HLnovel Chapter 75 Giving Gifts
Chapter 75 Giving Gifts
Aunt Meng was stunned when she heard Lan's words.
"Qiuyue, you are really confused!" Old Madam Li looked at Aunt Meng with disappointment. Even though she disliked Lan Shi, she knew perfectly well that Lan Shi would never lay a hand on a concubine's child.
It wouldn't be so strange if someone else's mistress laid a hand on her concubine's child.
But Lady Lan had absolutely no reason to dirty her hands for a concubine!
She was originally a noblewoman from a scholarly family, and the Duke of Sheng always doted on her. It was only after she entered the mansion and gave birth to his legitimate son that other illegitimate children were born.
Duke Sheng has always been indifferent to his concubines. In the first few years after their marriage, he rarely visited his concubines' courtyards, and this remains the case to this day.
She had neither the desire nor the need to compete for this favor.
Having fought with the concubine for most of her life, and only able to breathe a sigh of relief when the old Duke passed away, Madam Li harbored deep resentment towards this daughter-in-law.
Duke Sheng never once had the slightest thought of favoring his concubine over his wife.
Aunt Meng covered her face and began to sob.
"My lord, I can hand over Consort Meng to you, or to the Prefect of the Capital, or you can wish me to continue the investigation—all are acceptable. I have only one request: Yunzhu remains the third young lady of this household. But since Yangyang is not listed in the family genealogy, then Yunzhu should also be removed from it." Lady Lan ignored the Duke's grim expression and looked at Sheng Yunzhu.
"Yunzhu, we are mother and daughter, which is a kind of fate. I cherish the days you have spent by my side. However, I am now too weak to take care of you anymore. I wish you a bright future."
After saying all this, Madam Lan was exhausted. She grabbed Granny Hui's arm and prepared to go back to rest.
"Mother, Mother, don't you want me anymore?" Sheng Yunzhu cried pitifully, as if she had been abandoned by the whole world.
Lan didn't look at her, but said to Hui Mama, "I'm tired, help me back to rest!"
Granny Hui helped Lan up and carefully guided her towards the inner room.
Sheng Yunzhu was still desperately calling out, "Mother!"
Lan did not turn around, nor did she pause in her steps.
The Duke of Sheng, with a stern face, said coldly, "Send Concubine Meng back to her courtyard and keep an eye on her."
Two guards stepped forward and pulled Aunt Meng away.
As for the maids and servants on the ground who were involved in the incident, Duke Sheng waved his hand and said, "Take them out and hand them over to the steward. Deal with them as appropriate."
Soon, several maids and servants were also dragged out.
Having made these arrangements, Duke Sheng got up and walked out.
“Father,” Sheng Junyao called out to him.
"When does Father plan to take care of the family genealogy?"
Duke Sheng's face was extremely ugly. He could neither let the family affairs escalate to the elders of the Sheng clan, nor could he really let Lan send Concubine Meng to the Jingzhao Yin's office.
He was used to being in control, and this was the first time he had been outmaneuvered by his wife, whom he trusted implicitly, and his son, whom he valued highly.
These past few days, Lady Lan must have already investigated the matter of the medicinal herbs. Under the guise of holding a wedding banquet, she invited Lady Wei to help, which was to deal with the matter of poisoning.
But she remained silent, waiting for Sheng Junyao to return before revealing the matter.
The plan was to catch him off guard. First, they brought up the matter of sending Sheng Yunzhu away, knowing that he would not agree. Then they brought up the matter of removing Sheng Yunzhu from the family genealogy, which he would not agree to either. So at this moment, they brought up the matter of drugging him. The person who drugged him was his concubine.
He didn't care about a concubine, but if the crime of a concubine plotting against the mistress were to spread, not only would it make the Duke's mansion look bad, but he would also be severely impeached by the censor.
Lan's elder brother was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, responsible for impeaching officials.
If he does not agree, the memorial impeaching him will be placed on His Majesty's desk tomorrow.
They were really plotting against him, one scheme after another.
His wife, whom he had cherished and pampered for twenty years, was now plotting against him!
Duke Sheng glared at Sheng Junyao fiercely, "After your wedding, when your new bride is added to the family genealogy, I will have the clan elders handle it together."
Sheng Yunzhu is now the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Sheng's mansion and represents this generation of young ladies in the outside world. Crossing out her name would be neither troublesome nor troublesome.
As long as the Duke of Sheng provides a reasonable explanation and sends out a young woman as a representative, the matter will be settled.
After all, the Sheng family is not a large family. It was only after the old Duke rose to prominence that the clan was brought up. Although the Duke of Sheng is no longer the clan head, as the most powerful person in the Sheng family, his words still carry a lot of weight.
But if the Duke of Sheng agrees immediately, wouldn't he lose face?
