The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 71 He really is a wicked child.
"Madam, it seems to be the Third Young Master and Third Young Mistress outside," a maid's cheerful voice rang out from inside the carriage.

Madam Lu gently twirled the prayer beads in her right hand. Upon hearing this, she opened her eyes, a fierce glint flashing in them.

"There are only two young masters in the manor." Her voice was cold and stern as she glared at the maidservant warningly. "If you remember it wrong again in the future, you may leave the manor on your own."

The maid trembled, lowered her head, and dared not speak again.

"The little girl is clumsy with words, Madam, please don't take it to heart." Granny Sun handed a cup of tea to Madam Lu. "Madam drew a good fortune stick today, you should be happy."

Master Liaokong personally interpreted the divination slip, saying that the Lu family has a son who will change the family's status in the future.

Madam Lu's expression softened. She took the tea, sipped it, and smiled, "My Yuan'er is indeed a promising young man. It's no wonder that my husband and I have put so much effort into him."

“The eldest young master is quite filial,” Granny Sun continued. “Yesterday, someone was sent over to deliver bird’s nest to the madam to help her recover. I heard that the eldest son’s family didn’t keep any for themselves, and the eldest young mistress even had a little argument with the eldest young master because of it.”

Madam Lu sneered, "I am Yuan'er's biological mother. How can Li Shi compare to me? When we return to the manor, you will personally deliver two scrolls of Buddhist scriptures to the eldest son's house for Li Shi to copy."

"Yes," Granny Sun replied respectfully.

The carriage stopped in front of the Lu residence. Granny Sun helped Madam Lu down from the carriage, only to see an unfamiliar servant boy rushing out of the mansion.

Madam Lu frowned. "Stop!"

The servant paused, turned around, and bowed to Madam Lu.

"Raise your head." Madam Lu stared at the servant. "You don't even bow to your mistress. Who taught you manners?"

She hated servants who didn't know the rules.

The servant said, "Young Master ordered me to go to the yamen. I was in a hurry and accidentally bumped into Madam. Please forgive me."

Madam Lu frowned. "What does Yuan'er want you to go to the yamen for?"

The servant said, "Please forgive me, Madam, but the young master forbade me from speaking to anyone else."

How could she be considered an outsider?

Just as Madam Lu was about to explode with anger, Granny Sun reached out to support her and gently advised, "Madam, it's alright to punish him, but don't delay the young master's affairs."

Thinking of her eldest son, Madam Lu's anger subsided slightly, and she waved her hand to let the servant leave.

The servant bowed gratefully to Granny Sun and ran off into the distance.

Madam Lu turned her head to look at her wet nurse, "You certainly know how to use me as a favor."

"This old servant wouldn't dare," said Granny Sun with a forced smile as she helped Madam Lu up the steps. "It's all because Madam is kind-hearted. If he's going to remember anything, it'll be Madam's good deeds. What does it have to do with this old servant?"

Madam Lu chuckled and let the matter drop, instructing her maid, "Go to Yunlan Courtyard and see what the eldest young master is doing."

"Yes." The maidservant acknowledged the order and left.

Madam Lu returned to the main courtyard, washed up, changed into a set of casual clothes, and picked up the account books to examine them closely.

A maid brought in a bowl of stewed bird's nest, which Granny Sun took and handed to Madam Lu.

Madam Lu put down the account book, stirred it gently with a spoon, and drank only two spoonfuls before the maid returned.

"Reporting to Madam, the eldest young master is studying in the study."

Madam Lu hummed in agreement, then looked up and saw the maid's hesitant expression. Displeased, she said, "Just say it all at once. Why are you beating around the bush?"

"When I returned, I heard something about the Third... Young Master Lu." Madam Lu was taken aback. After realizing who this Young Master Lu was, her face suddenly turned cold and a deep look of disgust flashed in her eyes.

Fearing punishment, the young maidservant quickly recounted everything she had overheard.

