Chapter 16: Qin Sheng Helps

Lu Desheng emerged from the carriage with a somber face. His earlier good mood had vanished, replaced by a wave of emotion.  He felt deeply moved by his daughter’s quick action, her unwavering decision to shove him into the carriage while she faced the danger herself. He was unscathed, but his daughter was now covered in the stench of rotten eggs.

He didn’t say a word. He didn’t voice any objections to his daughter’s instructions.  When she said to break their hands, she meant it. He wasn’t known for his gentleness, after all.  Now that the danger had passed, he even found himself feeling a bit amused. His daughter’s bold, decisive manner surprised him.  As for the reward money she mentioned, he knew he wouldn’t let her pay for it. However, he deliberately wanted to establish her authority, so he didn’t contradict her.  He’d simply have his wife secretly reimburse her later.

Just then, someone came back with the men in tow. “Sir, Madam, Second Miss, we’ve caught them all!” The voice was filled with excitement.

Hearing this, Lu Songli instinctively thought, “The people I chose are quite efficient.”

The Lu Family of three turned to see who was brought back.  To their surprise, it was Qin Sheng leading the group.

They had captured all eight men, not a single one missing.

One of the five men Lu Songli had chosen, the leader Luo Tie Niu, pointed at Qin Sheng and exclaimed, “Second Miss, these little hoodlums ran like the wind!  If it hadn’t been for Young Master Qin, we wouldn’t have caught them all.”  He couldn’t hide his admiration.

Young Master Qin was simply too powerful.  These street thugs and hooligans couldn’t last a single round against him.  They were all subdued and pinned to the ground.  The others just had to follow behind and bring them back.

Lu Songli looked at Qin Sheng, her thoughts churning. “You were waiting here all along?”

People say, “A gentleman takes revenge for ten years, but her father seeks revenge all day long.” Her father is not hard to understand. If you offend him, he will seize any opportunity to retaliate, and if there is no opportunity, he will create one. Anyone with a bit of brains can guess that her father will definitely criticize the Zhao family at the morning court today. Qin Sheng happened to help their family this morning. If it was a coincidence, she found it hard to believe.

Qin Sheng quickly refuted, “No! I was just passing by!” Whether in his words or attitude, he made it clear.

Lu Songli was speechless. If he said he wasn’t involved, then so be it. Why did he seem so afraid that their Lu Family would implicate him?

Madam Jiang pushed her aside, “Ah Sheng, can I call you that? Thank you for helping us out. Come inside and have a cup of tea with me?”

Lu Songli rolled her eyes. Could her own mother be any more obvious? She looked him up and down, her eyes becoming increasingly satisfied. Was she blind?

“No, I really was just passing by and need to go home,” Qin Sheng emphasized seriously.

As if trying to cover something up, Qin Sheng pointed to the people at his feet and said, “These are a group of small-time thugs from the south side of the city. They take money to do things. You probably won’t get any useful information out of them.”

Lu Songli nodded, “Understood, thank you.”

Madam Jiang said, “Alright, alright, we understand. You’re so capable at such a young age. Don’t rush home, have a meal at Aunt’s place before you go back?”

“I’ll go back, my mother is still waiting for me at home,” he quickly excused himself.

Lu Songli wanted to laugh. It seemed her mother’s enthusiasm was hard to resist.

Qin Sheng looked straight ahead and, as he passed by Lu Desheng, paused for a moment as if in thought. He said, “Old man, try to criticize fewer people in the court in the future.”

Lu Desheng: Him? Old man? He couldn’t believe his eyes.

Then he restrained himself and retorted with just three words, “Brat!”

Lu Songli couldn’t help but laugh again. Bro, you’ve been exposed, you know that?

After Qin Sheng left, Madam Jiang looked disappointed.

Following Qin Sheng’s departure, the steward Chen hurriedly approached and asked, “Sir, Madam, what about these people?” Earlier, the Second Miss had ordered their hands to be broken upon capture, but with Young Master Qin present, it was difficult to carry out.

Lu Desheng was about to instruct the steward Chen to break their hands as his daughter had said.

Lu Songli interjected before Lu Desheng could speak, “Father, mother, let me handle these people.”

“Alright, we’ll leave it to you,” Lu Desheng agreed.

Madam Jiang was a bit worried. Her daughter had only managed affairs within their own courtyard before. Could she handle external matters all of a sudden?

“Father, why don’t you accompany mother back first?” Lu Desheng looked at his wife, and Madam Jiang shook her head. He then pointed towards the gate, “We’ll be waiting there for you.”

“Okay.”

