Kiyomi Tsuki and His Fox

Chapter 122

"Yongxiang, stop talking." Cai Bo'an stopped Lei Yongxiang from continuing, and cupped his hands, saying, "May I ask, Madam, is there anything else you need?"

"This is utterly outrageous!" Madam Lu said sternly. "When did the Lu Family Manor change its name to the Cai or Lei family?"

Cai Bo'an's face also darkened, and he said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, "If you find us to be incompetent, Madam, you may dismiss us."

"You!" Madam Lu trembled with anger and shouted, "Get out of my way!"

Supported by her maid, she walked towards the study. Madam Li followed closely behind. Suddenly, Li Zhen craned his neck, and upon seeing her son, Madam Li felt a sense of relief. At the door, Wang Jie, Little Crow, Huang Chong, Zhang Lang, Mao Ying, and Guo Guo stared at her coldly with silent, angry eyes. Madam Lu, her face flushed with rage, cursed inwardly: "Damn servants!" She shouted, "Zhang Zhichun, open the door!"

Zhang Zhichun pushed open the carved door expressionlessly, bowed, and said, "Madam, please."

This time, Madam Lu did not have Madam Li or the maid accompany her, and went into the study alone. As soon as the carved door closed, Wang Jie said angrily, "If I had to serve such a master, I would rather hang myself."

Madam Li's eyes widened in fright, and she scolded softly, "How dare you speak like that! Be careful that Madam hears you, or you'll be in trouble. Never say that again, never say it again."

Wang Jie glanced at Madam Li, then shut her mouth and said nothing more.

Inside the study, on the couch, Lu Qingcheng held Qing Jianyue and gently rocked her, as if she were cuddling a baby and soothing her to sleep, completely ignoring her mother who had entered.

Seeing this, Madam Lu was once again certain that Qing Jianyue was dead. An indescribable sense of relief surged through her like a flood. A mocking smile appeared on her lips as she thought: Lu Ji, you didn't expect this, did you? The clown you sent is dead. Hmph, let's see what you do now?

After calming herself down a bit, Madam Lu's face hardened. "What's the use of being sad now that he's dead? Give him a proper burial; letting him rest in peace is the most important thing. Also, release Yun'er; she's innocent."

Without looking up, Lu Qingcheng said, "Whether she is guilty or not needs to be determined by Judge Cai before a verdict can be made."

Madam Lu angrily said, "Don't you even listen to your mother? What kind of person would personally serve poison to the person they're going to poison? Is there such a fool in the world?"

"In that case, please tell me, Mother, who poisoned me?" Lu Qingcheng finally raised her face to look at her mother. Her eyes were very dark, like the color of hell; they were also extremely cold, like a frozen river.

Madam Lu couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine, which suddenly spread throughout her body.

Lu Qingcheng smiled sadly, "Mother is happy that Jianyue is dead, isn't she?"

The way her son spoke, his attitude, and his terrifying gaze filled Madam Lu with immense fear. She panicked and stammered, "What are you saying? Although... although I don't like Qing Jianyue, I have no intention of gloating."

"Why did Mother lie?" Lu Qingcheng said calmly, "Next time you want to lie and deceive others, please don't say it out loud. Even if you do, don't do it so loudly that your child can hear it."

Madam Lu's face flushed instantly, as if it had been scorched by the blazing summer sun. She never dreamed that her son would show her no respect whatsoever. Enraged, she snapped, "That's right, I don't like Qing Jianyue. I despise him, I even hate him. I wish he were dead right now. These are my true feelings."

"So you sent someone to poison Jian Yue," Lu Qingcheng said.

Madam Lu's eyes widened suddenly. "What did you say?"

"You sent Xu Lan to assassinate Lin Feng, assassinate Chief Enforcer Cai, and poison Jian Yue. Your purpose is crystal clear." Lu Qingcheng said coldly, her voice devoid of any warmth. "You wanted to kill me, didn't you, Mother?"

Madam Lu seemed to be greatly shocked, staring at her son in disbelief, and said tremblingly, "What did you say? What did you say? Say it again."

