Chapter 279: Chao Chao’s Little Schemes
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation.
Lu Yan Shu had just returned home when he received the news.
Hurriedly, he changed into appropriate attire and took Lu Yuan Xiao to find Madam Xu.
“You’ve only been at your post for half a month, yet you’ve lost so much weight. Have you eaten?” Madam Xu asked, heart aching at the sight of her eldest son’s gaunt figure.
“I just finished eating before coming back. This isn’t being thin. Before, when I was bedridden and had to rely on maids for everything, I was bloated with inactivity. Now that I move around more, my body has become lean and firm.” Lu Yan Shu reassured his mother with a smile.
“Yes, yes, firm meat is tastier!” Lu Chao Chao, half-asleep in her mother’s embrace, drowsily raised her head to chime in.
Everyone was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“You’re such a little glutton. All you think about is food.”
Lu Chao Chao mumbled, “Eating well is a blessing. Chao Chao is very blessed.”
“Yes, yes, our Chao Chao is blessed indeed.” Lu Yan Shu glanced at his mother. Today, the Southern Kingdom’s emissary had entered the capital with a ferocious beast in tow—this was no friendly visit.
His mother had past entanglements with the Southern Kingdom’s royal family. He only hoped this matter wouldn’t involve her.
Lu Yuan Ze was already waiting at the door.
“Chao Chao, come to Daddy…” Lu Yuan Ze’s voice was hoarse, his unkempt beard covering his face as he reached out his hands.
Terrified, Lu Chao Chao clung tightly to her mother’s neck. “Mama, where did this homeless man come from? So scary!”
Lu Yuan Ze froze in place, then looked down at himself.
He was indeed disheveled, even carrying the strange odor of an old woman.
Embarrassed, Lu Yuan Ze backed away.
Lu Yan Shu personally stepped down from the carriage, assisting his mother and younger brother out. Lu Yuan Ze trailed behind, watching with longing.
Shi Yun had been well cared for these past two years. Her skin was fair and smooth, her brows unmarked by worry—she looked at least ten years younger than when they had divorced.
On the other hand, Lu Yuan Ze had aged twenty years since the separation.
“You look just like an old man…” Lu Chao Chao remarked without mercy.
Lu Yuan Ze’s heart ached. Before him was the wife he had once scorned—now, she was a happiness beyond his reach.
“Madam! This servant greets Madam! Eldest Young Master, please come in quickly. This servant will prepare your favorite tea…”
With Madam Pei gone, the young maids made no effort to hide their joy.
One after another, they stepped forward to pay their respects.
The group made their way toward Virtue and Kindness Hall.
Before they even entered, Lu Chao Chao wrinkled her nose in disgust. “It stinks! What’s that awful smell?”
“Did Grandmother soil herself?”
Lu Yuan Ze hurriedly explained, “Chao Chao, Grandmother has bedsores. She’s in pain, too.” Then he looked at Madam Xu with pleading eyes.
“If you had taken care of your mother yourself, she wouldn’t be like this. You always tended to her diligently.” Madam Xu cast him a cold glance. “Perhaps she simply doesn’t deserve it. After all, Madam Pei was her own chosen daughter-in-law.”
Lu Yuan Ze pursed his lips, saying nothing.
“Go check on Mother.”
“Yan Shu, Yuan Xiao, Chao Chao, go see your Grandmother.” Lu Yuan Ze’s eyes were red.
Lu Chao Chao pinched her nose and stepped forward, staring at the old madam with wide eyes.
“Shi… Shi Yun, Shi Yun…” Every day, the old madam had cursed Madam Pei, which had seemingly trained her speech, allowing her to articulate a few words.
“You… you are my best…”
“Daughter-in-law…” The old madam clutched Shi Yun’s hand tightly, her cloudy eyes brimming with tears.
She couldn’t bring herself to look at Lu Yan Shu and Lu Yuan Xiao. These were her true blood descendants, her real grandsons!
“Yan… Yan Shu…”
“Yuan… Xiao…” The old madam drooled as she gazed at them.
The grandsons she had once dismissed were now her last hope.
