mtl008 Chapter 759: New Champion
Chapter 759: New Champion
Qingzhou, Qinghe Village?
Even though Lu Yangyang was usually very calm, she almost lost her composure at this moment. Her pupils contracted slightly, and she bit her lip hard to stop herself from crying out in surprise.
Stay calm, stay calm.
Lu Yangyang hadn't reminded herself of this repeatedly in a long time. The taste of blood lingered between her lips and teeth for a while before she slowly regained her senses.
There was really no enmity between her and Su Fengqu. Their last meeting was quite pleasant. She even planned to write a letter to invite Su Fengqu to visit, hoping to use Su Fengqu's help to promote the new grain varieties she brought in Tongzhou. At the very least, she could grow cotton, which wouldn't attract much attention in the short term.
Even so, she could not let her guard down.
Human hearts are unpredictable, and the world is ever-changing.
What if Su Fengqu came to test her?
Must be calm.
Lu Yangyang slowly sat down, reached out and grabbed Su Fengqu's arm, helping him up. "What happened?"
Su Fengqu was still immersed in the nervousness of finally seeing her. She sat down on a chair and still held on tightly to Lu Yangyang, trying to explain incoherently, "I investigated you before. I remember you came from Qingzhou. I couldn't find out exactly where someone helped you clean up the mess, but I always remembered that you came from Qingzhou."
“Lu Wei, the newly appointed top scholar Lu Wei, I don’t know exactly what happened, I only know that it’s probably related to the newly appointed top scholar Lu Wei, but I heard clearly that it was Qinghe Village in Qingzhou. Originally, I didn’t intend to get involved in such matters, but I was soon hunted down. I heard the news in the dance hall that he hadn’t even returned to his mansion before he was intercepted and killed. I ran all the way, until I had nowhere to run and I rolled down a cliff. Everyone around me died, and that’s when I realized something was wrong. I had no one to ask for help, and I didn’t dare to go back. They didn’t want me to live. If I went back, it would definitely implicate my parents. Lu Yangyang, I don’t know what happened, I don’t know if it’s related to you. You are General Sheng’s sister, so I can only come to you.”
Su Fengqu's words were somewhat incoherent, and he repeated a few sentences several times, but Lu Yangyang listened with even greater fear.
Lu Wei, related to Lu Wei.
She came to the capital from the countryside, a fact known to many in the capital, and undoubtedly investigated by many. However, the Sheng Guogong Mansion would never allow anyone to know her origins. Therefore, from the moment she was taken away, the Sheng Guogong Mansion had already cleaned up the mess—that's one point. Secondly, when Lu Yangyang later learned that her aunt was in Qinghe Village, she knew that Zong Que must have also intervened, making it impossible for anyone to investigate her origins, much less for anyone to find out anything about her aunt.
Therefore, Su Fengqu said that he had investigated her, but only knew that she came from Qingzhou, and she believed him.
When the results of the imperial examinations were announced in April, Lu Wei unsurprisingly came in first place and was appointed as the top scholar in the palace examination.
Lu Wei was already exceptionally talented, and she had also received guidance from her maternal grandfather, Grand Tutor Lan. If she still couldn't rank among the top students, then there must be something fishy going on.
Therefore, she was not surprised at all when the news of Lu Wei's success in the imperial examination came.
However, with Lu Wei becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination, his hometown could no longer be kept secret; his registered residence was in Qinghe Village.
My aunt left Qinghe Village long ago, and Zong Que must have already erased all traces of her. Even if Qinghe Village were exposed to the public eye, it wouldn't affect my aunt.
But why is Qinghe Village now being targeted?
If He Jingze is involved, this matter is most likely related to Duke Xiao. But why would Duke Xiao target an obscure village and go through all this trouble to get He Jingze to take action?
He Jingze is in Tongzhou, which is nearly 800 li away from Qingzhou. If something happens in Qinghe Village, no one would guess that it's He Jingze's fault.
But why exactly?
What is it about Lu Wei that has attracted attention?
Lu Yangyang reminded herself again to stay calm.
Then he looked at Su Fengqu, poured him a glass of water, and said, "Have a sip of water and tell me the whole story. I need to figure out what happened before I can talk to my older brother."
Looking into her eyes, Su Fengqu finally relaxed. He took the cup, drank some water, and his dry, itchy throat finally felt better. He couldn't help but finish the cup of water before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
He recounted the events to Lu Yangyang: "He Jingze looked down on me, but he didn't dare do anything to me, so I usually just wandered around drinking tea, listening to music, and strolling about. There was a very famous song and dance hall in Tongzhou, where some of the girls were government officials' prostitutes. Tongzhou was also a place of exile, and those officials, to satisfy their own desires, often selected daughters from the exiled families of officials to enter the song and dance hall, and they were very popular. When I had nothing to do, I would sometimes take people there to listen to music. That night, I drank too much and went to the wrong place on my way back, and I happened to hear He Jingze talking to someone..." While they were talking, I stopped out of curiosity to listen to what they were saying. I overheard them saying it was an order from above to clean up Qinghe Village in Qingzhou, and they mentioned the newly appointed top scholar, Lu Wei. But they were speaking evasively, so I couldn't hear what they were saying… I sensed something was wrong and tried to leave, but I was still discovered. It was my first time encountering something like this, and I had no experience. I could only run, run for my life, until I was chased until I had nowhere to run. I fell off a cliff, and luckily, there was a river below. I can swim, and that's how I managed to shake them off.”