Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 61

Lu Hualin ran out with aggressive momentum; Lu Sheng was too late to stop him.

Although they suspected Lu Huaying had stolen the brewing formula, they had no evidence. Even if they went to find Lu Huaying, they wouldn’t be able to do anything.

If he went alone to demand an explanation, it would surely be useless. He needed to find someone whose words carried weight.

“Sister Nan, go fetch the clan elders. Go directly to Second Uncle’s house.”

After instructing Qi Nan, Lu Sheng quickly ran out to chase Lu Hualin.

Lu Hualin had long legs and took big strides. By the time Lu Sheng caught up, he had already entered the Second Household’s courtyard gate.

Wang Xiufen had just opened the door when she saw Lu Hualin rush in with a rake, looking murderous.

“Da Lin, Lin Zi, what… what are you doing!” Wang Xiufen was so frightened she retreated two steps and yelled sharply toward the house, “Guangzhi, Guangzhi, wake up quickly!”

Lu Guangzhi, under the covers, moved his neck, didn’t even open his eyes, and rolled over to sleep again.

Wang Xiufen was an elder, so Lu Hualin suppressed his anger and asked, “Aunt, where is Lu Huaying!”

It was the first time seeing Lu Hualin so angry, with raised eyebrows and glaring eyes, looking like he was ready to eat someone. Wang Xiufen’s voice trembled as she spoke, “Sh-she’s not up yet, Da Lin Zi, what-what do you need with Ying Zi?”

“You call her, her up. I, I have something to ask, ask her.” Lu Hualin gripped the rake, his face as dark as a pot bottom.

“What is it you need to talk to Ying Zi about?” Wang Xiufen clung to the door panel, terrified he might swing the rake directly at her.

Seeing her reluctance to move, Lu Hualin didn’t want to waste any more time arguing with her and stepped directly into the courtyard.

“Lu Huaying!” Lu Hualin yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Who, who is it?”

Right after he spoke, Lu Huaying squinted and walked out of the side room, buttoning her padded jacket with an expression of displeasure, wondering who was making such a racket so early in the morning.

“Lu Huaying!” Lu Hualin quickly strode toward her and slammed the rake right by her feet.

He was in a fit of rage and didn’t hold back any strength, directly gouging a hole in the ground.

Wang Xiufen’s heart pounded just watching. She hurried to stand between the two, but didn’t dare to get too close, trying to mediate, “Da Lin Zi, speak nicely.”

“B-Brother, what are you doing?” Lu Huaying was startled, the unpleasantness of being woken up vanished instantly from shock.

“What am I doing?!” Lu Hualin stepped closer, staring and demanding sternly, “Did you sell the five-grain liquor brewing formula?!”

The distillery had finally found its footing and gained recognition because of the five-grain liquor, and yet she sold the formula in the blink of an eye.

Even with Lu Hualin’s good nature, he was furious.

“What liquor formula? I don’t know anything about any liquor formula.”

Lu Huaying was frightened into weak knees by his intimidating presence, but she still adamantly denied it.

She had secretly sold the formula herself and hadn’t told anyone in the family.

If her mother found out about this, she would definitely demand half the money.

She had used the money from selling the formula to buy a gyrfalcon for her son and had none left to ‘honor’ her mother.

“What?!” When Wang Xiufen heard this, she forgot about Lu Hualin’s fierce demeanor, quickly rushed forward, grabbed Lu Huaying, and demanded, “You sold the liquor formula?”

This thieving daughter of hers, selling the formula secretly without saying a word.

“Mom, don’t listen to his nonsense.” Lu Huaying turned to explain to Wang Xiufen, “If I sold the liquor formula, how could I…”

“Aiyo, Little Aunt, stop hiding it.”

Lu Sheng had watched for a long time and figured out what was happening.

She glanced at the door, saw the timing was right, and interjected, “We asked around. Proprietor Li from the Jixiang Distillery said he gave you a full five hundred taels of silver for the formula.”

“Five hundred taels?!” Wang Xiufen immediately grabbed the broom next to her and started hitting Lu Huaying, “You wretched brat, I raised you to eat and drink, and this is the ungrateful, heartless person you turned out to be.”

She sold it for five hundred taels and didn’t give her a single coin.

Lu Huaying, having divorced and returned home, was already a drain on her resources, eating and drinking at home every day, which already annoyed her. Now, knowing she had money and was hiding it, she was even more enraged.

Lu Huaying tried to escape, but with Lu Hualin on the left, Lu Sheng in front, and the wall behind her, she had nowhere to hide.

Wang Xiufen struck with full force. After only a couple of hits, Lu Huaying couldn’t take it anymore. She covered her head and pleaded, “Mom, Mom, stop hitting me, ouch! Don’t listen to her nonsense, it was only a hundred taels, clearly!”

