My stepmother is here, all the rebellious sons and evildoers should kneel down!

Although these relatives of the Lu family live in the countryside, they are all smart people and can see the real intention of Old Lady Lu and Lu Shengshi to renovate the house.

A relative quickly said, "Hey! Sheng Shi! Why do you have to be angry with your brother's concubines! After all, they gave birth to children for the Lu family. Not to mention other children, Xingcheng is already a teenager... Did your Lu family raise him for so many years in vain? "

"That's right! How can an aunt bring a child back to her mother's home? A few days ago, they all ran away because they saw that your Lu family had fallen on hard times and wanted to keep their little bit of wealth! Now that the house has been repaired, I'm afraid they are all looking forward to coming back as soon as possible!"

"That's right! Old sister-in-law, you have to speak up about this matter! If you speak up, we will pass on the message and ask them to come back and kneel down to apologize to you!"

The stairs are finally there!

Madam Lu pretended to be reserved and looked at everyone: "Hey, I didn't want them to come back in the first place! But Xingcheng is the eldest son of the Lu family after all. If he comes back, can we still give up the other children? Forget it, Shengshi, don't bother with your brother's concubines!"

After the old lady finished speaking, the relatives who were waiting to curry favor with them quickly said, "Yes, yes, yes! Your mother is right! Let's go around today and spread the word in the village..."

Aunt Mei went back to her mother's home. The third and fourth wives were both from Kyoto, so they naturally couldn't take their children back to Kyoto. So they rented a yard in the town and lived quietly with the little money they had saved.

Let’s not talk about others for now, just say that Aunt Mei is really a thoughtful person. Over the years, she has quietly saved more than 500 taels of silver for herself in the Lu family. Together with the jewelry she secretly left behind, she has almost 700 taels after selling them.

The silver was originally kept by Aunt Mei in her mother's home. Now that she brought Lu Xingcheng back, her brother and sister-in-law naturally didn't want to return the silver. For this reason, Aunt Mei even had a quarrel with her brother and sister-in-law. In the end, my parents took charge and got the three hundred taels back.

The jewelry was pawned for two hundred taels of silver, plus the three hundred taels, a total of five hundred taels of cash.

Her brother and sister-in-law gave her and Lu Xingcheng a dilapidated courtyard, and the thatched house was about to collapse.

Aunt Mei spent two full days packing before the mother and daughter finally moved in.

She also changed into simple clothes to make it easier for her to work and take care of Lu Xingcheng.

Although Aunt Mei was born a maid, she has been pampered over the years and was served by maids in the Lu Mansion. Now she has to do even things like making fire and cooking by herself. The earthen kang is difficult to heat and the smoke is uncomfortable, which is really hard.

But at least she was able to persevere, and Lu Xing's achievements were different.

He was a young master who grew up in the Lu Mansion in Kyoto. He used to be with Wen Qiqi, eating well, sleeping soundly, and being well taken care of by servants. Now that he had returned to the countryside and was living in such a shabby house, Lu Xingcheng felt as if he had fallen from heaven to hell.

He was unwilling to see the Lu family destroyed!

So, I would hold the book in my arms all day, reading from morning to night, and when I felt tired, I would become sad and cry.

Aunt Mei felt sorry for her son, and she also felt that the Lu family had been confiscated by the imperial court, and Lu Zhanyao was in prison and she didn't know whether he would be able to get out. Lu Xingcheng's future was ruined, so there was no point in studying.

The emperor has made a solemn statement: "The descendants of the Lu family are not allowed to enter the official career!"

So even if Lu Xingcheng is a good student, it will be useless.

"Xingcheng, please put the book down quickly! I beg you... If you have time to spare, why not learn how to farm from your uncle's sons? Then we won't starve to death!"

With some money and some land, Aunt Mei and Lu Xingcheng could at least make a living.

If he continues like this and refuses to put down the book in his hands, then in the future, when the five hundred taels of silver are spent, won't Aunt Mei and Lu Xingcheng be left to starve?

"That's enough! Stop talking so much! I definitely won't go farming!"

Lu Xingcheng stared at Aunt Mei coldly, and Aunt Mei was shocked: "Why are you looking at me like that? I am your mother, and I am doing this for your own good!"

"If you wanted to do good for me, you shouldn't have let me recognize Wen Qiqi as my mother!"

Lu Xingcheng's eyes widened fiercely: "You are treating her like a fool, but she is so many times better than you? You can't beat her at all, and you don't even know it!"

"I am so unlucky to be born to a lowly country girl like you. If I were lucky enough not to be born in the Lu Mansion and to be a legitimate child, I, Lu Xingcheng, would not have such a fate!"

His words stabbed Aunt Mei's heart like a knife.

"Xingcheng...how can you say that? Everything mother did was planned for you! Wen Qiqi never guarded against me before...I don't know why she had such a big plan in her heart later. Yes, I can't beat her, but what about your father...?"

Aunt Mei panted and looked at Lu Xingcheng: "Neither your father nor Lord Yu can match her!"

"Humph! Don't mention my father!"

Lu Xingcheng threw the book in his hand and said angrily: "If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have studied for so many years but still have no place to use my knowledge!"

"Xingcheng!"

"Forget it! It's my bad luck to have such a dear father and mother like you! If I have a chance in the future, I will definitely return to the capital and will never live in this damn place for the rest of my life!"

The earthen kang was dirty, the broken wooden windows were crumbling, and the room was so hot during the day that it was almost life-threatening. After finally waiting until the evening, when the weather cooled down, mosquitoes began to rush into the room without any hesitation, biting Lu Xingcheng and Aunt Mei so much that their bodies were covered with lumps!

As for food, apart from coarse grain cakes and vegetarian porridge, there is not even a trace of meat.

For Lu Xingcheng, such days are simply worse than death!

Seeing Aunt Mei sobbing on the edge of the kang, Lu Xingcheng quickly came over and held Aunt Mei's hands: "Mom, let's go back to the capital! You still have some money, let's go back and try our luck! I miss the days in the capital so much, I can't stay here any longer!"

Aunt Mei also wanted to go back to the capital...

"Xingcheng, please be patient for a while! You will get used to it! With these five hundred taels of silver in our hands, if we live frugally in the countryside, we can still survive! If we return to the capital, I'm afraid it will only be enough to pay for half a year's rent!"

Lu Xingcheng slid down to the ground in frustration, covering his face and sobbing again.

Aunt Mei felt very distressed. She helped her son sit up and took the book from him. "Forget it. Read it if you want. Just kill time. I'll go to your aunt and ask her to make some steamed buns for me. We haven't had steamed buns for a long time!"