mtl008 Is Chapter 804 a joke?
Is Chapter 804 a joke?
Lu Wei shook his head, his expression slightly grave. "I just didn't expect that it would almost implicate Qinghe Village. It was due to a lack of experience and an underestimation of the wickedness of human nature."
From the time Lu Wei could remember, his mother forced him to study, insisting that he must make something of himself through his studies.
In the dead of winter and the sweltering heat of summer, while the village children ran all over the mountains and fields, he would get up before dawn to memorize his lessons. If he couldn't see the words on the book clearly, he would memorize it over and over again until his throat hurt terribly. He would drink bowl after bowl of water on an empty stomach just to barely suppress the hunger in his stomach.
He endured a lot of hardship to study, but he was not actually a very stable person. He was not naturally steady, nor was he willing to work hard for his studies. He just couldn't let his mother down.
He couldn't blame his mother for forcing him to study. He saw her suffering, her resentment and bitterness after that man left, the gossip and rumors she endured, and how she worked so hard that she lost her sight early to earn money to support him. He had struggled with this for a long time, wanting countless times to question his mother: Was it really so important to stand up for herself in front of that irresponsible man? Was it so important that she never asked for his opinion, so important that she would sacrifice her own life to keep him? Was it really that important?
Is that man really that important?
But as a son, he couldn't bring himself to ask.
He couldn't bring himself to rebel and give up. If he gave up to defy his mother, how would he be any different from that irresponsible man who abandoned his wife and children?
His true willingness to help Lu Yangyang came after he taught her a few words. At that time, she was just a little girl, barely taller than his shoulder, wearing patched clothes, helping him gather firewood. She found two bird eggs that were no bigger than the palm of his hand, and even though she was starving, she insisted on sharing one with him, saying that if he ever became the top scholar in the imperial examination, he must remember to repay her.
He suddenly understood the meaning of reading.
His mother had her own hardships and perseverance; it was the path she had chosen. Even if he couldn't understand it, he couldn't interfere with her life.
He can study well or poorly, he can work hard or give up, but the first thing he must understand is that he studies for himself, not for his mother's sake, nor to make the man who abandoned his wife and children regret it when he sees him one day.
neither.
After he studies and becomes sensible, he will have more choices after he stands out from the crowd. He can repay his mother for raising him, repay Lu Yangyang for her countless support on his path to education, and repay the villagers for their care and support. He needs to have the ability first before he can do these things, instead of holding his breath and achieving nothing.
Reading can make him a better person; he must first become a better person before he can look back on his past choices.
Having grasped the significance of reading for him at such a young age, the difficulties he encountered along the way were nothing to him; in fact, the journey was so smooth that he almost forgot his doubts about that man.
It was after he arrived in the capital that, while visiting an old friend with one of Grand Tutor Lan's disciples, the friend casually remarked that his appearance looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite place him. He was suddenly jolted awake to the fact that he had forgotten something incredibly important.
He almost immediately began making arrangements, investigating whether any officials surnamed Lu had committed serious crimes more than twenty years ago, while secretly arranging for people to return to Qinghe Village to watch over his mother, so as not to be caught off guard if anything happened.
When he finally passed the imperial examination and achieved the highest honors, his unease intensified. He finally found a man surnamed Lu who had been connected to him more than twenty years ago. Lu Jibai was the Junior Chamberlain of the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace and also the Crown Prince's cousin.
"The maternal family of Crown Prince Chongwen is surnamed Qin. Empress Jinghui has a younger sister who married into the Lu family. During the previous Jing Dynasty, the Lu family produced three prime ministers and several great Confucian scholars, renowned throughout the land, in no way inferior to the current Lan family. After the establishment of the Great Zhao Dynasty, the Lu family became more low-key, but their students and old friends remained. Although the Lu family no longer holds important positions in the court, their status is still significant. Empress Jinghui is the birth mother of Crown Prince Chongwen, and her sister's marriage into the Lu family is a signal of the Lu family's resurgence." Lu Wei tapped his fingers lightly on the table, keeping an eye on the movements outside while recounting the information he had gathered to Lu Yangyang.
Lu Yangyang was genuinely surprised.
She had already gotten all she knew from He Jingze that Lu Jibai's name was related to the Crown Prince Chongwen. She had no idea what kind of family the Lu family was or why they had been convicted. She never imagined that the Lu family had once been so prominent.
After the collapse of the previous dynasty, the Lu family, who were important officials of the previous dynasty, not only did not fall, but after decades of silence, they began to re-establish connections and enter the court. According to the other party's plan, and given that Crown Prince Chongwen was undoubtedly the heir apparent at the time, Lu Jibai would inevitably become a confidant of Crown Prince Chongwen. Once Crown Prince Chongwen ascended the throne, the Lu family would surely return to the court and recreate the glory of the previous dynasty.
It's a pity that man's calculation is not as good as God's calculation.
When the two countries went to war, Crown Prince Chongwen went north as a hostage. He was a man of great righteousness who saved countless people from suffering, but he missed the throne and completely thwarted the Lu family's plans.
Given the current emperor's suspicious nature, he would never reuse the Lu family unless they were completely wiped out.
Thinking of this, Lu Yangyang subconsciously looked at Lu Wei: "What happened to the Lu family later?"
Lu Wei and Lu Yangyang had known each other since childhood, so he naturally understood that Lu Yangyang had figured out the key points. He continued, "When Crown Prince Chongwen went north as a hostage, many ambitious people were willing to follow him. Originally, Lu Jibai was among them."
Since Lu Jibai is both a member of the Eastern Palace and the cousin of Crown Prince Chongwen, he should be included in the retinue both morally and logically.
But Lu Wei was referring to the original version.
Lu Yangyang waited quietly for him to continue.
Lu Wei's lips curled into a sneer, "But Lu Jibai unfortunately broke his leg at the time and was unconscious, so he was unable to travel north."
Lu Yangyang's eyes widened in disbelief; she never expected such a reason.
"He failed to go north. Not long after, the late emperor passed away and His Majesty ascended the throne. Naturally, he would not give important positions to someone like him who had such close ties with Crown Prince Chongwen. The Lu family's plans fell through, and it was not so easy for them to rise again. Not long after, the Lu family was found to have committed embezzlement and bribery, their property was confiscated, and the main branch was sentenced to exile. When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. The once great clan disintegrated overnight."
Lu Wei's voice was full of sarcasm, and he even laughed out loud, "Lu Jibai was on his way to exile when he encountered a flood and escaped. He then followed the refugee group and ended up in Qinghe Village."
"I went through all that trouble to find out about this background. Don't you think it's a joke?"