Volume 1 Chapter 88 Entering Night

  It's late afternoon.

  It's time to set up camp and rest again.

  Looking at the numerous tents, Wen Qing called over a few servants and instructed them to set up another tent for Lu Yue. After that, he walked into his own tent and sat down. He drank several mouthfuls of wine in silence, then put down his cup and turned his head to gaze silently in the direction where Lu Yue was.

  A young woman walked up behind him, bowed slightly and said in a low voice: "Second Brother, I got some news from one of Chen's servants. They say that Chen Yan is good at pretending to be kind, but actually has a ruthless heart."

  "Alright."

  "Although Uncle is a relative, what Chen Yan has done must be reported to the lady. In this world, there are many people who only seek temporary pleasure and like to do things that harm others without benefiting themselves. If Chen Yan's heart is ruthless, then the family should know about it, so as not to help her in the future and be bitten back by her."

  Chen Yan is too beautiful, with such a beauty she can easily get promoted, this point must be guarded against.

  Wen Qing nodded, his eyes still fixed on Lu Yue's faintly visible figure, and said somewhat absent-mindedly, "I knew that."

  The young woman followed his gaze and looked at Lu Xiang's figure, suddenly saying: "Second Brother, you like this Miss Lu, don't you?"

  This young woman was sent by Wen Qing's mother to follow him as a grown-up person and has always been respected by him.

  The young man was suddenly seen through his thoughts, and he couldn't help but blush. He turned around, his square face hesitating for a moment before calling out: "I..."

  The young woman looked at him gently and saw that he wanted to speak but hesitated. She softened her voice and said, "Second Brother, you should know that your mother and father will not agree to let her enter the house."

  One sentence fell to the ground. Wen Qing's face changed greatly.

  The young woman ignored his unpleasant expression and continued, "Second Brother also knows, doesn't he? Without mentioning whether our family background matches or not, it's just that Lu Shi's daughter's personality and behavior are not suitable for Ah Qing as the eldest son of the Wen family. Look at how she handled things today. In fact, she could have been more gentle and tactful, couldn't she? If it were someone else's sister-in-law, they wouldn't even dare to confront Chen Yan like that. You care about her so much, can't you just let everything be handled by you? Would you still want to wrong her? But Lu Shi's daughter didn't choose this approach; instead, she took a hard-line stance."

  After a pause, the young woman continued: "The Wen family is large and prosperous with many brothers. Normally, the madams are in charge and never dare to overstep their bounds, not even by a little bit. Every word they say has been carefully considered beforehand. In this regard, I think Lu's daughter-in-law may not be able to do it."

  It can be said that Chen Yan, who was greatly outdone by Lu's daughter, is far more suitable for the life of a large mansion than Lu Xue. In the mansion, one can be ruthless and cunning, can be sinister, can be hypocritical, and can pretend to be clumsy. But what it cannot tolerate is this kind of woman who flaunts herself.

  Wen Qing slowly lowered his head, covering his face with his hands and not making a sound. The young woman thought to herself: It's better for Erlang to cut off this idea early on.

  So she thought for a moment and then said: "In my opinion, this Lu's daughter has such a strong personality. If you want her to be a concubine, she won't be willing, will she? Second brother, she can't be a wife, nor is she the kind of person who would be willing to be a concubine. Moreover, she has connections with that nobleman and Yin Shi Lang Jun. You'd better forget about her."

  Forget her! Forget her!!

  Covering his face and lowering his head, Wen Qing's voice suddenly rose, and he shouted roughly: "Get out! All of you get out!"

  The young woman waved her hand and led the maids out with their heads bowed.

  She walked out of the tent and turned back to look at Lu Yue, gazing at this young man in a male robe, who truly looked like a beautiful jade tree swaying gently in the wind. She shook her head, lowered it and said mockingly: "You're not even a princess or a noble lady, yet you live so recklessly and carefree, really unaware of your place. I'd love to see how long you can keep being so arrogant."

