Aunt Zheng was delighted when she heard this, but at the same time, the contempt she felt for Lu Liangwei intensified.
She knew that any mention of the Crown Prince would get this extremely simple little tramp to promise and do as she wished.
“In that case, I’ll take my leave and wait for your good news.”
“Have a safe journey back, Aunt Zheng,” Lu Liangwei nodded with a smile.
Zhu Yu stamped her feet after Aunt Zheng left. There was an anxious look on her face as she could not understand what had happened.
“Miss, how could you agree to help Aunt Zheng? She’s a crafty character and would never make any request to the Crown Prince on your behalf. She was just hoodwinking you.”
Lu Liangwei picked up her cup and sipped some tea. Her mouth was filled with the sweet fragrance of Osmanthus in an instant. “Do you think I’m unaware of that?”
Zhu Yu was confused. “Then why would you…”
“She knows to cajole me, but can’t I do the same to her too? If I rejected her directly, she would run straight to Lu Yunshuang. Lu Yunshuang is the Crown Princess, she won’t allow her own mother to be sent to the temple for meditation. She would definitely go to the Crown Prince and get him to suppress Father, forcing him to revoke the punishment given to Aunt Zheng.”
Hearing the explanation, Zhu Yu’s eyes brightened as she realized what had transpired. “Miss, you’re so smart. You pretended to help Aunt Zheng, but it’s actually to stall her. By the time she realizes what happened, the Duke would have already gotten people to send her to the temple and it would be too late for her.”
Lu Liangwei smiled slightly. “You’re not that stupid, after all!”
Zhu Yu stuck out her tongue and said with slight embarrassment, “I thought Miss had been tempted by the promise laid out by Aunt Zheng, after all…”
Lu Liangwei finished her sentence calmly, “After all, I had liked the Crown Prince so much before, to the point of my senses being knocked out of me and all I wanted was to keep close by his side, am I right?”
Zhu Yu lowered her head, looking like she had done something wrong.
Lu Liangwei could not help but laugh as she placed her palm on her forehead. She had a slight headache. “It looks like trying to get everyone to believe that I no longer have any feelings for the Crown Prince is not going to be an easy task.”
Zhu Yu immediately felt a pang of heartache for Lu Liangwei when she heard this. “Miss, you did not do anything wrong. The ones to blame are the Crown Prince for being too heartless and Lu Yunshuang for being too scheming.”
Lu Liangwei shook her head. “No, I’m the one to blame for being too blind in the past.”
Zhu Yu, “…”
Lu Liangwei smiled. She did not bother to explain further as she placed her book down and stood up. “Let’s visit the Dowager Duchess.”
“Okay,” Zhu Yu nodded.
“Oh, right. Bring along the Southern Seas pearls that were bestowed by the Emperor yesterday,” Lu Liangwei instructed.
“Yes, Miss,” Yu Zhu answered breezily.
When Lu Liangwei arrived at Longevity Hall, the Dowager Duchess was practicing martial arts.
She might be seventy-years-old, but she was energetic. She had on a set of tight martial arts garments today. It was difficult to tell that she was already seventy years of age from the way she was practicing her martial arts in the courtyard.
Even though the Dowager Duchess looked fragile and thin and was at quite an old age, her stances did not dawdle at all. Every punch was swift and quite intimidating.
Lu Liangwei stood at the side as she observed in entrancement.
The Lu family was a martial arts family. When the Venerable Duke had followed the late Emperor out to war, he had earned great merit via victorious battles, which had contributed to the Lu family’s status today.
Of course, the Dowager Duchess was not one to stay behind the scenes.
Unlike the young, fair ladies of leisure who hid in their mansions, she had picked up a tasseled spear and headed into war like a man.
Once, during a battle, the late Emperor was surrounded by enemies. At a critical moment, she had ridden in with only her spear in hand and single-handedly saved the late Emperor.
The late Emperor was grateful to her. He had rewarded her handsomely and bestowed a golden sword to her.
The golden sword was equivalent to immunity to death. It represented the presence of an emperor and had the right to execute an unworthy emperor and traitorous officials.
User Comments
0 comments from readers