Female martial arts fanatics only love to fight, while men fight for their lives.

"Then let's talk about it after seeing the imperial edict," Lou Xiao leaned back in his chair and said nothing more.

Manager Liu made eye contact with the maid behind him. They had imagined many situations, but no one had expected that this master was such an unyielding person.

Having grown up in the countryside, he was indifferent to the wealth of the Duke's Mansion.

"Can he arrive today?" Manager Liu quietly asked the people behind her. She was sure that if the imperial edict did not come, this young lady would leave them alone forever!

The people below nodded, "We have tried our best. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be here soon..."

Just as he finished speaking, there was a chaotic sound of horse hooves at the door, followed by a neigh, and someone hurried in, not daring to look up, holding up the imperial edict with both hands, kneeling on the ground and shouting, "Lou Xiao, accept the edict!"

Really?

Lou Xiao, who was drinking tea, paused. This time he couldn't come up with the reason "this thing is easy to fake", so he could only take it reluctantly.

She didn't understand the difficult words in the imperial edict, so she vaguely pieced together the general idea that it meant she had to go to the capital to take over the Duke's Mansion.

Compared to Manager Liu who was full of energy, "Hurry up, help the young lady pack her things!"

Lou Xiao held the imperial edict in his hand, feeling depressed and resentful. Why would the empress send an imperial edict to such a remote mountain village?

Anyone who wants this crappy identity can have it. If you work in a big feudal family, your hairline will recede. She hates trouble the most!

Jiubai stood by worriedly, and only when the young lady finally accepted her fate did she send her to watch the group of people deal with the problem. She still didn't trust them.

Now, Steward Liu was the only one left in the meeting room, standing respectfully, waiting for her instructions.

Lou Xiao waved to her, and the fat steward Liu stepped forward with shaking hands, smiling, "Miss, what do you want?"

No matter how depressed she was, she couldn't lose her temper in front of a smiling face. Lou Xiao pointed at the stool and motioned her to sit down, as they would have a long talk.

Manager Liu was extremely alert. He went over what was in his mind several times and waited for her to ask questions.

"Tell me, what happened in your house? Do you have to take me there?"

If they were peaceful, why would they think of her?

"Miss, you are the blood of the Duke of Zhenguo, so naturally you have to go back..." As he spoke, he saw Lou Xiao looking at him coldly, and his voice gradually became lower.

The woman didn't care. "This bloodline, if you say it exists, it exists. If you say it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist. Don't talk nonsense to me." She hated people using clichés.

"Do you have any difficult engagement or trouble that you want me to take the blame for?"

"…Miss, you are worrying too much."

"Then what happened? If you don't tell me, I'll find out when I go to the capital myself, but I won't be so nice."

Lou Xiao was impatient. She had received the imperial edict, so going to the capital was a foregone conclusion. The steward's hesitation made her feel that she was in danger. She might as well run away.

Manager Liu wiped the sweat off his head, knowing that he had to tell the truth, "It's like this..."

In fact, the Zhenguogong Mansion had already shown signs of decline many years ago. Going back to the past, the Duke was still alive, but he was often bedridden and had few children, only the Crown Prince.

But the prince is a hopeless person. He is neither good at literature nor martial arts. He is just obsessed with sex and has affairs everywhere.

It would be good to show some mercy - at least give us a few more children.

Unexpectedly, the Duke's wife was so ambitious that she wanted to find him a girl with a good family background and good looks. She dismissed all the lovers around her and married a girl from a wealthy family.

As a result, the two sides disliked each other and divorced soon after.

Many years later, the prince became a duke and asked to confer the title of Crown Princess on his youngest daughter, but the request was rejected by the emperor.

A year ago, there was a fight for the throne in the capital. Amid the chaos and war, the Duke and his children were implicated and died suddenly that night.

Only the married son Lou Hong and the posthumous son Lou Sheng were left.

"Isn't there still someone alive?" Lou Xiao thought, her stepmother was probably the "sent away lover".

"His Majesty rejected it..."

This is not normal. Lou Xiao frowned, "Have you offended the new emperor?"

Manager Liu stammered and sweated profusely.

Thinking of what she said about the sudden death of Duke Ye during the succession struggle, Lou Xiao had a bad feeling, "Are you on the wrong side?"

She said it was a fire pit!

Even though Manager Liu didn't quite understand what she said, he knew what she meant, and immediately tried to make amends, "Your Majesty has shown mercy and has not taken away your title. You only need to wait for you to enter the capital, and then..."

Seeing Lou Xiaoliang's cold expression, his fat body could hardly sit on the stool, "If you don't return to the capital, this Duke's Mansion will be ruined without anyone to inherit it──"

"Oh, what does it have to do with me?" That's not right. The imperial edict in her hand clearly stated that she could not get rid of this trouble.

It’s annoying just thinking about it.

A family that stood on the wrong side was almost reduced to an empty shell. In order to save face, they found an illegitimate daughter like her from the countryside and forced her to take the place of the previous one in order to maintain the family's honor.

What could she do? "Aren't you afraid that I will squander all your remaining assets?"

What if she's a playboy or something?

"If there's no one to support it, the land and shops in the mansion will be eaten up..." Manager Liu sighed. If not for this, why would he have invited her, his illegitimate daughter?

"If you go back, at least the masters in the mansion will still have a chance to survive." If you don't go back, the huge family fortune will not be able to be protected!

I see, she's just going to be a mascot, right?

Steward Liu guessed her thoughts and said, "The only people in the mansion right now are Old Taishan, Young Master Hong who has just left his wife and returned home, and Young Master Sheng who is still very young. The Duke's servants have all been sent away by Old Taishan, so the mansion is very quiet now."

In fact, they are also afraid of causing more trouble and displeasing the emperor, so now they are very cautious, fearing that they will bring bad luck.

It seems really pitiful, with only the elderly and children left.

Lou Xiao sighed, "Okay."

────

The Duke's Mansion in Jingcheng.

The old lady Taishan Yu and Lou Hong from the Duke's Mansion, along with the infant Lou Sheng, were all waiting to hear what the spies sent to Luzhou had to say.

"How is it? What's that person's personality like?" Old Taishan couldn't wait to ask when the dusty middle-aged woman was led into the small hall.

If she had known earlier that her lover was pregnant, she would definitely have kept him, and things would not have come to this.

Lou Hong helped the old man steady. He had a slender body and clear features. Even with the great changes in his family, he still looked elegant. "Be careful and don't get excited."

He nodded towards the middle-aged woman, indicating that she could speak.

"I asked around along the way, and she doesn't have a bad reputation," she said with a strange look in her eyes, "and she has received many compliments on her appearance."

"I just said that he is a bit lonely and doesn't like to talk."

"It's good if he's not a wicked person," said Old Taishan, who had experienced many vicissitudes of life and had long lost his arrogance. "As long as he stays at the Duke's Mansion and doesn't leave my son without support,

She took Lou Hong's hand and said, "If there was someone in the mansion, why would you be forced to divorce?"

"Yes," Lou Hong replied gently, with a hint of reluctance in his eyes, "She will definitely be able to support the family and find a way out for our Zhenguo Mansion."