——"Who did you say died in the village?"
All the servants in the Duke's Mansion knew that Lu Zhiyun had a deep and introverted personality and he had always been a taciturn person.
It is difficult for others to see emotions such as anger or sadness on his face.
This makes him seem even more unfathomable.
But Lu Zhiyun's cold questioning and his slightly sinister expression just now all showed that he was angry.
One of the servants immediately suppressed his fear and replied respectfully with a trembling voice: "My lord, it's the Shen family... the eldest daughter of the Shen family has died..."
As soon as he finished speaking, several dazzling cracks suddenly appeared in the sky, followed by a loud thunder.
The light and shadow under the eaves suddenly brightened and then dimmed.
The crack suddenly illuminated half of Lu Zhiyun's body.
After hearing the servant's reply, the man lowered his eyelashes slightly, still standing there, but was silent for a moment.
Jiang Zhuo, a subordinate, saw that Lu Zhiyun was distracted for a moment, so he did not dare to ask too much. He just asked the servant: "What happened in the Earl's Mansion in the past two months? Tell the master quickly."
Lu Zhiyun had just returned to the capital from the northern border, so he was unaware of the disasters that had occurred in the Kangping Marquis' Mansion in the past two months.
After the servant finished telling the story about the fight between Countess Shen Yuan and his concubine Shen Yu, Lu Zhiyun had already raised his eyes and looked at him.
The man had a pair of delicate and cold phoenix eyes, with narrow and long tails, and his brow bones and nose bridge were very high.
Therefore, when he looks at people, his eyes are very deep, giving people an invisible sense of oppression.
"Where is the body of the Shen family girl buried?"
Lu Zhiyun's voice gradually returned to calm.
The servant answered truthfully: "Before Kangping Bo sent the eldest daughter of the Shen family to the manor, he wrote a letter of divorce, and Yong'an Hou...felt that his eldest daughter was a disgrace to the family...so he buried her body in the suburbs and did not bring her spirit tablet back to the Shen family's ancestral hall."
Now Shen Yuan is still watching everything that happened in the dream from the perspective of his soul consciousness.
Although the Lu family has many descendants, there is only one male who inherits the title, Lu Chen.
Lu Chen is now 22 years old. He had passed the imperial examination in his early years and served as a councilor in the Tongzhengsi of the court.
Looking at the entire capital, Lu Chen is considered an outstanding young man from a noble family. As the head of the Lu family, Lu Zhiyun always has to pay more attention to him.
So in the dream, Shen Yuan didn't find it strange that Lu Zhiyun asked a few more questions about Lu Chen's marriage and the fight between his wives and concubines.
However, after hearing that she was casually buried in the suburbs by the Shen family, Shen Yuan suddenly felt unspeakably sad.
Shen Yuan was still trying to wake up from this nightmare.
Until Lu Zhiyun said this:
"Call Lu Chen and his concubine to the Duke's Mansion."
Although his subordinate Jiang Zhuo didn't know what Lu Zhiyun was going to do next, he immediately responded in a low voice.
——
The Lu family's ancestral hall is located in the mansion of the Duke of Zhenguo.
Shen Yuan's soul consciousness was not under his control at all.
The scene suddenly changed, and she was in the Lu family's ancestral hall again.
In the ancestral hall, the ancestors of the Lu family are enshrined.
The black spirit tablet in the center was engraved with the name of the old Duke Lu Hongang.
The diamond-shaped windows were blown open and closed by the strong wind, and when the cold wind penetrated into the hall, it blew the candle flames so hard that they were about to go out.
Shen Yuan felt more and more that what she saw before her eyes was definitely not just a weird dream.
Everything seemed to have really happened.
It can even be said that all of this was something she had personally experienced in her past life.
After having this idea, Shen Yuan no longer had the thought of waking up from his dream.
She began to wonder about what would happen after her death.
I am also somewhat curious about what will become of Lu Chen and Shen Yu.
"Boom boom boom—"
There was a sudden loud banging sound outside the mahogany door.
Immediately, Lu Chen's urgent voice came from outside the door: "Fifth Uncle! Fifth Uncle, I beg you, Yu'er has just given birth to Xiaoyue... She can't kneel for so long... If you feel that Shen Yuan died unjustly, You can also ask her to sit in the main hall...let her sit...and then question her."
Lu Zhiyun listened to Lu Chen's request without any change on his handsome face.
