Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 276 Just kidding!
Lu Jie also picked up his fan and slowly opened it: "And Lu Rong."

"Where's Lu Rong?" Yan Shu looked towards the door.

"He went to unload the sedan chair. As a servant, this is his duty."

“Sometimes I wonder, you are a refined and talented scholar, why did you choose a sturdy attendant?” The tea was served, and Yan Shu lowered his eyes, adjusted the cup, and raised his gaze: “I don’t think he is a simple attendant.”

Lu Jie lifted the lid and fanned the tea leaves: "He's just a servant, what's so special about him?"

Yan Shu smirked.

At this moment, a servant from the Yan family at the gate said, "Master, Lu Rong has arrived."

Lu Jie stopped fanning himself and looked in. He saw Lu Rong being led in by two burly guards—these guards were from the Yan family!

He turned to look at Yan Shu.

Yan Shu smiled slightly and handed the cooled tea to Lu Rong: "Your master has been working hard for you on behalf of Lord Liu. He must be thirsty in this hot weather. Drink this tea to soothe your throat."

Lu Rong pursed her lips, glanced at him, and then looked at Lu Jie to the side.

"What, not drinking?"

Yan Shu's hand remained outstretched.

Lu Rong lifted the hem of his robe and knelt down: "This humble servant dares not!"

"You dare not?" Yan Shu said. "Why wouldn't you dare? I've known you, sir, for many years, and we're quite familiar with each other. Why wouldn't you dare?"

Lu Rong stared at the ground, his sweaty forehead pointing directly upwards.

Lu Jie looked over his head at the Yan family guards standing in the house, and then looked further ahead, where people were also standing at the door and under the eaves.

This is clearly a hostile move.

Lu Jie reopened his fan and slowly waved it: "Lord Yan has offered tea; it would be impolite to refuse. Please accept it."

Lu Rongfang bit his lower lip and reached out to take it.

Before his hand could even touch the cup, Yan Shu spread his five fingers, and the cup crashed to the ground!

The cup only broke with a chip, but the tea spilled all over Yan Shu!
"You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences! I offered you tea, and you dare to smash my cup?!—Guards!" Yan Shu ordered in a deep voice, "Seize him!"

Almost in the blink of an eye, two burly guards behind Lu Rong grabbed his arms from the left and right and pressed him to the ground!
Things happened so suddenly that Lu Jie stood up.

Before he could finish speaking, Yan Shu raised his head and said, "You said back then that my father had been kind to you, and it would be too formal for us to address each other by official rank. So you suggested that we address each other as brothers."

"Now that we are not only brothers, but also in-laws, your servants have been disrespectful to me, so I have given them a slight punishment. You shouldn't blame me, right?"

Lu Jie's open lips tightened again.

Upon hearing this, Lu Rong suddenly stopped struggling.

Since becoming acquainted with the Yan family father and son, the Yan family has always treated Lu Jie with great courtesy, and they have never been so aggressive as they are now.

And what else could his current actions be if not because Lu Jie had just taken him to the Ministry of Works?
He looked at Lu Jie.

When the tea was served, Lu Jie only suspected that Yan Shu had tampered with it, but he never expected that Yan Shu would blatantly frame him!
His throat tightened: "Quickly kowtow to Lord Yan and apologize."

Yan Shu's true intention was not in the wine!
Yan Liang had been to the Ministry of Works but had not found what he was looking for. Upon learning that they had gone there first, he naturally became suspicious.

Lu Jie, being a scholar, was incapable of doing all this. Since Lu Rong had been brought up, Yan Shu wanted to force Lu Rong to reveal his ability to secretly steal the documents! Lu Rong was a servant of the Lu family, trained in martial arts from a young age, and had been by Lu Jie's side since he could remember. However, after becoming acquainted with the Yan family father and son, Lu Jie, in order to avoid being overheard by the Jiang family, had him conceal his martial arts skills.

For more than a decade, everyone knew he was a bodyguard, but he was just a bodyguard with fancy but ineffective skills.

No one knew that he was not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also the leader of the eight expert guards protecting Lu Jie.

His madness at this moment was merely to provoke Lu Rong into resisting—once Lu Rong showed signs of knowing martial arts, Yan Shu would be certain that the Ministry of Works' files were taken by them.

Lu Jie's earlier statement that he was just an ordinary servant is therefore inconsistent with his own words!

Lu Rong looked at Yan Shu, lowered his head, and banged his forehead on the floor: "I was careless and made a mistake. I apologize to you, sir. Please forgive me."

“An apology should be done with proper respect,” Yan Shu said. “Is this how the servants of the Minister’s mansion are so perfunctory? Teach them a lesson so they won’t be disrespectful to Minister Lu in the future.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the two guards behind him pressed Lu Rong's head down to the ground!
The Lu family had lived in the capital for generations, accumulating wealth and status over several generations. Their ancestral home was meticulously built, with granite floor tiles throughout. When Lu Rong slammed his head down, the room resounded with a clanging sound, as if his skull had been turned into a drumstick!

He had been sent to Lu Jie's side since childhood. Although Lu Jie and he were not related by blood, they were closer than family.

After a series of banging sounds, his forehead was red from hitting the ground, and then his flesh was broken open. A sticky, dark red stain fell onto the gray floor tiles, and Lu Jie's eyes also turned red.

"Enough!" Lu Jie said, "Lord Yan, please be merciful!"

Yan Shuman said in a casual tone, "Since the Minister is pleading for me, there's no need to kowtow. However, my clothes are quite valuable, so you should make some compensation."

His gaze fell on Lu Rong's arms: "Since these hands are disobedient, then use these hands to make amends! Lan Chu, Lord Lu! What do you say?"

Lu Jie slowly took a deep breath: "Does Lord Yan really have to do this?"

"We're practically family. I'm just teaching your servants a lesson, and you're blaming me?" Yan Shu chuckled. "How about this: I'll have him spar with these guards. If he wins, I won't make him pay. How about that?"

The veins on Lu Jie's hand, which was holding the fan, were bulging, even though they were hidden by his sleeve.

"I am willing to accept punishment!" Before Lu Jie could speak, Lu Rong lowered his head and stretched out his clenched fists: "Please let Lord Yan decide my fate!"

"You have no place to speak here!"

Lu Jie's eyes widened.

Lu Rong kowtowed to him: "Today I have committed a heinous crime. Please forgive me for not being able to serve you, sir, in the future."

After saying that, he turned around, drew the knife from the guard's waist, gritted his teeth, and then brought it down on his own wrist!
Upon seeing this, Yan Shu suddenly called out just as he was about to strike with his knife: "Wait!"

The knife clattered to the ground.

Yan Shu stood up and suddenly laughed.

He bent down, grabbed Lu Rong's arm, and pulled him up. "Alright. It's enough that you know you were wrong. If I really took your hands for this little mistake, wouldn't I become a cannibalistic monster?"

After he finished speaking, he turned around and cupped his hands towards Lu Jie: "I was just joking. I didn't realize I scared you. It's my fault."

"I'm busy today, I'll apologize to you another day!"

After saying that, he raised his lips again, saw the list compiled by the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works on the table, picked it up, put it in his pocket, and said to Lu Jie again, "You are so thoughtful. With your kindness, what do I have to fear?"
"Go home!"

He walked out the gate, waved his hand casually, and a group of guards followed him away in a flurry.

Hidden in the inner room, Yang Bonong saw this, glanced at his already sweat-soaked chest, took a deep breath, and collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

Lu Jie walked to the door and waited until he could no longer hear the noise from the front yard before turning around, looking at Lu Rong's bloodied forehead, and slamming the door shut!
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