Tan’er, upon hearing that her third uncle went to seek trouble with Lu Lingxiao, sprinted to the Lu Family and barged in without saying a word.
She was no longer a maid of the Lu Family, so naturally, the servants wouldn’t allow her to behave recklessly in the mansion. They tried to stop her, but in the end, they were all beaten flat on the ground.
With one foot planted on the back of a young servant, Tan’er crossed her arms and said, "Alright, losers, stop dawdling and hand him over! Or I’m truly going to lose my temper!"
The young servant, feeling wronged, pleaded, "Tan’er, oh Great Ancestor, the person you’re looking for—we swear we’ve never seen him!"
Tan’er stomped on him again. "Lies! He clearly ca to the Lu Family!"
The young servant wailed in pain: "I’m really telling the truth! There’ve been no visitors at the Lu Family today!"
"You speak!"
Tan’er turned her fierce gaze upon another guard lying beaten nearby.
The guard trembled in fear: "He’s saying the truth...no guests have co to the Lu Family for quite a few days..."
Tan’er didn’t believe him—until Lu Mother appeared.
"Tan’er, who are you looking for?"
Tan’er was polite toward Lu Mother and responded, "My elder sister’s third uncle!"
Lu Mother was surprised: "Soone from the ng Family?"
"Yes!"
Tan’er nodded.
Lu Mother’s gaze flickered with astonishnt once more. In front of the others, she refrained from asking why soone from the ng Family had suddenly co to the Capital City. Instead, she simply said to Tan’er, "Tan’er, truly, no strangers have visited the mansion today, and Lingxiao hasn’t returned either."
Strangely enough, at this hour, Lu Lingxiao should have been ho already, and there hadn’t been any news of disturbances at the military camp.
Tan’er trusted Lu Mother’s words.
Tan’er muttered, "But if he didn’t co to the Lu Family, then where could he have gone? He specifically said he’d co to deal with Lu Lingxiao..."
Lu Luo supported Lin Wan’er as she gracefully approached.
Lu Luo scoffed, "Who knows if he got confused and picked the wrong target? Are the Lu families in the Capital City limited to just ours?"
Lu Mother frowned and cast a glance at Lu Luo.
Lin Wan’er shot Lu Luo a glare.
Lu Luo quickly lowered her head and shut her mouth.
Tan’er seed to have an epiphany: "Other Lu Families... Oh no, could Third Uncle have gone to the Governor Mansion?"
Lu Luo chuckled gleefully.
Tan’er raised her hand and slapped her!
Lu Luo shouted in fury, "What are you doing?!"
Tan’er smiled, "Thanks for the reminder. This slap is my reward to you!"
Lu Luo: "You—"
"And you!" Tan’er, after slapping Lu Luo, promptly gave Lin Wan’er a solid smack on the face. "You trouble-stirring piece of work! I’m off to find Third Uncle; I’ll settle accounts with you later. Just wait for to return!"
Lin Wan’er covered her now swollen face and gazed icily at Tan’er, who marched off imposingly.
Lu Mother didn’t rebuke Tan’er nor express any concern for herself. Once Tan’er left, Lu Mother also departed.
Unwilling to let this go, Lin Wan’er chased after her, using a tree branch to write the words: "Madam, I’m supposed to be your soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Are you just going to let a stranger bully ? If it had been ng Qianqian instead of , would you also do nothing?"
"Of course not," Lu Mother replied without hesitation. "But you—what do you have that compares to Qianqian?"
Lin Wan’er clenched the tree branch tightly in frustration.
Tan’er had just left the Lu Family when she ran into Shangguan Ling, who was riding a fine horse.
"Blade-handler!"
She suddenly dashed out.
Shangguan Ling hastily reined in his horse, turning it aside; otherwise, he might’ve trampled Tan’er underfoot!
"Can you stop being so reckless every ti? What if I hit you?"
"I’d dodge!" Tan’er dismissed him before cutting to the chase, "Blade-handler, did soone co seeking trouble with the Grand Commander today?"
Shangguan Ling’s eyes widened: "You even know about that?"
Tan’er slapped her own mouth: "It’s true?!"
Shangguan Ling replied, "Yeah. Right after the Grand Commander finished court, so lunatic suddenly rushed out of the crowd with an iron bar and smashed it against the Grand Commander’s carriage!"
Tan’er hurriedly asked, "Where is he?"
Shangguan Ling answered nonchalantly, "Dragged off to the Governor Mansion, of course. By now, he’s probably dead already."
Tan’er clutched her cheeks in horror. "Oh no! Big trouble! Huge trouble!"
