Phoenix Hairpin

Chapter 20: The Return

Lu Mingfang and her two sons lived in Lu Mansion for several days from that day on. Mrs. Zheng did not stick to her daughter-in-law, on the other hand, sent food for all of them through the maids.

  Lu Minghua smiled softly: "With such a kind and generous mother-in-law, my eldest sister is really lucky."

  Lu Mingfang pursed her lips and smiled, and whispered back: "There is also a good side to marrying low."

   Although Lu Mingfang was a righteous(1) daughter, she was deeply loved by King Xingyang. King Xingyang was quite attentive in choosing a son-in-law for his righteous daughter.

  Her father-in-law was an ordinary general under the command of King Xingyang. Zheng Zhong grew up in a military camp since he was a child. He was handsome and brave and caught the eyes of King Xingyang. This marriage is a tall order for the Zheng family.

  Lu Mingfang is dignified and beautiful, and she is in love with her solemn husband. After passing the door, she gave birth to two sons one after another.

   Mrs. Zheng is not stupid at all, her daughter-in-law often goes back to her parent's house, and she has a deep relationship with Lu Mingyu, which is also a good thing for the Zheng family. She wished that the pair of grandsons would live in the Lu Mansion.

  Lu Minghua heard the word "low marriage", she didn't know what to think, and her cheeks flushed quietly.

  Lu Mingfang laughed and teased Lu Minghua: "When our adoptive father comes back, he will definitely choose a good husband for you."

  Lu Minghua blushed and said softly after a long while, "I like scholars."

  Lu Mingfang smiled and said to Lu Mingyu: "Look at the third sister, I don't want to be the wife of a military commander, so I want to be Mrs. Tanhua(2)."

   Madam Tanhua, that title made Lu Minghua shy.

   Lu Minghua in her previous life married Zhou Li, a new talent, and jumped into the fire pit that was Zhou's house.

  Lu Mingyu's eyes flashed slightly, and she calmly took over the words: "It's about the life of the third sister, so you have to open your eyes and choose carefully. It doesn't matter whether you are a Tanhua or not, what matters is whether you have a pure and good character."

  Lu Minghua hummed softly.

  Zheng Dabao and Zheng Xiaobao, two brothers, ran two laps and soon ran to Lu Mingyu. The articulate Zheng Dabao begged: "Fourth aunt, I want to go bird hunting."

  Lu Mingyu raised her eyebrows and smiled: "Okay, Fourth Aunt will take you around the garden."

  Lu Mingyue and Lu Xuan had nothing to do. They joined in the fun and went to the garden together.

  …

   This Xingyang Palace was the residence of a prominent family in the former dynasty. Emperor Yongjia raised an army to stand on his own, but the famous family refused to obey, and Emperor Yongjia destroyed their nine clans.

  Lu Lin led his troops to defect to the Great Wei Dynasty, making Emperor Yongjia even more powerful. Emperor Yongjia was overjoyed, conferred the title of Xingyang, and rewarded this extremely spacious mansion to him.

  Lu Lin was in the barracks all day, not to mention the continuation of the family, there was not even a concubine beside him. Lu Mingyu was in charge of the house in the Xingyang Palace in Nuoda.

  Lu Mingyu filled the pond in the mansion and cut out most of the garden. For this reason, the martial arts field of the Xingyang Palace is sparse and spacious and is well-known in the capital.

   However, in this way, the garden is not too big. In less than half an hour, you can go around it. Moreover, there are no exotic flowers and plants in the garden, most of them are common flowers and trees.

   It is spring, the flowers and trees are budding, and there is green as far as the eyes can see, heralding the arrival of spring.

   Butler Lu Jia personally carried two cages of chaffinches. Unhurriedly opened the cage door and let out one. The chaffinch fluttered its wings and flew quickly into the air.

   Zheng Dabao held a small wooden bow in his hand and swishly shot an arrow.

  The arrow flew crookedly and quickly fell to the ground. Not a single feather of the chaffinch was touched by the arrow.

  Lu Mingyu raised her hand slightly, but the bow in her hand was just for show, she just threw the arrow in her hand. The arrow hit the chaffinch in the throat and it fell to the ground.

