Return of the Swallow c1-644

by Edited by Deyna up to chapter ~100.

“Then what are you here for? Are you out for a stroll with your men and happened to pass by?”

  “You!” How would Madame Lu not make out the sarcasm in the wench’s tones?

  But with how things were now, just what could she say in her own defense? Admit in front of the Qin father and daughter duo that she’d come to prevent Qin Yining and Lu Dehan from signing the contract? She could hardly confess that she was here to teach Qin Yining a lesson!

  The madame wouldn’t be afraid of anything if it was only her and the girl, but Lu Heng and Qin Huaiyuan were both here! She’d even said so much she shouldn’t have before realizing Qin Huaiyuan was upstairs… She’d even told her men to do whatever they wanted to the third floor occupants! That the Lus would have their back if there were any consequences!!

  The look her cousin was giving her now inspired the beginnings of a migraine and her body to turn clammy with fear. It’d never been her place to make decisions for the clan!

  As Madame Lu fell speechless, Lu Heng took a position three steps away from Qin Yining and bowed. “Miss Qin, we meet again.”

  “Sir Lu.” The Qin fourth miss bent her knee to return the gesture.

  The Lu second master smiled back at the girl, his gaze three parts contemplation, three parts admiration, and four parts complete understanding.

  He was well aware of Madame Lu’s character. Though arrogance was her secondary name and she very much lacked brains, she would’ve never done all this had she known he and Qin Huaiyuan were upstairs.

  Therefore, Lu Heng was quite assured that she’d received some sort of news today and misunderstood that Qin Yining was upstairs. That had emboldened her earlier actions and given rise to everything.

  Madame Lu’s stupefied astonishment at seeing the Qin fourth miss earlier had been evident. It was blatantly incredulous to her that the girl would appear here.

  How much of this had been the Qin fourth miss’s planning, and how much manipulation?

  Lu Heng didn’t believe in the slightest that the girl had just so happened to be meeting with someone else here. It was even less plausible that her guards were all so useless as to be unable to stop the charge of Madame Lu’s men.

  Surely his cousin knew everything by now and how she’d been set up by the younger girl, just like his speculations were running their course.

  Such an obvious trap openly suppressed Lu Heng’s own plans of estrangement between the emperor and Qin Huaiyuan. It also struck back at Madame Lu, who’d offended Qin Yining a while back.

  Was this Qin Huaiyuan’s plan? After all, he was hailed as Wise Pan An.

  Or was it this exceedingly beautiful girl’s plotting?

  Lu Heng was more inclined to believe the latter.

  If the Qin fourth miss had nothing to do with all this, she wouldn’t be standing here now or pop out to talk to Madame Lu.

  Qin Yining appeared to possess a lofty spirit and despised acting behind someone’s back. She would only openly stomp down on an obstacle like them.

  It was even more so a forthright declaration that she fully perceived Madame Lu’s obstinate arrogance toward the Qin manor and his machinations between the emperor and Qin Huaiyuan. She would strike straight back at them and have them knowingly suffer for their efforts!

  Such beauty, such rarity, such intelligence, and such bearing! I’ve never seen anyone such as her.

  A ticklish and tingling sensation filled him—like someone had brushed his heart with a feather. Though his plans lay in ruins, an inexplicable delight filled his heart.

  Chapter 379.2: Crossing Swords

  All of this analysis filtered into Lu Heng’s mind in the span of a breath. However, none of it reflected on his face.

  “Please quell your anger, Miss Qin. It’s all a massive misunderstanding today. I only seek to be friends with Master Qin and have nothing else in mind. I absolutely don’t intend to insult the honorable minister. Why would I ever orchestrate this affair to embarrass Master Qin? There’s nothing in it for me!”

  Qin Yining smiled. “Yes, there’s nothing in it for you, but plenty in it for Madame Lu. She’s the one shouting all through town that she’s going to run the Qins out.”

  Lu Heng smiled benignly in return. “The Lu heritage goes back a hundred years. It's inevitable that we have some bad mixed in with the good. I’ll be sure to enact strict discipline when I return home.”

