The memories of those humiliating and painful events came one after another, and huge waves surged in her heart.

Ling Jingshu glanced at Lu An from a distance, clenched her fists hard, and lowered her eyelids. She did her best to calm her disturbed mind.

The enemy was close at hand, but she couldn’t act rashly. This feeling was really uncomfortable.

But no matter how uncomfortable it was, she had to hold back and endure it.

To deal with Lu An and Madam Ling meant bringing down the entire Lu family. For her who was only a girl in a boudoir, this was obviously just a luxury. Before she had the ability to take revenge, she must first learn to be patient…

After Lu An spoke, the old lady Ling and Uncle Ling who had been crying into a ball finally calmed down a lot.

Old Madam Ling wiped the tears off her face with her sleeve, and smiled, “Look at me, at this age, I don’t have the slightest bit of self-control. Crying and wiping tears at the gate, I made my son-in-law laugh.” “

Lu An smiled slowly, his demeanor was excellent and impeccable: “Yuèmǔ^[1]mother-in-law and jiùxiōng^[2]wife’s brother who is older than you are meeting after such a long separation. At this moment, you are so excited and tears filled your eyes when we met, and Mother-in-law couldn’t help it. This xiǎoxù^[3]son-in-law was moved when he saw it, how could he laugh.”

Old Madam Ling was full of resentment towards her son-in-law because of what Madam Ling said before, but now that she really met him, the resentment in her heart disappeared a bit.

With such a handsome and distinguished appearance, as well as being the head of the Lu family and holding a high-ranking position in the local government of Jizhou, he was no less than a regional lord. Enjoying such success and prestige, it was inevitable that he would indulge himself in the realm of women.

The crowd surrounded Old Madam Ling and returned to the Yonghe Hall in a mighty manner, sitting down and talking.

The juniors stood beside or behind their parents. Old Madam Ling sat at the top, Uncle Ling sat on her right, and Lu An sat on the left.

Old Madam Ling first asked Lu An with concern if the itinerary was hard, and then it was Uncle Ling’s turn.

On such an occasion, the several daughters-in-law of the Ling family were not qualified to intervene, let alone the younger generation.

After exchanging pleasantries for half an hour, Old Madam Ling’s excitement finally calmed down. She smiled and said to Lu An: “My son-in-law has not visited the door for so many years, only letters. You don’t know the children and grandchildren of our Ling family. Let me introduce them to you one by one.”

The son-in-law was always a distinguished guest. What’s more, this son-in-law was from a famous family of the Great Zhou Dynasty. There were at least a dozen members of the Lu family who were officials in various places in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Lu An’s second brother, Lu Ping, was the head of the Ministry of War in the Capital. Though the position was not high, he was good at currying favor with his superiors. There was no limit to how high he could climb. The scenery of the Lu family was really hot in the Capital. ^[4]It means the family was very prominent in the Capital.

Because of these factors, Old Madam Ling was more warm and polite to Lu An.

First came the younger generation of Eldest Master Ling, then the Second and Fourth, and finally the four brothers and sisters of the Fifth.

“Zhíér^[5]Nephew from brother’s side Ling Ting (Ling Xiao) (Ling Yu) has met my gūfù^[6]husband of father’s sister.”

“Zhínǚ^[7]niece from brother’s Ling Jingshu has met my gūfù.”

Among the three young boys of different heights, Ling Jingshu was dressed in a light green dress, with beautiful eyebrows that looked like a painting. Even if the eyebrows were converging, it couldn’t hide her stunning radiance.

Lu An’s eyes paused for a moment on Ling Jingshu’s body, and a trace of surprise and a gleaming look flashed quickly in his eyes. ^[8]What a creep!

He concealed this emotion very well, returned to normal in an instant, and smiled gently and kindly: “We are all a family, so there is no need to be polite.”

Lu Qian was standing by Lu An’s side, paying close attention to Lu An’s every change of look. When he saw the strange flash in Lu An’s eyes, he froze. His hands trembled uncontrollably.

It wasn’t until Ling Jingshu bowed and stepped back, and Lu An stopped looking at Ling Jingshu, that Lu Qian slowly exhaled the suffocation in his chest.

…

The sky soon darkened.

There were four seats in the dining room of Yonghe Hall. There were two seats each for men and women, and they are divided into elders and younger generations. They were all a family, and there was no need to worry about the difference between men and women, so they simply abandoned the screen.

The children and grandchildren gathered around her knees and gathered together happily. This was the first reunion since her daughter got married.

Old Madam Ling was in high spirits and drank a few glasses of wine. When sons and daughters-in-law came to toast, she just touch her lips to the glass at most. When the son-in-law and daughter came to toast, Old Madam Ling drank them all.

With a bit of drunkenness, Old Madam Ling said with ulterior motives: “I only have a daughter like Ah Hui, who has been spoiled and doted on since she was a child and has a strong desire to monopolize her loved ones. Even if I treat her brothers better, she will be jealous. Marrying into Lu’s family these years, if there is any incompetence, please forgive her.” 

Lu An was so shrewd, how can he not hear the puns in old Lady Ling’s words, his smile was a little uncomfortable. Coughing slightly, he responded: “Mother-in-law is worrying too much. Ah Hui has a dignified temperament and a sense of measure and keeps the inner house in order. I am fortunate to marry Ah Hui as my wife. It is my son-in-law’s blessing.”

