flamboyant

Chapitre 59

Seeing her distress, Lu Ziqi gently pinched her nose and said, "You really are a shrew. The woman who gave me the embroidered pouch was Ziqin!"

"Ziqin...didn't she go back to her hometown?" Song Xiaohua suddenly became angry again: "When did you start having an affair with her?!"

Lu Ziqi remained silent, gazing at the sky.

"She's now a member of the Wang family, how could I possibly have an affair with a married woman?"

"The Wang family? Wang Lin?!"

"We got married five days ago. This embroidered pouch was made by Ziqin herself, and it contains the couple's wedding candies."

Song Xiaohua was speechless for a moment, then peeled a piece of candy, put it in her mouth, and chewed it: "So sweet." After chewing it again, she rolled her eyes: "You mean to say that if Ziqin wasn't married and wasn't a married woman, you could have an affair with her?"

Lu Ziqi was speechless again and looked up at the sky.

Song Xiaohua's previous guess was correct; Mei'er was indeed wronged.

Third Aunt Qin was not wrong; she did indeed ruin herself because of her good looks and restlessness.

Now that Madam Yuan has one son and two daughters and holds great power in the family, she is no longer as insignificant as she once was. Her position as the eldest daughter-in-law of the main branch is unshakeable, so she will naturally no longer tolerate the existence of such a 'vixen' who wants to offer herself to her husband at any time.

Therefore, it was only a matter of time before Mei'er was driven away; this time, it was just a matter of using Song Xiaohua's hand to get rid of her.

Those two pieces of braised beef were indeed given to Ziqin by Mei'er, and were indeed brought by someone through her cousin; however, they were just ordinary goods produced by an ordinary shop.

What Ziqin gave to Wang Lin was a substituted braised beef, and the medicine inside was naturally added by Ziqin herself.

The ingredients for making the laxative were indeed picked from Zhao's courtyard, but the person who picked them was a maidservant who had been bribed by Yuan.

With so many herbs, the few ordinary leaves scattered in the corners would go unnoticed. Moreover, it seems no one remembers that Zhao and Yuan studied medicine together.

Yuan had given birth to two daughters but no son, and in desperation, she gave her dowry maid to her husband as a concubine. After she finally had a son, Zhao and her son became a thorn in her side.

As a result, with her deliberate indulgence, Zhao became increasingly domineering and tyrannical, and Lu Zhi became increasingly unruly and stupid.

After years of patience, the time is ripe to use oneself as bait to eliminate the stumbling block in one fell swoop.

Without his mother's protection, Lu Zhi could only be manipulated and would never amount to anything.

As for the remaining concubine, she only has one daughter, and she will never have any more children, possessing no ability to compete with others. Therefore, she can simply remain there as evidence of Madam Yuan's magnanimity and tolerance.

After Lu Ziheng returns, he will probably not only not blame or doubt her, but will also do his best to protect Zhao's life and volunteer to raise Lu Zhi himself, thus respecting and valuing her even more.

In this play, it seems that only the Yuan family made their grand entrance and sang their way to a perfect end.

After hearing what Lu Ziqi said, Song Xiaohua became completely depressed.

Although she had figured out most of the truth over the past few days, it was still very disheartening to have her speculations confirmed.

In other words, she, Song Xiaohua, is a broken gun that is being played around with, a stupid pig that is being sold out but still desperately trying to help and shout it out!

Damn it! That's so frustrating for that wolf in sheep's clothing!

After blushing and enduring it for a while, Song Xiaohua suddenly screamed "Ah!" and hugged the pavilion pillar, about to crash into it. Lu Ziqi hurriedly grabbed her from behind, saying, "Your head isn't very sharp to begin with, you can't afford to get it hurt again."

"……you!"

Provoked, Song Xiaohua felt a sweet taste in her throat and her vision went black. Suddenly, she jumped up and landed squarely on the chin of the person behind her.

Looking at Lu Ziqi, who was half-bent over with a worried expression and covering his chin, she calmly clapped her hands: "You've been playing mysterious with me for so long before you finally told me. It must have been fun and satisfying to see me so anxious and frustrated, right? Okay, now I'm satisfied. Tell me, how did you find out all this? And what was all that so-called 'good show' all about?"

Ziqin and Wang Lin, both unlucky fellow villagers, were kicked out of Lu Tuo's mansion in anger and had no relatives or friends left. They had no choice but to return to their hometown, so they naturally traveled together.

Not far from the capital, he was struck by bad luck when he encountered a small group of bandits in a desolate wilderness. Just as he was being chased with no way to escape and was about to meet his end, another band of outlaws appeared.

