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Someone from the palace? Lu Songli had a good memory and recognized the woman immediately as Yin Yue, the senior maid from the Empress Dowager’s palace. Behind her were two young palace maids and two eunuchs.
Yin Yue slowly descended the stairs, stopping in front of Lu Songli, her eyes fixed on her.
It was obvious that she had come with malicious intent. The Qin family members gathered around Lu Songli.
Madam Qin spoke, “May I ask, esteemed lady—”
Yin Yue raised her hand, interrupting her. She stared at Lu Songli and spoke slowly, “Lu Songli, the Empress Dowager has asked me to ask you, did you ever think that this day would come?”
Lu Songli rolled her eyes inwardly. Why should I tell you? But she put on a worried expression and shook her head.
To be honest, she didn’t know how she had offended the Empress Dowager so deeply that she held a grudge to this day, seeking revenge again. If she recalled correctly, they had only met once in Chang Le Palace, and the person she had confronted was Zhao Yutan. She had shown no disrespect to the Empress Dowager.
Of course, if disobeying the Empress Dowager’s wishes was considered disrespect, then she was indeed disrespectful.
Qin Sheng stepped forward and quietly took her hand.
Yin Yue glanced at Qin Sheng and asked her a second question, “Do you regret it?”
Lu Songli shook her head again. She knew that the other party was here to make fun of her. Unless she could perform a tearful act of repentance on the spot, no matter if she said she regretted it or not, the other party wouldn’t be satisfied.
“What do you mean by shaking your head?” Yin Yue asked.
“I mean, what difference does it make if I regret it or not?”
“The Empress Dowager is right, you truly have a rebellious bone.”
Lu Songli: ??? She has a rebellious bone? How come she doesn’t know about it? Did they open her skull to see?
At this time, Xu Zheng stepped forward, “Esteemed lady, we are about to leave the city!”
Yin Yue glanced at him, then said, “Lu Songli, I have come here to convey the Empress Dowager’s decree. I hope that during your exile, you will reflect on yourself and understand the meaning of being gentle, respectful, and humble, and practicing self-restraint and introspection.” After speaking, she glanced at the wardens and left with her entourage.
Lu Songli almost burst into laughter. She had always wanted to lay down her sword and be a good person, but these people kept forcing her to pick it up. Well, she wouldn’t be polite then.
Qin Sheng held Lu Songli’s hand, his lips pressed tightly together. He knew the inside story better than anyone else. In fact, his wife was the most innocent person in this situation. Why was she being bullied like this? Just because the other party was the Empress Dowager? And thinking about his father, he could have lived…
Qin Heng also frowned. The Empress Dowager’s words were too harsh.
Qin Zhao shook his head secretly. The Empress Dowager was going to suffer. With the vengeful nature of his sixth sister-in-law and her father, they would definitely repay the humiliation and anger they had endured today.
Under Xu Zheng’s command, they began to leave the city.
As Lu Songli passed by Lu Desheng, she lowered her voice and said, “Father, I’m leaving. You and Mother and the others have to take care of yourselves. Also, I’ll handle this myself, don’t go looking for trouble with the Empress Dowager.”
Lu Desheng’s temper was so bad that he couldn’t hold it in after hearing the first sentence. How could they bully her like that! It was only because his daughter stopped him with her eyes that he knew she was telling him not to act rashly. Okay, he wouldn’t move. But why did his daughter have to stop him before she left?
Lu Desheng’s anger had nowhere to go. His gaze finally fell on Qin Sheng, “You little brat, you have to take good care of her along the way, do you hear me?”
Qin Sheng obediently answered, “Understood, Father-in-law.”
Finally, Lu Desheng nodded to Xu Zheng, everything was unspoken.
After leaving the city, Lu Songli looked back at Chang’an City one last time.
Qin Sheng also stopped and waited for her.
Xu Zheng also stopped and didn’t rush them.
Looking at the majestic city walls, Lu Songli thought to herself, the Empress Dowager must have been sitting up too high for too long, unable to bear the sight of free and unrestrained souls.
Actually, what was there to be so high and mighty about? It wasn’t that she, Lu Songli, looked down on the Song Dynasty. In fact, under their rule, ordinary people lived so poorly, they couldn’t even solve their basic needs for food and clothing, and they had no ability to survive disasters. Any natural disaster or misfortune would lead to the whole family falling into poverty, and then they would sell their children, sell their wives, and sell their land. The lives of the common people were bitter, with no happiness index at all. Even if she closed her eyes and governed this country, she wouldn’t be worse than them! The weather is turning cold, it’s time for the Song Dynasty to step down!
“A Li, A Sheng, let’s go!”
Lu Songli came back to her senses and replied, “Okay, coming.” Then, as she passed Qin Sheng, she took his hand and quickly walked forward.
Lu Desheng returned home dejectedly and happened to meet his wife and servants preparing to go out.
“Wife, where are you going?”
“I heard that our daughter and the Qin family have been released and are about to set off for their exile destination. I packed some food and supplies and plan to rush to the city gate to see if I can catch up with them. Oh, I don’t have time to talk to you anymore, I have to hurry.”
“Don’t go, our daughter and the Qin family have already left the city,” Lu Desheng said in a low and dejected voice.
“How do you know?”
“I just sent our daughter out of the city.”
Madam Jiang sighed regretfully. The departure was so sudden, it didn’t give anyone time to react.
Madam Jiang felt that her husband’s mood was wrong, dejected but also brewing with anger? “What happened?”
Lu Desheng whispered about what happened at the city gate.
After listening, Madam Jiang almost choked on her breath. How could there be such a shameless person? Their A Li was the most innocent, she was rejected, forced into marriage, forced to marry into the Qin family, forced into exile… and in the end, she was still humiliated?
Madam Jiang finally said angrily, “I really don’t know what A Li did to provoke her!”
“A Li probably got caught up in my trouble…” Lu Desheng said softly.
That’s why he felt so guilty. His daughter had really helped him and the family a lot in the past few months. Otherwise, their family might have been destroyed by those conspiracies.
No! Lu Desheng stood up abruptly.
Seeing him walking out, Madam Jiang quickly called out to him, “Where are you going?”
“Wife, I’m going to the study.”
“Don’t go!”
Lu Desheng stood stubbornly there, refusing to turn around.
“When you came back, did your daughter tell you anything?” Seeing that he still wouldn’t budge, Madam Jiang guessed, “Did your daughter tell you to endure it?”
Lu Desheng nodded painfully. “You listen to your daughter, you’re right. Don’t act on your own. She’s been exiled, and you still have to worry about her and the family.” Her husband was like a sharp sword, and their daughter, the sword-wielder, was gone. He couldn’t just poke around here and there, what if he poked the wrong place and something happened? Ever since she heard the news of the Xie and Zhao families being confiscated and exiled, Madam Jiang had become incredibly convinced of her daughter’s abilities.
“Don’t worry. When have you ever seen your daughter suffer a loss? The grievances she suffered today, she will definitely get revenge for them tomorrow.” Yes, that’s what her daughter said just now. And Lu Desheng thought about it, it seemed to be true. His daughter was just like him, they both couldn’t stand being wronged. So he would listen, and then, he would make sure his daughter got her revenge with interest!