Danzun War God

Chapter Thirty-One: The Truth

According to Lu Hongsheng's description, the incident occurred eighteen years ago...

Twilight Cloud City, the Lu family.

Early in the morning, the Lu residence was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers. Bright red lanterns hung high, ribbons wrapped around the beams, and large, bright red "double happiness" characters exuded happiness. Everywhere, people were busy, and the atmosphere was festive. All of this indicated that the Lu residence was about to hold a happy event.

Lu Taikang, the patriarch of the Lu family, stood in front of the hall, dressed in fine clothes, looking around with a smile. He was overjoyed. The marriage alliance with the Nangong family, the second largest family in Muyun City, would give the two families a greater advantage over the others. The right to speak in Muyun City would rightfully fall into Lu Taikang's hands. Thinking about it, Lu Taikang was even more excited.

At this moment, a wedding procession was taking place on the main street of Muyun City, with drums and gongs beating and making a lively scene. At the very front of the procession was Lu Hongyuan, the second young master of the Lu family, dressed in a bright red wedding robe, riding a tall horse, with a big red flower hanging on his chest, and a smug look on his face. In the middle of the procession were rows of new eight-bearer sedan chairs, making for a magnificent spectacle.

Indeed, the most beautiful woman in Muyun City is about to become his wife. How many people are jealous of him? Although the bride is also from Muyun City, Lu Hongyuan still finds the journey too long and the horse too slow.

Inside the Nangong residence, the place was brightly decorated and filled with a joyous atmosphere. However, Nangong Yehua, the head of the Nangong family, paced back and forth in the hall with a worried and flustered expression. The wedding procession was about to arrive, but the bride-to-be, Nangong Shanshan, had suddenly died. Unable to deliver her, they would inevitably incur the wrath of the Lu family. Nangong Yehua knew that Lu Hongyuan of the Lu family was inherently violent and would surely cause chaos within the Nangong residence. The thought alone gave him a headache. He then summoned the Nangong family's Grand Elder, Nangong Ninghua, and gave her instructions. Nangong Ninghua also acknowledged the difficulty of the situation, but said there was little time left and they could only prepare to deal with the imminent arrival of Lu Hongyuan.

At this moment, Nangong Shanshan lay on the bed with her eyes closed, showing no signs of life. Her mother was crying uncontrollably beside her, completely unable to accept the fact that her daughter had suddenly died.

Just then, the wedding procession entered the mansion with gongs and drums. The matchmaker came to Nangong Shanshan's boudoir and saw Madam Nangong crying so much, while Nangong Shanshan was still lying on the bed without any makeup. She was shocked and quickly went to the bedside to check Nangong Shanshan's breathing. Her face changed drastically and she ran out, shouting, "It's terrible! The bride is dead!"

Before Nangong Ninghua could even speak to Lu Hongyuan, Lu Hongyuan ignored her and rushed over. Nangong Ninghua's expression changed drastically, and she knew that saying anything now would be of no use.

Lu Hongyuan, holding the matchmaker in disbelief, roared, "What did you say? If you keep talking nonsense, I'll chop you up!"

The matchmaker was so frightened that she immediately collapsed to the ground, and said timidly, "Second Young Master, what I said is true. If you don't believe me, you can go and see for yourself."

Seeing that the matchmaker didn't seem to be talking nonsense, Lu Hongyuan, still somewhat doubtful, rushed towards Nangong Shanshan's boudoir. At this moment, Nangong Yehua had already arrived at his daughter's room; if Lu Hongyuan made any rash moves, she would surely subdue him first. Lu Hongyuan glanced at Nangong Yehua, then rushed directly to Nangong Shanshan, grabbed her hand, checked her pulse, and instantly slumped to the ground in despair.

Nangong Yehua said calmly, "Young Master Lu, please accept my condolences. No one wanted this to happen. I will go to your residence later to personally apologize to Patriarch Lu."

Lu Hongyuan suddenly stood up, glared at Nangong Yehua resentfully, and said, "We'll talk about this another day." He then went out, ripped off the red flower from his clothes, mounted the horse he had come on, and led his entourage out of the Nangong residence. Outside the gates of the Nangong residence, a large crowd of onlookers from Muyun City had gathered. After all, it was the wedding of the first and second largest families in Muyun City, so the scene was bound to be unprecedented, and the crowd was packed three or four deep.

At this moment, Lu Hongyuan, looking utterly defeated, appeared. The onlookers immediately erupted in discussion. Rumors had already spread that Nangong Shanshan was in trouble, and seeing Lu Hongyuan's condition now, the rumors were undoubtedly true.

"It seems that the eldest daughter of the Nangong family has really gotten into trouble. This is going to be a real problem for the Nangong family. It's a huge loss of face for the Lu family. They will definitely make a scene against them."

"Not necessarily. This isn't the fault of the Nangong family. People often get sick or suffer from illnesses. The Lu family probably won't use this as an excuse."

"Look at Lu Hongyuan's pathetic state, he deserved to be so smug!"

"That Miss Nangong is really something. Why did something happen today of all times? It's too much of a coincidence. Could there be something fishy going on here?"

"I heard that Miss Nangong was never satisfied with this marriage. Could it be that she took her own life? But Lu Hongyuan is just too insidious."

……

Afterwards, the Nangong family held a funeral, and Nangong Yehua personally went to the Lu residence to apologize. However, Lu Taikang, the head of the Lu family, did not take it to heart. After all, the purpose of this marriage was to unite the two families' forces, and there was no need to tear each other apart over it. Thus, the matter came to an end.

However, three years later, when Han Yuanshan's wife was about to give birth, the midwife in the Han family had returned to her hometown, so they had to find a midwife from outside the family, and the news gradually spread.

It turned out that the young mistress of the Han family looked exactly like Nangong Shanshan, who had been dead for many years. The Lu family then launched an investigation, and several months later, they finally learned the truth from Nangong Shanshan's former personal maid: the young mistress of the Han family was indeed Nangong Shanshan. She and Han Yuanshan had been in love, which led them to fake their deaths. Later, she secretly married into the Han family. The Han family didn't make a big fuss about it at the time, fearing the news would leak out. However, nothing stays hidden forever, and the truth finally came to light.

When Lu Hongyuan learned the truth, he was furious. This humiliation made him unable to eat or sleep, and he decided to find an opportunity to cause trouble for the Nangong family.

Coincidentally, during this time, the Nangong and Lu families were already embroiled in a fierce dispute over a fourth-tier alchemist. Because there were only ten suitable locations in Muyun City's fiery crater for building alchemy pavilions, the Lin family occupied two, while the Lu and Nangong families each had four. Therefore, alchemists were unwilling to come to these locations, making fourth-tier alchemists especially rare and highly sought after. The advantages of possessing a fourth-tier alchemist were self-evident.

This is what made Lu Hongyuan want to kill the Han family. He spent a lot of money to bribe a servant of the Nangong family to poison their well. Then he led his men to wipe out the Nangong family. This incident had a great impact at the time. Although no one saw the perpetrator, the distant relatives of the Nangong family in Muyun City all suspected that the Lu family was responsible. However, they had no evidence and could do nothing. After selling off the Nangong family's property, they all left Muyun City, and the matter was left unresolved.