  At this point, he suddenly lowered his voice and whispered next to Qin Yining’s ear. “Miss Qin is dissatisfied with what Madame Lu has done. I’ll go back and take care of it all for you. Since your scheme succeeded today, both of us should quit while we’re ahead. Neither of us can claim a full victory, so let’s call it a draw. What do you say to that?”

  The Qin fourth miss was quite taken aback by these words. Lu Heng had seen to the heart of things in such a short period of time!

  No wonder he boasted of such accomplishments at such a young age.

  Qin Yining didn’t feel awkward at being indirectly exposed. She smiled frankly instead. “The Qins naturally have to show Sir Lu face after you’ve expressed these sentiments. However, are you sure that it’s a draw?”

  It really is her!

  The connotations of her response were that she really was the mastermind behind everything.

  Lu Heng’s heart pounded to see her confidently and candidly telling Madame Lu that she’d set everything in motion today. Even though he already had a wife and had seen countless people in his life, he’d never felt his heart race in front of a girl.

  As the Lu second master looked at Qin Yining with an inscrutable look, Qin Huaiyuan descended the stairs to stand next to them.

  Now that everything was out in the open, it’d be inappropriate for the Qins to erupt in anger.

  “I trust Sir Lu’s sincerity in befriending the Qins,” commented the Qin patriarch. “I know Sir Lu has absolutely no malicious intent. Let’s just have everything today blow over. We can get together some other day.”

  Lu Heng smiled in agreement. “Yes. Lax house rules were the cause of today’s matter. Don’t worry, Master Qin. I will thoroughly deal with this affair.”

  The minister flashed a faint smile. “There’s no need to go to such trouble. It’s not worth it. This old man will be taking my leave with my daughter then.”

  The Lu second master snuck a quick look at Qin Yining. Stunningly charming looks branded themselves into his mind. “Then I’ll send Master Qin out.”

  “I wouldn’t dare be so presumptuous. Please remain here.”

  Qin Yining called out to her own people and followed her father down the stairs.

  When the Qin contingent were far off into the distance, Lu Heng slowly turned to look at his cousin, his hands behind his back.

  “Out with it. What happened today? If you can’t give me a good explanation, I’ll have to bring you up before the family elders and have them pronounce judgment on you. It won’t be up to me, then.”

  Tears that Madame Lu had held back for so long finally trickled down. She went into exhaustive detail about everything that had happened today and concluded in choked sobs, “Second cousin, I really didn’t do it on purpose. I just couldn’t help myself when I heard that damn wench was publicly defying me.”

  Lu Heng smiled faintly and looked exceedingly tenderly at the madame. “Listen to my words. Don’t make moves against the Qins in the future, especially Qin Yining.”

  “Why?? I need to take revenge for the humiliation I suffered today!”

  “Humiliation suffered? It’s because of your crooked and abrasive character that landed you in the waters you’re in. If you come to your senses now or are willing to live out your days in a countryside manor, I can promise you won’t ever go without and can live happily for the rest of your life.”

  Blood drained from Madame Lu’s face when she heard ‘countryside manor’.

  “No! I can’t possibly go there! I won’t be able to eat or sleep in a place like that! Cousin, will you really just stand
by and watch me suffer??”

  “Stand by and watch you suffer? You really are something now, aren’t you? You dare haggle and bargain even with me.” A smile still clung to Lu Heng’s lips, but it was slowly evening out.

  He was someone at home in a business environment after all. If he wanted to, he could flare an intimidating aura with the slightest movement.

  Madame Lu wasn’t the highly observant type, but her cousin’s impatient expression pricked painfully at her.

  “Second elder cousin, I’ll be so suffocated in a place like that. I don't want to go.”

  “The views are delightful in the countryside manor and the staff simple. You’ll be free as a bird if you go there, so why not?”

  The woman was convinced by the romanticism of being free as a bird. She’d already unwittingly thoroughly offended her cousin because of her own decisions. In the end, she left with her head hanging, taking her men with her.

  Lu Heng, on the other hand, remained where he was, staring dumbly at where Qin Yining had been standing. He broke out into an involuntary grin.

  Interesting. Things were getting interesting.