"Mother, you want to punish me, don't you?" Lu Qingcheng smiled sadly. "Because I disobeyed you. I killed my uncle, forced Liu Jianhua to commit suicide, sent Sun Yue to prison, and took away the power from you. So, Mother, you want to punish me, don't you?"

Madam Lu glared at her son as if he were an enemy. Her chest heaved violently with anger; her face was flushed crimson, as if it were about to bleed; she was so angry that she could barely utter a word.

Slowly opening her eyes, Xiaoqian felt something biting and pulling at her clothes, so she groaned. This immediately caused the thing pulling her to release its grip. Then, the white fox jumped in front of her, wagging its tail happily.

Xiaoqian, thank goodness! You didn't break any bones, and you're not dead. Now I can explain to my master. Get up quickly, we still need to get to the Academy of Literature. That bastard said Master took some poison. Master is so unfair; he took poison without even waiting for me to eat it with him.

Xiaoqian struggled to sit up and looked around blankly. "Fox, where am I?"

"Oh dear, don't worry about where you are, stand up quickly so I can lead the way. You look so skinny, but you're heavier than a log." After complaining, the white fox opened its mouth wide to loosen its teeth.

Xiaoqian managed to stand up, but after taking only a few steps, she fell to the ground again.

The white fox was alarmed. "What happened? Did you break your leg? I don't want to drag you along anymore!"

Xiaoqian was groping around in the snow when she called out, "Fox, come quick!"

The white fox huffed and puffed. "No, I don't want to be dragged away. I want to go to my master, I want my master to hug me."

Xiaoqian dug a person out of the thick snow. When she saw the person's face, she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "Fourth Lord!"

Upon hearing the sound, the white fox quickly jumped over, and upon seeing it, couldn't help but exclaim: "Handsome brother!"

Xiaoqian looked at the white fox.

The white fox leaped a great distance, angrily shouting, "No! I'm just a young fox, not a thousand-year-old fox demon. I don't have the magic to move two people!"

Xiaoqian coaxed gently, "Fox, go to the Cai residence and find someone to carry the Fourth Lord back. We can't leave him here, or he'll freeze to death."

The white fox blinked its golden eyes. "Oh, is that so? I can find someone to help. But right now, I really want to be with my master. I want to be held by my master." Never mind, with this heavy snow, the fox should be nestled in its master's arms, or perhaps sleeping soundly in the warm fur coat of the castle lord.

Xiaoqian pleaded, "I know, I also want to get to Young Master Jianyue's side as soon as possible." She shed tears and cried, "But we can't just stand by and watch someone die. Besides, the Fourth Lord and Young Master Jianyue are the best of friends. If the Fourth Lord dies, Young Master Jianyue will be heartbroken."

The white fox lowered its tail helplessly. "Fine, since this fool is good friends with his master, I'll run errands for him. You wait here for me, and don't wander off."

After giving its instructions, it suddenly turned around and shot off into the distance like an electric current...

Xiaoqian picked up Cai Zhonghe and placed his head in her arms. She hugged him tightly, shielding him from the fierce wind and snow with her back, hoping to give him some warmth. Tears streamed down Xiaoqian's face as she murmured, "Fourth Lord, why did you faint here? How is Young Master Jianyue now? He will surely be alright, won't he?"

In the courtyard, everyone was filled with unease. Everyone knew that Lu Qingcheng doted on Qing Jianyue, while Madam Lu despised her. If these two highest-ranking figures of the Lu Family Manor were to clash, the resulting disaster for the manor would be unpredictable.

A sudden commotion arose outside, and then Qingfeng, accompanied by Li Anguo, Liu Xicheng, He Zhiqiang, and Xu Lan, pushed through the crowd and entered the Shuxiangyuan. Everyone's eyes lit up when they saw Qingfeng. Cai Bo'an, Lei Yongxiang, Su Haibo, and Zhou Peng were overjoyed.

"Qingfeng, you're back! That's wonderful!" Cai Bo'an suddenly saw Xu Lan and exclaimed in surprise, "Xu Lan?"

"I'll explain about Xu Lan to you later," Qingfeng said. "Where's my cousin?"

“They’re inside.” Lei Yongxiang added, emphasizing, “And Madam, she’s inside too.”

"I understand," Qingfeng said. "Please report it."