Denghuaxiao

Chapter 64 Cousin’s Visit

When Lu Zhen returned to West Street from the noodle shop, he saw a candle in the shop of Renxin Medical Center from a distance.

Yin Zheng muttered: "It's already been a while, why hasn't Shopkeeper Du gone back? Normally, the shop door should be closed at this time."

Du Changqing is lazy. When Lu Zhu first came to the medical clinic, he pretended to be diligent for a few days. Later, he came at dawn every day and went back early before the sun had rested. Some of the new customers who came to buy medicine were still there. He thought that Lu Yan was the owner of the medical clinic, and Du Changqing was a guy who would be betrayed sooner or later.

Lu Zong and Yin Zheng walked over. When they got closer, they saw a few people standing at the door of Renxin Medical Center's shop, seemingly talking.

Lu Huan said "Shopkeeper Du". Du Changqing, who was talking sideways, turned around and saw him. His eyes lit up immediately and he came forward as if he saw a life-saving straw: "Doctor Lu, you are back!"

Before Lu Zhen could speak, he heard a strange voice coming from Du Changqing's side: "Cousin, this is..."

 Lu Zhuo raised his eyes and looked up.

There were also two young women standing in the shop, one dressed as a maid, the other thin and delicate, wearing an apricot yellow double-breasted double-breasted dark flower gauze dress, hiding sideways behind Du Changqing, staring half timidly and half curiously. she.

Du Changqing coughed lightly and said, "This is the doctor at our medical clinic, Dr. Lu. Doctor Lu," he said to Lu Shen again, "This is my cousin, Xia Rongrong."

 Lu Zhu nodded slightly, and Xia Rongrong quickly returned the greeting.

Du Changqing signaled Lu Zhu and Yin Zheng to take two steps inside until Xia Rongrong could not hear them. Then he whispered to Lu Zhu and Yin Zheng: "Um... Doctor Lu, during this period, Rongrong and Rongrong I might have to live with you."

 Lu Huan asked: “Why?”

"She has no relatives in Shengjing and only knows me. I am a man. Unmarried men and women cannot live in my house. It will not sound good if word spreads."

Yin Zheng said: "Since we are shopkeeper Du's fiancée, it is natural for us to live together. Why should shopkeeper Du think too much about it?"

"Who said she was my fiancée!" Du Changqing almost jumped up. His voice was louder, which made Xia Rongrong look in this direction.

Du Changqing smiled reassuringly at her, turned around and lowered his voice and said to the two of them, "...she is a girl from my cousin's family. I can't tell the difference between these twisted relatives. After my mother is gone, I can't tell them apart." This is the only family that is still moving around."

"Her family is poor. She used to come to Shengjing every few years and I could give her some flowers. Now that the old man is gone, I don't have enough money to spend and can't give much. She estimates she will stay in Shengjing for a few days and then go back. , I thought that since you are both women, it would be convenient for you to live together."

Yin Zheng Ruo has some enlightenment: "A person who beats the autumn wind?"

"Why do you say it so harshly?" Du Changqing was displeased: "Whose family doesn't have a few poor relatives? Moreover, we see them only once every few years, and they won't be missing a piece of meat to support them."

Yin Zheng sighed: "Shopkeeper Du, it's a good thing to be gentle with this person, but I think your cousin may not only be seeking some relief."

"Look at what you said," Du Changqing disagreed, "If you don't care about money, how can you care about this young master's people? Don't think of people so dirty!"

Yin Zheng: “…”

Lu Zhen interrupted the quarrel between the two people: "It's okay for Miss Xia to live here. There are three empty rooms in the backyard. There is still one outermost one. Ask Miss Xia to clean it up and live in it."

Du Changqing suddenly smiled and said: "Doctor Lu, I know you know the general picture best."

He quickly ran to the front and gave detailed instructions to his cousin named Xia Rongrong. Yin Zheng had no choice but to shake her head, and first went to clear out the sundries in the outer room to make room for the master and servant.

Du Changqing left after finishing his explanation, as if he didn't want to stay here any longer. Xia Rongrong and her maid were busy laying out clean bedding. Lu Zhu was not a warm-tempered person, so he would not take the initiative to talk to Xia Rongrong.

As usual, she divided the medicinal materials for tomorrow and returned to her room.

 The night is getting thick outside the window, and a beautiful crescent moon hangs on the branches, emitting some faint cold light.

Lu Zhen walked to the desk and sat down, finding paper and pen from the wooden drawer.

Yinzheng was boiling water in the kitchen, and Lu Yan walked to the table and sat down, uncovered a piece of rice paper, picked up a pen and dipped it in ink.

Today she has met Fan Zhenglian, Wang Chunzhi, Liu Zixian and Liu Zide. The only regret is that she could not meet her cousin Liu Kun.

However...I also got some unexpected news.

 Liu Zide will participate in this year's Qiu Wei, which really makes people think a lot.

After all, the two Liu brothers are mediocre in talent and learning, and are careless and conceited. Liu Zixian has already burned a lot of incense for passing the exam, so why does Liu Zide dare to try his skills?