  Chapter 380: To Make Heavy Use Of

  Qin Yining and Qin Huaiyuan were noncommittal on their way home. But after they were served tea and no one else present in the outer study, they grinned at each other over their teacups.

  “That Madame Lu was really too impulsive,” commented the fourth miss with a shake of her head. “I don't know if she’s really that simple. If she is, I’ll feel a bit guilty using her like this.”

  Qin Huaiyuan took a sip of tea. “Daughter, shouldn’t you feel guilty regardless, as you had your cake and ate it too?”

  Qin Yining burst out in chuckles. Her father joking was a rare sight. “Everything proceeded smoothly today. I wonder what the Lus will do next.”

  Her father lifted his eyes to look at her and put down the tea cup to tap his index finger the table. He responded after a moment, “You must stay on the alert. The Lus won’t let things go just like this. They’ll find another excuse to drive a wedge between me and His Majesty. You’re my daughter, so you may very well become their next target. Not to mention…”

  He hesitated, but spoke his mind in the end. “That Second Master Lu is a sharp one. He’ll definitely guess that you had something to do with today. Though he’s not expressing anything and kicked Madame Lu out of the capital, he’s probably already committed this slight to memory.”

  Qin Yining arched a brow. “So what if he does? It’s better if our opponent’s in the light rather than the dark. We’ll just deal with whatever he throws at us.”

  The Qin patriarch raised his eyebrows faintly in response. That wasn’t the type of ‘committing to memory’ that he meant.

  He was a man with an uncommonly beautiful daughter. As a benevolent father, he naturally worried that his daughter would be abducted by others. Therefore, he paid attention whenever a male so much as looked at his girl twice.

  As an exceedingly accomplished individual, Second Master Lu’s eyes had been startlingly bright when he looked at Qin Yining. While the young man himself may be oblivious or think that he’d concealed his emotions well, none of that escaped the watchful eye of a caring father.

  But since the thought hadn’t occurred to his daughter, Qin Huaiyuan didn’t feel the need to go into details. Given her smarts, she would discern hidden intentions and be wary when she needed to be.

  “Father, if the emperor gets wind of today, he’ll have a better impression of you, right?”

  “Mm.” Qin Huaiyuan nodded with a faint smile. “The emperor is a sharp individual himself. Naturally, he doesn’t want his trusted men to be incompetent. If I ended up firmly suppressed by the Lus or Northern Ji officials, that would mean I’m an easily controlled official of no use. Fighting back and forth like this is actually perfect.”

  “Father always has the best grasp of what’s appropriate. I’ll just listen to you in everything in the future.”

  Qin Huaiyuan burst out laughing and poked at his daughter’s head. “That sounds nice and all, but you may not really listen to me when something does happen.”

  “Nuh uh, how can you say that, father!” Qin Yining was unwilling to accept that assessment.

  Her father smiled. “You’re my daughter, do I not understand you? You listen to me now because our thoughts happen to intersect. You’re not a child of blind obedience.”

  Qin Yining thought for a moment and felt that her father’s words made a lot of sense. She made a silly face at him instead of refuting them, sending her father in another hearty bark of laughter.

  As fun and laughter surrounded the Qin father and daughter, Li Qitian also brimmed with good humor.

  Ever since numerous versions spread of the fight between the Faithful Prince of the First Rank and Prince Consort Ji, positivity persisted in the emperor’s mood.

  Walking side by side with Li Helan in the imperial gardens, Li Qitian tilted his head up to gaze upon the azure blue skies. Even the air drifting into his nose with each breath seemed pleasantly scented.

  Though it was early spring and the imperial gardens still bereft of people since snow was just starting to melt, everything was pleasing to the eye when one was in a good mood.

  The princess carefully considered her royal brother’s expression, relaxing greatly when she saw that he was in a lovely mood. Even Li Guanwen and guards following at a distance were affected.

  A guard rushed up to Li Guanwen at this time to whisper a few words. The grand supervisor immediately reported to his master. “Your Majesty, a great matter has just happened.”

  “What is it? Come closer and tell Us in detail.”

