The Third Prince's move to send people to the Luo Estate was so big that, although it was against the rules, Luo Renshou couldn't say anything about it.
Li Mingjin is a prince of Daxia. He only sent people to help with the marriage arrangements. You could also say that he asked the momo to polish Luo Shuyu's royal etiquette. He wouldn't be criticized for this move. It's just that Luo Shuyu was given Li Mingjin's protection in advance, which made Luo Renshou, as his future father-in-law, a little uncomfortable.
The Third Prince's actions also reminded Luo Renshou that he could no longer look down on Luo Shuyu. It was obvious that the Third Prince attached great importance to him.
Luo Shuyu had spent the last two days comfortably. Naturally, he didn't really need to learn royal etiquette anymore. He had already carved those rules into his bones in his previous life.
When talking about etiquette, he can't help thinking about Shen Mingyun. He is highly valued for his behavior, which is different from that of ordinary people. Etiquette included. He always throws around the words 'a man has gold under his knees'. He couldn't stand people like Luo Shuyu who were so well-behaved.
Shen Mingyun had been confined at home for the past two days and wasn't allowed to leave the gates of the Luo Estate in order to avoid being ridiculed by others. These days, one could hear him fiddling with this and that in his courtyard. He even almost burned down his small kitchen, destroying a lot of expensive furniture in the process.
According to Qing Wang, who had recently been entrusted with more important tasks, many people would treat it as a joke when they mentioned the poetry meeting of the Luo family's Eldest Young Master. Sharing plagiarized work, what a shame for scholars. No one wanted to associate with such a person. The rumors were exceptionally popular, even affecting the income of some of Shen Mingyun's shops. But he is a young master after all. The impact wasn't as great as you would imagine.
Luo Shuyu didn't take the opportunity to beat Shen Mingyun while he was down. Instead, he was busy investigating the death of his mother.
After seeing through Luo Renshou's facade, Luo Shuyu no longer took things at face-value. The truth was probably dirtier than what he had known it to be.
After the momos sent by Li Mingjin moved into Ruyi courtyard, the little maids were taught to sit and stand up straight, changing from their usual lazy posture. Luo Shuyu was really grateful to Li Mingjin.
Even Qing Wang, who was always so excited about anything in the past, had changed his behavior, becoming much calmer and steadier. Not only was he taught by the momos, but the tasks he had been given recently by Luo Shuyu weighed heavily on his shoulders, making him more mature and responsible.
Luo Shuyu dismissed the others and asked Qing Wang: "What about the matter I asked you to investigate?"
Qing Wang lowered his voice, afraid that others would overhear him. He took his job as a spy very seriously: "Young Master, I followed your instructions and dressed up as a commoner to go to the Zhongde¹ Hall to ask people about the person who treated the Madam. I learned that Physician Liang, who was treating the Madam, left the capital ten years ago, saying that something had happened at home and that he needed to return. Later, I spent some money to ask the head physician of Zhongde Hall. He said that at the time, someone had seen Physician Liang laughing strangely in the middle of the night, as if he had received some great windfall, and that he had left quite suddenly."
Luo Shuyu asked: "Where is his hometown?"
Qing Wang: "I asked about this too. It seems like it's not far from the capital, so I sent someone to look for it. Young Master, what should we do next? Should we find this doctor?"
Luo Shuyu tapped his fingers on the table. Sure enough, there was something behind it.
However, it was useless to look for this doctor. Liu would never admit her involvement, and Physician Liang may have left a long time ago. After so many years, Luo Renshou would definitely protect her. He had no direct evidence to point to anyone, and the two of them have the tacit understanding of husband and wife. Without Luo Renshou allowing it, how would Liu dare to use his mother's dowry?
He had only looked for the doctor to confirm whether or not there were any suspicious things about his mother's death and this almost confirms it.
Was it Liu, or was it someone else?
At present, she was the most suspicious, but what if Luo Renshou 'killed the donkey after the grinding was done'? Thinking of this possibility, Luo Shuyu's eyes grew colder.
The novel was written to describe the story of Shen Mingyun falling in love with several influential men. There was not much written about the Luo family, and when there was something, it wasn't detailed. There was only one sentence to describe Luo Shuyu's mother's death, and it was only mentioned in reference to Liu's identity.
However, Luo Renshou benefited from Shen Mingyun's hands. In his eyes, Luo Renshou was a gentle and humble uncle. Up until Shen Mingyun married the Fourth Prince and ascended as an Empress, he had never once doubted Luo Renshou's character. He had also contributed to Shen Mingyun's ascension a lot. As for why Luo Renshou abandoned his own son for his nephew, he was probably just afraid of Shen Mingyun's backers. Instead of fighting, it's better to take what benefits he can get.
After sorting out their relationships, Luo Shuyu found that he and the rest of the Luo family stood on opposite sides. No wonder he and Li Mingjin would become Shen Mingjin's first stepping stone on the road to becoming the Empress of Daxia. They had completely incompatible stances.
Since ancient times, there has been no prince who does not covet the throne. Even if there was, reality would force people to stay in line as they needed to find ways to protect their lives. Who knew whether the new Emperor would attack them once he ascended the throne.
In the novel, the paranoid Li Mingjin was the target of all the princes. As for who exactly pushed him into hell, it's still unclear.
Luo Shuyu laid out his current situation and issues that needed to be resolved onto a piece of paper.
First, he needed to prevent Li Mingjin from becoming the target of the princes again. Second, both he and Li Mingjin must stay far away from Shen Mingyun. Lastly, he must destroy all of Shen Mingyun's opportunities.