Lu Zhen didn’t think that his two cousins ​​would spend the next few years hanging on each other and studying hard.

 She put pen to paper and wrote the names Liu Kun and Fan Zhenglian on the paper.

Logically speaking, Liu Kun should have met Fan Zhenglian.

According to Ke Chengxing's servant Wanfu, Lu Qian visited the Ke family after Lu Rou's death, had a big quarrel with the Ke family and then broke up.

Perhaps at that time, Lu Qian had noticed something strange about Lu Rou's death.

Suppose Lu Qian found some evidence and went to sue the officials with this evidence. It is logical that Lu Qian, who knew nothing about Shengjing, would choose to seek help from Fan Zhenglian, who was known as "Qingtian".

However, Fan Zhenglian was not as impartial as rumored. He even wanted to destroy the evidence because he was afraid of the power of the Taishi Mansion.

Lu Qian sensed something was wrong and took advantage of the chaos to escape. Then Fan Zhenglian secretly accused Lu Qian and the whole city arrested Lu Qian.

Despaired, Lu Qian could only hide in Liu Kun's home. After all, in the entire Shengjing, only the Liu family could be considered old relatives of the Lu family.

Lu Qian thought that Liu Kun was a trustworthy cousin in Changwu County, but he never thought that when the benefits were sufficient, his relatives could turn their backs on him.

 Liu Kun betrayed Lu Qian.

The tip of Lu Zhuo's pen trembled, and a large drop of ink seeped out from the hair, leaving thick traces on the paper.

 She drew a line between Liu Kun and Fan Zhenglian.

 Liu Kun presented Lu Qian to Fan Zhenglian as a letter of vote, and in return, Fan Zhenglian gave Liu Kun certain benefits.

 Is it the noodle shop on Queer Street?

  No, even though the noodle shop has a good location facing the street and is well repaired, Lu Qian’s incident has implicated Taishi’s Mansion. Is Taishi’s Mansion worth a noodle shop?

Liu Kun's eyelids are not so shallow.

Liu Kun must have more plans. Besides, Lu Qian is hiding in the Liu family. Liu Kun may not know about Lu Rou. Why doesn't Fan Zhenglian eliminate the root cause? Instead, he leaves such a huge hidden danger like Liu Kun outside. Isn't he afraid that one day Liu Kun will betray him? After all, only the dead can keep secrets.

unless…

 Liu Kun had a clue and it fell into Fan Zhenglian's hands.

 And this handle was big enough that Fan Zhenglian was sure that Liu Kun would never dare to use it to blackmail him.

What leverage could Liu Kun have into Fan Zhenglian's hands?

Such a noodle merchant was insignificant in the eyes of the judge, and his son who was a judge was almost the same.

 Juren’s son…

Lu Zhen's eyes flashed.

correct! Liu Zixian passed the autumn examination, Liu Zide was about to take part in the autumn examination, and Fan Zhenglian... was originally from the imperial examination, and then went to Yuan'an County to become the county magistrate, and thus began his official career.

 Autumn Wei…

If what Liu Kun gained in exchange for betraying Lu Qian was the chance for his son to win the exam, then in Liu Kun's eyes, it was all worth it. Fan Zhenglian doesn't have to worry about Liu Kun telling the inside story, unless Liu Kun is willing to ruin his son's future.

It’s just that...if her guess is true, Liang Chaoqiu’s fraud was too unscrupulous.

 The tip of Lu Zhuo’s pen froze.

Or maybe Fan Zhenglian was a fellow Jinshi at that time and had an unfair reputation. Otherwise, why would he be so familiar with Liu Zixian? It seems that Liu Zide will be doing the same thing in a few months.

You must first find out what Fan Zhenglian’s knowledge was back then.

However, as Fan Zhenglian is a court official, Mr. Cao may be afraid of causing trouble, so he is always stingy with information about officials. Furthermore, he is afraid of arousing suspicion, so he cannot directly ask for it.

Lu Tong took up his pen and wrote the three words "Yuan'an County" above Fan Zhenglian's name.

Fan Zhenglian's fortune began in Yuan'an County. It is said that when he was the magistrate of Yuan'an County, he had outstanding political achievements, so the emperor specially transferred him back to Shengjing.

It is necessary to find out what "famous" cases Fan Zhenglian handled in Yuan'an County.

 The door opened, and Yin Zheng came in with a basin of hot water.

Lu Zong put down his pen, picked up the paper he had just written on, and burned it in a candle.

Yin Zheng handed her the water-wrapped handkerchief and pursed her lips toward the window: "The headlights are still on."

 She is talking about Xia Rongrong’s master and servant.

Lu Zhen thought she wanted to go back to her house, so he wiped her face with a handkerchief and said, "They won't be able to stay here for long."

Yin Zheng said: "Girl, you are not like Shopkeeper Du. You really think Miss Xia is here to beat the autumn wind, right?"

 “Isn’t it?”

