Chapter 23

Lu Qian stood outside Lu Hong’s bedroom and knocked on the door: “Brother, the dinner party is about to start. Father asked me to call you. If you don’t go, it will be too late.”

There was no movement in the room.

Lu Qian did not leave, and continued to knock on the door persistently: “I know you are in the room, open the door quickly.” 

After a while, Lu Hong’s voice sounded in the room: “I have no appetite, so I won’t go to the dinner party.” In the voice some strange hoarseness.

A strange light flashed in Lu Qian’s eyes, and he softened his voice: “Brother, you open the door first and let me in.”

How could he see anyone in such a distressed state?

Lu Hong responded without thinking: “I’m in a bad mood, and I want to be alone for a while. You go first!”

“I don’t feel relieved until I see you with my own eyes.” Lu Qian’s stubbornness was not easy to deal with, a slightly immature voice penetrated into Lu Hong’s ears through the thick door panel: “If you don’t open the door, I’ll tell my father right away, saying that you are obviously fine, but you deliberately shirked not to go to the dinner party.”

Lu Hong: ” …”

After a while, Lu Hong finally came to open the door.

At this time, it was getting late, and there were no candlesticks lit in the room, so the light was dim.

But Lu Qian still noticed Lu Hong’s pale handsome face and red eye sockets at a glance. He vaguely guessed what was going on, forced himself to suppress the joy in his heart, and asked pretendingly concerned: “Brother, what happened? Why did you hide in the room alone and cry?”

One person hid and cried it’s shameful enough, what’s even more shameful was to be found out and be asked about it. It was the bottom line!

Even if the other party was his younger brother who he has been close to since childhood, Lu Hong still felt his face was hot. What’s more, the confession was rejected and Ling Jingshu vomited on the spot, and he really couldn’t say it…

“It’s nothing.” Lu Hong tried his best to understate: “I’m just not in a good mood, but I’m much better now. “

Lu Qian glared at Lu Hong with dissatisfaction: “Do you think I’m a fool? If something didn’t happen, why would you hide in the room and cry alone.”

Lu Hong refused to answer this question.

Lu Qian’s eyes flashed, and suddenly he said: “Brother, did you go to see our cousin Shu this afternoon?”

Lu Qian suddenly exposed a secret that he thought he had hidden so well that no one knew about it. His face flushed instantly, but he didn’t deny it and nodded silently.

“You like Cousin Shu,” Lu Qian’s tone was very affirmative: “So you want to express your love to her. But…Cousin Shu rejected you. So you feel sad, and you hid in the room and cried secretly.”

It was all a hit!

However, Lu Qian could never guess the most embarrassing scene.

Lu Hong nodded in embarrassment, thought for a while, and then told Lu Qian: “Second brother, you should know this matter well, but don’t tell our father and mother.”

It would be too embarrassing if such a thing spread.

A flash of joy flashed across Lu Qian’s eyes, but he obediently replied: “Don’t worry, I won’t tell others.” Was she really not moved at all? You are so outstanding, how can she not like you?”

Lu Hong’s fragile heart was ruthlessly trampled once again, and his expression became more bitter: “Cousin Shu told me very clearly, she doesn’t have any affection for me. I…I won’t go to her again in the future.”

Speaking of the last sentence, his eyes turned red again.

For the first time in his life, he fell in love with someone. He was full of joy and looked forward to expressing his heart, but he was mercilessly rejected. Lu Hong’s young heart has been broken into pieces.

She loathed him so much, how could he have the face to appear in front of her again?

“Brother, don’t be too sad.” Lu Qian hurriedly comforted his heartbroken brother: “You have no fate with Cousin Shu, and there is nothing you can do about it. You will definitely meet better women in the future.”

For example, the distinguished Princess Changping of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

…

A few years later, Lu Hong will go to Beijing to take part in the exams, shine in the general and palace exams, and be appointed as the number one scholar by the Emperor. He also caught the eyes of Princess Changping.

Princess Changping’s biological mother was Empress Xu, and King Yan, who later became the crown prince, was the younger brother of the same mother. She was the most honorable woman in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and Lu Hong will become her husband and son-in-law of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he will be prosperous and rich all his life!

Although all this was not what Lu Hong wanted, he never thought of becoming a heartless person who abandoned his wife. But the Lu family saw that the wealth of the sky was close at hand, so how could they allow Lu Hong to refuse?

Lu Hong was put under house arrest in his Second uncle’s mansion, and the family letters he wrote never reached Ling Jingshu’s hands but fabricated and exaggerated bad news came frequently. Ling Jingshu almost collapsed and shed tears all day long.

Later, Lu An took Ling Jingshu by force, secretly ordered someone to imitate Ling Jingshu’s handwriting, and wrote a last letter to Lu Hong. This letter also completely crushed Lu Hong.

A loving couple, under the ambition and conspiracy of Lu’s family, hated and resented each other and broke up completely.