"I heard that Manager Ge of the rice shop caught Young Master Lu committing adultery with a woman. The two confronted each other in court. After the prefect interrogated them, it turned out that Manager Ge had conspired with the people of the rice shop to frame him. Manager Ge and a shop assistant named Wang Fei were sentenced to hanging."

"Very well!" Madam Lu slammed her hand on the table and said angrily, "Being kicked out of the family, she not only doesn't reflect on her actions, but even goes against her own family members. What a wretched child!"

The maids in the room were so frightened that they knelt on the ground. Granny Sun waved her hand at everyone, signaling the maids to leave first.

She stepped forward to comfort Madam Lu, saying, "Madam, please don't be angry. Be careful not to upset yourself."

“Granny, how could I have given birth to such a cold-blooded monster?” Madam Lu was panting with anger, her eyes brimming with tears. “I had a difficult pregnancy with him, and I almost miscarried several times. I finally made it to eight months, but then I went into premature labor, and I almost lost both my baby and myself.”

“I pitied his frail health and took care of him personally. Even though we hired a wet nurse, I still breastfed him during the day. Which of his two older brothers drank my milk? He was sick every few days and had a high fever at night. I stayed up all night every time, never asking anyone else to help him.”

"After raising him to four years old, he was finally able to be separated from people a little. I was only out of the house for a short while, and he almost bit off Yuan'er's ear."

"He's only four years old, yet he wants to swallow his brother's flesh and blood raw. How could I have given birth to such a monster?"

Madam Lu will never forget that bloody scene.

The four-year-old child's mouth was full of blood, with bits of meat stuck to his teeth, looking like a demon crawling out of hell. He stretched out his blood-stained little hands and innocently called out to his mother.

Even now, she still has nightmares about that child suddenly lunging at her and tearing at her flesh.

Since then, she has not dared to take care of the child herself. Even when the child was sick and nearly died several times, she would only stand outside the yard and take a look from afar.

Yuan'er, on the other hand, not only didn't hold his brother's actions against him, but also frequently visited him.

Once, she saw the wound on Yuan'er's arm and questioned the servants who served him. Only then did she learn that the child had never changed his habit of biting people, especially his older brother Yuan'er. He would often pretend to be well-behaved, but would bite Yuan'er as soon as he got close.

Yuan'er is both filial and obedient, loving his brothers without holding grudges, and wholeheartedly wants to be a good older brother, but what he receives in return is repeated hurt from his younger brother.

They were all children who came out of her belly, so why is there such a big difference?
Madam Lu's thoughts drifted away as she recalled the wicked things Lu Chengjing had done in his youth, and a chill ran down her spine.

A child under ten years old abused servants, beating them to death and then ordering them to be chopped up and fed to the dogs.

This isn't an innocent and adorable child; it's a demon!

She dared not let the child stay at home any longer and sent him away under the pretext of recuperating from illness. Unexpectedly, after less than two years of peace, the master learned that the child was intelligent and brought him back to live in the mansion.

Fortunately, the human race has now been eradicated, and that cold-blooded monster can no longer harm her Yuan'er!

On the other side, Shi Tou drove the oxcart to pick up Shang Wan and the other two, and headed to the bricklayer's residence they had inquired about.

They stopped at a pawnshop along the way, and Shang got off the carriage late at night to pawn the jade pendant.

Although the jade was a rare and fine piece, the pawnshop owner deliberately lowered the price because of the inscription on the jade pendant, and it was ultimately only pawned for fifteen taels of silver.

Originally, the shopkeeper only offered ten taels, but after friendly negotiation with Shang Wan, and since it was a dead pawn, he added five taels.

Although it was far from what she had expected, Shang Wan figured that since she was getting silver for free anyway, fifteen taels would do.

She placed the bundle containing the silver on Lu Chengjing's lap, intentionally trying to provoke him into talking.

Lu Chengjing was even more silent than usual, and something was very wrong with him.

(End of this chapter)