"
"Oh, village chief," Aunt Qin said casually as she passed by carrying a large wooden basin, "Don't worry, we've got everything ready. We've restored A-Zheng's old house, and we've cleaned the new house several times..."
In addition, the village specially invited everyone to eat together today, with the village committee paying half of the cost of the ingredients, just so that everyone could have a lively time with Jiang Qinyu's family.
Look, the women in the village are busy preparing, washing, chopping, and cutting vegetables and meat, having a great time.
The men are either in the fields or helping out at the new market.
Ignoring what Aunt Qin said, Village Chief Li went straight to Jiang Qinyu's house.
He needs to check again to see if anything is missing, otherwise how can anyone stay in this room tonight?
With everyone in the village so enthusiastic, Chen and Old Man Lu were naturally not idle either.
Mrs. Chen took out the clothes she had made for her two children, looked at them several times, and only folded and put them away after confirming that there were no problems.
She then placed the shoes she had made for the three of them, aunt and nephew, next to the clothes, and then asked Old Man Lu, "Have you prepared all the things that the eldest daughter-in-law likes to eat?"
"It's all done, in the kitchen. Even those things from the mountains that I don't know the names of, the ones I saw her bring home before, I've got them all ready. And the ones for Shufan and Pan'er too. That kid Tianbao brought over a big bag this morning." The wrinkles at the corners of Old Man Lu's eyes seemed to have faded a bit.
Their son rarely comes home, and their daughter-in-law has been traveling around for the past two years. They only received a letter a few days ago saying that they were coming back today. How could they not be happy?
What pleased Old Man Lu and Madam Chen the most was that Lu Yancai, for some unknown reason, had stopped causing trouble and even forbade Madam Ma from acting recklessly. As a result, their relationship with Lu Yancai's family had improved considerably recently.
Even Lu Tianbao, who used to be a troublemaker, now respectfully calls them grandpa and grandma when he sees them.
“Speaking of Tianbao…” Madam Chen frowned, “The eldest son’s wife severed ties with the second son’s family, but the second son has reformed now, this…”
Old Man Lu quickly interrupted her, "Stop! Don't get involved in their affairs anymore. The eldest daughter-in-law isn't unreasonable. We, as elders, will just watch. Whether they make up or not is their own choice."
Moreover, he also felt uneasy about Lu Yancai's change; what if he was faking it?
So it's best to let the eldest son's wife handle this kind of thing herself.
“Okay, I’ll do as you say.” Mrs. Chen had no objections.
After what happened with Chen Xiuer, she became much more open-minded, especially about the relationships between the younger generation, which were truly beyond her control.
"By the way," Chen added, "now that my eldest son's wife is back, shouldn't we move to the new house?"
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