Full House Spring

Chapter 74: Man on Horseback
Seeing that she was not as docile as before, Lu Jianxing immediately frowned, his eyes were cold, and he said with extreme dissatisfaction:

"You should be aware of your own status. You will not gain anything if you make a fuss about this matter. For the sake of our children, I have been merciful in allowing you to remain on the throne of the Duke's wife. If you bring up the past now, you will be the only one who suffers greatly."

Song Shiwei clenched her fists, with a sneer on her lips:

"Do you really think I know nothing? The emperor's life or death is unknown, and Prince Hui has already seized the initiative. The third prince is just a grasshopper in autumn. Sooner or later, you will be doomed as well!"

Lu Jianxing's eyes were filled with anger, as if ready to explode. He gritted his teeth and said, "If I don't have a good end, do you think Lingchuan and Qinghe can still be as prosperous as they are now? Even you will be imprisoned, you ignorant and stupid woman!"

Song Shiwei's eyes wandered, as if she was frightened by his words. She pondered for a moment, then picked up the wine pot and filled his glass, saying in a gentle tone:

"You and I are husband and wife, and we share honor and disgrace. Only if you and I are well, our children will be better off, and the Duke's Mansion will stand firm..."

Lu Jianxing thought she had changed her mind, and he picked up the wine glass with satisfaction, and said with a droopy face: "Don't mention the old things anymore. The Empress Shufei and I are innocent, and we have never done anything to let you down. The most important thing now is to get through this difficult time."

After that, he drank the wine in the cup without any precautions, and said self-righteously: "Even if it is really the King Hui who inherits the throne, with the second lady here, we will not be dead. It's just that the Shufei and her son are in a difficult situation, so we will have to help them. As long as people are still alive, it's better than anything else."

Song Shiwei laughed without warning, and even laughed until tears came out. After laughing, she raised her hand and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and said leisurely: "The master still cares about her until now, which is really affectionate. Haven't you noticed that your body is unwell?"

Lu Jianxing then felt a dull pain in his lower abdomen. He was so frightened that he said fiercely, "What did you do to me, you vicious woman? Are you trying to murder your husband? Are you tired of living?"

He pretended to pounce on Song Shiwei, but Song Shiwei gently turned sideways and he fell directly to the ground. The pain in his body intensified and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. He was no longer able to get up.

Song Shiwei squatted in front of him with a calm expression, slapped him hard to vent her anger, then raised her eyebrows and said:

"Originally, I was still hesitating whether to kill you. After all, you are Lingchuan's father. Unfortunately, you are so self-righteous that it is annoying. Since you only have Song Shiyi in your heart, there is no point in keeping me. It is better to strike first."

Lu Jianxing spat out blood in agony. He struggled and said, "Save me...if I die...it will be no good to you..."

Song Shiwei laughed happily, proudly and unbridledly. She said recklessly: "How can there be no benefits? If you die, King Hui will not be angry with us. Even if the title is taken away, it will not lead to bankruptcy. My children and grandchildren still have the family assets to start over..."

Lu Jianxing's face was ashen. He had no strength to struggle. He stared at Song Shiwei unwillingly and swallowed his last breath with difficulty.

Song Shiwei was stunned for a moment, she seemed unable to believe that the man to whom she had given her life died so easily. Looking at his painful expression with his eyes open, she was not happy, but felt a void in her heart.

Her legs and feet went weak and she fell to the ground, unable to come back to her senses for a long time, until Nanny Gui walked into the room with steady steps. She saw that Lu Jianxing's body was not panicked, as if she had already known the outcome, so she was very calm.

She supported Song Shiwei distressedly and lowered her voice to say, "Madam, there is chaos outside. There are soldiers everywhere and there are sounds of fighting. What should we do with the body of the Duke?"

Song Shiwei stood up expressionlessly and said calmly:
"Someone will come to take care of the aftermath later. You don't have to worry about it. Just tell the public that the Duke has left the mansion. Ask the guards to guard the gate and not let anyone in. Then call the eldest and third girls, and we'll go to the old lady."

Nanny Gui took the order and immediately sent someone to pass on the message. At the same time, lights were lit in all the rooms of Leshou Hall. The old lady put on the imperial robe with a solemn expression, as she wanted to take charge in person.

Lu Jianfeng and Luo Shi from the second house came over first. Luo Shi held her daughter tightly and dared not let go. Lu Jianfeng said in panic, "Mother, why are there so many shouting and screaming outside? Are they going to rebel?"

The old lady got angry when she saw her son's cowardly look. She scolded him in a low voice: "Shut up! It's normal for the emperor to change his power and fight each other. If you were a man in this mansion, you should guard the gate with the guards and don't cause trouble here."

