novelhk Chapter 123 Clear your thoughts
Chapter 123 Clear your thoughts
At first, she was indeed very happy when her father came back, but after repeated setbacks in her search for Liao Han, she suddenly realized that some things might not be so simple.
As soon as her father revealed the location of Rhino Village, she sent people rushing there, but they were still a step too late. The place where Mr. Liao lived was completely burned down.
It can even be said that during the period when my father was in a coma, he may not have lived in Rhino Village, but was hidden by someone.
As for Liao Han's pregnancy, it was even more of a coincidence.
It happened to appear after Prince Shen, Prince Ning, and other princes had handed over power. The Eastern Palace now has no competitors at all.
As long as Liao Han's child is born, he will definitely inherit the position of crown prince.
There were too many things she couldn't figure out. She went to the village twice but returned empty-handed. She then asked people to search the area within dozens of miles.
It's impossible for a living person to disappear without any reason.
So she decided to wait and see, and continued looking for clues on the farm, but accidentally saved Murong.
The old lady wants to kill Murong?
This is even stranger.
"What exactly do you want to say?" The old lady struggled, her face showing pain: "Even if the Shangguan family died wherever they went, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would not reconcile with your mother as before."
Lu Jingning smiled calmly: "So what? I am in power now. As long as I don't give in, that position will be mine. Mother only needs to rely on her daughter to gain status. I am enough to support her."
"You!" The old lady smiled coldly: "Now that your father has returned, how could the emperor pass the position to you? You are just dreaming!"
Just as Lu Jingning was about to speak, Murong beside him suddenly had an idea in her mind, and finally figured out the key point. She rushed towards the old lady and said, "Calm down, my dear, if you have any fault, just blame me. Mother is old and can't stand it anymore."
While Murong was speaking, her hands were not idle. She raised her hands and pulled off the old lady's clothes, revealing her shoulders.
The clothes were baggy, revealing the skin underneath.
Lu Jingning was stunned when he saw a black mark the size of a fingernail on his back.
"Big bastard, I am willing to take the punishment on behalf of my mother." Murong shouted.
Lu Jingning came to his senses very quickly, stood up and looked down at the old lady and Murong. The old lady had not noticed anything wrong yet and thought that Murong was afraid that something would happen to her.
Lu Jingning took a deep breath and said, "Okay, okay, you are all so filial, right? I will grant your wish today!"
"Hit me!"
She winked at Xue Yuan.
Xue Yuan understood and took the long board herself and hit Murong hard. After only five hits, the man fainted.
Murong fell under the old lady.
"Bring up the butler," she ordered.
After a while, the butler came over tremblingly and knelt directly at Lu Jingning's feet: "Big bastard, spare my life."
"Go and get the roster from the mansion, and bring up all the servants in the old lady's yard, not one less."
"Yes."
Lu Jingning turned around and pointed at one of the old maids who were serving him: "Go and get the old lady's dowry, especially the farm, the shop, the indenture, etc., bring all of them here."
The old nanny was stunned and looked at the old lady anxiously.
"Lu Jingning, what do you want to do? You are a big shot, yet you actually want to covet my private property!" The old lady didn't understand, but she was already panicking in her heart.
She had seen Lu Jingning's methods and would not do this for no reason.
Lu Jingning frowned: "It's so noisy."
The guard immediately took a piece of rag and stuffed it into the old lady's mouth. While waiting, she walked towards the main hall.
She had been to this place many times when she was young, and was familiar with every scene and object, but this time, her mood was different.
In the huge room there is a sixteen-fold folding screen embroidered with thousands of horses galloping, which is majestic and makes people's blood boil.
On the wall next to it hang four paintings of plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. Each one is lifelike and exquisitely painted, with the signature at the bottom, a tiny seal.
Especially the painting of orchids, the signature and the poem are aligned.
She suddenly remembered that Mo Yunyao also had this habit. Unlike the Nanliang people who wrote words on their paintings, the Nanliang people paid attention to staggered layout.
The people of Northern Qi Dynasty paid attention to appreciating things by sight and following rules and regulations.
These four paintings have been hanging on the wall ever since she could remember, and she didn't notice anything unusual in all these years.
Looking at the right wall, there is a scimitar hanging on it, inlaid with beautiful gems. This was also a custom in the Northern Qi Dynasty.
Hanging a scimitar in the bedroom means being immune to all poisons.
Lu Jingning closed his eyes, not daring to imagine that Old Madam Shangguan was actually related to Northern Qi. Judging from the situation, even her identity was questionable!
"Big bastard." The guard behind him shouted.
She came to her senses and went out, took the list from the housekeeper and flipped through it page by page. There were too many people on the list and it made her dizzy. She asked the housekeeper to take a few people to pick out the children born in the family, as well as those bought in recent years, especially those brought by the old lady when she got married, and register them one by one.
As she began to examine carefully, the old lady finally lost her composure and began to sob and struggle.
Lu Jingning glanced and retracted his expression, ignoring it, and sent someone to get the old lady's dowry list to examine it carefully.
The old lady's original surname was Tao. She was the second daughter of the Tao family. She married Mr. Shangguan because of a matchmaker. Moreover, Mrs. Tao was not his first wife. The first wife died three years after marrying Mr. Shangguan. Mrs. Tao entered the mansion the following year. The first wife did not have any children.
This is something very few people know.
Lu Jingning always thought that Tao was the original wife.
"The Tao family..."
Tao's parents had passed away long ago, and the one in charge of the household now is Tao's nephew, who is now serving as governor in another province.
"Come here, issue an order immediately to summon Lord Tao and his entire family to the capital. There must be no mistakes!" Lu Jingning ordered loudly and took the cloth out of her mouth. She wanted to hear how she would defend herself. The more she said, the more loopholes she would reveal.
Madam Tao's face slowly broke, and she looked at Lu Jingning in shock: "I haven't had any contact with the Tao family for a long time, why do you have to vent your anger on others?"
"Turning your anger out on others?" Lu Jingning sneered, as if he had found Tao's weakness: "I will do more than that. I will also persuade Grandfather Huang to attack Northern Qi!"
As soon as the word "Northern Qi" came out, Tao's face suddenly turned pale and she looked at the other party in disbelief.