Family Law
The garden was eerily quiet, not a soul in sight. Mu Qing found it strange, and then remembered that after seeing the young prince off, the Third Madam hadn't come to inquire about what had happened. In the past, the Third Madam had been very concerned.
Just then, behind the artificial hill not far away, a maid in blue, with a distressed expression, hurried along, as if rushing to Qingyuan Hall.
Mu Qing caught a glimpse of it and sent Shi Yu over to ask what was going on.
Soon after, Shiyu came running back, panting, saying that the young master had made a mistake and angered the third master, who wanted to punish him according to family rules. The third madam couldn't stop him and sent someone to invite the old lady.
It was common for Lu Fei to anger his father by making mistakes, but this was the first time Mu Qing had heard of him being punished according to family rules, so she immediately went to Jing Si Yuan.
In front of the main hall of Jingsi Garden, there were many figures. Several guards in black and blue short clothes stood guard at the door like door gods, with long sticks across their bodies. The Third Madam, the Second Madam, and Lu Tongxue, along with their servants, surrounded the outside. Several other servants waited under the corridor with basins and stools. They were all silent and dared not make a move.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
Mu Qing walked through the servants who had made way for her to approach the Third Madam, who was being blocked at the door.
The Third Madam never lost her composure; the last time she cried in front of others was when they recognized each other.
At this moment, she lowered her head, wiped her tears with a plain handkerchief, and parted her lips slightly, as if complaining: "Your brother acted foolishly and brought this on himself. I don't even know how many breaths he has left."
The tone of her voice at the end was one of heartache.
Mu Qing looked into the hall and saw a long bench on the square stone floor. A boy, bound stiffly on the bench, bowed his head to the ground. He had clearly been beaten countless times; his outer garment and jacket were torn, and his bright red shirt and trousers were in disarray. The head steward and servants with canes stood guard to the side. Master Lu was nowhere to be seen, and a door on the side of the hall was tightly closed.
"Madam, don't worry too much. She must have just fainted."
"Once we invite a renowned surgeon in the city, even the most severe injuries can be healed."
The servants all spoke in their own way, trying to put a good impression on the situation.
Before long, the side door of the main hall opened, and Master Lu came out, followed by Zhong Linlan.
Mu Qing was startled. Zhong Linlan had said he had something to do, but he had come here. She didn't want him to see her, and with nowhere to hide, she could only bury her head and avoid him.
The two voices could be heard in the silence.
"There must be some misunderstanding between Xiao Fei and the student, please don't blame him."
“This is none of your business. I’ve been wanting to beat him up for a long time. If he doesn’t learn his lesson, he’ll become completely lawless.”
“He is so young. If anything were to happen to him, I would feel ashamed for the rest of my life.”
“This brat is very tough.” Master Lu instructed his men, “Untie him and carry him back to get medicine.”
The servants quickly surrounded Lu Fei, untied him from his bonds, and carried him to a rattan bench in the corridor.
Upon reaching the corridor, they saw Lu Fei with his eyes closed, motionless.
The third wife straightened his clothes, accidentally touching his buttocks and legs. Lu Fei groaned and opened his eyes, shakily raising his head and calling out to his mother in a hoarse voice. The third wife hugged him, repeatedly comforting him that everything was alright.
At this moment, the sound of Master Lu raising his voice came from the main hall.
"No, that won't do. You should stay here a few more days!"
The people in the corridor fell silent in surprise, looking at each other, and then heard voices coming from inside the hall.
"This incident occurred because the students were staying here temporarily."
Zhong Linlan was about to speak again when Master Lu interrupted, "If you leave like this, my Lu mansion will truly become a den of dragons and tigers. That unfilial son will surely think that he can get away with anything by acting recklessly."
After a sigh, Zhong Linlan's voice was tinged with helplessness: "Then let's do as the teacher says..."
Lu Fei, nestled in her mother's arms, could no longer bear to listen. She let out a snort and tried to speak.
The third wife quickly covered his mouth and nose, glanced towards the door, and pleaded in a sorrowful voice, "Just calm down."
Lu Fei nodded listlessly, letting them carry him back to his own courtyard.
Everyone accompanied the doctor to Yijingxuan. When the doctor examined the patient and heard that only the skin and flesh were injured and the bones and tendons were not affected, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
As noon approached, the sky brightened, the room was clean and bright, and the air was filled with the fragrance of medicine. Lu Fei lay on the soft couch, covered with a blue satin silk quilt. Because medicine had just been applied, he was grimacing in pain.
The Third Madam sat on a high stool in front of the couch, silently watching him with a somewhat subtle expression. Mu Qing sat next to the Third Madam, unsure of what to say.
The second madam was also sitting to the side, but before she could speak, Lu Tongxue behind her chuckled, breaking the somewhat stiff atmosphere, and said to Lu Fei, who was crying out in pain, "The doctor just said it's not that serious. You were screaming and yelling like that, and then you suddenly went silent. Everyone was scared and thought you were going to be beaten to death."
Lu Fei suddenly looked up and glared at her. "That's only because the clothes were thick and covered some of my wounds. Even so, you can try it and see how painful it would be if I were hit with dozens of lashes."
Why did your father punish you?
Mu Qing found it strange and asked several times along the way, but he couldn't get a clear answer.