Jiang Zhuo, the subordinate, was most familiar with his master's temper. He could see that a trace of annoyance flashed across Lu Zhiyun's brows.
Shen Yu knelt on the futon with tears streaming down his face, but he did not dare to beg Lu Zhiyun in front of him like Lu Chen did.
The man wore a black gauze hat with wide wings on both sides, and his eyebrows and eyes were deep and clear under the brim of the hat.
Just now, Lu Zhiyun lowered his eyes and glanced at her, but the way he looked at her was as if he was looking at an ant, arrogant and majestic, yet full of coldness.
Shen Yu even felt a trace of cruel killing in his eyes.
She couldn't help but shudder.
This ancestral hall was a gloomy place. It rained heavily that day. Shen Yu knelt on the ground and felt even more shuddering.
Jiang Zhuo listened to Lu Chen's endless pleading, and then asked Lu Zhiyun, "Sir, do you need me to drive Kang Pingbo out?"
Lu Zhiyun replied: "Let him come in too."
After the door was pushed open with a creak, Lu Chen walked eagerly to the center of the ancestral hall.
Shen Yuze felt as if she had found a life-saving straw, and was about to throw herself into Lu Chen's arms, crying, but Lu Zhiyun just turned his head and glanced at her. She immediately collected her thoughts and knelt down again with tears on her face.
Lu Zhiyun insisted that Shen Yuan's death was suspicious and that she was wronged.
As soon as Lu Chen brought Shen Yu into the mansion, Lu Zhiyun ordered his men to take her to the ancestral hall and asked her to confess her crimes in front of all the ancestors.
Shen Yu was very nervous, because Lu Zhiyun was a tough man who could not tolerate any sand in his eyes.
Since this was the case, she dared not admit what she had done.
Seeing that Lu Zhiyun was finally willing to give him a chance to speak, Lu Chen knelt on the futon and pleaded for Shen Yu: "Fifth Uncle, Yu'er is definitely not like this..."
Lu Zhiyun frowned and waved his hand to interrupt him.
Then, he asked Shen Yu in a cold tone: "Since you don't admit it, then Shuntian Prefecture or Dali Temple, you can choose one."
After hearing this, Shen Yu and Lu Chen's expressions suddenly changed.
In the Daqi Dynasty, if a concubine committed the crime of falsely accusing a wife, it was understandable that she would be taken to the government office for interrogation by the prefect.
But everyone knows that whether it is Shuntian Prefecture or Dali Temple, the actual person in charge of these two government agencies is Lu Zhiyun.
Therefore, there is no difference whether you confess your guilt in the ancestral temple or are interrogated in these two yamen.
Shen Yu carefully pondered Lu Zhiyun's words, and secretly felt that if she could admit her crime in front of the ancestral temple, Lu Zhiyun might give her a lighter sentence.
After the rain subsided, Shen Yu didn't have time to think anymore. Under Lu Chen's surprised gaze, she bowed her head to Lu Zhiyun and confessed: "Fifth Uncle... I... I just couldn't figure it out for a moment. It was indeed not my sister who killed the child... I was careless..."
Before he could finish his words, Lu Chen looked at Shen Yu with eyes full of shock.
In fact, after Lu Chen sent Shen Yuan to Zhuangzi, he did not expect that she would die so soon.
When still in the capital, although Shen Yuan suffered from a serious cough, he asked the doctor to prescribe medicine for her without Shen Yu's knowledge, and also instructed the servants of Zhuangzi to treat Shen Yuan well.
Lu Chen couldn't understand why Shen Yuan died suddenly.
Now that Shen Yu said this, Lu Chen suddenly had a chilling guess.
The child was not killed by Shen Yuan, but was framed by Shen Yu...
Then Shen Yuan's death...
——"Lu Chen, let me ask you, if I falsely accuse my wife of murder, how should I be dealt with according to the laws of Daqi?"
After Lu Zhiyun asked, Shen Yu looked at Lu Chen with flickering eyes, and bad thoughts gradually arose in his heart.
The reason why Lu Chen agreed to Shen Hongliang's proposal to marry Shen's daughter again was because he saw Shen Yuan's portrait.
Because Shen Yuan looked 50% like Shen Yu, he decided to marry Shen Yuan.
But in the end, he still developed feelings for Shen Yuan, otherwise he would not have made such an expression!
"Chen Lang..."
