When the Chao army was finally driven back, Old General Qin began assigning blame. Lu Wu's dereliction of duty was enough to warrant execution by beheading. But out of consideration for Lu Zhenghe, Old General Qin had him beaten dozens of times with a plank. Lu Wu was beaten nearly to death. How could Lu Zhenghe stand by and watch his son be beaten to death? He knelt before Old General Qin, kowtowed, and begged him to spare Lu Wu this once, for his sake.
Lu Zhenghe had risked his life for Da Xia many times. In the end, Old General Qin kicked Lu Wu, demoted him, and let the matter drop. At the same time, a decree arrived from the capital, enfeoffing Qin Hengxuan as a first-rank marquis.
And Qin Hengyi was made a general.
At that time, Qin Hengxuan was not yet twenty, and the Qin family's second son was not yet fifteen.
Truly young and accomplished—everyone outside praised them.
Lu Wu began to feel resentful.
His Lu family had served with dedication and diligence. He asked himself whether their achievements were any fewer than the Qin family's. But why should the Qin family reach such heights while his Lu family had to grovel at the Qin family's feet?
Outsiders only knew of the Qin family army, of Old General Qin. Who knew of the Lu family?
Qin Hengxuan was a waste—why should he be a first-rank marquis? Qin Hengyi was young—how many merits had he actually earned? Why should he directly climb over his own father's head?
How many battle merits had the Lu family won on the battlefield?
His father had fought bloody battles alongside Old General Qin countless times. Could Da Xia's stability be credited to Old General Qin alone?
The Emperor was too partial. Since he didn't value the Lu family, didn't take them seriously, then the Lu family would find its own way out.
Later, Lu Wu persuaded Lu Zhenghe, and they secretly defected to the Chao Kingdom.
Old Madam Lu understood all this.
The Lu family fell silent after hearing it.
"Eldest Uncle was resentful—fine, he could go defect on his own. Why drag our second branch down with him?" the daughter-in-law said tearfully. "When he neglected his duty back then, over a dozen villages suffered. Even beheading wouldn't have been too much. What did he have to resent?"
Old Madam Lu slapped her. Her chest heaved with rage. "Shut your mouth! He's your brother—how dare you say such things! The Lu family's affairs are not for you to comment on!"
"Which part of what I said was wrong?" After days of wandering, sleeping in the open, living in constant fear, the Lu family women could no longer hold back. "What are people saying about our Lu family out there? They're saying we're traitors, that we deserve death, that the emperor wants to exterminate our nine clans. My parents have been arrested, do you know that? What crime did they commit? It's all because of your precious son. Do you think we can escape? Once we're caught, we're finished. We can't get away."
She laughed as she spoke, unhinged. Everyone actually knew this in their hearts, but no one had ever said it outright. Now hearing it made them inexplicably panicked.
"Mother, what do we do? Let's go back and beg Old General Qin."
"Yes, Mother, the children are still small. The roads are heavily guarded now, all the crossings are sealed. We can't get out at all. Mother, think of something! Or... or have Father come back and confess. I don't want to live like this anymore. Please, Mother, think of something."
"Grandmother, I'm scared. I'm hungry. I want to go home. Boo hoo."
Old Madam Lu was about to tell them to shut up when a commotion suddenly broke out outside. A Chao soldier rushed in. "The Da Xia soldiers are coming! We need to—"
The door was kicked open with a bang. Countless soldiers poured in.
"Nobody move! Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"
Old Madam Lu's mind went blank. She thought: It's over. Her second daughter-in-law was a Buddhist who went to the temple to burn incense year after year. That mouth of hers must have been blessed.
The several Chao soldiers were cut down like vegetables by the Da Xia soldiers. Seeing the Lu family members pinned down and trussed up, Old Madam Lu's vision went black and she fainted.
Lu Zhenghe had planned it well. Even if he couldn't hold Old General Qin at Yanhe Canyon, he could stall him for a day or two. And the entire Qin family was at the border. By the time news of his defection got back, and the Qin family tried to seize control of the Lu family, and then sent troops to Hengyang—that would take at least seven or eight days. That was enough time for his family to flee far away.
Once they reached Qinzhou, they would head to Da Liang — Da Liang and the Chao Kingdom were allies. Lu Zhenghe had already sent word ahead, and Da Liang had agreed to properly settle his family. Unfortunately, the moment the Lu family left, Old Madam Qin received the letter and immediately set things in motion. Once Lu Zhenghe's defection was known, arrest warrants were issued at once. As long as they were still on Da Xia soil, where could the Lu family possibly hide?
The Lu family was thrown into prison. Old Madam Lu begged the soldiers desperately, saying she wanted to see Old Madam Qin. Her grandchildren were innocent!
She now pinned all her hopes on Old Madam Qin.
The Qin family was known to be the kindest and most good-natured...
When Old Madam Qin heard the official's report and said she wouldn't see her, it wasn't out of heartlessness. She understood why Old Madam Lu had come, but how could she possibly intervene?
When the ruler wants a subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die.
The Emperor had already issued the decree—what was the use of begging?
If you dare to rebel, you should have expected that sooner or later, this day would come.
When the official returned and said Old Madam Qin refused to see her, Old Madam Lu collapsed to the ground, crying out helplessly. The others panicked as well, saying they didn't want to die, that they were afraid.
The prison was filled with wails of despair.
The Lu family was all executed.
When the news reached Lu Zhenghe's ears, he went berserk and launched another attack. Countless wounded soldiers were sent back.
These were the seriously injured. Those with lighter wounds were simply patched up, given a couple of days to rest, and then sent back to the battlefield.
The severely wounded couldn't stay at the front—first, because they weren't far from the border and it was convenient to transport them back; second, because they needed an absolutely safe and stable place to recover. If they stayed at the front, it would be inconvenient for the army to carry them whether advancing or retreating.
The day the wounded soldiers were transported back, Gungun and Dandan were playing in the military camp. It was a small slope with a drainage ditch at the bottom. The two children were squatting by the ditch, rolling mud tangyuan with their dirty little hands, having the time of their lives.
The wounded were being carried past on the slope above. One man had half his leg severed, hanging on by just a strip of skin. As they passed the slope, the skin finally gave way, and a section of leg plopped down from the makeshift wooden stretcher, rolling right to Gungun and Dandan's feet, covered in blood. The two little ones were scared out of their wits and immediately wet their pants. But though they were scared, they didn't run. Gungun even picked it up, crying as he scrambled up the slope and held out the severed leg: "Uncle, wuuu, your leg fell off, wuuu."
After that, Gungun and Dandan were rather downcast. When they were scared, they wanted Zhao Ger. Plus, they hadn't seen Fang Zichen and Zhao Ger in a long time. But with Meng Ruqing around, they didn't miss Fang Zichen much—yet they missed Zhao Ger terribly, and both were quite unhappy.
Old Madam Qin knew the two little ones had been badly frightened and needed comforting, so she had the kitchen make some pastries—fragrant and sweet.
Back when they lived in the village, when Fang Zichen was feeling generous, he would often spend a fortune to buy them pastries from the town. But the shops in small places made crude things with little variety. Though Gungun and Dandan weren't picky—when hungry, they'd even try to rush into the outhouse—they still knew good from bad, and these pastries were tastier than the ones their father used to buy.
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