Until the moment of her death, Ling Jingshu didn’t know the truth of the matter. She was reborn with hatred, and hated Lu Hong to the bone, how could she fall in love with Lu Hong again?

And he was the only one who knows all the secrets! (1)

Let this secret be hidden in his heart forever! Let Ling Jingshu be kept in the dark forever, and always hate Lu Hong.

In this life, it was impossible for Lu Hong and Ling Jingshu to become husband and wife again. He will be Ling Jingshu’s lover in this life.

Thinking of this, secret joy and excitement flashed in Lu Qian’s heart, and there was still a concerned expression on his delicate face: “Brother, with your current appearance, it is really not appropriate to go out to meet people, lest you arouse suspicion. I will go back right away. Report to our father that you have a headache and you need to rest in the house.”

Lu Hong got up his spirits and thanked: “Thank you for your trouble, and  for covering it up for me.”

“We are brothers of the same blood, you being so polite to me, isn’t it too outlandish.” Lu Qian grinned, and his delicate and clean face became more and more lovely.

After Lu Qian left, Lu Hong’s expression of barely holding on suddenly became sluggish.

……

When Lu Qian returned to the dining room, the dinner just started.

Seeing that Lu Qian was alone, Lu An frowned unhappily.

Every time Lu Qian saw his father’s face, Ling Jingshu’s haggard, thin, pale, and numb face appeared in Lu Qian’s mind, and bloody and violent impulses surged in his heart.

He quickly lowered his eyes and said in a low voice: “Father, brother feels a headache and has already slept and rested. He can’t come to the dinner party.”

In front of everyone, Lu Ann nodded his head without saying anything more.

Lu An was the son-in-law of the Ling family, with a dignified status, at the dinner, both peers and juniors came to toast. Although Lu An can drink well, he couldn’t help toasting round after round and got drunk that night. Originally wanted to see Lu Hong, but forgot about it.

When Lu Hong appeared the next day, most of his slumped expression had been concealed, and the redness and swelling in his eyes had also subsided. It doesn’t look like much energy, but it doesn’t make people suspicious.

“My son greets my father!” Lu Hong stepped forward to greet Lu An.

Lu An had a headache because of a hangover, and his complexion was not pretty. He frowned and asked, “What happened to you yesterday? You were safe at noon, why did you start to have a headache in the afternoon? You didn’t even come to the dinner.”

Lu Hong already prepared, immediately replied apologetically: “Back to my father, after the luncheon yesterday, I had nothing to do, so I wandered around in the garden for a while. Probably the wind was strong, and my head hurt a little. Yesterday was my grandmother’s birthday, so if I asked the doctor to come in, it could have been unlucky. So I kept silent, rested alone in the house, and didn’t have the energy to attend the dinner party. After a night of sleep, my energy is much better.”

This explanation was reasonable.

Lu An’s face softened a little: “You are quite thoughtful. It was indeed not appropriate to invite a doctor into the mansion yesterday.”

Ling’s side would not let go of the opportunity to be a good person and immediately said: “The birthday banquet will be held for three consecutive days. God, I can’t let Ah Hong just endure it like this for three days. I’ll send someone now and quietly invite a doctor.”

“Thank you mother for your concern.” Lu Hong politely declined: “However, I’m really much better now, no need for calling a doctor for me.”

When Lu Hong said this, Madam Ling no longer insisted on asking for a doctor, but instead smiled and said, “Ah Hong, you are sixteen this year!”

Why did she suddenly ask his age?

Lu Hong was a little surprised and replied: “Yes. My birthday is in July, and I will be sixteen in three months.”

Lu Qian didn’t know what to think, and the smile disappeared from his eyes.

Sure enough, he heard Ling say with a smile: “Speaking of which, you are not too young anymore. It’s time to think about lifelong affairs. Do you have a favorite girl in your heart? If so, you might as well say it and make a marriage arrangement earlier. It doesn’t hurt to get married in two years.”

These words are full of hints.

It’s just that she didn’t say clearly that she wanted to propose marriage to the Ling family.

It was like this in the previous life, Lu Hong expressed his intentions, and then the Ling family proposed the marriage to the old lady Ling, and the Ling family accepted the marriage without much hesitation. Everything will come to fruition…

Will Lu Hong still be as honest as he was in his previous life about his feelings for Ling Jingshu?

Lu Qian raised his heart in his throat and stared at Lu Hong unconsciously.

Lu Hong was so clever, he can understand what Ling’s words mean. If it was the first two days, he would have been ecstatic and immediately confessed that he liked Ling Jingshu. But yesterday, Ling Jingshu had clearly rejected him…

No matter how much he liked Ling Jingshu, he couldn’t do such a brazen thing.

Lu Hong gritted his teeth and replied, “I’m really touched that my mother cares so much about my life-long affairs. However, I just want to concentrate on studying now, and I don’t want to get married.”

Such an answer surprised Ling.

Ling subconsciously glanced at Lu An. Lu An was also surprised and asked

bluntly: “You don’t like sister Shu?”

Lu Hong: “… “

1. Such a despicable characte