Shen Yu called Lu Chen. Actually, the reason why she harmed Shen Yuan was not entirely because she felt that Shen Yuan had taken her position as Countess.
Instead, she could increasingly realize that Lu Chen had fallen in love with Shen Yuan during their time together.
Lu Chen's lips trembled slightly. He remembered that before Shen Yuan left the capital, the look he gave him was slightly resentful, yet resolute.
His heart ached. He knew that Lu Zhiyun did not have much patience to wait for his silence, so he replied in a trembling voice: "According to the laws of Daqi, if I falsely accuse my wife of death...if anyone has done it, he shall be beaten with a hundred sticks and exiled for 2,000 miles..." (1)
After he finished speaking, Shen Yu's pupils suddenly shrank.
But she didn't believe it. She didn't believe that Lu Chen would really let Lu Zhiyun treat her like this!
Although Lu Chen knew that he had wronged Shen Yuan, he was still unwilling to let Shen Yu bear the punishment she deserved.
After reciting the laws of Daqi, he again pleaded with Lu Zhiyun: "Fifth Uncle... the law is like this... but... but..."
Lu Zhiyun interrupted coldly: "You did such a thing as favoring your concubine and destroying your wife, do you still want to plead for her?"
Lu Chen knew that Lu Zhiyun was a person who could not tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes.
Since he wanted Shen Yuan to die, no one could stop him.
Seeing Lu Zhiyun's firm attitude, Shen Yu said in panic: "Fifth uncle... please forgive me for the sake of my father, the Marquis of Yong'an... I didn't expect that my sister would die..."
Lu Zhiyun glanced at Shen Yu, his deep eyes filled with disgust.
He sneered and replied, "So I still have to consider Shen Hongliang's face."
With just a few words, Lu Zhiyun called out the name of Marquis Yong'an.
And this was not a question, but a statement.
There was no anger in his voice, but it sounded more like sarcasm.
You should know that in the court, Shen Hongliang, as the Minister of Works, had very few opportunities to speak to the Prime Minister.
Lu Zhiyun's henchman was the Minister of Personnel and Deputy Prime Minister Gao Hezhou.
If he had just said a word to Gao Hezhou, Shen Hongliang would have been demoted several levels immediately.
He really didn't need to give Shen Hong any face.
——
Amid Shen Yu's miserable wailing, Shen Yuan personally watched her being dragged out of the hall by the servants of the mansion. She wailed miserably as she was escorted to Shuntian Prefecture in the heavy rain.
Lu Chen was not a strong person by nature, and in front of his fifth uncle, he had no choice but to be submissive. He couldn't even protect the woman he loved the most.
Shen Yu had just come out of Xiaoyue, so she couldn't stand the hundred feet and died in the prison.
Shen Yuan saw these scenes with his own eyes, but he did not feel much pleasure in his heart.
But she was very grateful to Lu Zhiyun for upholding justice for her and clearing her name.
But she did not dream about what happened to Lu Chen afterwards.
Shen Yuan felt that it was time for him to wake up from this nightmare.
But the strange dream put her in another scene——
Even though Lu Zhiyun cleared her name, Shen Hongliang still did not bring her spirit tablet back to the Shen family.
Her grave stands in the far suburbs, a lonely and somewhat desolate one.
But there are no cobwebs in front of her grave, nor are there any weeds growing around it. On the low food table, there are often exquisite snacks and seasonal fruits.
What happened next in the dream surprised Shen Yuan extremely.
The man she once called Fifth Uncle, the powerful official Lu Zhiyun who made her somewhat respectful and fearful, would come to her grave every month to personally clean the grave and tidy up the weeds around it.
When he came to her grave, his subordinates and guards would stand far away, as if to give him space to be alone .
Lu Zhiyun sometimes came during the day and sometimes came at night.
Every time after he helped her clean the grave, he would stand in front of her grave in silence for a long time.
Shen Yuan couldn't count how many times he came, but every time he came, he never spoke to her.
Only once, he was very close to her tombstone, and stretched out his big hand with distinct finger bones, and slowly touched the two words "Shen Yuan" engraved on the tombstone with his fingertips.
Shen Yuan's heart trembled a little.
She knew that Lu Zhiyun was not a good person. To be able to sit in his current position, his hands must have been stained with the blood of countless people.
But when he touched her name, that subtle movement inexplicably carried a hint of cherishment and pity.