Lu Fei remained silent, turned his head away, and thought to himself, "These two older sisters are so wicked and stupid, they're really infuriating."
When the Third Madam heard Mu Qing's question, an unease flashed across her face. She turned around and looked at the Third Madam, her eyes sweeping over her face, and said, "This child is unruly and naughty. I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Second Sister-in-law."
The second wife also looked embarrassed. She had initially come to comfort her brother after hearing that he had beaten his son, hoping to make a good impression. However, she hadn't expected that such a distinguished guest would be involved, so she couldn't say much. She had ended up watching a show for nothing, and it seemed like she had come just to watch the spectacle. She could only smile awkwardly and change the subject.
“All children are the same. My two sons just didn’t grow up in Weizhou, so you don’t know how they used to be. If you didn’t discipline them for three days, they would climb on the roof and tear off the tiles. They would often make their fathers so angry that they would jump up and down. Even Tongxue is the same. She has only started to act like a lady in the last two years.”
"Why are you dragging me into this?" Lu Tongxue shook her mother's shoulder, lowered her head and muttered, "I didn't."
The Third Madam smiled at her, "Tongxue is clever and always likable."
After chatting for a while, the second madam took Lu Tongxue back. The third madam left a few words of advice and was about to leave as well. Mu Qing was about to go with her when Lu Fei called her back.
"Don't go."
The boy lay on the pillow, his dark eyes looking at her.
The third wife had always hoped that the siblings would be close. Seeing this situation, she softened and said to Mu Qing, "He is still young after all, so you should keep him company."
Mu Qing sat down by the bed. Seeing that the Third Madam had left, he felt uneasy. He was sure that his younger brother did not want to stay with him.
After a moment of silence, the servant Chang Le brought over a fruit platter and tea, placing it on the small table beside her, about to carefully arrange them.
Lu Fei frowned and snapped at him, "Get out!"
Chang Le bowed and called out "Young Master," then withdrew his hand and bowed as he left the room.
Mu Qing couldn't stand it anymore and asked Lu Fei, "Why did you treat him like that?"
“I have something to say to you that I don’t want others to hear,” Lu Fei said matter-of-factly, then looked behind her, “Aunt Ning, you all go out too.”
After everyone else left, Mu Qing became wary. "Do you have anything special to say?"
“Nothing special.” Lu Fei propped his face up with his hand and leaned against the soft pillow. “It’s just that Chang Le is Father’s person and Ning Gu is Mother’s person. With them around, what we say is like falling directly into Father and Mother’s ears.”
Mu Qing looked at him with a questioning look in her eyes, "Father and Mother are not outsiders, what can't they hear?"
Lu Fei glanced at her and asked, "Whatever you say or do, people are watching you. If you do anything slightly wrong, they'll come and reprimand you. Don't you feel uncomfortable?"
"No," Mu Qing said sincerely.
She really liked the image of a refined young lady, with meticulous rules governing her words and actions. She didn't need to think too much; just following the rules was enough to get by. If she made a mistake, someone would remind her and teach her how to fix it, which prevented her from giving herself away.
Lu Fei's forehead throbbed. "Isn't there anything you really want to do, but can't do?"
Mu Qing thought for a moment, "No." At least not now.
Lu Fei stared at her coldly, remaining silent for a long time, thinking to herself, "This is probably what it means to be brainless."
Seeing his unfriendly expression, Mu Qing asked in return, "Do you have one?"
Lu Fei cleared his throat, his gaze lingering on her face. "Didn't you just ask why Father beat me?"
Seeing that she was listening attentively, he said in a calm and resolute voice, "It's all because of you."
Mu Qing's eyes widened. "You're talking nonsense. You're the one who clearly wants to get rid of people."
She had already gleaned from Zhong Linlan and Master Lu's conversation, but she didn't know what Lu Fei had actually done.
Lu Fei slowly said, "Although I dislike that fellow surnamed Zhong, he won't bother me unless there's something wrong with him. The reason I went to the trouble of getting rid of him is simply because he's a lecherous hypocrite, and having him stay in your mansion might be a disadvantage for you."
Mu Qing's heart skipped a beat.
She still didn't believe Lu Fei's claim of being lustful, but Zhong Linlan was indeed not as well-behaved as before. The stories he told the young prince and his talk about his lover were full of scheming, which she found hard to resist.
Lu Fei observed her expression and casually said, "You should know that I've known him for a long time and have never been beaten for offending him. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gone to offend him this time."
Mu Qing found it hard to believe that someone who wouldn't even call her "sister" would offend someone for her sake.
But then she remembered that when she first met Lu Fei, she asked him to call her "sister," but he refused to speak. However, he wasn't offensive either, and he would even secretly watch her from behind the curtain. Two days later, after returning from outside the mansion, he became rude to her, calling her "mountain dweller" repeatedly. Later, she heard that he had beaten up his distant cousin at the Lu family's private school because the cousin had called his sister "mountain dweller."
Mu Qing tentatively asked, "Do you really consider me your older sister?"
"Otherwise what?"
Lu Fei rested her chin on the soft pillow, buried her face in her arms, and hid her cunning expression.
Mu Qing thought he was shy and wanted to tease him, but then she heard someone outside shout, "The old lady is here."
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