Lu Jianfeng looked around and said unconvincedly, "Why can't I see my eldest brother? He is the one in charge of the house, and he should be guarding the door."

The old lady looked at the Song family who was approaching slowly, and said in a gentle tone: "Old lady, where are Jian Xing and Ling Chuan?"

Song said calmly, "To answer mother's question, they are all out. I haven't seen anyone in Lingchuan all day, and I don't know what the situation is."

The old lady frowned and couldn't help complaining:

"The Third Prince must have sent someone to call them away. We can't care about that now. Who knows, someone might want to take advantage of the situation to rob us. The most important thing is to take care of ourselves. Is Xia Li here?"

It was rare that the old lady still thought of Xia Li at this critical moment. Xia Li wore her usual plain skirt and said calmly, "Old lady, I'm here."

Hearing the voice, everyone looked towards her unconsciously. They didn't know if it was because of her change of status, but now she looked so dignified. The old lady said gently:

"The situation is unclear now. It's safer to stay together at night. You should stay with Qing He."

Xia Li did not expect the situation in the court to change so quickly. Fortunately, she and Qiao He's slave status had been revoked, so even if something happened in the mansion, they would not be implicated.

Lu Qinghe and Lu Wanqiao were very receptive to her and took the initiative to come forward to greet her. Xia Li treated them as usual, but thinking of Nanny Zhou in the back alley, she said softly:

"Madam, my wet nurse is still living in the back alley. I'm afraid something might happen to her if she's alone, so I want to bring her into the mansion. Is that feasible?"

There is no big impact if there is one more or one less person in the house, but it is not appropriate to leave the house at this critical moment. The old lady said in a deep voice: "It is not safe for you to go out now. She is hiding in the back alley, so she should be fine."

Xia Li said firmly, "I'm afraid someone will take advantage of the chaos to plunder the people's property. Nanny Zhou stayed because she was worried about me. If I don't care about her life or death, it would be too cold. Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Now that she was no longer a maid in the mansion, the old lady could not stop her too much and could only let her go. Nanny Xie asked to accompany her, and Song also suggested that the guards in the mansion accompany her, but Xia Li refused all of them.

She didn't want to trouble others for her personal affairs, and it would be easier to expose her target if there were too many people. She had a dagger for self-defense on her body, and the back alley was not far away. It took only half an hour to go back and forth, so the old lady let her go. Before leaving, Aunt Xie took a cloak and wrapped her tightly, and carefully reminded her: "If you see anything on the road, don't meddle in other people's business. You are also a delicate and weak girl in the boudoir, so you must not show off your strength."

Xia Li nodded slightly and said in a soothing voice, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Since she wanted to go out, she had to go before the noise got too big. Nanny Xie personally sent her to the corner gate and watched her figure disappear into the night before turning around and walking back.

On the other side, Nanny Zhou cleverly extinguished all the candles in the house, trying to create the illusion that no one lived there. She hid in the tea room with her bedding in her arms. In case someone really broke in, they would not come here to rob, and at least she could save her life.

When she heard the knock on the courtyard door, she suddenly became nervous. Just as she was hesitating whether to answer, she heard Xia Li's clear voice, "Mammy, I'm Xia Li. I'm here to take you to the mansion for refuge. Please open the door quickly."

Nanny Zhou had no time to think about anything else. She quickly lit the lantern with a tinder, opened the door quickly, and pulled Xia Li into the yard, saying with great concern:
"My dear girl, why are you leaving the house at this time? The Duke's house is guarded by guards after all. Ordinary people don't dare to force their way in. What if you run into a bad guy when you go out?"

As Madam Zhou spoke, she looked her up and down, fearing that she might make a mistake. Xia Li took off his hood and said with a smile:

"Don't worry, Ma'am. We didn't see anyone on the road. The soldiers probably haven't come to us yet. Come with me. We shouldn't stay here for long."

Nanny Zhou was deeply moved. She had nursed Xia Li for a long time and had a deep affection for her. Apart from her father and brothers, Nanny Zhou was the person who cared about her the most during all these years when she was missing. Now, seeing that Xia Li had never left her, she was deeply moved.

The two of them didn't take anything. They locked the courtyard gate and went straight to the Duke's Mansion. The doors of every house in the back alley were closed. They all knew that there was a big commotion outside and they didn't dare to go out to join in the fun.

Just as the two of them were about to reach the corner gate, two men in black night clothes suddenly appeared, holding large knives and shouting:
"Who are you two? Why are you running around at night instead of sleeping at home?"

