In the southern part of Yizhou City, the Lu Mansion was lit up brightly.
A woman dressed in luxurious attire, with a harsh face and lips as thin as if cut by a knife, was seated in the main hall of the Lu Mansion. She held a plate with a bowl of snow swallow and winter lon soup, eating leisurely with a porcelain spoon trimd in gold, served by a maid.
Lady Tian, Lu Wenlin’s second wife, and the current matriarch of the Lu family.
"Mother, can we go to sleep now? It’s almost 1 a.m."
Lady Tian’s teenage sons sat next to her, yawning incessantly, struggling to keep their eyes open.
Glancing at them, Lady Tian snorted coldly. "Sleep? First, we need to deal with that wretched Xi Hui. I thought throwing her in that small courtyard in East City would make her rot away there. Who would have expected that cheap woman would still find a way to seduce your father and get pregnant. Today, while your father is drunk, we must make sure Xi Hui ets her end. If by chance she gives birth to a son, who knows what complications might arise in a decade or so..."
THUD THUD THUD.
A servant, forehead slick with cold sweat, rushed into the hall, his lips trembling.
Without looking up, Lady Tian asked, "Where is Xi Hui? Bring her in."
"Madam, we did not bring Xi Hui, but Doctor Li, who helped her give birth, has co."
"Giving birth? Doctor Li?"
Lady Tian was montarily stunned. The gossip she had heard during the day flashed through her mind like lightning. "Is it the one who received the recomndation letter from the Academic Palace this year?"
"That’s him."
CLATTER.
The porcelain dish slamd heavily onto the silk-covered table as Lady Tian stood up abruptly from her chair and scolded, "What kind of job have you done?! Not bringing Xi Hui and instead bringing trouble ho?!"
The servant stamred, "This, this, we didn’t know Doctor Li was the one delivering Xi Hui’s baby." He continued, his voice full of grievance, "We’ve never heard of a male midwife sneaking into the birthing room—who does that...?"
"Useless cur of a servant!"
Angered, Lady Tian banged on the table. "Send him away quickly, with gifts, kind words—just keep him out of the Lu Mansion..."
"Too late."
Li Ang’s voice approached from afar as he stepped forward, followed by a pale-faced butler and servants.
Halting his pace, Li Ang gave a polite bow to Lady Tian. "Greetings, Lady Tian."
"Ah, if it isn’t Doctor Li."
Lady Tian’s expression changed in an instant. She gently instructed her son, "Chong’er, quickly bring a chair for Doctor Li."
"No need."
Li Ang waved his hand and spoke coolly, "Let’s get straight to the point, Lady Tian. I would like to know why your servants, ard with ropes and torches, broke into a civilian dwelling at night and threatened to kidnap a woman who had just given birth. What exactly is the aning of this?"
Faced with an unfriendly visitor, Lady Tian’s expression grew colder. She said with a forced smile, "Enforcing household punishnt."
Li Ang pressed, "Which household rule?"
"Theft."
Lady Tian replied composedly, "Last month, that woman Xi Hui stole two hundred cents from the mansion’s treasury. According to the Lu Family’s laws, she should be struck twenty tis with a rattan cane."
Making it up, just fabricating it.
Li Ang spread his hands. "Where’s the evidence?"
"Having witnesses is enough; several servants in the mansion can testify." Ms. Tian said indifferently, "As for you, Doctor Li, the Lu Family enforcing its household rules should be none of your business, right?"
Li Ang shook his head. "If you wish to take a life in front of , then it becos my concern."
It was unclear if their voices were too loud or if a servant had sent a ssage, but Lu Wenlin, the male head of the Lu Mansion, his face still flushed with drunkenness, walked out from the inner chamber to the main hall. He smiled at Li Ang and clasped his hands in greeting, "So, it is Doctor Li who has co to visit. My apologies for not welcoming you from afar, my apologies for not welcoming you from afar. My nephew is also a Disciple of the Academic Palace. We’re all one family here. Whatever the matter is, let’s sit down and talk it over slowly."
"I would like that."
Li Ang sighed. "However, the Academic Palace values not only a Disciple’s talents and gifts but more so their character and morality. To see an evil act that should be stopped and not prevent it ans one does not deserve to be a student of the Academic Palace."
Getting a recomndation letter from the Academic Palace was rely the beginning. In the booklet Pu Liuxuan had left him, it blatantly ntioned how so students and their parents would resort to all sorts of despicable ans to eliminate competitors in the Academic Palace’s entrance examinations. For instance, under the guise of making friends, they would send family attendants (servants who were always at the disposal of the wealthy) to a competitor’s side to specially introduce him to the myriad temptations of Chang’an City, luring him to sink into the depths of a brothel. Or they might dig up all the potential dirt on other competitors and anonymously report them for improper conduct or lack of morals, thus destroying the competitor’s qualification for admission. It could be called stopping at nothing.
Hence, when a servant of the Lu Mansion was about to tie soone up right in front of Li Ang, things could no longer be salvaged.
"Li Risheng!"
Ms. Tian said coldly, "You are not yet a student of the Academic Palace; you have no right to lecture the Lu Family on character or morality! Besides, Xi Hui is a concubine of the Lu Mansion, and no matter what, I, as the matriarch of this family, have the right to discipline her. Even if it ans beating her to death..."
"Whom are you going to beat to death?"
A cold voice ca from outside the door. Everyone turned their heads to see Cheng Juxiu walking in, holding Lu Yi’s hand.
Li Ang raised his eyebrows. "Senior Brother?"
Lu Wenlin’s spine stiffened. He said hesitantly, "Ju Xiu..."
Ms. Tian’s two sons shivered. "Cousin..."
Cheng Juxiu entered the hall. He greeted Lu Wenlin with clasped hands, indifferently calling him "Uncle." Then, he imdiately ignored Ms. Tian and her two sons, who had co up to greet him. Turning his head, he smiled bitterly at Li Ang and said, "My apologies for causing you embarrassnt, Junior Brother."
"Senior Brother, you are from the Lu Family’s..."
"Nephew."
Cheng Juxiu smiled bitterly. "When I was seven, both my parents passed away. Along with an old servant, I set out to seek refuge with an uncle who did business in Chang’an. Unfortunately, I got lost and ended up on the streets. Thankfully, our teacher, who was still in Chang’an at the ti, took in and brought into the Academic Palace."
Li Ang nodded. "I see."
"Cousin..."
Ms. Tian’s two sons sensed sothing ominous. Bracing themselves, they stepped forward, but Cheng Juxiu didn’t even spare them a glance as he turned back to look at Lu Wenlin.
Lu Wenlin, who usually appeared good-natured, faced his nephew with trembling hands, unsure where to place them. He awkwardly said, "Ju Xiu, why didn’t you inform your uncle when you returned ho?"
"As an Academic Palace Inspector, I needed to conceal my identity. Moreover, I wanted to see if the Lu Family, in my absence, has been using its connection to the Academic Palace to run rampant in the local area, bullying the good and honest."
Cheng Juxiu swept his cold gaze over Ms. Tian. Although he had never used the na of the Academic Palace for personal gain, the Lu Family, his only relatives, inevitably benefited once word of his connection spread. They always received "flattery" and "convenience" from various people, effortlessly transforming from small cloth rchants with no foundation into a major household in Yizhou.
Unfortunately, proximity to power can lead so to mistakenly believe they possess it.
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