Hearing her say one hundred taels, Lu Sheng almost laughed out of sheer annoyance.

Lu Huaying was both greedy and stupid, selling a formula that could double the distillery’s liquor output for only one hundred taels.

Too lazy to scold her, she raised an eyebrow and shouted towards the clan elders at the courtyard gate, “Great Uncle Zeng, did you hear that? Little Aunt just admitted herself that she stole our distillery’s formula and sold it for one hundred taels.”

“You, you little brat, you tricked me!”

Lu Huaying immediately realized that the five hundred taels Lu Sheng mentioned was a bluff, designed only to trick her into admitting the truth.

“So what if I tricked you!”

Now that she had the evidence, she saw no need to be polite to Lu Huaying.

“You home-wrecker!” Lu Huaying was enraged, grabbing Lu Sheng’s clothes and raising her hand to slap her.

Lu Huaying was large and round, much bigger than Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng struggled but couldn’t break free. Just as she was reaching out to block, her hand accidentally struck the funny bone on her own arm, making her whole arm go numb.

Before she could switch hands, Lu Huaying’s palm was already descending.

Lu Sheng cursed inwardly, realizing she was about to be hit.

However, in the next instant, a slender hand grabbed Lu Huaying’s thick, round wrist.

The hand was fair and thin, with clearly defined knuckles. Due to the exertion, the veins on the back of the hand slightly protruded.

That hand firmly squeezed Lu Huaying’s wrist, the thumb pressing hard against the tendon in her wrist.

Lu Huaying cried out in pain, hissed, let go of Lu Sheng’s collar, and rubbed her numb wrist.

“Why are you here?” Lu Sheng turned around in surprise and indeed saw Qi Zhenshu.

“Something happened at the distillery, and you didn’t tell me.” Qi Zhenshu said calmly, a hint of mild reproach in her tone.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Lu Sheng pulled on her sleeve and said softly, “I didn’t want to distract you from your studying, so I didn’t say anything.”

Qi Zhenshu was busy preparing for the exams, and Lu Sheng didn’t want her to be distracted by these messy affairs.

Qi Zhenshu’s deep gaze softened slightly. She took Lu Sheng’s hand and examined it. The fair wrist was red in a large patch.

“Does it hurt?”

“It’s nothing, just hit the funny bone just now.”

Lu Sheng smiled and shook her wrist, proving that it was indeed fine.

Qi Zhenshu turned, her expression unfriendly as she looked at Lu Huaying, her voice carrying a chill, “Little Aunt, what are you doing!”

“You freeloading bastard, who do you think you are!”

Lu Huaying had always looked down on Qi Zhenshu, the live-in son-in-law. Now, seeing the large red mark on her wrist, she became frantic with anger, pointed at her, and started cursing, “If it weren’t for our Lu family supporting you, you would have starved to death long ago! You wouldn’t have the audacity to lay a hand on me here!”

The Lu family distillery’s business had been getting better and better recently, making Lu Huaying extremely envious. Having been provoked this morning with nowhere to vent her anger, she decided to pick on Qi Zhenshu, the ‘soft target’.

Lu Sheng was immediately displeased upon hearing her words. She pulled Qi Zhenshu back, sheltering her behind her.

“Shut up! What are you saying, you thieving woman! My Ashu hasn’t eaten a grain of your family’s rice. You have no business making such wild accusations.”

“You, you’re the one who is treacherous, stealing the distillery’s formula and selling it to others, and you still have the nerve to yell here!”

“Call the authorities! Today, we must call the authorities and have this old thief arrested!”

Lu Sheng was truly enraged. It was bad enough that she wanted to hit her, but she dared to insult their Qi Zhenshu! She wouldn’t be satisfied until she properly dealt with her today!

“Let’s go, we’re going to call the authorities!” Lu Sheng grabbed Qi Zhenshu’s hand and prepared to leave.

In the past, the First Household and Third Household had always been polite to them, so Wang Xiufen hadn’t taken Lu Huaying stealing the formula seriously.

Now, seeing Lu Sheng seriously intending to call the authorities, she quickly stopped the two of them and spoke soothingly, “Xiao Sheng, Xiao Sheng, there’s no need to call the authorities. Look, we are all one family.”

If she had known this would happen, she shouldn’t have hit Lu Huaying just now. She should have waited until they left and privately questioned her, then she could have pocketed fifty taels herself.

“One family? Would a family member steal the family’s assets and sell them?” Lu Sheng glared at her and retorted angrily, then continued to walk out.

In Xiliang, theft was not a minor crime. If Lu Sheng were to really report her to the county magistrate, Lu Huaying would be in serious trouble.

“Da Lin Zi, Da Lin Zi, stop her quickly.”

Wang Xiufen turned to look at Lu Hualin, who was also still angry and completely ignored her.