Nanny Zhou subconsciously protected Xia Li behind her and said tremblingly, "We are from the Duke's Mansion and are about to return home. Don't dare to be so presumptuous."

Another man in black sneered, "You old man are talking nonsense. If you were from the Duke's Mansion, you wouldn't be walking around right now. I think you are traitors. Why don't you hurry back to the government office with us?"

After saying that, he was about to pull, but how could Madam Zhou let these people's dirty hands touch her girl, so she tried her best to stop them. Xia Li held the dagger tightly in her hand, and when she saw the man in black raising the knife to chop at Madam Zhou, she stabbed the dagger into the man's heart at the most tricky angle without mercy.

This sudden change came too suddenly, and the black-clad man's companion was stunned. He didn't even bother to check the other party's injuries, and raised his knife to slash at Xia Li fiercely.

Xia Li pushed Nanny Zhou away and dodged in a panic. Just when she was about to be unable to hold on, a sharp blade came through the air and the man in black fell straight down with an arrow in the chest.

Xia Li fell to the ground gasping for breath. The sound of horse hooves came from the backlight. She looked carefully and saw Kuang Chengrui wearing armor and riding majestically on horseback. His whole body was filled with determination and courage to control everything. The absolute sense of power made Xia Li tremble.

Nanny Zhou didn't bother to look at the person who came. She flew in front of Xia Li and carefully protected her. At this time, the man on horseback had walked over. The two looked at each other. Something in Xia Li's heart was touched, and Kuang Chengrui's eyes deepened slightly.

Madam Zhou raised her head and squinted at him, and asked in surprise and joy, "Are you Master Rui?"

Kuang Chengrui looked away from Xia Li and said in a cold voice, "I am on duty. Why are you wandering around outside? It's not peaceful outside."

Xia Li felt extremely awkward. She didn't know how to talk to him, so she simply asked Nanny Zhou to explain.

Seeing Kuang Chengrui, Nanny Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. She said respectfully, "Master Rui, our girl is not running around. She just came to take me to the Duke's Mansion for refuge. Unexpectedly, she ran into thieves. Fortunately, you showed up in time."

Kuang Chengrui didn't comment upon hearing this, he just looked at Xia Li and said, "You guys should leave quickly, don't stay, I will visit you when I am free."

Xia Li nodded subconsciously without saying anything else. She led Madam Zhou to the corner door, approached it, raised her hand and knocked on the door, and called softly, "I'm back, open the door quickly."

The doorman was waiting for her. He opened the door immediately after hearing the sound. Xia Li and Nanny Zhou flashed in. Before closing the door, Xia Li bowed and thanked Kuang Chengrui.

The two men's eyes met suddenly, and Kuang Chengrui's expression was gloomy. He gripped the reins tightly in his hands, turned the horse's head, and galloped away with a nimble posture. He seemed to have merged into one with the horse in the night.

After entering the Duke's Mansion, they were safe for the time being. As the master and servant walked along the road, Xia Li calmed down and asked calmly, "Mammy, what is the identity of that Master Rui?"

Nanny Zhou recalled what the Second Master had said and said vaguely:
"Uncle Rui is from the Kuang family. His grandfather saved my life, so he is a family friend. He comes to visit us every year with generous gifts."

Xia Li frowned subconsciously. What Nanny Zhou said was a little strange. Since the Kuang family had done a favor to their family, shouldn't they express their gratitude to the Kuang family? Before she could ask in detail, she suddenly heard crying coming from the front.

Xia Li's heart tightened, and he took Madam Zhou's hand and said, "Let's go quickly, something must have happened in the mansion."

Nanny Zhou was hoping to find something to divert the girl's attention, otherwise she didn't know how to get away with it. The two of them hurriedly ran towards Leshou Hall. The closer they got, the louder her crying became, and Xia Li's expression became solemn.

When she stepped into the courtyard, she saw Lu Jianxing lying straight on the ground. It was obvious that he had been dead for a long time. The Lu family was crying. The old lady was sitting on the armchair with a pale face. Aunt Xie was anxiously helping her to calm down.

Lu Jianfeng shouted, "How dare they do that! What kind of forces dared to kill even a dignified Duke and sent him to the gate of the mansion? I'm going to file a complaint with the Emperor!"

Song's tears rolled down her cheeks, and she choked up as she said, "I'm afraid even the emperor is gone now. If the Second Master has the energy to spare, he might as well go find Lingchuan. His whereabouts are still unknown."

The old lady, who had finally caught her breath, began to breathe rapidly again. Aunt Xie said in a trembling voice, "Don't irritate the old lady. Why hasn't Doctor Zhong come yet?"

(End of this chapter)