TSWPF -Chapter 250 Backing

This young man looked so much like Fourth Master Liu—it was as if they had been cast from the same mold. Could he be Fourth Master Liu’s son?

The more Lord Fei thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Otherwise, how could they look so alike?

“Guards, offer Mr. Luo a seat.”

Mr. Luo did not refuse. He walked straight over and sat down.

Lord Fei glanced at the unruffled Mr. Luo and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. With such an important figure sitting there, he truly had no idea how he was supposed to conduct this trial.

Clearing his throat, he looked at Liu Zhimou and asked why he had beaten the drum to bring the case.

Liu Zhimou stepped forward and answered Lord Fei respectfully.

After listening, Lord Fei shifted his gaze to Li Qingling and asked her what exactly had happened.

Li Qingling, calm and composed, recounted the entire incident in detail.

When she finished, Liu Zhimou added that he had witnesses.

Lord Fei had barely opened his mouth when Mr. Luo spoke first. “Lord Fei, you must judge this case impartially. You cannot allow my granddaughter-in-law to suffer injustice.”

At those words, even more cold sweat broke out on Lord Fei’s forehead. One side was Mr. Luo, the other was the Duke’s household—he could afford to offend neither.

He cleared his throat again. “Of course.” Adjusting his official cap, he reminded himself that for the sake of this black gauze hat, he had to handle the case fairly. “Guards, summon the Fifth Madam of the Duke’s household and her son to the court.”

With Mr. Luo involved, the Duke’s household was truly in trouble this time.

Everyone knew Mr. Luo was fiercely protective of his own.

Not long after, news of this matter also reached the emperor. He tapped the table lightly. “What reaction has there been from the empress’s side?” He had endured the Duke’s household for a long time. If it were not for their full support back then in helping him ascend the throne, he would have moved against them long ago.

This rare opportunity—should he seize it?

Gao Song lowered his head respectfully. “Your Majesty, there has been no response from the Empress yet.”

The emperor nodded slightly, tapped the table once more, and stood up. “Come, accompany me to see my teacher.” In truth, he wanted to take this chance to see his junior brother’s son.

His teacher had hidden the boy so well before that he had no chance to see him. This time, even his teacher would not be able to stop him.

He wondered whether his junior brother’s son was as intelligent as his father.

If he was, then he would gain another capable ally.

After the emperor left the palace, the empress also received the news. She pondered for a long while before instructing the palace aunt to continue keeping an eye on the situation.

Once the aunt left, the empress smashed several cups in anger. The Duke’s household was acting more and more recklessly, without any thought for the difficult position she was in as empress.

If this continued, the emperor would certainly move against the Duke’s household.

After this matter was over, she would have her mother enter the palace so they could have a proper talk.

“Your Majesty, please calm down. It’s possible this matter wasn’t done by the Fifth Madam,” the empress’s attendant nanny said softly after having people clean up the mess.

The empress let out a weary breath. Toward that sister-in-law of hers, she was utterly at a loss for words.

“Let’s wait and see,” she said, then dismissed the nanny and went to rest.

The nanny attended to the empress lying down, then withdrew.

…

When the emperor quietly arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture, he heard the Fifth Madam’s loud voice from afar.

“If this wretched girl hadn’t slandered Her Majesty the Empress and slandered the Duke’s household, I wouldn’t have been so angry as to order people to teach her a lesson!”

Li Qingling looked at the Fifth Madam and tugged at the corner of her mouth speechlessly. Even at this point, she still dared to lie—what nerve.

“May I ask, Madam Lu, how exactly did I slander Her Majesty the Empress and the Duke’s household? And why would I, without cause, slander Her Majesty and the Duke’s household?”

Pressed like this by Li Qingling, the Fifth Madam’s eyes darted around. After a long while, she finally said, “You said Her Majesty the Empress condones the Duke’s household bullying others.” As she said this, she straightened her back. “How could Her Majesty possibly condone such behavior? Our Duke’s household is the most proper and would never bully people at will.”

Her words also implied that it was because Li Qingling had provoked her that she ordered her servants to punish her.

She couldn’t help glancing at Mr. Luo, unable to understand why he was here.

Could this wretched girl be related to Mr. Luo somehow? No, impossible. If they truly had any connection, how could she not know?

The Fifth Madam kept denying it in her heart.

Lord Fei slammed the gavel and asked Li Qingling whether this was the truth.

Li Qingling cast a faintly mocking glance at the Fifth Madam, then turned back to Lord Fei. “In reply to my lord, that is not the case. The Fifth Madam tried to seize a shop that this common woman had already purchased. I merely said one sentence—asking whether the Fifth Madam wasn’t afraid that such behavior would bring shame upon Her Majesty the Empress. My lord may summon witnesses to the court to verify whether what I said is true.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Lord Fei’s clerk whispered something in his ear. Lord Fei looked to the side and saw the emperor standing by a side door. He was just about to rise and pay his respects when the emperor waved a hand, signaling him to continue the trial.

