Chapter 325: Fairy Liu Injured + 2
Lu Jiuzhang was the youngest son of the family.
His father was the most powerful Prime Minister in the imperial court.
By the time it came to his youngest son, Prime Minister Lu actually didn’t have much time to personally educate him, and the rest of the family doted on him excessively.
He was forced to study, but due to his upbringing, he didn’t fully grasp the principles of how to conduct himself.
He didn’t follow others in frequenting brothels; as a top-tier second-generation official, he looked down on such places. In reality, he hadn’t quite grasped the nuances of romantic relationships either—when you have everything, nothing seems rare.
However, after seeing Fairy Liu once, he fell in love at first sight. He spent money like water, even stealing countless treasures from home just to get a glimpse of her.
Like a top donor in a livestream, he spent gifts as if they were mere symbols rather than money. Because he had never earned money himself, he had no concept of its value and didn’t cherish it, casually spending millions on gifts.
Any single gift he gave away was enough for a commoner to live on for a lifetime.
When he left the prison, he heard the yamen officials say that if he could return the stolen goods and the money Prime Minister Lu had embezzled, it might mitigate some of the charges. During the house raid, they had discovered that many treasures had gone missing.
Lu Jiuzhang felt that he had implicated his father.
In truth, he didn’t usually spend money recklessly; most of the time, he didn’t even get the chance to pay because others were fighting to treat him. The only place he truly spent money recklessly was on Fairy Liu.
He had indeed sent countless treasures to her.
He had always admired Fairy Liu. He had sent people to secretly follow her a few times, which was how he knew her whereabouts, but he never dared to offend the beauty.
He never expected that this would now become his lifeline.
In the past few days, he had heard the news that Heir Chu was about to marry Fairy Liu.
His heart was full of bitterness.
He knelt down.
He knelt in the middle of the street.
The young man actually had a thin skin.
But because of the winter chill, his face was flushed red, so no one could tell it was shame—they only assumed he was cold.
He wanted to beg Fairy Liu to return those gifts. Fairy Liu was about to marry Heir Chu and would surely have a life of comfort, unlike him, who had been reduced to a prisoner.
He believed that Fairy Liu was different from his other fair-weather friends.
Fairy Liu’s eyes were different; she was noble and elegant. From beginning to end, she had never asked him for anything—it was always he who gave willingly, insisting on sending them.
Sure enough, when he stopped the carriage, Fairy Liu was not only not angry, but she actually gave him some silver.
This gave Lu Jiuzhang a glimmer of hope.
He knelt before the carriage.
Fairy Liu lifted the carriage curtain.
Just like their first meeting, she was as beautiful as a fairy, untouched by the mundane world, glowing with an aura that made one’s heart race at the sight of her.
But he was not worthy.
He was not worthy of Fairy Liu.
The moment he saw Fairy Liu appear, Lu Jiuzhang suddenly decided to give up on asking for the gifts back. He suddenly realized in his heart that even if he got those gifts back, he couldn’t save his father.
Just consider it, just consider it a dowry for Miss Qingqing.
When he said he wanted to thank her in person, his eyes were red as he spoke: “Miss Qingqing, could you please return the jade pendant I gave you earlier? The one that is square inside and round outside, with the characters ‘Jiuzhang’ carved on it.”
Jiang Wan had only given him money because she pitied him.
Hearing that he wanted to thank her, she had prepared to listen, but she didn’t expect him to ask her for something, which instantly turned her off.
She had received so many gifts, how could she remember where that jade pendant was?
Besides, asking for a gift back was just too pathetic.
Jiang Wan felt awkward.
She had intended to help, but instead, she was being put on the spot.
She was about to get married, so naturally, she didn’t want to be entangled.
She righteously refused: “Young Master Lu, we have known each other for a while, and seeing you in distress, I gifted you a hundred taels of silver. Although it is not much, it is a token of my goodwill. Yet, I did not expect you to be so insatiable and push your luck. Please forgive me, but I cannot agree to this. You should leave.”