"What’s wrong?" Shangguan Ling asked.
Tan’er grabbed the saddle of his horse and lanted miserably, "He’s from the ng Family—my elder sister’s third uncle!"
Shangguan Ling: "...!!"
...
ng Qianqian was unaware that her third uncle had taken his grievances to the Grand Commander. As night fell, the long streets of the Capital City were illuminated by lanterns, resembling a dragon indulging in earthly festivities.
She walked amidst the bustling crowd with Yu Li.
"Cousin, you should walk on the inside."
Yu Li said shyly.
ng Qianqian, accustod to walking along the outer edge as Lu Yuan’s guard, smiled faintly and moved to the inner side. Yu Li shielded her from the bustling throng.
But the prosperity of Zhuque Avenue dwarfed that of the streets in You State, and within re monts, Yu Li was bumped three or four tis.
ng Qianqian chuckled, "Cousin, you’re unfamiliar with the Capital. Let walk on the outside instead."
"Ah..."
Yu Li felt slightly embarrassed.
Oddly, when ng Qianqian walked on the outer side, no one bumped into her.
Softly, ng Qianqian said, "Seventh Uncle ntioned that Cousin wishes to study at the Imperial College. It’s not far. I’ll show Cousin the way."
Yu Li replied, "Actually, I ca to find you. Grandfather, grandmother, and my mother asked to check on you. Do you... not rember them anymore?"
ng Qianqian gave him an apologetic smile and asked, "How are Grandfather and the others doing?"
"Pretty well." Yu Li answered.
Yu Li was even less talkative than her, but ng Qianqian could see that Yu Li had called her out tonight for sothing he wanted to say in private.
"Cousin, if you have sothing to say, don’t hold back."
Yu Li hesitated for a mont before gathering his courage to say, "Grandfather... wishes for to marry you."
"Oh?" ng Qianqian seed surprised but showed no major reaction.
Yu Li glanced at her and said, "You’re different from when you were little."
ng Qianqian replied, "People always grow up."
Yu Li whispered, "I’ve known since I was little that I was going to marry you when I grew up, but then you married Lu Lingxiao."
ng Qianqian changed the topic, "Does Cousin like ?"
Yu Li hesitated.
ng Qianqian stopped walking and looked into his eyes, "Cousin says marrying is Grandfather’s wish—but what about Cousin? What do you truly want?"
"I..."
Just as Yu Li began to speak, a small figure dropped from the sky, bursting into a lodramatic cry without tears, "Elder Sister! Disaster has struck—Third Uncle has been killed by the Grand Commander—"
Yu Li’s face turned pale: "Third Uncle?"
"Who’s calling ?"
A drunken man appeared behind Yu Li, slinging an arm around him. "Kid, you look kind of familiar..."
Yu Li jumped back three steps in fright, "Th-Third Uncle?"
Tan’er imdiately stopped her fake mourning and approached to inspect him, tilting her head, "So you’re Third Uncle? You do look... rather handso!"
ng Qianqian didn’t recognize her Third Uncle, but the drunken man seemingly bore so resemblance to herself. Coupled with Yu Li’s reaction, it was undeniably ng Tianlan.
"Third Uncle."
ng Qianqian greeted him.
ng Tianlan squinted at her, staggered forward two steps, then backtracked, pulling another man close, "Lu brother... you... confirm for ... is she... my niece I haven’t seen... in over five years?"
Lu Yuan smirked, his expression calm yet knowing, he looked at ng Qianqian and asked, "What’s your niece’s na?"
ng Tianlan belched, "Qianqian... ng... Qianqian!"
Lu Yuan said casually, "Ah, yes—she is."
Yu Li stared at Lu Yuan in shock and asked ng Tianlan, "Third Uncle, who is he?"
ng Tianlan swayed unsteadily and replied, "The brother I just swore to... share blessings... endure hardships... share a ho... but not share a woman..."
Yu Li supported him and whispered, "Third Uncle, you’ve had too much to drink. Let’s go ho first."
"I’m not drunk!" ng Tianlan flung Yu Li’s hand aside, "My brother... he’s amazing... the mont he arrived... he beat up Lu Lingxiao... that worthless fool... ninety lashes!"
"Ninety lashes... you can’t imagine... how thrilled I was! How satisfying it was!"
Yu Li shouted, "Third Uncle!"
ng Tianlan wobbled over to ng Qianqian and dragged her before Lu Yuan.
"Lu brother... from now on... my niece... she’s in your hands... if you tell her to head east... she can’t go west... if you tell her to be your wife... she can’t... stay your guard... hahaha..."
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