Seeing that Lu Sheng and Qi Zhenshu were about to exit the courtyard gate, she desperately grabbed the clan elder next to her, pleading, “Third Uncle, Third Uncle, please help persuade them.”

The clan elder was truly reluctant to intervene in Lu Huaying’s fate, but Lu Huaying was a member of the Lu clan. If she were reported to the county magistrate, it would bring shame upon the Lu family name.

“Lu Sheng.” The clan elder called out to her.

Lu Sheng disliked the tone of a feudal patriarch, but considering the other members of the Lu family, she could only helplessly stop and turn back to answer, “Great Uncle Zeng.”

The clan elder shot a meaningful look at Wang Xiufen. Wang Xiufen quickly grabbed Lu Sheng and tried to placate her, “Xiao Sheng, look, we’re all family. How about I have Ying Zi return the money from selling the formula to you? How does that sound?”

“Ying Zi, where’s that one hundred taels? Hurry up and bring it to Xiao Sheng.” After speaking to Lu Sheng, Wang Xiufen quickly pulled Lu Huaying over.

Lu Huaying hadn’t anticipated the situation escalating this much. Now, seeing even the clan elder involved, she felt a bit cowardly, but she had used the money to buy the gyrfalcon and had none left to return.

“I spent the money.” Lu Huaying looked at Wang Xiufen sheepishly.

Thinking of the gyrfalcon, Lu Huaying felt even more vexed.

She had spent over a month searching, paid a large sum to someone to procure it, and excitedly sent it to her son a few days ago. However, he played with it for two days and sent it back, claiming that its feathers were not completely white, so it wasn’t a true gyrfalcon.

He also said he no longer wanted to play with hawks and wanted a fine steed instead.

“Spent it?” When Wang Xiufen heard the money was gone, she too flared up, “How did you spend it!”

“I bought a hawk for Xiao Ze.”

Lu Huaying figured the money was gone anyway, and Lu Sheng couldn’t really do anything to her. If push came to shove, she’d just let her mother cover the cost for her.

She planned to return the hawk later, get the money back, and keep it for herself.

“What?!” Wang Xiufen grabbed the broom, ready to hit her.

Seeing the two getting increasingly out of hand, the clan elder shouted to stop them, “Wang Shi!”

Wang Xiufen quickly put down the broom and looked at the clan elder in distress, “Clan Elder, look, what… what should we do?”

Her demeanor clearly suggested she was planning to default on the debt, and one hundred taels was no small amount. The clan elder frowned, unable to think of a good solution, and turned to look at Lu Sheng.

She stole someone else’s property to sell for money, and now she wasn’t even willing to return the proceeds.

Lu Sheng had seen shameless people, but never anyone this shameless.

Lu Sheng had no intention of sparing the Second Household any face. She turned to Qi Zhenshu and asked, “Ashu, according to the Xiliang law, how is theft punished?”

Qi Zhenshu answered without hesitation, reciting the law, “Xiliang Penal Code: Theft exceeding one hundred taels is punishable by one hundred strokes of the cane and three thousand li of exile.”

“What?!” Lu Huaying was so frightened her legs turned to jelly.

She never thought that merely selling a formula would result in both caning and exile.

She had originally intended to borrow money, not steal the formula, but seeing Lu Hualin’s absolute refusal, she had succumbed to bad intentions.

“Mom, Mom.” Lu Huaying still hoped Wang Xiufen would pay the money for her.

One hundred taels! Wang Xiufen loved her daughter but couldn’t bear to part with one hundred taels. She turned back to beg Lu Sheng, “Xiao Sheng, Xiao Sheng, we are all family. How about you give your Little Aunt some time to gather the money to repay you? How about that?”

As soon as Wang Xiufen said this, Lu Huaying understood that her mother wouldn’t pay the money for her. She turned and saw Lu Sheng was still unwilling to budge. She gritted her teeth and said, “That hawk, that gyrfalcon is in my room.”

Lu Huaying ran toward the room as she spoke, grabbed the birdcage in the corner, and returned to the courtyard.

She placed the birdcage in front of Lu Sheng and reluctantly said, “I spent one hundred and twenty taels to buy this hawk.”

Lu Sheng was practically laughing at her shameless move.

“What? Do you want me to pay you back another twenty taels or something?” Lu Sheng couldn’t even bring herself to call her by her title. “If you hadn’t sold that formula, the distillery could have earned five hundred taels more in a year, easily. Now you’re trying to fool me with just a bird?”

“Aunt, you keep saying we’re family. But some people, when they were acting as traitors and stealing from the inside, didn’t show any sign that they considered us family.” Lu Sheng’s tone was gloomy, her anger boiling over.

Someone gently held her hand. Lu Sheng looked sideways and saw Qi Zhenshu’s clear eyes and heard her soft, soothing voice, “Don’t get angry over such a thing.”

“It’s not worth it.”

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