So, a brawl ensued, with the bandits easily defeating the robbers. Just as they were about to kill the women, steal the loot, and divide it among themselves, they unfortunately ran into a passing imperial guard. As the saying goes, thieves don't fight soldiers; seeing the situation was unfavorable, the bandits immediately packed up and fled.

Among that Imperial Guard was an acquaintance of theirs, Lu Ziqi, a rising star of the Privy Council who was out surveying for the purpose of drawing a detailed military map.

Song Xiaohua pouted: "So this is what you meant by 'business trip' the other day?"

"It was absolutely true that we were on official business. It just so happened that we happened to be attacked, and out of consideration for our past relationship as master and servant, I just helped them out."

"Could there really be such a coincidence in the world?"

Lu Ziqi shrugged: "So-called coincidences are all arranged by people."

"So, you were the one who orchestrated the Imperial Guards, the bandits, and the outlaws?"

“No, not robbers. All I can mobilize are well-trained soldiers; they can’t convincingly play those petty, low-level characters.”

"Abusing your power for personal gain, and you even dragged me down with you!"

He smiled and pulled her to sit down on the stone bench: "Actually, if Father hadn't intervened, with my current abilities, how could I have easily mobilized the surrounding garrison troops to help me put on this show?"

After gathering her thoughts, her eyes lit up: "So, Father deliberately drove Ziqin and Wang Lin out of the manor?"

"Ziqin has been by her sister-in-law's side for many years and is an absolute confidante. She knows many things that cannot be told to outsiders. Now that she has been suddenly kicked out, her sister-in-law is caught off guard and will inevitably not have time to arrange the aftermath, thus leaving some loopholes and flaws in her. Therefore, it is inevitable that some people with different purposes will want to take advantage of her so as to have a trump card to control her sister-in-law."

"Could it be... that the robbers were sent by my sister-in-law to kill and cover up the crime?"

Lu Ziqi shook his head: "She doesn't need to kill Ziqin to shut her up, because Ziqin's parents and family are all under her control."

Song Xiaohua was stunned for a moment: "Then who else could it be?"

"Fourth Aunt has been in charge of the household for decades. Do you really think she willingly relinquished power? I have no interest in knowing the details of the power struggle between her and her sister-in-law. All I know is that the loser is always looking for a way to get back at her."

"Therefore, the second aunt wanted to capture Ziqin and get some secrets out of her so that she could bring down the eldest sister-in-law."

"In my opinion, whether we get the information or not, Ziqin has no chance of survival."

Song Xiaohua's heart skipped a beat: "Using someone else to do the dirty work, framing someone else?"

Lu Ziqi gently patted the back of her hand: "As long as it is planned properly, it is not difficult to do it flawlessly. Moreover, it can deliver the most fatal blow to the opponent."

"Then, why are you and Dad..."

"Father was acting on my behalf. As for why I did it, don't you know?"

"You want to control your sister-in-law so that she will never dare to cause me any more trouble."

Lu Ziqi smiled mischievously: "Why don't you think that I'm doing this so that you can take charge of the household?"

Song Xiaohua curled her lip: "If you're not afraid of making a mess of the Lu family by someone as lazy as me, then go ahead and get on with this idea. By the way, where are Ziqin and Wang Lin now?"

"I arranged for them to go to Jiangnan under assumed names. My aunt has an old friend there who has already helped them buy a house. Wang Lin has a skill, so supporting his family won't be a problem. Oh, by the way, their relatives are waiting for them in the house."

"Really? That's amazing!" Song Xiaohua was overjoyed and gave Lu Ziqi a big kiss on the cheek. "You got everything sorted out. You're awesome! You truly are my man!"

Thankfully, this place is quiet and rarely visited. The starlight and moonlight are dim, so you can't see anything or anyone. Amitabha...

After silently communicating with Buddha, Lu Ziqi continued, "Are you satisfied with this good show?"

Song Xiaohua thought for a moment, then her face fell in frustration: "Anyway, I was the only idiot from beginning to end, getting completely fooled by you guys who put on a show." As she spoke, she punched him again indignantly: "You were the worst one, doing so much but not telling me anything, afraid I would ruin your plans, right?"

“Of course not…” Lu Ziqi raised his hand and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear: “Actually, I didn’t want you to know any of this, because there are too many dark sides to it. But since you came to this family with me, you should be prepared to accept the rules of survival here. There are some things you don’t have to do, but you must understand the conflicts and entanglements involved, otherwise, you will inevitably get hurt one day. I didn’t tell you before because I wanted to wait until things were completely resolved before slowly analyzing them for you. In addition, I also wanted you to use this time to think it over carefully.”

"What are you thinking? At most, I can see that the ultimate beneficiary in this matter is my sister-in-law. That's all. I only figured it out after my aunt reminded me. As for the other tricks, I would never have guessed them." Song Xiaohua gently rested her head in that warm embrace. "I'm useless, aren't I? I can't help you with things outside, and I make you worry about things at home."

