This day.

Lu Ye came running in breathlessly, “Miss, Miss, Lu Changxuan has been stripped of his position!”

Ziteng was grinding ink when she heard this, causing her hand to tremble. “Really?”

“Yes, yes, yes! I just heard the news from Nanny Mi’s people and couldn’t believe it, so I personally went to the Ministry of Personnel. I spent two taels of silver asking three different people, and all three said exactly the same thing – that Lu Changxuan not only made mistakes during his imperial audience but also made a spectacle of himself, drooling down his chin and yawning repeatedly in front of His Majesty. The Emperor was furious, and with his golden words decreed the immediate dismissal from office, with no reappointment for three generations!”

Lu Ye spoke breathlessly, caught her breath, then continued: “I also went to the Lu family home – it’s already in complete chaos. Lu Changxuan was sent back by two of his colleagues, and his dismissal couldn’t be hidden. Old Madam Lu fainted dead away.”

Ziteng laughed “ha ha ha” three times.

Though Lu Ye found it strange that Ziteng would also lose her composure, her story wasn’t finished yet, so she continued painting a vivid picture of how the Lu family members were making fools of themselves.

After Lu Ye finished, Qin Shuying thought for a moment and said, “The Lu family probably can’t afford that mansion anymore. Lu Ye, have Nanny Mi keep watch. If the Lu family puts the house up for sale, buy it. Um, in Ziteng’s name.”

Both Ziteng and Lu Ye were stunned.

However, they had no objections.

After Lu Ye left, Ziteng asked, “Sister, why… why do you still want to buy that house?”

Feng’er had died there, and sister had also died there.

Qin Shuying said, “Ziteng, I want to use that house to constantly remind myself, to remind myself to guard against the wolves and tigers in this world. Also, that house is right next to the Grand General of the Western Campaign’s mansion, so it will be convenient for future visits.”

Ziteng nodded.

At the Lu family home.

Lu Changxuan lay in bed sleeping for a full day before waking up. He had no idea what had happened to him, how he could have lost his composure before the throne. He vaguely remembered that Liang Zhe seemed to have bumped into him, and then he…

Even after waking up, he remained confused for a long time.

He could hardly believe his position had been stripped away, and moreover, “no reappointment for three generations”!

What did this mean?

It meant his twenty-six years of struggle had been nothing but a joke!

Not only a joke, but he was now worse off than even the most common lowly citizens! Worse than merchants!

Merchants could still donate for official positions, could still have their sons study for imperial examinations. Take Young Master Miao, who was discussing marriage with Changju – but now he himself was inferior even to Young Master Miao.

Oh, if Young Master Miao knew about his situation, he certainly wouldn’t want to marry Changju anymore.

Lu Changxuan stared blankly at the ceiling with empty eyes.

Old Madam Lu tottered in and threw herself on Lu Changxuan. “My son, it’s all that whore who harmed you! She deserves to be cut into a thousand pieces, to be flayed alive! She caused Young Master Miao’s family to immediately come cancel the engagement…”

Old Madam Lu kept repeating these same two sentences. Lu Changxuan sat up. “Mother, who are you cursing?”

Seeing her son show some spirit, Old Madam Lu immediately held back her tears. “Who else could it be but that jinxed woman Qin Feifei? She’s a disaster! Whoever marries her becomes unlucky! That Scholar Liao was unlucky, and now you’re unlucky too, Changxuan! We should never have married that jinx! Before, our family was poor but getting better day by day, and we could even afford this courtyard. Now, Changxuan, you don’t know – the accounts already owe a lot of money, and that whore Qin Feifei actually mortgaged this house behind our backs! The creditors have already come to the door…”

“Wh… what…”

“Without the house, where will we sleep? That whore… you should never have married her!”

Old Madam Lu cursed on and on, when Lu Changju came over holding a constantly crying child. “Mother, why does this child keep crying? What’s wrong with him!”

Old Madam Lu was startled. “Where are the servants? How is it that a young lady like you has to personally coax the child?”

Lu Changju pouted. “Mother, what servants? They’ve all run away! Only three who didn’t sign death contracts remain, but they act like masters themselves – who can order them around!”

Old Madam Lu was even more shocked. “Run away? Who gave them the nerve?”

“Mother, you forgot. After sister-in-law died, all the people she had originally bought were sold off. The ones bought later cost twenty taels of silver each for death contracts and ten taels for living contracts. For hired help, at most five hundred wen per month. So at the time, you decided to hire them all without signing contracts. So now that they’ve run away, there’s nothing we can do.”

Old Madam Lu suddenly thought of something. “Where’s Nanny Yuan?”

“Nanny Yuan? I haven’t seen her… Oh my, why are you crying? So annoying! Mother, quickly coax him…”

Lu Changju pushed the child toward Old Madam Lu’s hands, but she quickly withdrew them. “No, no, no, I haven’t taken care of a child in so many years, how would I know how to handle this child…”

The two pushed back and forth, nearly dropping the child.

With all this pushing, the child thought it was fun and stopped crying. Lu Changju sighed in relief. “Mother, it’s only been a few years since Feng’er, and you already don’t know how to take care of children?”

Old Madam Lu paused and said, “Feng’er was raised entirely by your sister-in-law.”

Lu Changju was stunned. She had only been focused on playing then and had forgotten about this. “Sister-in-law sold things while also taking care of the child? How amazing was that?”

Old Madam Lu’s spirits sank. “Yes.”

Lu Changxuan’s spirits also sank.

The three were silent for a moment before Lu Changxuan got up. “I’ll go see who’s still in the courtyard.”

Old Madam Lu also hurried to her feet. “Nanny Yuan, Nanny Yuan, let me go check…”

Old Madam Lu returned to her own room and was immediately stunned by the scene before her. The room was in complete chaos, everything overturned, looking as if thieves had ransacked it.

Old Madam Lu rushed to where she secretly hid her silver.

It was over!

Not even a scrap of silver remained!

“Nanny Yuan! You ungrateful wretch! Changxuan, Changsong, quickly, quickly, quickly…”

Old Madam Lu’s eyes rolled back and she fainted again.

At the same time, Lu Changju was also on the verge of tears and fainting – all her gold and silver jewelry had disappeared!

A quarter-hour later, the Lu Changxuan brothers stood in the courtyard, feeling a chill rise from the soles of their feet. The Lu family had been completely cleaned out by these hired servants!

Only this empty mansion remained, along with the furniture that couldn’t be moved!

But even this mansion, because Qin Feifei had mortgaged it, wouldn’t bring back much money now.

Combined with creditors kicking them while they were down, the Lu family was now utterly destitute!

This was almost exactly the same as when Qin Yaoyao had married into the family.

Actually, it was even worse than then.

Back then, the Lu family was in Lu Changxuan’s career ascendancy, Qin Yaoyao’s business was thriving, Lu Changsong was doing well in his studies, and Lu Changju was still charming and lovely…

Back then, everything held hope, everything was developing in a better direction.

And now?

Lu Changxuan stood in the middle of the courtyard when, through a hazy blur, he heard a woman’s voice: “Changxuan?”

Lu Changxuan’s back immediately stiffened.