"Of course not." Yin Zheng got up and went to make the bed, "Those relatives who are fighting in the autumn wind want to wear as ragged as possible so that they can get more silver coins. Unlike Miss Xia, the material of the dress she is wearing is newer than what you are wearing. Yes. And the agate bracelet on her hand costs at least twenty taels of silver."

Yin Zheng turned her head and said, "How can any poor relative in the autumn wind be so well-dressed?"

Lu Zhen didn’t think so: “So?”

"A woman likes her appearance." Yin Zheng turned around and continued to make the bed, "Probably for Shopkeeper Du. From what I've seen, she must really be the one who wants Shopkeeper Du."

Lu Zhu nodded: "She is shopkeeper Du's cousin. If we really want to talk about marriage, we will naturally be inseparable in the future." At this point, Lu Zhu paused and looked at Yin Zheng doubtfully: "You are unhappy because you like Du Shopkeeper?"

"Of course not!" Yin Zheng was startled and didn't even bother to make the bed, so she quickly denied it: "Why would I like Shopkeeper Du?"

Seeing Lu Zhuo nodding, Yin Zheng sighed: "I'm not biased against Miss Xia, it's just that whatever the girl is planning will come to light if you're not careful. We live here, and it's okay if there are few people on weekdays, but now there are more Xia Young ladies, I'm always afraid...I'm always afraid that something will happen."

 That was what I was worried about.

Lu Xuandan'er: "It's okay, just be careful."

 …

When Lu and Zhen were talking about Xia Rongrong, the lights in Xia Rongrong's room next door were not turned off.

Xia Rongrong was sitting on the edge of the couch in her middle coat with her hair down, looking a little worried.

Her maid, Xiang Xiang, stood behind her, combing her long hair with a wooden comb, and asked, "Young lady has already seen your young master, why are you still so worried?"

Xia Rongrong shook her head: "My parents asked me to come to Beijing because they wanted me to marry my cousin."

"My cousin said in his letter that Master Du passed away, but he didn't mention it in the letter. The property that Master Du left to him is now only this shabby medical clinic!" Xia Rongrong grabbed Vanilla's hand, "You are the first The first time I saw my cousin I didn't know, but I could tell that my cousin's food and clothing expenses are not as good as before. It can be seen that he has declined."

"I...my father is still waiting for me to enter the Du family and bring him to the capital. What should I do now?"

After saying this, Xia Rongrong could not help but sob softly.

Xia Rongrong’s mother is related to Du Changqing’s mother.

This relative's bloodline is really meager, but for Du Changqing, who lost his mother when he was young, this relative is the only relative in his mother's family. He liked to hear Xia Mu talk about his mother's past.

Xia Rongrong does not hate Du Changqing.

Du Changqing is the only son of the Du family. Mr. Du dotes on him and is willing to spend money on him. Whenever Xia Rongrong came to Shengjing with her parents when she was young, her cousin Du Changqing was very generous to them.

In addition, Du Changqing is not bad in appearance. Although he is a bit dandy, his character is not bad, and he can be considered a good match. Therefore, when her parents hinted at her getting married to Du Changqing, Xia Rongrong didn't feel disgusted in her heart.

Her parents thought well. Du Changqing was Mr. Du's sweetheart. When Mr. Du passed away, he would definitely leave a lot of property to Du Changqing. Xia Rongrong and Du Changqing were childhood sweethearts. Du Changqing was a soft-spoken person, but after Xia Rongrong passed away, she was a serious rich lady.

 That's why Xia Rongrong brought only Huahua and a maid to Beijing, thinking that after the cousins ​​had been together for a long time, they would naturally develop feelings for each other. And Du Changqing has neither father nor mother, so as long as the two elders of the Xia family come forward to make the decision, the marriage will be done.

Who would have thought that she would receive such bad news as soon as she arrived in Beijing? Mr. Du's family property was destroyed by Du Changqing, and only a small medical clinic was left.

This is far from what she thought!

Du Changqing, who has no money, is no longer a hot potato no matter how you look at it.

Vanilla comforted her and said: "Miss, don't be sad. Although Mr. Biao is not as good as before, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Being able to have a house and a shop in a place like Shengjing, where the land is so expensive, is better than many people."

"Furthermore, no one knows how much money Mr. Du left to Young Master Biao. Maybe Young Master Du has hidden it. That is..." Xiangxiang stopped talking.

 “What is it?”

“It’s Dr. Lu next door, you have to pay attention.”

Xia Rongrong was stunned: "What should I pay attention to?"

"How can ordinary people have such a young doctor who is still a woman?" Vanilla reminded, "Miss, please don't blame me for being careless. My young master has always loved to flirt with women. If he has raised a woman before he married a wife, Outside...then you have to think carefully about this marriage."

"You said Doctor Lu and cousin..." Xia Rongrong hesitated, "No way?"

“You know people but not their hearts. I am also worried that you have been deceived. However, since we have to stay here for a while, we might as well keep an eye on them to see if there is anything suspicious.”

Xia Rongrong thought carefully for a long time before making up her mind and nodding: "Okay, I'll do as you say."

 (End of this chapter)