According to information from the steward Chen, Lu Songli walked up to the leader who was currently being subdued by Luo Tie Niu.

The leader only saw a pair of embroidered shoes in front of him, and then heard a cold voice say, “Make him lift his head.” His hair bun was then forcefully pulled up, making him raise his head.

Lu Songli squatted down and locked eyes with him, “Are you Ma Liu? Did the Zhao family send you?”

Ma Liu, pinned down by the Lu Household servants and with his hair pulled, glared fiercely at the young girl in front of him, “So what if they did or didn’t?”

The Zhao family, was it the Zhao Mansion of the Honorary Ministry Official Zhao? Combining recent rumors, Ma Liu silently noted the Zhao Mansion in his mind.

“Slap him!” Lu Songli ordered, then stood up and took a step back. She liked people who talked tough.

Chen Rong immediately stepped forward to carry out her command. He was one of the six male servants she had chosen today and also the nephew of the steward Chen, a discerning individual.

Slap, slap, Ma Liu was forcefully slapped twice.

“Now, can you speak politely?” Lu Songli asked.

Ma Liu honestly answered her previous question, “I only took the money and don’t know who instructed me.”

Lu Songli nodded, satisfied with his honesty.

“Break their right hands for me!” Lu Songli commanded without hesitation. She was not one to show mercy. If it was rotten eggs this time, who knows what it could be next time?

The people below begged for mercy in unison. They were all small-time thugs who had never been very courageous. “Forgive us, Miss Lu, spare us this time, we won’t dare again.”

“Why didn’t you think about the consequences when you took on this task? Break their hands!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Ahh…”

“It hurts so much.”

“Mother, it hurts so much! Sob—”

“I’ll never dare again!”

The screams of Ma Liu and the others echoed far, far away.

After they were done, Lu Songli squatted down once again, facing Ma Liu directly, “Ma Liu, if you want to blame someone, blame the person who paid you to come cause trouble for my Lu Family. You crossed paths with my Lu Family, and I was already being merciful by only having your hand broken.”

“Don’t doubt it, how many of you carry some baggage with you? If I were a bit more ruthless, I would have broken all your hands and feet, then handed you over to the authorities. Do you think you could still come out of it?”

Everyone fell silent.

“So, I only broke one of your hands, leaving you with one, and kept your two healthy legs. That’s already very kind.”

After hearing Lu Songli’s words, Ma Liu and the others inexplicably agreed with her. Ma Liu also understood that she was indirectly suggesting to them not to hate the wrong person.

“Alright, release them,” Lu Songli ordered.

As soon as they were freed, Ma Liu and the others immediately held their broken hands and tried to escape.

Lu Songli stood there and said one last thing to them, “Remember, if you cross paths with my Lu Family again, it won’t be as simple as breaking a hand.”

Lu Songli’s voice was calm, not harsh, but it sent shivers down the spines of Ma Liu and the others.

No one replied, but they all ran away quickly, as if there were ghosts chasing them from behind. There won’t be a next time! You are like a demon. We’ll avoid you in the future. We won’t dare to provoke your Lu Family again!

At the gate of the Lu Mansion, such a big incident of throwing rotten eggs occurred, naturally attracting the attention of those around. However, those onlookers only dared to watch from a distance, not daring to get too close. They witnessed the scene where Ma Liu and the others had their hand broken by the Lu Household members, especially the chilling screams that left a deep impression on them. After seeing it all, they only had one thought: the Lu Family is not to be messed with.

After dealing with the matter, Lu Songli walked towards her parents, “Father, Mother, let’s go inside.”

There was a purpose behind all the talk with them. Firstly, it was to intimidate these small-time thugs and troublemakers, to let them think twice before daring to provoke the Lu Family. Secondly, it was to cause some trouble for the Zhao family.

“Are you sure they were instigated by the Zhao family?” Madam Jiang was puzzled. She didn’t understand how her daughter came to that conclusion, as she had seen everything from start to finish, and Ma Liu and his group hadn’t presented any evidence.

“It should be,” Lu Songli knew that the mastermind behind it could be the Zhao family or someone else. But one thing was certain, they were all troublemakers.

“Are you certain?”

Lu Songli approached her mother and held her arm, “My dear mother, what do we need to be certain about? If I say they are, then they must be.” It wouldn’t be surprising for the Zhao family to use such tactics to disgust people. When Madam Xie and Xie Zhan visited the Lu Mansion a few days ago, the Zhao family sent people to follow them to the Lu Family, using the same tactics as those used by the women of the inner house, right? Today’s incident was purely meant to disgust people. Holding them accountable is justified.