Chapter 48: Lu's Mother

  Zhaoyi leaned against her grandmother, seeing off the officials and servants who escorted Zhao Kuang and Jiang's family out of Fengxian County. She looked up at Zhangshi: "Grandma, when will we know the verdict of the case?"

  Zhang's expression was calm as he stroked his granddaughter's head: "When they return to the capital, it will be almost the end of the year. If the Dali Temple can conclude its investigation quickly, there should be a result before the beginning of next spring. But if the Dali Temple takes its time, it may take another year or so."

  This case is of great concern to the Emperor, and she is not worried that Xiaolongfang will be able to turn the tables. The problem lies in when the King of Ying will reveal his flaws. The King of Guangping had long since made it clear that the case may drag on for one or two years, and she was mentally prepared. As long as the murderer can be brought to justice in the end, she doesn't mind waiting. Although she would feel wronged and resentful in her heart, the Emperor's throne was secured by the Duke of Jun's efforts, and she couldn't tolerate the King of Ying destroying the Duke of Jun's hard work.

  Zhaowei pulled Zhangshi's other hand and whispered, "It's been a long time." Zhaowei was also not very convinced in her heart. After all, even in modern times, it might take a year or two for the court to randomly judge a case. In ancient times, the Dali Temple judged cases, probably about the same? But this is obviously a major case, and the emperor is paying attention. Can't they make an exception? The emperor's patience is really good.

  She was muttering to herself when she heard Zhang say: "Let's go home." She hastily grasped her grandmother's hand tightly.

  After returning to Fengxian, Zhao saw the scenery of this small county town for the first time. This county town is really "small", with a width of less than one kilometer from east to west. It is said that in the previous dynasty, this was just a small thousand-household unit, and after the founding of the current dynasty, because the Taizu Emperor was from Jiading, Jiading was made the center, and the surrounding areas were upgraded to Shanghai Prefecture, so the original Qingcun Thousand-Household Unit's small castle was also upgraded to a county town. The main roads in the city are shaped like a "ten" character, respectively called East Street, South Street, West Street, and North Street, dividing this small county town into four blocks. The place where the Zhao family lived is located in the southwest of the county town, opposite the Dianshi Office, just over a hundred feet away.

  Zhao and others saw off the imperial envoy at Xicheng Gate, which was not far from their home. They only needed to turn around and walk more than 100 meters to reach their doorstep, very convenient.

  But they didn't even get to finish this short journey, when halfway through, a villager came running up to them with news: "Old Lady Zhao, there's a woman outside the west city gate who says she's from the capital and used to serve under you. Her husband has fallen ill at the city gate and she and her son and daughter are crying. The two little kids are less than ten years old, it's really pitiful. The young girl is begging someone to go back to the Zhao family's old residence to report this. Would the Old Lady please send someone to take a look?"

  Zhang was astonished, who could this woman be? Suddenly, she thought of someone, and before she could say the name out loud, Autumn Leaf had already exclaimed: "Could it be Old Lady Lu? Old Lady Lu's youngest daughter and son are not even ten years old yet."

  Zhao also remembered that Zhang's dowry maid, Lu Mama, had married a slave of the Jian Nan Hou Fu and had been taking care of things for Zhang outside. When Zhang brought her son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter back to Fengxian to pay their respects, she hadn't planned on staying in her hometown for long, so she had bought a house in the capital ahead of time and transferred most of the things she got from the division of property there. Lu Mama's family was responsible for taking care of the house. After Zhao Zhuo's death, Zhang had too many things to take care of and didn't have time to worry about this house in the capital. She even planned on staying in her hometown with her grandson and granddaughter for a few more years. Before Guangping Wang returned to the capital, she asked him to deliver a letter to Lu Mama, instructing her to take good care of the house. So why did Lu Mama suddenly come running over? Was there something wrong with the house in the capital?

  Zhang also thought of this, slightly frowning and looking worried. She told Qiuye to hurry back to the old house to inform Wang Siping, and asked Wang Siping to send someone to the city gate to meet them, to see if it was really Lu Ma's family who had arrived, and then to ask a doctor to come and take a look, in case they were really ill.

  When Zhang's family brought the children back to the old mansion and sat down in the courtyard, Wang Si Ping also came over to report: "Returning to the old lady, it was indeed Lu's family. She and her husband Lu Changxiu, along with their young daughter and son, set out from Beijing on October 7th and rushed along the way. Perhaps they were too tired from the journey, so Lu Changxiu fainted at the city gate. A doctor has been called to examine him, but it's nothing serious, just rest for two days and he'll be fine, no need to take medicine. I've already had someone lead Lu's family and the two children to get cleaned up, they'll come to pay their respects to the old lady soon."

  Zhang Shi let out a sigh and added a few more worries: "Has Lu's family ever mentioned why they brought their whole family of four to Fengxian? Is something wrong in the capital?"

  Wang Siping said, "The old slave also worried and asked the Lu family. She said that when the news came earlier, saying that the old lady and the second master, second madam had fallen into the water and died, the eldest madam and the eldest master, eldest madam had an idea to take over the old lady's private property, but she escaped. It was just that the family didn't have a good life either. So when they received the old lady's letter, knowing that the old lady and her brother and sister were safe and sound, but there was no one by their side, she hurried over to serve them. Her husband wasn't at ease either, so he brought the children along with her. Now the small house in Beijing is being taken care of by their eldest son."

  Zhang's worries were finally alleviated, and a faint smile appeared on her face: "Really, am I still lacking in servants at my old home? She should be taking care of the house properly, but instead she ran thousands of miles to serve me." Although she complained, she was actually happy in her heart. Just now, she had seen several ruthless and cruel servants, and although Lu Ma's actions were a bit presumptuous, they seemed more loyal and reliable.