  According to what she saw, apart from those few who were noble and dignified, which ordinary woman wasn't living in a state of compromise? Which one wasn't bearing humiliation and hardship like a dog or a donkey? She really wanted to see how long Lu Shi's way of life could last!

  This young woman's thoughts are just like those of the Qing court ruling the Central Plains in later generations. Under the high pressure of the Manchu people, the Han people had to kneel down and call themselves slaves, and this self-proclaimed slavery went on for over a hundred years. Suddenly seeing a compatriot who dared to stand up straight and sit proudly like in the Tang and Song dynasties, their first reaction was not relief or joy, but rejection and ridicule...

  From afar, Ati called out to Lu Xue: "Lu Xue, Lu Xue!"

  Standing outside, Lu Yue turned her head in response to the sound of Ati's voice and saw that it was Ati. She smiled slightly.

  Lu Xuan's smile was particularly warm, and Ati couldn't help but return it. She jogged up to Lu Xuan, her face flushing as she said: "Xuan, what are you doing here? Come with me to chat over there."

  Lu Ying responded with a "good" and followed Ati from behind.

  Ati walked while looking around, and after a while, she hummed softly and said discontentedly: "If I had known that the Chen family was like this, I wouldn't have waited for them specially." Along the way, the people belonging to the Chen family looked at Lu Yue, although they didn't show their faces, they also ignored her.

  However, this is normal. Chen Yan's beauty is rare even in Chengdu. The entire Chen family, including their servants, have always thought that they might be able to rise to prominence because of Chen Yan's beauty. But unexpectedly, Chen Yan, who they had high hopes for, made a fool of herself and got a bad reputation in front of these rich young men after just one encounter with Lu Yue. This makes them wonder how they could like Lu Yue?

  Ati obviously disliked Chen Yan very much, she pursed her lips and said: "They still dare to say that you are from the countryside, aren't they also country bumpkins? A Xue, I'm telling you, if they dare to treat you unfairly, tell me immediately, we'll come to help you out."

  Luo Ying smiled and said with a low and grateful tone: "Thank you, Ati."

  Ati's face lit up with a hint of excitement as she lifted her head, but after a glance, her small face immediately turned sour. Letting out a long sigh, Ati said: "Ayue, why do you think Wang Lang doesn't like me? Look, whenever he sees me, he turns his head and pretends not to have seen me."

  Lu Yuanshuang followed her gaze to look at Wang Shang, thinking in her heart: He might not have a good impression of the girl. But this kind of thing, it's related to a person's reputation for their whole life, and that's something that absolutely can't be said.

  At this moment, Lu Xuan could only follow with a sigh.

  Not far away. Xiao Yan and others gathered together, chatting and laughing, seeing Atai coming over, several girls ran over. Surrounding the two, they walked towards the bonfire.

  They chatted for a while. A gentle and polite male voice came over, "Miss Lu, my sister was rude just now, please forgive her."

  Lu Xuan turned her head, and was met with Chen Shu's warm and elegant smile. Chen Shu was a man who looked very refined, always wearing a gentle smile on his face, and when he looked at you, his eyes were extremely focused, easily giving people the illusion that he valued them greatly.

  At this moment, Chen Shu was gazing at Lu Yue with a focused and gentle expression. If Lu Yue hadn't known that she had just offended his sister terribly, she would have almost thought that the young man had a crush on her.

  Raising her head, Lu Xuan met the young man's dark and sunken eyes, and couldn't help but shiver before picking up her wine cup and responding: "Chen Lang is being too serious, I dare not."

  Without waiting for Chen Shu to respond, one of them, Ah Ti, spoke up in a shrill voice: "Chen Langjun, Ah Yue is my good friend, I'm warning you. You're not allowed to stick your head out for that foolish younger sister of yours."

  Chen Shu hastily replied in a gentle tone: "No, no, that's all her own doing."

