Chapter Seventy-Four: Sooner or Later, One Must Pay the Price

With just one understated remark, Lu Ying left the members of the Ping family frozen in place, each with a different expression. Lowering her head in contemplation for a moment, she then lifted her dark eyes to look at her third uncle and said, “Uncle, I don’t believe anything has happened to Ayun. You should put all our belongings back where they were. I’ll wait here for him to return.”

Her cheeks flushed as she pouted and insisted, “If Ayun doesn’t come back, I’ll go and demand him from him myself!” That single “him” was spoken with an unrestrained sincerity.

The Ping family exchanged glances, uncertain how to proceed. After a long pause, her third uncle furrowed his brow and said, “Something is odd about this. Ying, perhaps those damn servants really did make a mistake. Very well, you stay here for now. I’ll go and get to the bottom of it.”

Seeing Lu Ying nod eagerly, her third uncle breathed a sigh of relief. At his side, her third aunt couldn’t help but ask, “Ying, does that nobleman truly care for you so much?”

Lu Ying blushed and bowed her head, saying nothing.

Her silence, absorbed in embarrassment, irked her third aunt, but Madam Huang stepped forward and quietly asked, “Ying, with someone of such high status, do you really think he’ll have people watching over you? Ying, you mustn’t speak recklessly about these things. If others hear, it could cost you your life!” Her tone was deadly serious, as if she were coaxing a child.

With this question, the whole Ping family listened intently.

Lu Ying pressed her lips together and retorted, “I don’t care if he watches me or not! What’s so outrageous about saying so?” Madam Huang looked up at the fourth aunt.

Another silence followed. At last, Lu Ying raised her head. “Grandmother, Uncle, it’s best if you all go home. I’ll wait here for my brother.”

Her third uncle nodded, “That’s fine. I’ll go and clarify things about Ayun right away.” He truly felt some regret now. They had come in such haste, thinking that a few elders pressing her would easily return Lu Ying to the Ping household. They hadn’t expected complications. Had he known that the nobleman had such arrangements, he never would have used Lu Yun as leverage.

After some thought, the third uncle left Madam Huang and five maids to watch over Lu Ying and her brother, along with some gold, then departed with the rest, including the matron.

Outside, a persistent drizzle fell. Inside, Madam Huang and the others stared at Lu Ying, trying to read her. Watching their forced, obsequious smiles, Lu Ying stood up. Madam Huang quickly asked, “Ying, where are you going?”

Lu Ying ignored her, heading straight for the door. When three maids and Madam Huang hurried to block her way, Lu Ying simply turned around and, unruffled, returned to the room. As if nothing had happened, she picked up a book and started reading.

Madam Huang first exhaled in relief, but then, glancing at Lu Ying’s serene face, she thought: Her movements just now clearly showed she meant to go out. Did she know we would stop her, and was she just toying with us?

Indeed, Lu Ying was playing with them. They truly thought they could guard her as if she were a criminal!

Hmph, her third uncle left these women to watch her, while he himself must have gone to investigate matters concerning her brother. Soon enough, they would discover that her brother had been at the academy all along, and that the story about him going to the Wang family was a fabrication she’d conjured to fool them. Then they’d realize that Lu Ying had always been aware of their intentions, and had lied to their faces the whole time.

The room was filled with tense, silent stares when a knock sounded at the door. Madam Huang hurried to open it.

It was a servant from the Ping household. After a few whispered words with Madam Huang, they both looked at Lu Ying with complicated expressions.

Now, their masters all knew the truth—Lu Yun had been at the academy all along! The young lady before them had lied so convincingly, spinning them in circles.

Moreover, the matron had spoken: since the story was false, then Lu Ying’s claims about the nobleman’s regard for her were surely lies as well. The old lady instructed that soon, someone would come to forcibly bring Lu Ying back to the Ping residence. Until then, Madam Huang and the others were to humor her.

After the servant left, Madam Huang’s gaze toward Lu Ying grew wary and disdainful.

Just as Madam Huang re-entered the room, Lu Ying brushed past her. Watching Lu Ying stride outside, Madam Huang hurried after her, calling, “Ying, where are you going?”

Lu Ying turned her head. “I’m going to see him.”

See him? That nobleman? Was someone like that so easily approached?