Seeing the emperor’s gesture, Lord Fei sat back down, though he was cursing inwardly. This one case had drawn not only Mr. Luo, but even the emperor himself. If he made the slightest mistake, the hat on his head would be gone.

With that thought, Lord Fei’s expression grew even more solemn.

Sensing something unusual, Mr. Luo turned his head and also saw the emperor.

He knew it—once the emperor heard of this matter, he would never be able to sit still.

Sure enough, here he was.

The emperor met Mr. Luo’s gaze and tugged at the corner of his mouth in a smile.

Mr. Luo shot him a mild glare, then turned away.

The emperor stood in a clever position: those below could not see him, but he could see everything below.

Sweeping his gaze across the courtroom, his eyes landed on Liu Zhimou at once. Seeing how much Liu Zhimou resembled his junior brother, he was shaken. “So alike… truly alike…” If not for the mismatch in age, he would have thought the man below was his junior brother himself.

Both excited and sorrowful, the emperor clenched his hand. “Gao Song, come take a look. Doesn’t he resemble my junior brother?”

Gao Song stepped forward slightly and looked down. Upon seeing Liu Zhiming, his eyes widened and he nodded. “He does—far too much alike.” Unaware that Fourth Master Liu had already passed away, he couldn’t help asking, “Your Majesty, is he Fourth Master Liu’s son?”

With two people so similar, his first instinct was that they were father and son.

The emperor hummed in response, his eyes greedily lingering on Liu Zhiming. No wonder his teacher hadn’t let him meet Liu Zhimou before—they were simply too alike. Anyone who had seen his junior brother would guess their relationship at a glance.

If only his junior brother were still alive.

“Has Fourth Master Liu returned?” Gao Song asked.

As soon as the question left his mouth, the emperor shot him a glance that startled him into bowing his head immediately.

Before Liu Zhimou completed the spring examinations, the emperor had no intention of letting the news of his junior brother’s death spread.

What Mr. Luo had considered, he had considered as well.

During this time, he needed to have people keep a close watch on Liu Zhiming—nothing could be allowed to happen to him. Otherwise, how would he face his junior brother in the future?

“I don’t wish to hear anything about that child from a third person.”

At this, Gao Song lowered his head even further and respectfully acknowledged the order.

Even without the emperor’s instruction, he knew this matter could not be spread. If he couldn’t grasp something this basic, how could he continue serving at the emperor’s side?

Truly—serving a ruler was like walking alongside a tiger.

The emperor nodded firmly and turned his gaze back down, this time resting on the sharp-tongued Li Qingling. He knew she was Liu Zhiming’s wife.

From her conduct and bearing, she looked nothing like a girl raised in the countryside.

He nodded with some satisfaction. His junior brother had good judgment—he had found his son an excellent wife.

Down below, Li Qingling and the others had no idea the emperor was present.

If the Fifth Madam had known the emperor was there, she wouldn’t have dared to be so arrogant even if you beat her to death.

Yet she continued loudly, “I offered double the price for that shop—what’s wrong with that? Can’t the Duke’s household have priority?”

Li Qingling looked at the Fifth Madam, utterly speechless. Truly, one feared not an opponent as formidable as a god, but teammates as foolish as pigs. With such a daughter-in-law, the Duke’s household must have suffered eight lifetimes of bad luck.

The Duke himself rushed over in haste and nearly spat blood upon hearing her words.

“Shut up.” The Duke glared darkly at the Fifth Madam—utterly useless at accomplishing anything, yet excellent at ruining it. “The shop owner hasn’t even officially sold the shop yet. If you had spoken properly, would they really have refused to sell to you? You—you hear a few unflattering words about the Duke’s household and you lose your temper. If you don’t change this temperament, how many people will you offend?”

After scolding her, he turned to Li Qingling. “Young lady, my daughter-in-law’s temper is indeed a bit fiery, but she does have one virtue—if no one provokes her, she will not strike first.” After a pause, he added, “However, laying hands on someone is still her fault. I apologize to you here and ask for your understanding.”

He had said both the good and the bad himself. Li Qingling pressed her lips together and was about to speak when Mr. Luo, seated to the side, spoke first.

“Duke, your words truly broadened my horizons.” To dare insinuate, in front of him, that the fault lay with his granddaughter-in-law—this was simply not taking him seriously. “Is this matter the fault of your family’s daughter-in-law, or my granddaughter-in-law’s? Shall we have the witnesses come up again and explain it clearly to you?”

At the words “granddaughter-in-law,” the Duke’s heart skipped a beat. This woman before him was Mr. Luo’s granddaughter-in-law? He didn’t even have a son—how could he have a granddaughter-in-law?

Was she adopted?