After casually uttering those words, he strode past Sheng Junyao.
As soon as the Duke of Sheng left, Old Madam Li also got up. She couldn't control her son's decision, but she still felt sorry for Sheng Yunzhu and comforted her a few words: "Don't worry, Zhuzhu, you will always be a girl of our Duke's Mansion. With your grandmother here, no one will bully you. Poor thing, it's getting late, go back and rest early."
Moved, Sheng Yunzhu immediately helped Old Madam Li up and followed her out.
As she stepped outside, she subtly glanced at Lu Yangyang, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.
Since they insist on treating her this way, she shouldn't blame them for being impolite.
The others followed suit one after another.
Lu Yangyang was about to leave when Sheng Junyao called her back. At this point, only Sheng Junyao and Lu Yangyang remained in the room.
Sheng Junyao looked at Lu Yangyang, took out a handful of silver notes from his pocket, and stuffed them into her hand: "Yangyang, I'm sorry, your elder brother originally wanted to send Yunzhu away and then persuade Father to restore your status, but Mother said that you might be more free when you're not in the Sheng family. Your elder brother won't be able to stay in the capital for long and won't be able to take care of you. Take these silver notes, and I'll have someone send you some more later. If you need anything while I'm in the capital, you can come to me."
Lu Yangyang looked at the silver notes in her arms in surprise.
It has to be said that this gift was exactly what Lu Yangyang wanted. What does she lack most? She lacks money!
But it was the first time Lu Yangyang had ever felt so reluctant to accept gifts from the Sheng family.
After all, since she arrived at the Sheng family, apart from the awkward and gossipy Sheng Yunjiao, Sheng Junyao was the only person who, from the very first meeting, was determined to uphold justice for her.
I wonder if, in the dream, if Sheng Junyao hadn't died on the battlefield so early, but instead returned to the capital, would the ending for "her" in the dream have been less tragic?
Lu Yangyang hesitated for a moment, but still accepted the kindness and sincerely said, "Thank you."
Sheng Junyao smiled gently and raised his hand to pat her head lightly: "It's getting late, let's go back quickly."
Lu Yangyang turned and left.
He hadn't gone far when Sheng Yunjiao stopped him: "Why did your older brother call you?"
Lu Yangyang: "Give a gift."
"Tch~ What kind of gift could my old-fashioned brother possibly bring? It's not like he picked up a stone from the frontier and brought it back for you!" Sheng Yunjiao was skeptical. "You don't know, my brother has always been very stubborn. Every year during festivals, he insists on giving gifts to his younger siblings in the name of the eldest brother. But he's also a very boring person. The gifts he gives are either handwritten calligraphy, books recommended by his teacher, or some strange things that encourage learning."
"Oh my god, you know, I'm a girl! If he really didn't have any gifts to give me, he could have given me some money! Do you know what he gave me? Once he thought my handwriting was bad, so he stubbornly kept giving me pens for two years straight! My god, it scared me so much that I actually practiced my handwriting diligently for a year before he finally let me go!"
"So you absolutely mustn't let him see what you've written!" Sheng Yunjiao sighed sympathetically, as if she had been through it all.
Lu Yangyang: "..."
To be fair, Sheng Junyao did indeed give her money.
However, she decided not to say anything that might upset Sheng Yunjiao.
The two left the Magnolia Pavilion and walked back along the garden. The weather was dark and there was no moon. The garden was dimly lit, and the wind occasionally blew through the shadows of the trees.
Sheng Yunjiao trembled as she clung to Lu Yangyang's arm: "Yangyang, do you think we're dreaming today? Why is Big Brother coming back at this time? It's the Ghost Festival!"
She lowered her voice, but it was clearly trembling.
Lu Yangyang turned to look at her, and her heart skipped a beat.
In the dream, Sheng Junyao never came back. Now he has returned, but it is on the night of the Ghost Festival.
It is indeed quite creepy.
Lu Yangyang carefully touched the silver note she had put in her pocket. Fortunately, the silver note felt so real, it couldn't be fake, right?
She had touched joss paper before, but it wasn't made of this material.
Lu Yangyang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, trying to distract herself. She asked Sheng Yunjiao,
"By the way, don't you think there's something wrong with Aunt Meng?"
"Yes, of course there's a problem! What a coincidence! Aunt Meng has been in this household for so many years and never thought of harming my aunt, but you came back and immediately did! Nobody believes there's nothing fishy going on!" Sheng Yunjiao was very excited when she started gossiping. "Let me tell you, I bet she has someone backing her up!"
"Do you think it could be Sheng Yunzhu?" Sheng Yunjiao guessed, then dismissed it: "It's impossible, right? Although she's used to pretending, my aunt has been so good to her, she shouldn't be that heartless, right? No way, no way?"