Ruyue's face was deathly pale, matching that of the young duke, Lu Jun. After all, Ruyue had seen it with her own eyes: her son had killed Ren Tianchao!
Although she couldn't figure out how it had happened in that brief moment, her son was holding a knife, and Ren Tianchao had tumbled out of the carriage, covered in blood...
This was an undeniable fact!
This left Ruyue feeling weak all over, and just like the young duke Lu Jun, she collapsed to the ground.
Ren Tianye kindly helped her up and sighed, "Originally, I didn't want to make things difficult for the young duke, but I have no choice. My brother's life is still a life!"
"Since ancient times, a life must be paid for a life!"
"Lu Jun killed my beloved brother, so I must kill Lu Jun to avenge him!"
"No, don't..." Ruyue shouted in a panic. Beside her, the young duke Lu Jun also snapped back to his senses and hastily begged for mercy: "Please don't, please don't, General Ren. I... I didn't mean to. I didn't want to kill Tianchao..."
"Tianchao and I have been good friends since childhood. I, I, I didn't want to kill him."
"General Ren, I beg you to spare my life!"
Ren Tianye completely ignored the young duke Lu Jun's clamoring. Instead, he looked at Ruyue, who immediately pleaded profusely, "Don't kill my son, please don't kill my son..."
"Does your heart ache so much for your son?" Ren Tianye said. "There isn't entirely no way out."
Ruyue's eyes instantly lit up, feeling a glimmer of hope. Then she heard Ren Tianye say leisurely, "Whether or not I kill your son depends on your performance!"
My performance?
Ruyue instantly thought of certain things, and her face couldn't help but flush slightly. "I... I... no matter what, I can be considered your aunt."
"Then that's even better!"
...
A single horse galloped furiously, heading straight for the Fuguo Duke's Mansion.
The messenger quickly stated his purpose.
Lu Qing, who was listening to his butler's report while searching everywhere for Ruyue to no avail, immediately refused in a cold voice: "Tell the messenger that this general will not see anyone from Ren Tianye."
This was the strategy set by Gu Qingyue, the Prime Minister, and himself when Ren Tianye was still leading his army on the way to the capital.
They would first show Ren Tianye some attitude to dampen his spirit, and then invite him into the city. This way, Ren Tianye would be easier to control.
Right now, Gu Qingyue hadn't given him a reply yet, so he couldn't be bothered to see Ren Tianye's people!
Besides, he didn't know where Ruyue had gone. He was anxious, angry, and somewhat resentful.
It was just a trivial matter, so why did she have to disappear?
He had even less mood to see anyone sent by Ren Tianye.
"Master..." the butler said cautiously. "The messenger also asked me to show you something..."
Before the butler could finish, Lu Qing rudely interrupted him and said coldly, "Does this general lack such petty gifts? Tell Ren Tianye to give up!"
"No, Master..." the butler hastily said. "It's a lock of beautiful hair."
"Looking at it, it seems somewhat like Madam's hair."
"What?" Lu Qing's expression instantly changed drastically. He snatched the lock of hair, took one look, and immediately confirmed it. "Where is the messenger?"
"Master, he has already left, but he left a note asking you to go out of the city to General Ren Tianye's army camp for a chat..."
Before the butler's voice faded, Lu Qing had already dashed out. By the time the butler finished his last word, Lu Qing was already at the gates of the Fuguo Duke's Mansion. He vaulted onto his horse, whipped the horse's flank as if his life depended on it, and furiously galloped away.
Currently, all the military forces in the capital were under his control. The soldiers at the north gate did not dare to stop him, allowing him to smoothly reach Ren Tianye's army camp.
Someone had already been ordered to wait for him.
He was immediately led toward one of the main tents.
During this process, despite being surrounded by Ren Tianye's army of a hundred thousand, Lu Qing showed not a trace of fear on his face. Even when asked to dismount and surrender his weapons, he didn't even frown.
No matter what, Lu Qing's courage was quite formidable!
Thus, upon reaching the main tent, Lu Qing lifted the door flap and walked in.
He saw Ren Tianye, who was currently eating.
The last time they met was in Yunji City.
Ren Tianye had defended Yunji City, dealing a massive blow to his seventy thousand imperial guards who were besieging the city. There were many casualties, and when they retreated, they even had to leave behind seventy thousand sets of equipment.
This resulted in his southern pacification campaign ending in defeat.
Of course, Lu Qing did not regret it.
He simply had absolutely no favorable impression of Ren Tianye. He gave a slight cold snort and then fixed his gaze on the woman standing with her back to him in front of Ren Tianye's desk.
Dressed in plain clothes, with a graceful figure, she was standing respectfully to the side. She was either handing over a face towel or presenting a spittoon, serving him with the utmost gentleness.
This sight made Lu Qing fall into a daze for quite a while!
"Sigh, if only this were Ruyue."
"Then I wouldn't have gotten into those pointless arguments with her!"
Thinking this, Lu Qing took large strides up to Ren Tianye. Just as he was about to speak, his body suddenly froze. He shockingly realized that the woman from just now was actually Ruyue!
No, how could it be Ruyue?!
But it really was Ruyue!
Lu Qing took another look, and he broke down!
Completely broke down!
His brain buzzed, his hands and feet turned ice-cold, and his body went limp, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Soon after, all this weakness erupted.
It was replaced by his earth-shattering roar: "Ren Tianye, you are insolent! I give you the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to release Ruyue!"
Ren Tianye smiled, nodded, and said, "Alright. Ruyue, you are free. You may go!"
"No!" Ruyue said loudly. "General Ren, I won't go. I won't go. I absolutely refuse to go!"
At this moment, Lu Qing felt the little bit of strength he had finally recovered vanish into thin air once again. This time, he truly couldn't stand steadily.
He fell straight to the ground.
Tears directly streamed from his eyes as he said, "Ruyue, Ruyue, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it's my fault!"
"I shouldn't have failed to understand you!"
"I shouldn't have misunderstood your intentions!"
"I shouldn't have driven you away in anger!"
"But please, you absolutely must not abandon me like this!"
"Come back with me, okay?"
"After we go back, I'll do whatever you say. Even if you want the stars in the sky, I'll pluck them down for you!"
"Don't be mad at me anymore. Come back with me!"
Ruyue shook her head, but said, "That's not what this is about. It's my son, Lu Jun. He killed Ren Tianchao!"
"If I don't stay behind to atone for his sins, my son will die."
Lu Qing furrowed his brows.
He felt it was unlikely. How could Lu Jun kill Ren Tianchao? The two had always had a decent relationship; how could he possibly kill Ren Tianchao?
There must definitely be some misunderstanding here.
He opened his mouth and said, "Ruyue, this must be a trap set by Ren Tianye. This person has a very wicked mind."
Pausing, he looked at Ren Tianye and said coldly and directly, "Ren Tianye, this general can give you an opportunity to explain yourself, and you had better satisfy this general."
"Otherwise, you won't be able to bear the consequences!"
Before Ren Tianye could reply, Ruyue hastily said, "Lu Qing, you have misunderstood General Ren."
"My son really did kill Ren Tianchao!"
"I saw it with my own eyes!"
...
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
