In Mingyu's impression, Lu Hao has always been a humble, gentle and elegant gentleman. She has never seen him speak to her in such a strong tone. For a moment, Mingyu was a little stunned.
Probably realizing that he had lost his composure, Lu Hao felt a little annoyed. He was indeed a little impatient and had some intention of forcing her.
After coming to her senses, Mingyu lowered her head in silence. She was not smart. She was just an ordinary kindergarten teacher in her previous life and it was even more so in this life. Apart from writing better, she had no other strengths. Even to do business, she had to learn from scratch. Without Madam Xu's guidance, she could not do it alone.
Lu Hao was telling the truth. In such a world, it would be difficult for her to gain a foothold if she was alone. However, when she thought of someone she could trust and rely on, Mingyu subconsciously thought of the fool lying on the wall, the fool who smiled at her sincerely and moved her, and the fool who tried to please her carefully. After thinking about it, she realized that apart from Xu Changqian and Xu Mingye, and apart from Sima Hong, she could not find another man in the world whom she could trust wholeheartedly.
No matter what, from beginning to end, Sima Hong never harmed her, and did his best to protect her. It was a pity that she understood too late.
Seeing Mingyu remained silent, Lu Hao sneered, "Are you still thinking about Sima Hong? I heard that he is about to get engaged to the daughter of Duke Deng."
"Lord Lu is well-informed." Mingyu smiled, "Mingyu has something else to do, so I'll go back first."
Whether it was true or not, she wanted to give herself a chance, a hope, and wait until Sima Hong came back during the Mid-Autumn Festival. If he really wanted to get engaged to Miss Deng, she would stay away from him from then on, and no matter how he talked, she would never see him again in this life. Mind your own business. However, Mingyu secretly didn't believe that such a stubborn fool would lie to her.
Just as Mingyu was about to leave, Lu Hao was anxious and reached out to grab Mingyu's hand. At this moment, Xu Mingrui came over and saw Lu Hao. From a distance, she shouted in surprise and joy, "Master Lu!"
Hearing this shout, Lu Hao quietly put his outstretched hand back to its original position, nodded and smiled at Xu Mingrui who was walking over, "Miss Xu."
Xu Mingrui didn't expect to run into Lu Hao here. She thought it would be a hard, boring trip, but there was an unexpected surprise. If she had known she would run into Lu Hao, it would have been worth it no matter how hot and hard the journey was.
Looking at the clean and elegant Lu Hao, Xu Mingrui's heart was pounding. She walked up to him with a red face but didn't know what to say. Suddenly, she took Mingyu's hand affectionately and asked Lu Hao with the attitude of a kind elder sister, "Why is Lord Lu here too?"
Lu Hao smiled and said briefly, "I have something to do." He turned to Mingyu and said with a smile, "I ordered a vegetarian meal. It was cooked by the abbot himself. I heard that they are all private dishes of the temple that are not served to outsiders. It is rare to eat them normally. It would be a waste for me to eat alone. Why don't we have the meal together?"
Xu Mingrui was naturally surprised and happy, and nodded vigorously. Just as she was about to agree, she heard Mingyu next to her speak in a cold voice, "No, thank you Lord Lu for your kindness, but there are too many people here, and most of them are children. They are noisy and will disturb Lord Lu's peace."
Lu Hao smiled slightly, looked at Mingyu, and said, "It's okay. It will be more lively with more children, and eating will be more fun."
Mingyu felt a little anxious, so she smiled politely and said, "I heard that the elders have important things to do, so I wanted to have lunch and go home quickly. If Lord Lu comes along, I'm afraid that he won't be able to eat well, and the abbot's kindness will be wasted."
"It's still early and it will only take half an hour to go back. I guess there's no need to rush. I wonder if there's something important going on at Mingyu's home. Can I help?" Lu Hao said with a smile.
Xu Mingrui stood blankly beside Lu Hao and Mingyu, watching them talking to each other. After Lu Hao greeted her politely but distantly at the beginning, he never looked at her again. He only spoke to Mingyu, and his warm eyes never left Mingyu.
No matter how dumb she was, she knew what this meant. Lu Hao just called her "Miss Xu", and when he called Mingyu, he called Mingyu by her name affectionately. The eldest daughter of the Xu family had never suffered such grievances. Sometimes her heart seemed to be burning on a stove, and sometimes it seemed to fall into an ice cellar. She stood there stupidly for a while, not knowing how to walk away. All along, she thought that Lu Hao was interested in her and liked her, but she didn't expect it was all fake! She remembered that some days ago, Mrs. Hu went to Mrs. Xu, the eldest wife, to inquire about Lu Hao's news for her. She didn't know how the eldest wife secretly laughed at them! These days, she was thinking about Lu Hao in her heart. Mrs. Hu introduced so many families to her, but she didn't like any of them, just to wait for Lu Hao!
Everything was a joke! What she couldn't accept the most was that Lu Hao had his eyes on none other than Xu Mingyu, the woman she had always looked down upon and thought was the shame of the Xu family in her entire life!