  Ati hummed and scolded him for two more sentences before another Mr. Chen came over.

  That evening, several young men from the Chen family came and went among the crowd, either making a toast or presenting gifts. In short, they all said that their sister was straightforward and quick-witted, but not very clever, so they asked everyone to forgive her and not spread what happened today, lest rumors spread and ruin her future.

  It seems many young men and women also somewhat believe that Chen Yan's words were not vicious, but rather due to her being dim-witted.

  After getting everyone's promise, Chen Shidi let out a sigh of relief. However, every single person here knew that even if the young men promised not to say anything, today's events would still be impossible to hide from their families. As a result, Chen Yan would no longer be able to marry that nobleman, and even the sons and grandsons of the prominent families in Chengdu might not choose her either.

  Another moonlit night.

  A curved crescent moon hangs in the azure sky, with a few wispy clouds scattered around it. Amidst whispers and quiet conversations, an occasional breeze blows by. The wind caresses the skin, warm and soft, seemingly cool yet seemingly hot, just like the restless heart of spring.

  Wen Qing was bent over drinking wine, while beside him Wang Shang had his hands clasped behind his head and gazed up at the bright moon.

  On the other side, Lu Xuan also calmed down. She tilted her head to look at the distant mountains, listening to the laughter of the women and thought: After Ah Yun gets familiar with people, she can let go and speak more smoothly and delightfully. When he comes to Chengdu, I'll take him to attend one or two gatherings like this, and next time there's a gathering, he can go by himself.

  Luo Ying had always known that socializing was her weakness. In fact, she had never planned to achieve her goals through personal relationships with others.

  Just as Lu Xuan was lost in thought, suddenly, from the official road behind, a loud rumbling sound of horseshoes came!

  The sound of horseshoes is loud and clear, absolutely not in the minority. At this time when horses are extremely precious, a large number of horses appear, either for the royal family to travel or for the army to be on duty.

  At once, everyone turned their heads and looked over.

  At the end of the dark and oppressive official road, dozens of torches suddenly appeared in front of me.

  Looking at the firelight, Mr. Chen exclaimed and said: "It's a bit strange."

  Everyone looked at him.

  Chen Gong got up early and gazed for a while, saying: "There are only about thirty riders, why is the sound of horse hooves so muffled, as if there were hundreds of riders? It must be that those who come are certainly well-trained and unmatched heavy cavalry."

  As soon as he came to this conclusion, everyone became curious at the same time. However, with a team of three or four hundred guards, facing a cavalry of thirty or so, they were not afraid.

  Suddenly, Ati asked in a crisp tone: "Ayue, what kind of people do you think they are?"

  Lu Ying raised her head and looked at the end of the dark night, that little by little, getting closer and brighter torch, shook her head and said: "I can't guess."

  On such a quiet night, the ground tremors caused by those thirty riders were getting bigger and bigger. Looking at the approaching cavalry, Wang Shang, who had been sulking on one side, said: "I know what kind of people they are."

  Everyone turned their heads to look at him simultaneously.

  Wang Shang furrowed his brow, his eyes fixed on the front as he said in a low voice: "Today when I asked for directions, I vaguely heard something. This group of people should be the big shots from Luoyang who came here to do business."

  He said with a start, "They're starting to slow down. I wonder if they'll think of resting here like us?"

  One chapter short. I stayed up all night yesterday, and today I didn't have time to catch up on sleep, so now I'm very sleepy, and the quality of what I write might not meet everyone's expectations, so I'll just write one chapter for now. Now I owe you three chapters.

  Recommendation for "The Star Queen's Road"

  What will the world be like thousands of years later?

  When Ye Qian opened her eyes, she found that outside the window was a beautiful starry sky. After thousands of years of evolution, humans had strong bodies and extremely high IQs. Technology had developed over thousands of years and was completely unrecognizable from what it used to be.

  But she was a prisoner in the lab with an unknown tomorrow, escape became her only choice.