Was it just her imagination?
"I'm back to change my clothes. I need to go out for a bit," Lu Mingxiu explained his purpose.
An Ran nodded, wondering to herself what good thing could have made Lord Lu so happy.
Nian-ge'er, who was playing shuttlecock downstairs, saw Lu Mingxiu coming over and ran excitedly with the shuttlecock in his hand. "Father, I can kick it five times in a row now!"
As he spoke, he was about to show it to Lu Mingxiu.
Lu Mingxiu naturally took An Ran's hand, and the two watched Nian Ge'er's performance with smiles.
All that practice hadn't been for nothing; sure enough, Nian-ge'er kicked five times smoothly, and even managed to kick a sixth one. This exceptional performance made Nian-ge'er extremely happy. In his excitement, he tried to kick a seventh one, but as expected, he failed.
He pouted, and the excitement that had been on his face dimmed considerably.
An Ran gave Lu Mingxiu a wink, urging him to praise Nian Ge'er a couple of times.
"Nian-ge'er is really amazing." Lu Mingxiu readily praised, "He's already very good."
Hearing Lu Mingxiu's affirmation, Nian Ge'er's face finally showed a smile again.
At this moment, Yu Sili also came over to greet Lu Mingxiu. He looked at Nian Ge'er, An Ran, and Lu Mingxiu's family of three, who were enjoying a happy time together, and he secretly felt envious.
He had never met his father.
If his father could come back, his mother's health would stop being so poor, his brother could do what he likes, and the four of them could be reunited—what a happy thing that would be!
Lu Mingxiu had something to do and left quickly, leaving An Ran to stay with them.
Watching Lord Lu's departing figure, An Ran felt that strange feeling return. It seemed that Lord Lu was in a particularly good mood today, and what lifted the corner of Lord Lu's clothes was not the cold wind of winter, but the gentle spring breeze.
That's really strange!
Not only An Ran, but even Qin Feng and Ke Lin, who followed Lu Mingxiu back to the mansion and waited in the study, felt that the Marquis had only changed his clothes, yet he seemed like a completely different person.
The two followed Lord Lu out the door, whispering behind him.
"What's wrong, Lord Marquis? You look so radiant, you must be in an exceptionally good mood," Colin asked, puzzled.
Qin Feng was very experienced, and he said confidently, "I bet he must have tasted something sweet with the madam." Based on his judgment of his lord, all the times he was in a particularly good mood were related to the madam.
Neither of them deliberately lowered their voices.
Anyway, even if they were whispering, Lord Lu's hearing was sharp enough to hear them clearly, so the two of them simply didn't care.
"Do you two think I'm deaf and can't hear you?" Lord Lu finally turned around, his face stern, trying his best to maintain his usual cold and aloof demeanor, and said seriously, "If you say another word, each of you will have to run fifty laps on the training ground first thing tomorrow morning. You'd better figure it out yourselves."
Qin Feng and Colin weren't afraid of being tired, but they were afraid of losing face. Over the years, Lord Lu's methods of punishing people were still the same old ones.
It really works.
The two of them quickly shut their mouths tightly, indicating that they were like clams whose mouths couldn't be pried open.
Lord Lu turned around with satisfaction.
However, the faint smile in the corners of her eyes and brows never faded.
******
Since Sixth Sister was about to get married and there were many visits from relatives, it would not be good to suddenly lock Seventh Sister in the small Buddhist hall or claim that she was sick. Therefore, the punishment against her had to be postponed.
Seventh Sister was imprisoned for two days before being released.
Upon hearing that she had come out, Aunt Li no longer cared about keeping quiet and hurriedly called Seventh Sister to her courtyard, determined to give her a good lesson.
If Seventh Sister doesn't change her troublemaking nature, she'll be the one who suffers in the future!
Seventh Sister came in looking dejected and listless. She seemed to have lost weight, which made Aunt Li both angry and distressed.
Logically speaking, Shi Niang's biological mother, Aunt Lan, was a meek and timid person who dared not even speak loudly and only knew how to flatter Zhao Shi. The Marquis did not particularly like her, and she was only promoted to concubine after giving birth to Shi Niang. But Shi Niang was completely different from her. Shi Niang was clever and quick-witted, and had a gentle and generous nature. Before Liu Niang and Jiu Niang were born, the Grand Madam had always thought highly of Shi Niang.
Unfortunately, Seven Sister didn't inherit any of his methods; instead, she learned to be overconfident and arrogant.
"Tell me, what happened?" Aunt Li gestured for Seventh Sister to sit beside her, her tone tinged with reproach. "What were you thinking, doing something so foolish!"
Seventh Sister felt wronged.
"It's all because Mother protected Jiu Niang!" She was still full of resentment. "I was just stating the facts. Why can't I talk about people behind their backs?"
Seeing that she remained stubborn, Aunt Li sighed.
“Tell Aunt Li everything in detail,” Aunt Li said patiently. “Why did you suddenly decide to stir up trouble in front of Marquis Pingyuan?”
Seventh Sister was alarmed; her aunt was speaking in the same tone as her stepmother. "What do you mean I'm spreading rumors? Doesn't Fang Ting like Ninth Sister? Doesn't Chen Qian have some kind of affair with Ninth Sister? And with Third Sister's husband—"
"My dear girl, how dare you say such things!" Aunt Li exclaimed in alarm, quickly covering Seventh Sister's mouth. "Is it any of your business what you're talking about regarding your third sister?"
The matter of Third Sister was a thorn in Zhao's side, and no one dared to touch it easily. Aunt Li didn't know whether to say that Seventh Sister was audacious or brainless.
"I didn't mention it to my mother! Nor did I say it to Marquis Pingyuan!" Seventh Sister wasn't completely brainless.
If Third Sister were also involved, Zhao would probably have no chance to side with her at all. If only Ninth Sister were involved, Zhao might care less.
"I'm just angry," Seventh Sister said resentfully. "Sixth Sister told me that Fang Ting likes Ninth Sister, and that Ninth Sister has some entanglement with him. Otherwise, perhaps I would have married Fang Ting instead of Fang Yu!"
Did Sixth Sister tell her this?
Aunt Li immediately became wary and hurriedly asked Seventh Sister to tell her everything that happened that day.