Lu Ziqi lifted a strand of her soft hair and played with it between his fingers: "Silly girl, why do you say that? Actually, you've already done a really good job."

"Pah! That's so offensive!"

"My sister-in-law has been planning this for a long time. Mei'er and Zhao's fates were already decided. The reason for dragging you into this was purely a spur-of-the-moment decision. While there was an intention to use you to launch the plan and minimize suspicion, the main purpose was to observe your approach and prepare for potential future confrontations. When you noticed Wuque's unusual behavior, you immediately realized there was something wrong with the food and discreetly had it sent to a reputable pharmacy for testing by a doctor. You even wrote down the results and signed your name as the strongest evidence." At this point, Lu Ziqi couldn't help but chuckle: "Where did you learn that trick?"

Song Xiaohua muttered under her breath, "The more food quality issues you see, the more you'll naturally learn..."

Ignoring her strange remarks, Lu Ziqi continued, "Then, you persuaded Wang Lin to come forward as a witness. This was not easy, because anyone with eyes could see Wang Lin's feelings for Ziqin, and he himself is the kind of person who only cares about being good to others and does not ask for anything in return."

Song Xiaohua hesitated for a moment, then sat up straight: "Actually, I also used him. At the time, although I felt that this matter was very likely related to the Zhao family, with whom I had a previous dispute, and that Ziqin was framed, I wasn't sure. But I told Wang Lin that I firmly believed Ziqin was innocent and asked him to testify in order to clear Ziqin's name. If it was later proven that Ziqin was indeed the one who did it, then I would have made Wang Lin betray the person he loved with his own hands."

Lu Ziqi's eyes shimmered softly in the light of the crescent moon. He gently took her hand and held it in his palm: "Do you regret doing this?"

Raising her head to meet the gentle, smiling face, Song Xiaohua's eyes were as smooth and calm as a mirror: "I don't regret it. Even if it really was Ziqin who did it, even if Wang Lin will regret it for the rest of his life and blame me for the rest of his life, I won't regret it. Because I will never allow anyone to hurt my family, including my dog!" After her generous words, she couldn't help but feel deflated: "Sigh, in the end, Ziqin still betrayed Wang Lin and his trust."

Lu Ziqi smiled slightly: "She had no choice but to do what she was told. However, it's a good thing that they can finally be together after all these hardships. Wang Lin is honest and simple by nature, and he has never doubted Zi Qin's devotion. And Zi Qin has finally broken free from her constraints and can start her own life. She will surely open her heart to Wang Lin. I believe that after leaving the troublesome capital city, they will live a good and peaceful life."

Song Xiaohua nodded: "I think Ziqin also likes Wang Lin. Otherwise, how could she know him so well, knowing how good he is to Wuque, to the point that she would save such a famous braised beef for Wuque? In fact, that's where I started to feel something was wrong. Mei'er and Wang Lin aren't familiar with each other; they don't know each other at all. Isn't doing this too risky? What if someone dies? Wouldn't she lose her own head?"

He slightly bent his index finger and gently tapped her forehead three times, teasingly saying, "Looks like your little pig brain isn't so bad after all!"

She grabbed his hand, opening her mouth as if to bite: "In the end, all of this is caused by you men's lust! What's the point of marrying so many wives? Do you feel proud and accomplished watching women fight each other for you? I'm warning you, if you dare to let another woman into the house, I won't fight with her. I'll cut off your 'lust root' completely and make you a eunuch. Let's see how you still manage to have three wives and four concubines on your left and right!"

Lu Ziqi shrank back and pulled her into his arms: "You already bit me, do you want to do it again? It's true that you become like those you associate with. If you keep hanging out with Wuque, I bet you'll be crawling on the ground fighting with him for bones soon." He held her still struggling body tightly with his arms and sighed with a smile: "Didn't I promise you a long time ago that you would be the last woman to walk into my heart?"

He shouted in a muffled voice, "Even if you're not tempted, taking action alone isn't enough!"

"Alright, alright, then I'll grant you one more request: from now on, you will be the only woman with whom I can have physical intimacy."

"So that means..." She shifted to sit sideways on his lap, close to his ear, "I'm the last woman who'll ever see you strip naked and unleash your beastly nature!"

The warm breath made her earlobes feel hot. The crescent moon had quietly disappeared into the clouds, and even the stars in the sky seemed to have closed their eyes. Perhaps they were all embarrassed by the girl's bold words and actions.

Lu Ziqi inhaled the fragrance from her hair, his hand slowly moving upwards from her slender waist.

A slight smile involuntarily played on his lips. It seemed that after doing so many uncivilized things, one had become accustomed to it. Indeed, a person's skin grows thicker with practice…