Lu Zhuxi was indeed moved, but the moment these words were spoken, Lu Ting couldn’t hold back anymore. He left Shen Qing aside and strode over to Xu Feiqiong, staring intently at her and asking, “A’Qiong, do you truly know that damned Zhu family matriarch?”

Just now when she had told the Shi family young lady that she was an old acquaintance of the Zhu family matriarch, his ears had perked up sharply. Their old Lu family and the Zhu family couldn’t be connected by eight poles—how could there possibly be any old grievances? It was just that when Xu Feiqiong said she and the Zhu family matriarch were old acquaintances, his heart had started hanging in suspense… If they were old acquaintances, then it could only be someone she had known in the capital before marrying him.

“Yes, a handkerchief friend from my maiden days. She is the eldest daughter of Hanlin Scholar Zhou Yanxiu. Back then, because our ages were similar and our interests were somewhat compatible, we gradually became handkerchief friends. Later, when I left the capital to marry far away, we lost contact with each other.” Xu Feiqiong spoke with considerable emotion, and upon raising her head, she saw Lu Ting’s face full of bitter resentment, causing her to raise an eyebrow. “What’s with that inexplicable expression of yours?”

“I forbid you from going to see her!” Lu Ting glared at her.

His expression was very fierce.

“Forbid?” Xu Feiqiong smiled until her eyes curved. “I insist on going. What will you do about it? Break my legs?”

Xu Feiqiong was beautiful, and when she smiled, she was especially lovely. Time seemed to have been particularly kind to her. Although fine lines had already gathered at the corners of her eyes, they hadn’t diminished her beauty one bit. Instead, she seemed to have been carved by the years into a piece of beautiful jade with restrained brilliance.

Lu Ting, however, was made to feel his scalp tingle and his knees go weak by her smile. “A’Qiong…”

His voice already carried a pleading and flattering tone, and revealed several parts of pitifulness.

Such an expression appearing on the face of a burly man with a full beard was truly indescribably… hard on the eyes.

Shen Qing, the great proprietor of Gold Full Tower who had been left to the side, twitched at the corner of his eye. Who could have predicted it? The mountain king who had once been so imposing, who had aggressively kidnapped a woman back to be his stronghold wife… had then been trained by this seemingly weak and easily bullied stronghold wife into a henpecked husband.

Even their stronghold had been renamed Feiqiong Stronghold to please her.

Shen Qing’s gaze shifted slightly, touching briefly on Xu Feiqiong’s face before moving away, as if afraid of disturbing something.

“This matter is settled. I’m going to write a visiting card.” Xu Feiqiong paid him no mind and turned to go into the house.

What visiting card! Such scholarly things were really too annoying!

Seeing that his wife had already entered the house, Lu Ting hurriedly followed her in, and before long, his flattering and pleading voice could be heard from the house: “A’Qiong… let’s discuss this, if you really must go, take me with you…”

The courtyard fell silent. Lu Ting had actually just abandoned Shen Qing in the courtyard.

“Shopkeeper Shen, forgive the embarrassment.” Although Lu Zhuxi also enjoyed watching his father get frustrated, there was still an outsider present, so he stepped forward and cupped his hands to Shen Qing.

Shen Qing didn’t feel embarrassed at all and laughed heartily. He patted Lu Zhuxi’s shoulder: “What’s there to be embarrassed about? We’re all family here.”

How presumptuous of him.

Lu Zhuxi’s expression remained unchanged as he silently criticized inwardly.

“In the blink of an eye, Zhuxi, you’re already going to take a wife. Time really flies.” Shen Qing seemed very emotional. “But after all these years away, what I miss most is still the free and easy life we had back in the stronghold.”

“Shopkeeper Shen jests. How could the stronghold be as free as the outside world?” Lu Zhuxi chuckled.

With his constant “Shopkeeper Shen,” someone as shrewd as Shen Qing could easily guess his intentions. He sighed: “After all these years apart, Zhuxi, you’ve grown distant from Uncle Shen. Remember when you wet the bed and were afraid your father would find out and beat you? I was the one who washed your bedsheets. And also, when you were young…”

Acting as if he wanted to have a long chat about the old days.

Who wet the bed! He was about to take a wife now—why bring up these old embarrassing stories! Lu Zhuxi hurriedly interrupted his reminiscing, smiling as he said: “Look what Uncle Shen is saying. How could we grow distant? You’ll always be my Uncle Shen.”

His smile could be described as quite stiff.

Shen Qing burst into laughter, and after laughing, he patted his shoulder again and sighed: “Tongyun has been spoiled by me and doesn’t know her place. Don’t hold it against her—I’ll discipline her properly when I get back.”

These words were an explanation and an apology for Shen Tongyun’s previous presumptuous behavior.