The final bloodline of the Lu family.
Yuan Ze must not let the lineage die out.
If she died without ensuring the family’s continuation, she would never be at peace, never face Old Marquis Lu, never meet the ancestors of the Lu family.
More importantly, she could not let that wretched maid Qiao triumph over her!
“Good, good. Top scholar…”
“Young scholar…” She looked at her grandsons.
And another grandson was out on the battlefield earning military honors. Why were all of Shi Yun’s children so exceptional?
“Shi Yun, come home. Mother apologizes…” Her mouth twisted as she struggled to speak.
“Mother begs you…” She clung tightly to Madam Xu’s hand.
“Recognize your ancestry, return to the Lu family. You are the descendants of the Lu family! Come back…” She gasped desperately, unwilling to breathe her last.
Lu Yuan Ze couldn’t bear to say it outright.
But in her final moments, she could still try to trick Madam Xu.
Madam Xu had always been soft-hearted.
“The Lu family cannot be without heirs, Shi Yun…” The old madam wept as she begged.
Lu Chao Chao lay before her, watching intently.
“Chao… Chao, do you miss Grandmother?”
“Blood ties can never be broken,” the old madam rejoiced at Lu Chao Chao’s fixed gaze.
“Chao Chao, do you have anything to say to Grandmother?” Lu Yuan Ze encouraged, hoping she would say something that might sway Shi Yun.
Lu Chao Chao hesitated for a moment before saying, “Grandmother, when you die, can I take leave from the academy for mourning? I don’t want to go to class.”
“My classmate’s grandmother passed away, and he got three days off.”
The old madam’s eyes widened in shock, veins bulging, her mouth producing wheezing sounds.
“Ah! Ah!!” She glared, clutching Shi Yun’s wrist so tightly it hurt.
“Come… come back!”
“I will not… die in peace!”
“Come back!” The old madam sobbed, desperate.
Lu Yuan Ze knelt before Shi Yun with a thud.
“Shi Yun, I have wronged you in this life. No matter how much I owe you, I can never repay it. Please, give me a chance to make amends.”
“A wife should remain with her first husband. No outsider can compare to our own family.”
“Let’s go back to how things were, back to our happy days.”
“Madam Pei has been drowned, and I will never take a concubine again. This house needs you… I was blinded by greed and abandoned you. It was my fault…” Lu Yuan Ze kowtowed.
“Expelling you from the family and erasing you from the registry was my sin. But Old Marquis Lu never wronged you. Please, Shi Yun, let the Lu family have an heir!”
“The Lu family cannot end with me! From now on, you make the rules, Shi Yun. Please, come home!” Lu Yuan Ze trembled at the thought of his family’s lineage ending with him.
The mere thought made his blood surge.
Madam Xu’s expression shifted slightly. Deng Zhi shivered—was Madam softening?
Madam Xu smiled gently.
“How is Old Marquis Lu without an heir? Doesn’t he still have Lu Yuan Xi? He is of his blood; surely, the Old Marquis wouldn’t mind.”
“And Lu Jing Huai, whom you personally raised, is as good as a son. Family ties strengthen the bond. How can there be no heir…”
“Lu Yuan Ze, the Old Marquis is not without descendants.”
“The one without heirs… is you.”
“What does your bloodline have to do with me? I came today…”
“To deliver you an invitation. Remember to attend the wedding and share in the joy.” Madam Xu pulled out a gold-embossed invitation from her sleeve.
She looked at the old madam, gasping for breath on the bed.
“Rest in peace, Old Madam. I will visit your grave with wedding wine. Drink some of your daughter-in-law’s wedding wine and witness Shi Yun’s happiness.”
“Let the bloodline end, then. It wasn’t worth preserving.”
“Yan Shu and Yuan Xiao can simply have a different father.”
With that, Madam Xu turned and left with her children.
Lu Chao Chao was frantic. “Make sure to notify the academy when she dies so I can take leave. You must let me know!”
“It would be best if you die the day after tomorrow. That’s when exams are—I won’t have to take them.”
“Remember to notify me!”