Seeing Lu Ying’s innocent and nonchalant expression, Madam Huang hesitated, then whispered, “Miss, that’s not proper. With his status…”

“He said I could see him whenever I wished,” Lu Ying replied, fixing Madam Huang with an impatient stare. Clearly unwilling to explain further, she headed for the main gate.

As she left, Madam Huang and the others exchanged glances, then followed after her.

Lu Ying walked quickly. She opened the door and stepped into the alley. When Madam Huang tried to grab her, Lu Ying’s voice rose in annoyance, “Madam Huang! Are you treating me like a prisoner?” Her tone was sharp.

Startled, Madam Huang glanced nervously at the surrounding walls and tried to placate her, but Lu Ying ignored her and walked on. When the group tried to catch up, she broke into a run.

In no time, Lu Ying reached the street. Seeing her so flustered, Madam Huang was anxious and at a loss. One of the maids whispered, “Should we follow?”

After a moment’s thought, Madam Huang gritted her teeth. “We’ll follow her!”

Lu Ying appeared at the gates of Yiyuan Garden.

This time, she was nothing like before. On previous visits, she had always worn a refined young man’s attire. Now, dressed in a simple woman’s garment, both her hair and clothing were soaked from the rain. She looked utterly bedraggled.

In this state, she walked straight up to the two Imperial Guards. Under their steady gaze, she quietly said, “I am…”

Before she could finish, the two guards stepped back in unison, shifting their halberds aside to let her in.

Lu Ying paused. “Do you recognize me?”

The round-faced guard on the left smiled, “Miss, you’re only in different clothes. We’re not so blind as to miss that.”

“Thank you.”

Lu Ying smiled sweetly, bowed to them, and entered.

Not far behind, Madam Huang and her group watched in shock, faces paling. So it was true—she really could come and go freely in the nobleman’s residence!

The feeling wasn’t just astonishment—it was a kind of dread, like seeing someone you thought beneath you suddenly become kin to royalty.

With her heart pounding, Madam Huang had only one thought: to report this immediately to her mistress.

Inside Yiyuan Garden, after a few steps, Lu Ying, making sure she was out of sight, stopped and rested languidly.

The fine drizzle still fell; rain gathered in her hair and clothes, and though it was spring, the chill seeped in.

Not wanting to meet anyone, she wandered deeper into the garden, finally slipping into a bamboo grove.

What she didn’t notice was that, in a distant pavilion, two people were watching her.

From afar, observing the drenched Lu Ying, the handsome nobleman said lazily, “Go, have her bathe and change into clean clothes.”

“Yes,” the two maids replied, but just then, they saw Lu Ying move in the bamboo grove and head straight for the gate—she was leaving almost as soon as she’d arrived.

Puzzled, the maids looked to their master, and the guard asked, “What does she mean by this? Why come just to leave?”

The nobleman lifted his wine cup, swirling it in Lu Ying’s direction, and replied languidly, “What else could it be? She’s simply leveraging my influence—she’s grown used to it, just as she’s grown used to taking liberties with me.” At these words, his once-casual attendants bowed their heads, not daring to utter a sound.

Taking a sip of wine, the nobleman chuckled deeply. “Tomorrow, go see her. Tell her I heard everything she said. Since she has the will, let her come in a carriage through the side gate of Yiyuan. Tell her I might even grant her a title.”

The guard bowed, “Yes, sir!”

Little did Lu Ying know, all her actions had been seen.

As she left Yiyuan, the two Imperial Guards stared after her in a daze.

Climbing into the ox cart that had brought her, Lu Ying returned home.

She walked slowly, and by the time she reached her alley, two more Ping household servants stood in the rain at her door. Seeing her approach, they bowed their heads.

Lu Ying ignored them and went inside. The room was neat and tidy; the furniture that had been tossed about earlier was restored, and everything had been thoroughly cleaned.

That evening, her brother bounded home, cheerful as ever. His innocent demeanor showed he was completely unaware of the day’s drama.

Before long, A Qing from the Ping family’s third branch arrived at her door.

The gentle, quiet maid seemed confused. She glanced at Lu Ying and said, “Your third uncle sent me to see you.”

After shutting the door, she set down her basket, lifted the cloth covering it, and pointed to three wooden boxes inside. “There are three hundred taels of gold here. Your uncle asked me to bring them. He also said you mustn’t take today’s events to heart. He said, ‘Even if bones are broken, we’re still family.’”

So, they’d come to make amends!

And she was just in need—her soaking in the rain hadn’t been in vain. (To be continued)