CHAPTER 205: CHAPTER 205: THE THIRD YOUNG MASTER VISITS THE LU FAMILY

"No~No~Can’t let..." Lu Laosan tensed up his body, his face turning a liverish hue, but was unable to utter a complete sentence, managing only to emit difficult, single syllables.

Shi Tou quickly patted Lu Laosan on the chest, helping him catch his breath, "Third Master, rest assured, Old Master has already said that he won’t let those families get away with it. You should rest for now."

Xiao Wuzi had already been sold, and now he was the only servant left to care for Third Master. If anything more were to happen to Third Master, his fate would be even worse than Xiao Wuzi’s.

Hearing Shi Tou’s words, Lu Laosan was still furious, grunting from his mouth, "Dad~come~come~"

Shi Tou immediately understood what he meant - he wanted Old Master Lu to come see him.

"Third Master, Old Master hasn’t been well recently. He already visited you this morning, and now that it’s gotten dark, how about we wait until tomorrow?"

"Mm-mm-mm!" Upon hearing this, Lu Laosan glared angrily with his eyes, wishing he could devour Shi Tou, "Dad~come!"

"Alright, alright, alright, Third Master, don’t get upset, I will go and call Old Master right away." Shi Tou, afraid Lu Laosan would get worked up again, hastily got up to call Old Master Lu.

Ever since the day Lu Laosan became paralyzed and Old Master Lu fainted several times, his health had drastically declined. First, he laid in bed for five or six days, and just as he was able to get out of bed, news that the Qin, Luotian, and Great Chu families wanted to start workshops made him so angry that he collapsed back into bed.

He had just begun to recover recently, but today, upon hearing that the Qin brothers and Luo Wu were to enter the government office to work, he was so angry that he couldn’t catch his breath.

But Old Master Lu always doted on Lu Laosan the most, and upon hearing Shi Tou’s words, he let Shuan Da help him to Lu Laosan’s courtyard to see him.

Upon seeing his father, Lu Laosan urgently called out, "Dad~can’t~go~to~the~government~office~"

Shi Tou explained at the side, "Third Master is telling Old Master that we can’t allow the young men from the Qin and Luo families to work in the government office."

With a slap, upon hearing these words, Old Master Lu turned and heavily slapped Shi Tou across the face, trembling hand pointing at Shi Tou as he scolded, "Who told you to share this with Old San? Do you want to be sold as well?"

Shi Tou quickly knelt down to beg for mercy, "Old Master, please forgive me, I didn’t say anything. Third Master heard it from Xingzhi who was cleaning the room, it has nothing to do with me."

With a bang, Shuan Da kicked Shi Tou, barking, "You dare to talk back? Go fetch Third Master’s medicine and don’t kneel here in the way."

"Yes, yes, yes, I’ll go get the medicine for Third Master right away." Shi Tou hurried off, fearful that if he was too slow, Old Master Lu might sell him too.

"Old Master, look, Third Master was able to say a couple of words today, that’s a good sign, isn’t it?" Shuan Da had served Old Master Lu for many years and was quite adept at flattery; knowing that Old Master’s current biggest concern was Lu Laosan’s illness, he immediately said so.

Indeed, Old Master Lu was very pleased to hear this. With Shuan Da’s help, he sat down by Lu Laosan’s bed, grasping Lu Laosan’s hand, his voice choking with emotion, "My son, don’t worry, if those little brats from those families don’t dare to enter the government office, that’s fine. But if they dare, County Magistrate Zou will make sure they won’t be able to leave as they came!"

County Magistrate Zou had been seriously harmed by those families; how could he allow their sons to thrive in the county government? Impossible. County Magistrate Zou would surely find a way to suppress the wolf cubs of the Qin and Luo families.

Lu Laosan was very happy to hear this. He wanted to laugh out loud, but his mouth was crooked. When he tried to laugh, saliva flowed down, soaking the cotton towel around his neck. He looked quite slovenly.

