Confiscating property? A stunningly beautiful substitute bride empties the national treasury and is

After watching Song Qingqian being led into the room, Xuan Yuanxue and Lu Yunqi stood motionless in the courtyard. Seeing blood flowing from his head, she hurriedly tugged at Lu Yunqi and whispered:

"Second Brother Lu, are you injured? How serious is it?"

Lu Yunqi waved his hand sheepishly, "It's nothing, I just accidentally bumped into a rock."

"This is my fault no matter what, and I can't let my younger siblings take the blame for me."

As Lu Yunqi spoke, he lifted his foot and pushed the door open to go inside. Xuan Yuanxue was shocked and hurriedly followed him in.

Lu Yunqi bowed respectfully to the two elders, apologizing and explaining his faults. The old man stroked his beard and remained silent.

The old woman smiled and quickly waved her hand: "Get up. It's good to admit your mistakes and correct them. Besides, look at you, you didn't even steal the chicken, and you got hurt instead. It's not worth it!"

"Mother-in-law, I'm sorry!"

Lu Yunqi lowered his head sincerely to explain. Song Qingqian raised her eyebrows and looked at him. Although she was angry just now, she could understand Zhan'er's fuss when she thought that he had no money on him. But stealing was indeed a bit unethical.

"It's alright, it's alright! Don't stand there, come sit down and have a cup of tea."

The old woman smiled and said, "My son was quite a troublemaker when he was young, which made him very angry. But I never expected that after he went out to start his own family and make his own way in the world, his personality would change so much. I, this old woman, actually miss those days."

"Young man, you must not be married yet, right?"

Lu Yunqi shook his head in shame.

"That's right. Once you get married and have a wife to keep you in check, you'll be more disciplined, and the responsibilities on your shoulders will be heavier."

"What did your family do wrong? Why were you all exiled?"

The old woman frowned and asked.

Song Qingqian felt a mix of emotions and smiled bitterly, "Mother-in-law, if I said I was wronged, would you believe me?"

"Injustice? That's a real pity. Serving the emperor in the capital is like walking on thin ice. It's nothing like the freedom of our little mountain village."

"Although becoming rich and powerful is difficult, we won't starve with these few acres of land!"

The old woman asked with a smile, "How many people are in your family? Haven't you had dinner yet? If you don't mind, you can stay at my house. I have plenty of empty rooms, enough for you!"

Song Qingqian quickly declined, saying, "We appreciate your kindness, Mother-in-law, but we won't trouble you. Just sell me two chickens; we can cook them ourselves when we get home."

"Are you really not staying here?"

"No need, we'll just rest in the next yard. If Grandma feels bored, she can come over to our place for a stroll. We have a lot of people here, so it'll be more lively."

As soon as Song Qingqian finished speaking, she saw the old man come in carrying three chickens and throw them to the ground. Lu Yunqi's heart trembled violently, and Xuan Yuanxue shrank back behind him in fright.

"The young lady just gave me one tael of silver. These three chickens are yours. You can take them later!"

The old man spoke frankly: "Actually, I should have given you five chickens, but those two chickens need to lay eggs so I can't sell them to you. If you want to cook, you can use our cooking utensils; rice and flour are both fine."

“The old woman is right. We have three spare rooms in our house. If you don’t mind, you can stay there. I’m not going to take advantage of you!”

“Uncle, these three chickens are enough. In the end, it was our fault. We are already very grateful that you and your mother-in-law can forgive us.”

Song Qingqian gratefully explained, "Uncle, Grandma, since there's nothing else, we'll head back now!"

"Hey, wait a minute! Since you don't need anything, go and get half a peck of coarse rice. Exile is hard work, how can you manage without food?"

The old woman was telling Lu Yunqi to follow the old man to the kitchen to get it when Song Qingqian stopped her.

"Mother-in-law, you really don't need to!"

She pondered for a moment, then pulled Lu Yunqi aside and whispered a few words to him. Lu Yunqi muttered in surprise:

"Isn't this a bad idea? You just said you weren't staying here. Won't this be too much trouble?"

"No trouble at all, just give us the money. Besides, we have three comfortable rooms here. Go back and pack your things and bring the carriage over!"

Lu Yunqi said embarrassedly, "Let's not, it's too embarrassing."

"You two become friends after a fight, right? This old couple seems nice, it'll be more lively living together, let's go!"

Watching Lu Yunqi leave, Song Qingqian smiled and took the old woman's hand, saying:

"Grandma, we don't need the brown rice. If you don't mind, please lend us three rooms. We'll stay one night and leave tomorrow. I'll pay you."

"Please stay here without paying any money. What the young lady just gave you is enough."

The old woman happily got up: "Please sit down first, I'll go and tidy up for you. This house was prepared for my three sons, but they've all moved away now. Only the two of us old folks are left here, and it's been empty for several years."

"Mother-in-law, I'll help you tidy up!"

Xuan Yuanxue smiled and helped the old woman out the door.

Song Qingqian carried three chickens out the door and into the yard to start tidying up.

The two brothers from the second wife were overjoyed to see them get into the carriage and leave. They rushed in and seized the main house.

When the other branches of the Lu family saw that the second branch had taken over the courtyard, they all rushed in and squeezed in. In a short while, the families started fighting over the house.

The old woman watched the carriage enter the courtyard, her face beaming with joy.

"You must be a very prominent family. All the women here are incredibly beautiful, and the children are adorable too. Could this be the young lady's husband? He looks quite handsome and they seem well-matched..."

The old lady awkwardly grasped the old woman's hand, and the two spoke politely for a long time. In the end, the old lady still felt quite ashamed, after all, Lu Yunqi's actions were indeed unethical.

Seeing Song Qingqian busy cooking, Lu Jingchuan went over to her. Song Qingqian immediately gave him instructions:

"Let's fry these two big ones, and stew the other one to make chicken soup. The elderly may not like fried food because they have bad teeth."

"Let's cook the rice a little longer. Let's use Grandma's stove; it'll be faster that way."

Lu Jingchuan smiled gently and nodded.

"Thank you for your trouble. Mother has already reprimanded Second Brother, and he knows he was wrong. And Zhan'er... Sister-in-law just beat him, and he's realized his mistake now..."

"Yes, it's good that you admit your mistakes and can correct them!"

As Song Qingqian spoke, she took out twenty taels from her bosom and gave them to Lu Jingchuan, muttering to herself:

“I just reflected on myself. How could your second brother, a grown man, manage without money? Like tonight, if he had money, he wouldn’t have thought of stealing.”

You gave me quite a bit last time, and I didn't spend it all. Consider this a gift from you to him; he won't feel ashamed to take your money.

"Qianqian, you've thought of everything, thank you!"

Lu Jingchuan gently wrapped his arms around Song Qingqian's waist from behind and whispered in her ear:

"Qianqian, marrying you is my blessing."

"Stop talking nonsense, or someone will see you!"

Song Qingqian quickly slapped his hand away.

Lu Jingchuan chuckled lightly, "What's wrong with me being close to my wife? Besides, we're all family, they won't laugh at you. What are you worried about?"