  “Understood.” The guard took a knee and bowed, pouring out the details of what a scout had seen at the Drunken Immortal.

  Li Helan listened carefully off to the side. She frowned in the end and looked worriedly at Li Qitian. She’d spent some time by Madame Lu’s side so that the woman would become one of the princess’s pawns. But this carefully cultivated puppet had been thrown out, just like that!

  “Royal brother, what do the Qins mean by this? They’re simply too arrogant! They’re behind big sister Lu being sent to a countryside manor. She can still be very useful.”

  A frowning Li Qitian waved his hand, dismissing the guard. After a few moments of deep thought, he chuckled. “Lan’er, you did very well this time.”

  Li Helan shuddered. She had no idea if Li Qitian’s compliment was genuine or sarcasm.

  “Royal brother, Lan’er is in great fear. Lan’er didn’t complete well what royal brother wanted.”

  “No, We know you did your best.” Li Qitian patted his sister’s shoulder and continued walking forward with his hands behind his back.

  The princess didn’t dare remain side by side with the emperor. She docilely fell back a few steps, turning over the matter in her mind. However, she still didn’t have a clue as to what was going on.

  Meanwhile, Li Qitian was in an even better mood now.

  Others may not know how tenacious the Lu clan was, but he had a deep understanding of that fact. Lu Heng, in particular, was a wily fox. yet Qin Huaiyuan had been able to dissolve the Lu plot, obtain a manor for his family, and wreck the Lu plans for estrangement!

  It looked like Qin Huaiyuan well deserved his title of Wise Pan An.

  On this day, not only had Li Qitian obtained a competent subject, but he’d seen the kernels of discord planted between the Qins and Lus. How would he not be happy with glad tidings of twin developments?

  Add to that Ji Zeyu and Pang Xiao’s frosty relationship—everything happening was good.

  And his sister had contributed a great deal to all this.

  “Lan’er, you have indeed worked hard these days. Tell your royal brother whatever you’d like.”

  Li Helan looked at the emperor and hesitated, opting for an appropriate response in the end. “Lan’er is very content to be able to share royal brother’s burden
s. Lan’er is insensible sometimes and makes royal brother mad. Lan’er is happy as long as royal brother doesn’t get mad.”

  Li Qitian was rather touched by this. When it came down to things, he’d ended up using his only sister’s marriage for his own gains.

  “When we eat dinner at royal mother’s palace later, We’ll have Prince Consort Ji summoned into the palace for family meal. We happen to have an important matter to delegate to him. His behavior lately has been very pleasing.”

  Li Helan’s eyes widened with delighted surprise and she curtsied happily. “Understood. Thank you, royal brother!”

  Chapter 381: Charging Horses (I)

  After court the next morning, earth-shattering news spread from one official to another, until all of court knew.

  Ji Zeyu had been made the new commander-in-chief of the hundred thousand Valiant Tigers and would be stationed in the capital for the foreseeable future!

  The previous Valiant Tigers commander, Pang Xiao, was to supervise the Bureau of Military Personnel after entering the Grand Secretariat.

  The Valiant Tigers were one of Li Qitian’s primary weapons in subjugating the south. Pang Xiao’s prestige and status with the men was extremely high to begin with. Many worshipped him as their idol, and even his personally trained guard the Elite Tigers had been selected out of the Valiant Tigers.

  Similar to the Valiant Tigers, Ji Zeyu’s Dragon Riders that dominated the north possessed the same level of trust and reverence of the now prince consort.

  This, the emperor’s move not only made Pang Xiao lose his Valiant Tigers, but also took away the Dragon Riders from Ji Zeyu. Though the prince consort’s new command were equally fine troops, relations between the men and their commander wouldn’t be as intimate as before.

  The change was neatly wrapped up in a bow of entrusting the two princes with high positions. And true, on the surface, it did appear to be a mark of tremendous imperial favor.

  When Qin Yining received the news, she was combing Lian Xiaozhou’s hair. Her hands stilled. “It looks like His Majesty is particularly satisfied with Prince Consort Ji and also keeping in mind that he is newly wed. Therefore, he’s not sending the prince consort back to the northern border.”