He said affectionately while glancing at Madam Ling carefully.

Madam Ling’s heart was filled with joy and anxiety.

The happy thing was that Lu An hadn’t been so affectionate to her for a long time, but it was the old lady Ling who spoke like this. Lu An knew what she said in front of the old lady Ling, and he must be unhappy. At this time, he was full of smiles, and after returning to the room after the banquet, she didn’t know what he could look like…

Old Madam Ling smiled: “My son-in-law doesn’t think I’m nagging.” After a pause, she said: ” Ah Hui hasn’t been back to her mother’s house for so many years since she got married, so I want to keep her here for a long time now that she is back this time.”

Lu An laughed and said, “Of course, she will stay.”

After a few words of gossip, Lu An returned to his seat.

……

Ling Jingshu sat at a table with a group of cousins ​​and sisters-in-law.

The Great Zhou Dynasty ruled the world with the words of loyalty and filial piety. In the past two decades, the borders have been peaceful and there have been no wars. The noblest thing was to take the imperial examination to enter the official career. This trend has long become the core of famous families, and reading had become the top priority.

This trend also spread to women. Hence any wealthy family will ask a female teacher to teach their daughters to read and write. Not to mention a big family like the Ling family.

It was not uncommon for each of them to come out to show their talents.

This kind of occasion was always the time when Ling Jingshu showed off. However, she was not in the mood today, she put down her chopsticks after taking a few bites hastily and remained silent after that.

Ling Jingxian was secretly surprised, but she wished that Ling Jingshu would keep silent so as not to steal her limelight.

Ling Jingxian chatted enthusiastically with Ling Jingyan: “Yan tángjiě, we were born only one month apart. It’s a pity that you lived in the capital with my uncle and aunt these years, and I didn’t have the chance to get close to you. This time you came back, we finally have a chance to know each other.”

Ling Jingyan was the daughter of the eldest son, ranked seventh. Because she had lived in the capital for a long time, she was quite arrogant and self-conscious. Hearing this, she smiled lightly and said, “Father has taken a long vacation and plans to live in Dingzhou for two months before returning to the capital. There will indeed be many opportunities to get close in the future.”

By mentioning Dingzhou she couldn’t help showing a bit of arrogance that she thought she was superior to others.

Ling Jingxian touched a soft nail and felt a little unhappy.

Hmph, what a big deal. Wasn’t it because your father was an official in the capital that you have the opportunity to live in the capital? Otherwise, you could have also lived in the old house of the Ling family in Dingzhou.

Ling Jingyan’s appearance was bright and charming, and her clothes were exquisite and elegant. At first glance, it was the popular style in the capital. They were compared almost immediately.

Ling Jingxian felt unwilling, turned her eyes, and said with a smile: “Shu tángmei, why hasn’t she said anything today?” 

Then she pretended to be enthusiastic and said to Ling Jingyan: “Yan tángjiě, you rarely come back, there are some things you don’t know. My cousin is well-versed in poetry and books, has outstanding talents, and is good at growing famous peonies. She is well-known in Dingzhou city. Someone named Tángmei Jingshu as the number one beauty in Dingzhou!”

She was also a daughter of the Ling family’s direct descendent, but Ling Jingshu was famous in Dingzhou. Ling Jingyan was unknown in Dingzhou. With Ling Jingyan’s arrogance, she would definitely feel unconvinced after hearing these words.

Sure enough, after hearing such ulterior provocations, Ling Jingyan suddenly became upset. Looking at Ling Jingshu’s beautiful face, she said with a half-smile, “Oh? I didn’t expect Shu tángmei to be good at planting peonies.”

Just this little word, but it smelled like gunpowder.

Ling Jingshu finally looked up at Ling Jingyan.

Speaking of which, Ling Jingyan was also a tragic figure.

In her previous life, Ling Jingyan met King Yan by chance, and she secretly fell in love with him. With the family background of the Ling family, she was not qualified to marry King Yan to be the main wife, it was barely enough to be the side concubine. But Uncle Ling insisted on orthodoxy and supported the Crown Prince’s faction, so naturally, he would not let his daughter marry King Yan as a side concubine. He rushed to arrange another marriage for Ling Jingyan.

Ling Jingyan was reluctant, but her arms couldn’t twist her thighs, so she had to obey her father’s order.

Later, the Crown Prince’s party lost, the Crown Prince was abolished, and King Yan was established as the heir. Prince Yu was abolished, and Uncle Ling was the first to bear the brunt and was sent to prison for corruption. The Ling family worked hard and spent most of their wealth to save Uncle Ling’s life.

Ling Jingyan’s originally planned marriage also came to naught because of this prison disaster.

Later, Ling Jingyan returned to Dingzhou with her parents. Because she was getting old, the situation at home was bleak, so she could not find any good families to marry. A matchmaker came to the door to propose marriage. The other party was over thirty years old, and there were a lot of concubines in the family, as well as legitimate sons and concubine-born children.

After Ling Jingyan got married, her life was not going well. Later, she died of dystocia while giving birth.

Thinking of this, Ling Jingshu was a little sorrowful, and she was not in the mood to compete with Ling Jingyan anymore. She said lightly: “I have nothing to do when I’m free, and I occasionally pass the time in the garden. Outsiders don’t know the inside story, so they just pass on rumors.”