These three points are not simple, especially the third. After several big-wigs in the novel joined forces to either directly or indirectly help the Fourth Prince take the throne, the consequences of their actions led to the displacement and starvation of countless people everywhere. It wasn't written too clearly, but as a real person who had lived in that world, Luo Shuyu understood the situation very well. Because Shen Mingyun wanted to plant some kind of sapling, a certain boss bought a mountain for him, forcing the villagers who originally lived there out of their homes. He heard about this matter when he spent some time outside.
"The world is too big. If this doctor moves, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I recall that today, court was not in session. I will go to see my father." Luo Shuyu stopped writing, putting the paper to the fire, and throwing it into the brazier.
Qing Wang found that the Young Master had changed a lot recently. He is very careful with his writing, as if he was afraid of it being stolen. He doesn't understand why he changed so suddenly.
As soon as he exited the door of the study, he saw Feng-momo discussing with the cook about what kind of cakes to make.
Feng-momo: "Young Master, are you going out?"
Luo Shuyu: "I'm going to see my father."
Feng-momo said: "Young Master, I'll have someone make some lianggao² for you to bring with you."
Luo Shuyu thought about it. He had to care for Li Mingjin's reputation, so he still had to act like a filial son. It wasn't the right time to tear up his face.
This lianggao seemed to be a new creation by the cook. He felt that the taste was a bit weird and didn't really like it. It wouldn't be a waste to bring it over to Luo Renshou.
He wasn't looking for Luo Renshou out of father-son affection, but rather to ask for his mother's dowry.
Feng-momo followed Luo Shuyu out the door while carrying the lianggao.
Luo Shuyu had witnessed Feng-momo's abilities in his last life, and knew that she was very well-disciplined. Qing Wang had been personally trained by her, almost turning into a completely different person. He didn't have to think hard to understand Li Mingjin's intention in sending these people here.
He remembered in his previous life, Li Mingjin had also arranged Feng-momo to serve in his courtyard. Originally, he had thought that he was dissatisfied with him, but in reality, wasn't it just to help him? If that was the case, didn't he misunderstand Li Mingjin? The more he thought about it, the more he felt that was the case.
Qing Wang reminded Luo Shuyu not to trip on the threshold as he crossed into the courtyard.
Although Luo Renshou was the Shangshu³ in the Department of State Affairs, he didn't strictly adhere to etiquette within the Luo family estate. As soon as Luo Shuyu entered the courtyard, he heard laughter echoing out from the hall. From the sound, he could tell that Liu and her children were accompanying Luo Renshou. A boy servant went in first to report his arrival.
When Luo Shuyu saw Luo Renshou, the joy on his face hadn't yet faded away, and the corners of his eyes were wrinkled from smiling.
Seeing Feng-momo behind Luo Shuyu, the smile on his face slowly subsided, and he asked very kindly: "Why is Shuyu here?"
Luo Shuyu made up a reason at random: "The weather has been quite hot these past few days. I heard that Father's appetite is not very good. I came to send you some lianggao to relieve the heat."
Luo Renshou said: "How kind of you."
Luo Shuyu deliberately ignored Liu and the others, saying: "Father, I also came here today because I wanted to check my mother's dowry. Feng-momo said that since I've never managed household affairs before, that I should first practice with my mother's dowry."
The reasons he gave were solid, and left Luo Renshou with no way to refuse. He had already agreed that day the imperial edict was handed down.
When Liu heard this, she shot Luo Renshou a look, but Luo Renshou didn't know what to do. After he handed the storage room keys to Liu, he had no idea how much she had taken. He already asked her to return what she had embezzled, bit by bit. What can he do now? Luo Renshou's heart turned cold at this moment.
He hesitated for a moment: "I will have to look for the dowry list in the study. Someone will bring it to you later."
Luo Shuyu chuckled coldly and said: "Father doesn't need to bother, I already have the dowry list. Just give me the key to the storage room."
Liu blurted out: "Why do you have the dowry list?"
Luo Shuyu responded: "Why do I have my own mother's dowry list? I don't think I should have to explain this to Liu-yiniang."
Liu covered her mouth with a handkerchief, and quickly explained with a forced smile: "I was just curious, nothing more." She felt guilty, and didn't dare to speak further front of the momo.
Luo Renshou appeared much calmer than Liu, but his heart was beating fast. He had been busy with court affairs these past few days and never followed up on how much dowry has returned. Now that Luo Shuyu had suddenly come to him about it, he was struggling with whether to give it to him or not.
"How do you have your mother's dowry list?"
Luo Shuyu spoke leisurely: "Of course it was left to me by my mother. Father, why bother asking? Can you just hand over the key to the storage room? Or is it that it has already been emptied by those greedy jackals and used to subsidize relatives?"
Liu almost fainted from the scolding, and kept patting her chest to calm down. Luo Shuyǔ didn't like to see his mother being ridiculed like this, so he said to Luo Shuyu: "Luo Shuyu! Don't splash dirty water on people! Who's taking your mother's dowry? My mother was only managing it for you out of kindness, you are simply rewarding good intentions with malice. It's hard to say who's the jackal here!"
Luo Shuyu responded lightly: "It is whoever it should be."
Luo Shuyǔ grew anxious, saying angrily: "You dare speak nonsense without evidence! Really not afraid to wag your tongue?"
As soon as those words fell, a voice sounded outside the door.
"Wow, why are there so many people? What evidence are you talking about? Are you playing some sort of case-solving game?"
The voice sounded very familiar. Luo Shuyu didn't even need to turn his head to know that Shen Mingyun, who was supposed to be confined to his courtyard, had arrived.
Luo Shuyu guessed that the reason he came here had something to do with a System task. He wouldn't show up at the Sanbao⁴ Hall for nothing.
He wondered, what would happen if Shen Mingyun was unable to complete the tasks given by the System?