She was merely managing finances on behalf of others, yet she acted as the true master in front of the actual master. If she weren’t his own daughter, he would have scolded her as shameless.

With this sigh, he actually showed his age.

Lu Zhuxi couldn’t bear it after all: “You needn’t be like this. It’s natural for young ladies to be pampered.”

Shen Qing patted his shoulder again, everything understood without words, and comforted him: “Don’t worry, your mother always keeps her word and is much more reliable than your father. If she says she’ll handle it, there’s probably an eighty percent chance of success.”

Lu Zhuxi’s expression relaxed somewhat: “I hope your words prove true.”

When Xu Feiqiong finished writing the visiting card and came out, Shen Qing had already left. She couldn’t help but feel regretful and glared at Lu Ting: “How terribly rude! Actually leaving Shen Qing alone in the courtyard. Earlier, weren’t you acting like you were overjoyed at this reunion, pulling him into conversation? Even I couldn’t get a word in. I still wanted to ask how Qi Niang and little Tongyun were doing.”

Lu Ting looked up at the sky.

As if he didn’t know—that bastard had coveted A’Qiong back then. So he had decisively arranged a wife for him and packed him off out of the stronghold. How could he possibly let him get close to A’Qiong now!

Seeing his dead pig not afraid of boiling water attitude, Xu Feiqiong was at her wit’s end with him. She simply handed the visiting card she had written to Lu Zhuxi: “Take this visiting card to the Zhu residence.”

At this moment, Lu Zhuxi had things on his mind and was restless—it was better to give him something to do.

Lu Zhuxi naturally understood her good intentions, said “Thank you, Mother,” took the visiting card, and ran off.

Running all the way to the Zhu residence, he delivered the visiting card. Lu Zhuxi didn’t leave immediately—he had originally intended to risk climbing the wall again to see how that foolish girl was doing, but he keenly noticed that the Zhu residence’s security had become much stricter, so he had to abandon this idea.

When Xu Feiqiong’s visiting card reached the Zhu family matriarch’s hands, someone had already reported Lu Zhuxi’s lingering in front of the Zhu residence.

“No matter what scheme that thief is plotting, don’t let him in. If he dares to enter, detain him and send him straight to the authorities.” The Zhu family matriarch said with a dark expression.

“This visiting card…”

“Burn it for me.” The Zhu family matriarch said coldly, then felt this was inappropriate—such things were better handled personally to be safe.

Caiyun, who was standing nearby, immediately understood the matriarch’s meaning and brought out flint and steel to light a candle.

The Zhu family matriarch personally took the visiting card and walked to the candlelight, preparing to burn it. Suddenly, she noticed the somewhat familiar elegant small script on the visiting card. Her hand trembled violently, and she quickly extinguished the flames on the visiting card. Because her movements were too hasty, she nearly injured her finger.

“Madam!” Caiyun rushed over in alarm.

The Zhu family matriarch waved her hand for her to retreat, staring somewhat dazedly at the visiting card in her hand that had already had one corner burned: “Feiqiong, is it you…”

Opening the visiting card, familiar handwriting and a familiar name came into view. After reading it, she was stunned for a long time.

Back then, when her close friend was marrying far away, she had reluctantly added to the dowry and cried until her eyes were swollen, always thinking that although it was a distant marriage, perhaps her husband would be transferred back to the capital in the future. There would always be a day when they would meet again.

But then news came that she had been kidnapped by bandits during her wedding journey, with unknown fate.

After that, the Xu family held a funeral, saying she had bitten her tongue to commit suicide to preserve her chastity when she was kidnapped, unable to bear the humiliation.

She had even gone to pay her respects while crying.

But now, someone claiming to be Xu Feiqiong had written her a visiting card, using the elegant small script she knew so well. She would never mistake this handwriting, because they had practiced calligraphy together back then, using the same copybook.

Could it be that she was seeing ghosts in broad daylight?

The Zhu family matriarch smiled coldly. No, in this world, human hearts were more terrifying than evil spirits.

This world was harsh on women—a woman’s reputation was more important than her life. Being kidnapped during a wedding procession, even if found and returned, would mean lost chastity and family shame. Better to die and be done with it.

So Xu Feiqiong had been “made dead.”

So her daughter couldn’t receive her father’s attention and love. Even if she had supernatural powers back then and could deceive everyone, how could she deceive her own bedfellow? So in this father’s eyes, her daughter was already an impure person, unworthy of his attention and affection.

Because of her father’s deliberate neglect, her poor daughter, even with her mother’s love, had gradually been marginalized in this household. Apart from her as the mother, who else remembered her? Who else could plan for her?

However, Xu Feiqiong.

Feiqiong Stronghold…

Was it a coincidence?