Chapter 72: Rare Talent  

As soon as the court session dispersed, the news that the Lu family possessed a life-saving token spread throughout the officials’ homes.

The Qin family, upon receiving this news, were quite surprised, thinking that the Lu family was truly hiding their talents.

But the Qin family simply listened and didn’t have any thoughts about it. After all, their Qin family had been loyal for generations, guarding the border with trembling anxiety. Even if they made a mistake in battle in the future, their military merits would be enough to offset it, and they didn’t have any treacherous thoughts, so they wouldn’t need this.

“Your father-in-law is incredible.” Qin Sanlang’s focus was different from others.

Qin Sheng nodded, indeed quite impressive.

Qin Heng had assisted his father in commanding the army for many years, managing various positions, big and small. He knew that the position that suited his abilities was the best. What he was good at, he could excel in the corresponding position, like their father-in-law.

Although Qin Heng wasn’t in the court, he could see clearly that now the Xie and Zhao families were praising him, and the next step would be to strike. Faced with their enticements, he himself didn’t fall for it, and instead, he threw their bait to a third party, disrupting the plans of the Xie and Zhao families.

Qin Heng explained his interpretation in detail to his two younger brothers.

Qin Sanlang thought about the achievements of this father and daughter recently, and hissed, what was going on with this father and daughter from the Lu family? They were all incredibly capable.

At the same time, Qin Sanlang was also puzzled, such a capable daughter-in-law and father-in-law, why did the Xie family not want them? How was the Zhao family better than the Lu family? Was it because the Zhao family was a long-established noble family, with more assets, connections, than the descendants than the Lu family?

But the Xie family was also a noble family, they didn’t lack these things. Having them was an added bonus, not having them wouldn’t hurt. On the contrary, talents like the Lu father and daughter were rare in Da Li, a rare breed, and a perfect match for the Xie family.

Of course, the Lu family and their Qin family were also a good match.

“You have to be more accommodating to your wife in the future.” Qin Sanlang patted his younger brother on the shoulder. He could already foresee the scene of his little brother being completely controlled by his wife. He should just pray for himself.

One old fox and one little fox, did his little brother stumble into a fox den?

Qin Sheng rolled his eyes at his third brother, heaven knows what kind of random thoughts were going through his head.

Qin Heng, although he didn’t say anything, he was looking forward to the children his younger brother and his future sixth sister-in-law would have.

The Lu Residence

As soon as Lu Desheng returned home, he was once again warmly welcomed by his wife and children.

His little daughter and little son asked him to take a seat, then brought him tea and water, massaged his shoulders and back, circling around him.

Lu Desheng, sipping his hot tea, felt a sense of satisfaction.

Madam Jiang, seeing her husband’s smug face, shook her head helplessly.

“Father, you did great!” After taking care of her father’s food and drink, Lu Songli began to praise him.

Her praise was genuine, you could tell by her sincere gaze. Moreover, her father was truly amazing. The Xie family wanted to use a heavy bait to lure her father onto the hook, right?  The bait was directly taken away and eaten! With this move, her father directly deprived the Xie family of a position as Minister of the Ministry of Justice!

Her father’s ability to seize opportunities, act decisively, and strike when the iron is hot was too strong. In comparison, Xie Mingtang, the head of the Xie family, was far less capable in terms of adaptability.

His daughter’s amazement filled Lu Desheng with pride. He stroked his sparse beard, a smile curling his lips, “You ruined Zhao Wenkuan’s son, naturally, I can’t be too bad.”

After saying this, he hesitated for a moment, “It’s just that someone knows about our family’s life-saving token.”

“So what if they know.” Lu Songli didn’t care. The Empress Dowager knew that their family had obtained a life-saving token, and she wouldn’t allow it to remain hidden in the Lu family and become their lifeline. It was only a matter of time before it became widely known. Besides, it was good to use this opportunity to reveal it, showing Emperor Kang Cheng’s generosity and kindness. Otherwise, the emperor would feel uncomfortable.

Lu Mingzhi was stunned when he heard this topic, when did their family get a life-saving token? After hearing the end, he discovered that their family actually had a life-saving token, and then he was amazed. His father was amazing, he managed to get this thing within half a year.

Madam Jiang looked at her husband and daughter, pulled him over, and whispered to him about the origin of the life-saving token.

Lu Mingzhi: His father said his second sister had opened up, right? From his perspective, his second sister’s opening up was a bit too much!

Lu Mingzhi now understood that the impressive people in their family weren’t just his father, but also his second sister! Then, he couldn’t hide his admiration anymore. Later, when Lu Songli returned to Xiaofeng Courtyard, he followed her all the way.

As they were talking, Chief Steward Chen came in and said that the Yao family had sent them something – a small rosewood box.

Lu Desheng took it with one hand and opened it to find a box of jewelry from the Yao family. There were six pieces in total, and the box’s compartments also held three thousand taels of silver notes. Adding it up, it was worth about five thousand taels. He had just helped by saying a few words, opening up a path for Yao Songwen to get the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and the Yao family was quite generous.

The Yao family had given money, so they didn’t owe the Lu family any favors. They could tell from the Lu family’s refusal to have a drink with the Yao’s before his father left the court that day that they knew his attitude, so they would definitely have to express their gratitude.

Lu Songli thought that now that they had paid for the goods, it was good.

Lu Desheng, however, felt it was quite strange. In the past, he was only responsible for killing, not burying, so no one ever sent him money afterward.

As for those who sent him gifts beforehand to get him to help them overthrow someone, he always refused. He was like a free and unrestrained wind, and except for the Emperor, he didn’t want to listen to anyone’s orders. In the court, the Emperor told him to criticize someone, he would criticize them. When the Emperor didn’t give any orders, he would criticize whoever he wanted, he was just that capricious.

As a result, his colleagues all avoided him, so naturally, no one sent him any gifts.

The Lu family’s source of income, besides the salary paid by the court, was the profits from the shops that Madam Jiang had used the money she had saved over the years to invest in, and also the occasional rewards from the Emperor. Compared to the other officials of the Imperial Censorate who took bribes, Lu Desheng’s income wasn’t high.

The next day, Lu Desheng took all of this into the palace and gave it to Emperor Kang Cheng, then he stared at him with hope, hoping that the Emperor would reward him a little.

Emperor Kang Cheng looked at him, nodded, the Yao family was quite sensible. Turning around, he saw Lu Desheng’s expression and couldn’t help but laugh and scold, “Keep the silver notes, I’m not short of money.”

Lu Desheng immediately put the box away with a smile, he had earned it! He brought it in in the same way, and he took it back in the same way!