Shen Yuan could sense that he obviously wanted to open his mouth and say a few words to her.
But until the end, Lu Zhiyun still didn't say a word to her. He just left the suburbs in silence with his servants.
——
In the last scene of the dream, Shen Yuan found herself in a scene she had never been to before.
This is the Qisong Pavilion of the Duke's Mansion, where Lu Zhiyun usually lives and handles court affairs.
But tonight, Qisong Pavilion was specially decorated by the servants of the Duke's Mansion.
On the brocade window panes of the long window, several paper-cuts with the word "happiness" were pasted.
The pillars of the pavilion were all wrapped with red silk, and hanging on the candlesticks were large red wedding candles with patterns of dragons and phoenixes playing with pearls
Lu Zhiyun was not interested in women and had not married even after he was over 30. His younger brother, who was born to the same mother, died young, so he raised his nephew Lu Liaoji by his side.
Others thought that he was busy with official duties and everything in the dynasty depended on him, so he did not need a secular marriage like ordinary men.
As for the matter of offspring, he is very likely to adopt Lu Liaoji under his name to continue his lineage.
Shen Yuan didn't expect that Lu Zhiyun was married. She was actually curious about which lady from aristocratic family Lu Zhiyun would marry.
——"Sir, the chef from Huaiyang has prepared the snacks."
Lu Zhiyun sat upright at his desk, pen in hand, still busy with official business.
Hearing the servant's respectful words, he did not raise his eyes, but replied calmly: "Put it on the table for Madam."
"yes."
Shen Yuan was surprised.
There is clearly no woman in this Qisong Pavilion.
However, the waiter had already placed those exquisite Huaiyang dim sum on a small sandalwood table in the hall, and behind the table was actually a person's spirit tablet.
The seven characters written on the camphor wood tablet were:
The spirit tablet of my beloved wife Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan couldn't believe it.
I even think that the matter is too ridiculous.
How could Lu Zhiyun marry her spirit tablet?
But every detail of the scene before my eyes was too real.
In the dream, no, it can be said that in the previous life, Lu Zhiyun actually married her spirit tablet.
He remembered that she grew up in Yangzhou and liked to eat Huaiyang dim sum, so every time he came to visit her at her grave, he would bring those Huaiyang dim sum.
While Shen Yuan was still shocked by this incident, her soul consciousness was suddenly pulled to the ground as if by some powerful force.
She tried to walk in front of Lu Zhiyun and stretched out her hand, wanting to touch the man's eyebrows.
This was the first time she looked at Lu Zhiyun's face so closely.
The contours of his eyebrows and eyes were sharp, making him look both intimidating and restrained.
His face is very handsome, and can be considered youthful, but his temperament is too deep and mature.
He is now thirty-three years old, just over thirty.
Although Lu Chen called him fifth uncle, which seemed to indicate that he was of a very high generation, he was also the most powerful Prime Minister, but in the officialdom, such an age was still very young.
After all, many officials were almost forty when they first entered the cabinet.
Shen Yuan stretched out her hand slowly, and when she was about to touch his brow, she was blocked by a transparent barrier, preventing her from getting any closer to him.
She wanted to speak to him, but she didn't know how to address Lu Zhiyun.
He is no longer her fifth uncle.
But her official, her husband.
Shen Yuan murmured, but still called him, "Sir... Sir..."
"Sir... Thank you... Thank you for visiting my grave and helping me clear my name..."
Having said this, Shen Yuan began to choke up.
She could hear her own voice, but she didn't know whether Lu Zhiyun could hear her voice.
At the same time, Lu Zhiyun suddenly opened his eyes.
But he was not looking at Shen Yuan, but in the direction of her spirit tablet.
Shen Yuan therefore slowly withdrew his right hand.
Yes, she is just a soul, and Lu Zhiyun, who is still in the world, cannot see her.
She watched Lu Zhiyun stand up from the desk, then looked at his tall back as he walked towards her spirit tablet step by step.
The warm tears in my eyes suddenly flowed all over my face.
Suddenly, her ankle seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand, and she was pulled to the ground.
Then, she was controlled by this terrible force and sank underground.
——"Girl...Girl, the master wants you to go to Hexiang Hall for something, please wake up."
Hearing Bi Wu's familiar voice, Shen Yuan finally slowly opened his eyes.
When I woke up from the dream, I was already in the next reincarnation.