   The two brothers applauded together, their faces flushed with excitement.

  Lu Jia smiled and kept releasing the chaffinches out of the cage. The arrows in Lu Mingyu's quiver also flew out like raindrops. Not a single arrow missed its mark, all went through the throat.

  Lu Mingyue exclaimed: "Fourth sister's archery is getting more and more powerful."

  Lu Xuan shook his head and said with a smile: "Fourth sister didn't even use a bow, she just threw a few arrows to make Dabao and Xiaobao happy."

  Lu Mingfang and Lu Minghua were also full of admiration.

   "The fourth sister is born with divine power and amazing martial arts." Lu Mingfang whispered, "It's a pity that the fourth sister is not a man, otherwise, she would definitely be a famous general of the Wei Dynasty!"

  Women do not enter the military camp, which is a rule that existed since the previous dynasties.

  Lu Lin personally taught his daughter to practice martial arts, and with a lot of money, he hired the most famous swordsmith in the world. He used high-quality fine iron mixed with black iron to cast a jade sword for Lu Mingyu.

  Lu Mingyu has never shown her sword in front of anyone. No one knows that Fourth Miss Lu is unparalleled in swordsmanship.

   After playing for a while, the chaffinches fell to the ground.

  Lu Xuan immediately said: "Send all these chaffinches to the kitchen, clean them up and fry them, and give the food to the guards."

  Lu Mingyu laughed, reached out, and tapped Lu Xuan's forehead: "You are greedy!"

  Lu Xuan grinned.

   Zheng Dabao ran over happily: "Fourth aunt, is there fried chicken at noon?"

  Everyone laughed at his greedy look.

   At this moment, the guard commander Lu Yi came over with a smile on his face. Lu Mingyu's heart moved, and before Lu Yi opened his mouth, she asked, "Did Dad return to Beijing?"

  Lu Yi nodded and replied, "Yes, the Xingyang army returned to the barracks, and the general and the second son went directly to the palace for the celebration banquet."

  Emperor Yongjia personally led the army and returned from a victory, so he would hold a banquet to celebrate. The generals who led the army together on the expedition went into the palace without time to disarm.

  Daddy is finally back!

   Lu Mingyu smiled, opened her mouth, and commanded: "Order the kitchen to prepare some good dishes, the eldest brother-in-law will be here soon."

   Those who entered the palace for banquets were all generals in the army. The eldest brother-in-law is just a sixth-rank Zhaowu commander, and he is not qualified to enter the palace for a banquet. He will soon definitely come here to look for his wife and children.

   The second brother, Lu Fei, has an even lower official rank, he is only an eighth-rank general. However, Lu Fei is the righteous son of King Xingyang, and he has been fighting with King Xingyang all the time.

   The mention of this made Lu Mingfang, who had been married for several years, blush slightly, and her eyes flashed with joy.

  …

   As expected, an hour later, a solemn figure appeared in front of everyone.

  Before entering Beijing, he had already groomed himself. The messy hair was combed and the beard was shaved, but there was a peculiar smell coming from far away.

   No matter how handsome and mighty the young man was, after staying in the military camp for a long time, he still looked like a rough man. During the war, it was common to not take a bath for ten days to half a month.

  Lu Mingfang covered her nose and smiled: "Go bathe and change quickly."

   Looking at his wife, Zheng Zhong's eyes almost flashed green: "You go with me."

  Lu Mingfang: "…"

  Lu Mingyu held back her laughter and urged understandingly: "Yeah, hurry up and come back. We'll wait for you to have lunch."

  Lu Mingfang reluctantly responded. Zheng Zhong couldn't wait to take his wife to the bathroom.

   Zheng Dabao, who was ignored by his father, didn't care either, and pulled Lu Mingyu's sleeve: "Fourth Aunt, I'm hungry."

  Lu Mingyu pursed her lips and smiled: "Let's go, let's go to lunch now."

   "Aren't you waiting for our parents?"

   "Of course not."

1. Adopted

2. Third-placed scholar in an Imperial exam