Lu Jiuzhang looked incredulous.
Before coming, he had intended to ask for all the gifts back to redeem his father’s crimes.
Upon seeing Fairy Liu, he had voluntarily given up on that.
He only wanted to ask for one jade pendant.
It wasn’t even the most valuable of the gifts; in terms of value, it was likely one of the more ordinary jade pendants, worth at most a thousand taels of silver.
But that was something his father had given him, and he wanted to keep it as a memento.
That was all.
Yet, he was scolded.
The people around them were pointing and whispering.
There were even carriages stopped not far away, with people watching the spectacle.
Lu Jiuzhang only felt it was unbelievable.
Fairy Liu still looked like a fairy, incomparably beautiful. Today, she was dressed in pure white, looking even more pristine and unsullied, yet he never imagined she could say such cold words.
He was only asking for less than one percent of what he had gifted her.
Lu Jiuzhang broke down.
He hadn’t broken down when his parents were sent to prison.
He hadn’t broken down when he was turned away by friends and relatives.
Because he felt he deserved it.
He hadn’t done many good deeds in his daily life.
But with Fairy Liu, even just a moment ago, he had still been thinking of those gifts as a wedding present for her, and that he only needed one jade pendant back.
He had done many wrong things and had been a scoundrel, but he had been sincere and devoted to Fairy Liu, never once overstepping his bounds. Despite sending so many gifts, he had never even held her hand, nor had he ever been verbally inappropriate.
He broke down.
The young man kneeling on the cold ground completely broke down in that instant.
He didn’t want anything else.
He had even given up on saving his father.
He only wanted to keep a memento.
Truly.
In his heart, he wished her well.
He hoped that from now on, she would not have to show her face in public, that she could become the Heir’s consort, and live a happy and peaceful life.
He didn’t want to pester her either.
Even in this adversity, he still wanted to learn how to love and bless others, because a little bit of kindness felt even more precious to him.
Then, he encountered the same malice as before.
He could not accept that Fairy Liu was the same as the others.
He suddenly pulled out a knife and stabbed toward Fairy Liu.
The earth shook and the mountains swayed.
There was an Earthquake.
The onlookers around them panicked and ran everywhere.
In a carriage parked not far away sat Official He, Young Master He Chen, who had gone out to attend to some business.
He had incidentally watched the spectacle.
He was not someone who enjoyed watching spectacles.
He didn’t know why, but seeing the disheveled youngest son of the Lu family stopping the carriage, he had been inexplicably compelled to stop and watch.
Even seeing that Lu family playboy shivering in the dead of winter as he stopped the carriage, received a small reward, knelt to thank her, and then went mad, Young Master He Chen actually felt a sense of empathy.
He felt he had lost his mind.
He quickly shook his head. Impossible. He was an upright man who had advanced through the imperial examinations; how could he possibly empathize with a brainless playboy from the Lu family?
Unexpectedly, he then saw the playboy’s eyes turn red with despair as he suddenly attacked. The changes happened too quickly. Then he saw the playboy being grabbed by Fairy Liu’s guards and nearly beaten to death, when suddenly, an Earthquake struck.
The street split open.
It was too exaggerated.
The Lu family’s youngest son had also luckily escaped death and was running toward him.
Young Master He Chen didn’t know why his brain had short-circuited, but he actually let the Lu family’s youngest son board his carriage…
“An Earthquake! Run!”
The carriage sped away…
He didn’t know where they were running to.
Young Master He Chen felt as if the Earthquake was chasing his carriage; it was terrifying.
So, from now on, he would never watch spectacles casually again; watching spectacles could cost one their life.
Looking at the Lu family’s youngest son who had fled into his carriage and was now on the verge of death and unconscious, Young Master He Chen felt truly disgusted. How could there be such a useless playboy? His family was about to be wiped out, yet he was still pestering Fairy Liu. What was in his brain…
Fortunately, he was a decent scholar. Fortunately, fortunately.
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