The Grand Secretary's Child-Raising Diary

Songtao Academy

Zhang held Lu Youning's ankle, which was already turning blue and purple, her eyes red with heartache. At the same time, she blamed herself: "It's all my fault. If only I hadn't taken the Third Young Master to the garden today."

If we hadn't gone, we wouldn't have run into that troublemaker, and the Third Young Master wouldn't have had to suffer like this.

Banxia felt even more guilty than Zhang: "It's also my fault. I didn't protect the Third Young Master in time."

Madam Sun was also distressed by Lu Youning's injuries, and knew that Zhang and the others had indeed failed in their duties today, and that the Second Master would likely be punished upon his return. But what had already happened was already done, and there was no point in saying anything more.

"Alright, no one could have predicted something like this would happen, but I'm afraid the eldest son's family won't let this go so easily this time."

Zhang said angrily, "They have the nerve to come looking for trouble. A six-year-old child tried to kill his one-year-old brother. What child is as vicious as him?"

These were not words a servant should say, but at this moment, Madam Sun did not speak up to stop them. After all, she also wanted to know how the Madam and the First Madam had raised their child, who was so ruthless at such a young age.

Is this some kind of attempt to break their third young master's ankle?

It was fortunate that Madam Zhang reacted quickly today; if that child had grabbed the Third Young Master, Madam Sun dared not imagine what would have happened.

Listening to what Zhang Shi and Sun Mama were saying, Lu Youning felt a little embarrassed. When it came to being ruthless, he seemed to be no less so. After all, he hadn't held back when he kicked out. There was probably no one in the world as ruthless as him.

Qin Mama personally led a group to Songtao Courtyard. Upon arriving, they found the gate tightly shut. Without even knocking, she ordered several rough-working women, "Break down the gate."

Inside, upon hearing the commotion, Granny Sun raised her voice and said, "Granny Qin, this is Songtao Courtyard, the Second Master's courtyard. Are you trying to defy the heavens?"

Qin's mother was also holding a grudge. In the past few months, whenever anything was related to Songtao Courtyard, her wife had no good time.

A sickly son born of a concubine dares to celebrate his birthday in such a grand manner at the "Yaohuang Pavilion," as if he can't afford it.

This brat brought this upon himself today, daring to injure the young master. This brat from Songtao Courtyard and all these servants will not escape.

Madam Qin snorted coldly: "Madam wants the Third Young Master to go to Tinglan Courtyard. If you don't want me to have the gate broken down, then please, Madam Sun, bring the Third Young Master out."

Sun Mama didn't have the habit of knowingly venturing into dangerous territory; she had no intention of bringing Lu Youning along and even kindly advised Qin Mama against it.

"Mother Qin, today's incident was caused by the eldest young master provoking us first and even injuring our third young master. We'll have to wait for our second young master to return before we can discuss how to handle this."

"Considering we're all servants, let me give you a piece of advice: a slave who disobeys his superior will be beaten to death and won't even be able to utter a word of injustice."

Since following Madam Qin into the Chengen Marquis's mansion, Qin's mother had never been afraid of anything, so she couldn't possibly listen to what Sun's mother was saying. She spat and said, "Pah! It was clearly the Third Young Master who injured our Eldest Young Master. The servants all saw it. How dare you twist the truth like this?"

"In this Chengen Earl's mansion, the Earl and his wife are still here. It's not up to Lu Shiyan, a mere illegitimate son, to act arrogantly. I also advise you to hand over that sickly child immediately, otherwise..."

"Ah... Bang!"

Lu Shiyan's cold, leisurely voice, as if laced with ice, slowly rang out: "Otherwise what? I didn't know that my Songtao Courtyard had ever become a place for a servant to shout for beatings and killings."

Chunwu shuddered. She had just been standing right behind Qin Mama when the Second Master, looking fierce, kicked Qin Mama away, causing her to vomit blood.

Previously, the servants, who had acted arrogantly under Qin's orders, now dared not step forward to protect Qin's mother, because they knew that the Second Master would really kick them to death.

Lu Shiyan smiled, turned Qin's mother's face around, and said to the group of people hurrying towards him:

"Lord Tang, in my opinion, the atmosphere in the various prefectures of the capital needs to be rectified. I am, after all, an official of the imperial court, yet a servant in this prefecture dares to call me by my given name, call me his illegitimate son, and even dares to shout and kill my son."

Tang, an eighth-rank censor who was covered in sweat, was still catching his breath. But censors like him were usually very smooth-talking, so he quickly waved his hands and said, "Hehe, this is a family matter, a family matter. Why should Lord Lu bother with this servant? Just hand him over to the lady of the house and deal with him according to the rules."

Since they were all in the Censorate, Lu Shiyan had dealt with people like Lord Tang quite a bit and knew their temperaments well, so he didn't get angry with Lord Tang: "According to the Great Qian Law, if a slave offends an official and verbally insults an official of the court, he should be sentenced to strangulation with reprieve."

Lord Tang thought to himself that he was really unlucky today. Why did it have to be his turn to be on duty, and he had to run into this mess of trouble from the Chengen Earl's Mansion?

But he also knew that the best course of action was to take the servant and leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, when the Earl of Chengen returned, he would be caught in the middle between the father and son, which would be a real problem.

He chuckled and echoed Lu Shiyan, "Lord Lu, you remember correctly. That's right. I will take this insubordinate servant into custody immediately."

After saying this, he called for someone to mention that Qin's mother's fate was unknown, and then tried to slip away.

But now that Lu Shiyan has decided to make a big deal out of this, he will not allow Lord Tang to just let it go like this.

The gates of Songtao Courtyard had opened at some point, and Lu Youning was obediently held in Zhang Shi's arms, looking curiously at Qin Mama, who was being carried by two men.

After confirming that Lu Youning was alright, Lu Shiyan continued, "Now that the insubordinate servants have been dealt with, please also deal with Lu Qi'an's attempt to torture and kill my young son, Lord Tang."

Lu Shiyan was no pushover, and everyone in the Censorate who had dealt with him knew this. But to hear him so readily pin such a serious crime on the eldest grandson of the Chengen Earl's family was still unbelievable to Lord Tang.

Is this person insane? In the grand mansions of the capital, which family doesn't have some sordid and shameful affairs between the legitimate son and the illegitimate son? But if such a matter is filed with the Censorate, then whether it's the legitimate son or the illegitimate son, their life will be ruined.

Is Lord Lu trying to turn against the Marquis of Chengen's family?

Lu Shiyan certainly didn't want to turn against the Chengen Earl's Mansion, but Qin Shi's repeated provocations annoyed him. He had to teach Qin Shi and Lu Chong a painful lesson, like cutting off their own abdomen and fingers, so that they would know not to provoke him easily, and even less to set their sights on Lu Youning.

In Tinglan Courtyard, Qin Shi held her beloved grandson, who was crying out in pain, with heartache, and repeatedly shouted, "Go and see, go and see where that sickly brat is. How dare he hurt my Qi'an like this! I'll skin him alive today!"

Lord Tang stood there awkwardly. He really wanted to go back to this morning. If he had known that something like this would happen today, he should have taken sick leave.