Shuan Da hurriedly untied the cotton bandage and took a new one from the table nearby to change it for Luo Wu.

Seeing this, Luo Wu made an "ah ah" sound with tears streaming down his reddened eyes. He truly was ruined!

"My son, don’t be anxious. Mei Hua has already spoken to your eldest brother. Once Brother Zhen’er takes the exam next year and succeeds as Scholar, we will go to the Capital to invite an Imperial Physician to heal your illness."

The "Brother Zhen’er" Old Master Lu spoke of was none other than County Magistrate Zou’s third son, Zou Yuzhen.

Zou Yuzhen, twenty years old this year, was quite scholarly and had attained the title of student at the young age of thirteen. Because of this, people in the county hailed him as a genius, and County Magistrate Zou valued him greatly.

Concubine Lu thought highly of Zou Yuzhen’s scholarly achievements too, finding him more outstanding than Mrs. Zou’s son, and thus the idea of having Zou Yuzhen replace Mrs. Zou’s son as the next County Magistrate was born.

Zou Yuzhen was originally set to take the Scholar exam this year, but floods swarmed into several regions of Jianghuai, causing much chaos in Great Chu. The Emperor decreed the cancellation of this year’s college examination, postponing it to next year.

Old Master Lu couldn’t help but be frustrated by the thought. If the Emperor hadn’t cancelled this year’s college examination, his grandson certainly would have become the top scorer and achieved the position of Scholar.

If his grandson became a Scholar, even if the Lu family made a grave mistake, County Magistrate Zou wouldn’t suppress them. Instead, he would help their Lu family clear up the mess for the sake of Zou Yuzhen.

Shuan Da also chimed in: "That’s right, Third Master. You just focus on recuperating for now. Once the Third Young Master excels in the exams next year, we will surely invite an Imperial Physician for you. You are the Third Young Master’s blood-related uncle; he won’t ignore you."

Hearing these words, Luo Wu finally calmed down a bit.

"Master, Master, the Third Young Master and Fifth Miss have arrived!" Shi Tou rushed into the room, calling out to Old Master Lu inside.

Everyone in the room was startled, and Shuan Da, grasping Shi Tou’s clothing, asked, "What are you saying? The Third Young Master and Fifth Miss have come? Shi Tou, don’t tell me you’re lying?"

The Third Young Master and Fifth Miss had only ever visited the Lu family mansion in the county and had never come to the Lu family’s countryside home. How could they possibly come here this late at night?

And as for the Fifth Miss, the delicate lady who appeared gentle and amiable, deep down she disliked the Lu family, considering it a disgrace to be associated with such country hicks. She wished nothing more than to sever all ties with the Lu family. Why would she come?

Shi Tou protested his innocence: "I’ve been wronged, Brother Shuan Da! Even if I had ten guts, I wouldn’t dare joke about such things. The Third Young Master and Fifth Miss really are here. Sister-in-law Shuan is out there welcoming them and even sent me to pass on the message, telling the Master to hurry out and greet the guests."

Old Master Lu, hearing this, knew Shi Tou was not lying—Yuzhen and Yu Wan had truly come.

"Did they say why they’ve come? Could it be that due to our family’s situation, County Magistrate Zou has grown tired of them and sent them back?" Old Master Lu was extremely anxious. Without waiting for Shi Tou’s response, he immediately asked Shuan Da to help him to the front courtyard.

"Uh, uh, uh!" Luo Wu was also extremely agitated, calling out continuously toward Old Master Lu’s retreating figure.

Old Master Lu had no time to tend to him now. Hearing his voice, he turned back to say to the room: "Shi Tou, take good care of Third Master. If anything happens to him, I’ll sell you off to the mines to labor!"

"Got it, got it, Master, rest assured," Shi Tou said, and then hurriedly reassured Luo Wu, "Don’t worry, Third Master. The Third Young Master and Fifth Miss will surely come to see you soon."