  She instructed Wang Siping: "Arrange a good place for the four of them to live, and provide them with clothes and food according to their previous standard in the mansion, and add 20% more. Since Lu Changxiu is ill, give him a few days off and tell him to rest well. If he's still not feeling well tomorrow, immediately invite a doctor to examine him, don't take it lightly. He's no longer a young and strong young man, these twenty or so days of hard work, rushing from the capital to here, who knows how much his body has been damaged? Don't let him hurt his vitality. Also, take good care of the two children, wait until they've rested and then talk about work matters. After Lu's family finishes eating, have her come over, I have something to ask her."

  Wang Siping respectfully replied, then turned around and repeatedly instructed his subordinates to be more polite to Lu's family and take better care of them. As a high-ranking steward for decades, what hadn't he seen? This Lu family must be the old lady's trusted people; otherwise, even he, as the high-ranking steward, wouldn't have known that Xiao Er Fang had bought a house in Beijing, so how could she have been ordered to take care of it?

  The Xiao Er Fang family moved south, and they must have left most of their property in the Beijing house after the division of the family. It can be said that the Lu family is guarding the foundation of the Xiao Chang Fang family, which shows how much they are valued. Now, the four members of the family have abandoned their duties in Beijing and traveled thousands of miles to see Old Lady Zhao. If it were another master, they might be blamed for dereliction of duty. However, Old Lady Zhao not only didn't mind but was also very moved. This family's future prospects are likely to be bright, and he has established a good relationship with them. Even if he leaves the Zhao family in the future, he will have another connection.

  Lu's mother came to pay her respects to Zhang Shi after dinner, bringing two children with her. She was visibly thinner than the last time they met, and had some white hair on her head. As soon as she saw Zhang Shi, tears began streaming down her face: "Old lady, I'm so glad to see you! You're safe and sound, that's all that matters. My son and daughter are safe too... but poor Second Master and Second Mistress, why did they have to go?! Those heartless killers, how could they do this to their own flesh and blood brothers?!" Before she finished speaking, she burst into loud sobs.

  Zhang had already put down his sorrow, but at this time he was infected by Lu's sadness, and tears filled his eyes again, bowing his head in silence.

  The autumn leaves were beside him, tears streaming down his face. The master and servant in the house cried together, while Zhao ? listened from the inner room, feeling sad. He exchanged a glance with his younger brother Zhao Wei, who also began to sob quietly.

  Zhao? quietly lowered his head, sighed, jumped off the chair, pulled his little brother and ran out together. They came to Zhang's feet and pulled her sleeve: "Grandma, don't be sad, crying will ruin your body, what can brother and I do?"

  Zhang looked at his tearful grandson and granddaughter, Zhao, and suddenly hugged them tightly. He continued to bow his head and cry, but only for a short while. Then he let go of them, wiped away his tears: "Don't cry anymore, things have come to this, crying more won't help. If Zhuo'er's spirit in heaven sees us like this, he'll also feel sad."

  The autumn leaves also came forward to persuade Mrs. Fu: "Mother, don't cry, our old lady has just improved a bit, and my brother was ill with a cough the day before yesterday. It's not easy for him to have turned for the better. You've come and made everyone cry. What if the old lady gets too upset and falls ill again?

  Lu's mother hastily wiped away her tears: "It was my fault, I shouldn't have made the old lady and siblings sad." She pushed the children again: "Hurry up and stop crying." The two children also followed suit and wiped away their tears.

  Zhao carefully sized up Lu's two children. Her younger son looked like he was only seven or eight years old, just a bit older than Zhao Wei, and had a clever and robust appearance. Her younger daughter was a bit older, about nine or ten years old, with a delicate face, but she was dark and thin, with arms and legs as slender as bamboo shoots. The new clothes she wore were clearly long enough, but they hung loosely on her, and for some reason, she looked very shy and timid, and when Zhao looked at her, she hastily lowered her head.

  Lu's mother saw her daughter's unimpressive appearance, glared at her, and apologized to Zhang: "I beg your pardon, old lady. My daughter is inexperienced and timid since childhood, and really doesn't understand etiquette. My husband and I only have this one daughter, and we've spoiled her too much in our daily lives, not teaching her well. This is my fault."

  Mrs. Zhang smiled slightly and didn't mind, she now trusted Lao Ma, Ai Wu and Wu, and didn't think there was anything wrong with Lao Ma's daughter, and said: "Children are afraid of giving birth, it's a common thing, what do you glare at her for? It's okay to teach slowly. Autumn leaves, take the two siblings down to eat fruit, Lu's family stays behind."

  Qiu Ye nodded and smiled, beckoning the Lu family's young master and mistress to go out. Zhang Shi again urged Zhao Wei and Zhao Mei to return to their room to review their lessons. Zhao Wei very obediently went back, while Zhao Mei returned to her room, picked up a book, but her two ears were paying attention to the movements in the main hall outside.

  Lu's mother reported to Zhang Shi: "Less than ten days after the old lady left Beijing, news came from the other side that you and the second master, second wife, and siblings were on a boat that capsized. The whole family was killed, not a single person survived. They asked me to bring the family to Shandong to handle the aftermath, and hand over the house to their appointed personnel for management. I was frightened at first, but after thinking about it again, I felt something was off. How could only one boat capsize out of four or five boats? Did all the sailors on board die too? If something really happened, they should have helped with the aftermath instead of waiting for our servants to come from Beijing to handle it. Moreover, even if my husband and I went to Shandong, why did the children have to follow? Are they trying to seize our property? That's not going to happen! I reported it to the authorities, saying that the wife of Jiangnan Hou is taking advantage of her mother-in-law and brother-in-law's absence to seize other people's private property."

  Zhao secretly gave a thumbs up to Lu's mother in the room.