Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 266 This really is a pit of fire

After the young couple left, the Lu family's flower hall was still full of people.

“That’s the whole story. I really don’t know what I did to offend the Third Young Master and cause him to beat and scold me like this. If I have done anything wrong, please instruct me, Father.” After Lu Ying finished speaking, she stood up in the center of the room with her left cheek red and swollen.

Before Lu Jie at the head of the table could speak, Yan Shu, sitting in the guest seat, turned pale and slammed his fist on the table at Yan Qu. "You beast! Your wife has been the apple of her parents' eye since she was a child. Even your mother and I dote on her more than we dote on her. Now that she's just married into the family, she's suffering such humiliation in your hands. Kneel down!"

Madam Yan also stood up and slapped Yan Qu across the face: "What are you all standing there for?!"

Yan Qu's face was twisted from the blow. After glancing at Lu Jie, he knelt down and said, "I know I was wrong. I beg my father-in-law to punish me."

A cold glint appeared at the corner of Lu Ying's mouth.

Lu Jie glared at the ground: "Today is an auspicious day for my Lu family's daughter to return home after her marriage. Even if Ying'er has made a big mistake, it is only right to remind her. But to resort to violence is going too far. Those who know better will think that you, Young Master Yan, are deliberately bringing bad luck to my Lu family. May I ask, Lu Jie, where have I offended you?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Shu immediately kicked Yan Qu in the back: "You beast! You should take responsibility for yourself!"

Yan Qu gritted his teeth and raised his hand.

Lu Jie let him slap him a few times, then looked up and said, "That's enough."

Yan Qu's face was swollen on both sides after he stopped.

Yan Shu gritted his teeth and glared at him, then bowed respectfully to Lu Jie, saying, "It was our fault for failing in discipline. We will certainly teach them a lesson when we return." He then glanced at Madam Yan and ordered Yan Qu, "Get out of here!"

After the family of three left, Lu Ying turned her gaze back to Lu Jie and approached him: "Thank you, Father, for upholding justice for your daughter."

Lu Jie glanced at her and said, "You'd better watch yourself."

Lu Ying trembled slightly and clenched her hands in her sleeves.

……

Upon returning to his residence, Yan Shu immediately ordered his servants to tie up Yan Qu.

Madam Yan hurriedly asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to break that unfilial son's legs!" he roared, pointing at the door. "I only expected him to stay away from home day and night. But when he finally came back, he started a fight with someone! What does he take his wife for? One of those shady characters outside? She's a young lady from the Lu family! How dare he lay a hand on her?!"

"It's all in the past, and he's already apologized. His father-in-law has forgiven him. What more do you want?" Madam Yan pulled him back forcefully. "Who would benefit from further conflict?"

Yan Shu looked at her and snorted heavily.

Madam Yan also looked displeased. She closed the door and returned, saying, "Ever since he learned about Qu-ge'er's matter, Master's attitude towards him has changed."

Yan Shu suddenly turned his head, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

Madam Yan strode up to him and said, “He just can’t have children, he’s not a cripple! He’s educated, intelligent, and has a bright future. Does being unable to have children really matter that much? In the future, he can adopt a child to carry on the family line, right?”

Yan Shuyin sat on the couch.

Madam Yan slowly exhaled: "Master promised to give him some tasks before, but he hasn't fulfilled his promise yet. Since Master knows that the Lu family's young lady is not to be touched, and knows that it is important to maintain the dignity of the in-laws, then he should also know that the thread binding the Lu family is tied to Qu-ge'er. Cultivating Qu-ge'er and planning his future is also a way of showing respect to the Lu family."

Yan Shu glanced at her, then casually unfolded a fan beside him. ...

Yan Qu returned from the Lu family with a face much more swollen and red than Lu Ying's, which made Ying Zi extremely happy.

While doing Lu Ying's makeup, she murmured, "Master still loves Madam. As the old saying goes, even broken bones are still connected by tendons. You are his own flesh and blood, how could he really ignore you and let others bully you? Even if Madam is no longer here—"

"Snapped!"

Before Ying Zi could finish speaking, Lu Ying interrupted her with a comb that she slammed on the table.

"Get out!" Lu Ying glared at her in the mirror, her face cold. "Get out!"

Yingzi was taken aback and stepped back, then walked out with her head down.

Granny Li encountered her in the corridor and vaguely heard the earlier sounds. She asked, "What's wrong?"

Ying Zi, her eyes red, explained what had happened. Granny Li sighed, "Why did you have to bring up the Madam..."

After saying that, she glanced inside the house, waved her hand, and went in.

The room was dimly lit, so Granny Li lit a lamp.

Just as the firelight filled the room, someone outside announced, "Madam has arrived!"

Granny Li quickly turned around to look at Lu Ying, then lifted the curtain, and Madam Yan had already arrived at the door with her servants.

"Get out." She glanced around the room.

Lu Ying stood up from in front of the mirror. Madam Yan walked up to her, looked her over for a moment, then sighed, pressed her down to sit, opened a porcelain bottle, scooped out some medicine, and applied it to her left cheek. Lu Ying instinctively tried to look away, but Madam Yan wouldn't let her move: "Silly child, you've suffered so much, why didn't you tell me?"

Lu Ying couldn't resist her hand gestures as she applied the medicine, and was forced to lean against the dressing table to meet her gaze.

“You are a member of the Yan family. If there are any legal disputes between husband and wife, your parents-in-law will stand up for you. Why bother your father? He has it tough too. He holds the important position of Minister of Revenue in the court, serves the Emperor in the palace, and when he returns to the Lu family, he has to clean up the mess after your mother’s murder…” Madam Yan lowered her eyes and glanced at her, taking in her stern face. “And how can you expect him to stand up for you and help you punish your husband?”

Lu Ying clasped her hands behind her back on the dressing table, her nails digging into the gaps.

"Qu-ge'er is your lifelong support. From the moment you stepped into the Yan family's gate in the bridal sedan chair, you have shared his glory and disgrace. If he retreats, you retreat; if he advances, you advance too." In the backlight, Madam Yan's eyes were as sharp as snow. She spread the medicine evenly with her fingers and then withdrew her hand. "In this huge Yan family, you and I should be on the same side. Remember, never start fighting among yourselves."

As she spoke, she picked out some ointment, applied it to Lu Ying's wound with a smile, and sighed softly, "Poor thing, with such a beautiful face, she needs to take good care of herself."

Lu Ying didn't know when the sounds around her stopped or when the person in front of her left.

All she knew was that when Granny Li helped her pull her hands back from the dressing table, the few fingernails that were stuck in the cracks of the table were all broken.

“Grandma…” Li Mama’s eyes welled up with tears of heartache.

She seems to have made a mistake. A huge mistake.

At the time, Lu Ying thought that marrying into the Yan family and becoming a young mistress was her only way out. Little did she know that it would turn out to be a bottomless pit of fire!

It turns out that Jiang was not wrong in saying it, nor did she do anything wrong. Her efforts to obstruct the marriage were indeed for Lu Ying's sake!
“That beast won’t suddenly come back,” Lu Ying suddenly pushed her away, raised her pale face and looked towards the door. “Go and find out who told him to come back? Who made him come back today?!”