The bright red fingernails were right in front of her eyes. If the rounded nail tips were to stretch just a little further, they would scratch the jade - like face.
Lu Yinxi never expected that this so - called third elder sister would suddenly pounce on her. But she was no easy target either.
She nimbly turned her head to avoid the attack. The young girl's eyebrows were as sharp as knives, and she immediately kicked out.
"What are you doing?"
After seeing off Shang Luoshu, Prime Minister Lu came back and saw this scene. His third daughter was lying on the ground in a sorry state, covering her abdomen and coughing non - stop, while his youngest daughter was looking at her expressionlessly.
Lu Wenhan was slightly angry. "How are you serving the third young lady? Hurry up and help her up. What kind of proper behavior is it for a young lady of a noble family to lie on the ground?"
"Daddy, I'm in so much pain~" Allowing the maids to help her up, Lu Jinran endured the pain and spoke aggrievedly.
"What happened?"
Seeing that she didn't seem to be faking it, Prime Minister Lu's anger subsided a little. Although he didn't like this daughter very much, after all, she had the Lu family's blood in her.
"It's..."
Lu Jinran was about to say something, but as if she caught a glimpse of something terrifying from the corner of her eye, she immediately shut up.
"If you have something to say, say it. Being so hesitant is not at all the behavior of a young lady of a noble family!"
Having seen many old - timers in the officialdom who only said half of what they meant and deliberately kept others in suspense, Lu Wenhan deeply disliked such behavior from his family members.
"Let me tell you!"
Having watched enough of Lu Jinran's clumsy performance, Lu Yinxi didn't want to be a passive onlooker anymore. She stepped forward voluntarily.
"Father, it was me who kicked the third elder sister!"
"Xier?"
Prime Minister Lu didn't show anger. There was only confusion in his eyes as he looked at his youngest daughter.
Meeting his gaze, the young girl suddenly felt a warmth in her heart. The uneasiness that had been weighing on her heart seemed to lessen a bit, and a faint smile involuntarily appeared on her lips.
"But I can give you a reason for my action."
"Fourth younger sister!" Afraid that the young girl would say something else, Lu Jinran suddenly interrupted her. "Sister knows you didn't do it on purpose. There's no need to explain. Sister forgives you."
"Humph, forgive? Do you have the right to forgive me?"
Step by step, Lu Yinxi slowly approached Lu Jinran. She deliberately leaned back her body, looking down at her as if looking down on an ant from a high position.
"Xier, what on earth is going on?"
With his youngest daughter exuding a strong and hostile aura, even though Prime Minister Lu didn't know about their past disputes, he could sense something was wrong at this moment.
"The truth is, just now, the third elder sister wanted to kill me. If I hadn't kicked that foot, what you might have seen, Father, would have been the third elder sister choking my neck!"
"If Father doesn't believe me, you can ask these servants."
One daughter trying to kill another daughter?!
Anger and shock gradually covered Lu Wenhan's entire face, and finally turned into dejection. He was an unqualified father. He hadn't fulfilled his responsibilities as a father. He hadn't taught his children well!
If Xier hadn't kicked that foot, if Jinran had succeeded, then his Xier...
Thinking of this, Prime Minister Lu could hardly stand still. His body suddenly swayed.
"Daddy!"
Lu Yinxi didn't expect her father to react like this. She quickly supported him. "Daddy, are you not feeling well? I'll send someone to call the doctor in the mansion right away."
"No need!"
Pushing away his youngest daughter's support, Prime Minister Lu, as expected of a prime minister, had already calmed his emotions. His cold gaze was fixed on Lu Jinran.
"Someone, convey my order. The third young lady has disregarded the ancestral etiquette and tried to harm her sister. Immediately remove her name from the family genealogy. From today on, confine her to her room for self - reflection. Without my order, no one is allowed to visit her."
Being removed from the family genealogy was a punishment only for clan members who had made mistakes.
"Daddy... Daddy?"
Lu Jinran stared with wide eyes, thinking she was having an auditory hallucination. What did it mean to be removed from the family genealogy? Why was she being removed?
She had clearly done nothing. Wasn't Lu Yinxi fine? She wasn't even injured. Why was she being removed?
"Daddy, you can't do this. I'm a daughter of the Lu family. You can't do this!"
Breaking free from the maids' support, Lu Jinran endured the pain and stumbled towards Prime Minister Lu, barely grabbing the corner of his robe.
"Daddy, Ranran was wrong. Ranran will apologize to the fourth younger sister. Please don't remove me from the family genealogy. Don't remove me, okay?"
What responded to her was Lu Wenhan's even colder voice: "Didn't you hear my words? Hurry up and take the third young lady away!"
In the end, Lu Jinran was forcibly taken back to her courtyard by the servants amidst her own cries. Lu Yinxi felt a sense of satisfaction, but there was also more worry in her heart.
Because just now, she seemed to see tears in Prime Minister Lu's eyes. "Father, you..."
"Xier, you've just recovered. Go back and rest well."
With his back turned, Lu Wenhan didn't want his daughter to see his embarrassed appearance. "I still have some business to attend to. I'll go back to the study first."
Without waiting for his daughter's response, Prime Minister Lu's figure had already walked far away. Lu Yinxi had no intention of staying here any longer, so she also led her people back.
The next day, after several sunny days, it finally rained lightly in the capital, taking away the gradually rising summer heat. The case of the Minister of Rites attempting to assassinate the young lady of the Feng family was also publicly tried under the watchful eyes of everyone.
"Your Highness, are we really going to do nothing?"
Hearing the various discussions of the onlookers downstairs about this matter, Chen Guang was puzzled. Didn't the prince say that he was going to pull out the Minister of Rites, a pawn in the hand of the Regent? Why hadn't there been any action?
"Then what do you think we can do?"
After all, the initiative in this matter still lay in the hands of the Regent. The charge that Kong Ren had attempted to kill Feng Wan was just a fabricated excuse by him to buy time.
The focus of this case would ultimately return to the fact that Feng Wan had kidnapped Kong Jiao.
Sure enough, as expected, within half an hour, news came from outside that Lord Kong's attempt to kill Miss Feng was just an impulsive act out of deep love for his son.
It was Miss Feng who had kidnapped the young master of the Kong family and even attempted to kill him. She was truly extremely vicious and deserved to be executed!
As everyone knew, the young master of the Kong family was now like a six - or seven - year - old child because of an accident. How vicious her heart must be for a woman like Feng Wan to attempt to murder a child!
Led by those with ulterior motives, the onlookers in the teahouse began to condemn one after another, and even the Feng family was dragged into the water.
"What a General of the Cavalry! The daughter he raised has such a vicious heart!"
"That's right. If the daughter is so bad, most likely the parents are not good people either!"
"In my opinion, General Feng might have known about the kidnapping of Young Master Kong. Otherwise, how could a weak woman like Miss Feng have kidnapped Young Master Kong?"
Once this speculation came out, everyone echoed it. A conflict between two young people had clearly escalated into a struggle between two families, or even two factions.
"Your Highness?"
Seeing that the people downstairs were talking more and more outrageously, Chen Guang couldn't help but tighten his grip on the sword in his hand.
In contrast, Shang Luoshu slowly put down the teacup in his hand, with a smile on his lips. "Chen Guang, tell the people over there that they can start."