She was in a daze and didn't hear a word Mingyu and Lu Hao said next, until the end, Mingyu took her hand, dragged her and turned to walk forward. Only then did she recover, staggered two steps, and followed Mingyu forward like a dazed woman.
Walking all the way to the door of the wing room and looking at the bamboo curtain so close to her, Xu Mingrui suddenly stopped, her eyes filled with tears. She felt ashamed and angry. She wished there was a crack in the ground for her to crawl into, and she also wished there was a thunderbolt from the sky to kill Lu Hao and Xu Mingyu so that she could vent her anger.
She was just a sixteen-year-old girl, and was spoiled by Mrs. Hu and Old Lady Xu on weekdays. Mrs. Hu's materialistic and mean character had a profound impact on her. Since she herself was not married to her ideal, Mrs. Hu placed her hopes on her daughter. She nagged her daughter all day long that she should marry a rich and powerful man, and even being a concubine was better than marrying into a poor family and suffering poverty all her life.
Lu Hao's timely appearance was like a rain in a drought-stricken field. The gentle and young second-rank official satisfied all her fantasies about her future husband. Emotionally, Xu Mingrui didn't love Lu Hao that much or want him, but she couldn't accept that she had become Mingyu's stepping stone and Lu Hao had no interest in her at all.
"Second sister is really amazing!" Xu Mingrui gritted her teeth and smiled, tears welling up in her eyes, but she had to hold them back. When she looked back, Lu Hao had already walked away, and she felt even sadder. "She just left the declining Anxi Marquis Mansion, and in the blink of an eye, she hooked up with the more promising Lord Lu. I really admire you!"
Mingyu frowned, seeing that she looked like she was about to cry but didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so she whispered, "What nonsense are you talking about? This is a quiet place for Buddhism, don't go too far!"
"I went too far?" Xu Mingrui was incredulous. She couldn't hold back her tears and they fell. Her chest heaved with anger and she cursed loudly, "You are the thief crying thief. You are so shameless at such a young age. You have hooked up with one woman after another! Do you think I don't know? You even hooked up with Prince Qin! Otherwise, would Prince Qin come to our house to propose marriage for no reason? You are shameless and a scumbag! Ugh!" As she spoke, Xu Mingrui spat fiercely on the ground.
Before he finished his words, the curtain was suddenly pulled open, and Xu Mingye stood at the door with an angry face, followed by Xu Changqian and Madam Xu, who also had angry faces.
Xu Mingrui was filled with anger and grievances, and her head was dizzy with anger. She was so aggrieved that she had lost her mind. She wanted to make a big fuss about it, and she wanted to make the whole world know about it so that Mingyu's reputation would be ruined. Seeing Xu Mingye standing at the door with a gloomy face, she was not afraid and shouted: "I also know that you and that Anxi Marquis are basically... "
Before she finished her words, Mingyu slapped her hard on the face. Xu Mingrui stopped talking and covered her face, looking at Mingyu in disbelief, "You, you dare to hit me?"
Mingyu shook her hand that was numb from the pain, and instead of getting angry, she smiled. She pushed Xu Mingrui into the room and closed the door. "Scream! Aren't you very powerful? Keep screaming!"
Seeing the livid family behind Mingyu, Xu Mingrui burst into tears and ran to Mrs. Hu, crying loudly, "Mother, Mingyu hit me, she hit me!"
"Beating you is too light!" Mingyu gnashed her teeth, "I really can't understand how your pig brain grew! You keep saying that I ruined the reputation of the Xu family's daughter, but how good are you? You are trying your best to spread rumors about your sisters in the Buddhist Pure Land, afraid that others will not know. My reputation is ruined, but you, the rumormonger, have a good reputation? If someone hears it, they will only say that the eldest daughter of the Xu family is shameless and shameless, and bullies her younger sister. At that time, will you be proud and happy?"
When Mrs. Hu saw the red slap marks on her daughter's face, she wanted to jump up and curse, but was stopped by Mingyu's words. She couldn't say a word and her face turned red. What Mingrui shouted at the door just now was heard by the whole family in the room.
Fortunately, the Xu family was the only one living nearby, otherwise if someone heard it, not only would Mingyu's reputation be damaged, but Mingrui's reputation would also be ruined.
"Isn't this... Mingrui was impatient and spoke too quickly! This child has a good heart, it's just... it's just... Brother and sister-in-law, please don't bother with the child, don't take it to heart!" Mrs. Hu smiled awkwardly.
Xu Mingrui, who was crying in Hu's arms, suddenly raised her head. She was unaware that her makeup was smudged by her tears. When she heard that her mother actually apologized to the first wife, she became even more furious. She just went all out and shouted, "Mom, why are you apologizing to them? She was the one who hit me first!" Xu Mingrui pointed at Mingyu hatefully.
"Hello, you are right about everything." Mingyu smiled contemptuously, "You cried and made a scene today, not only scolding me but also making rumors and making trouble, all because of what Lord Lu said to me just now."
Xu Mingrui's youngest brother ran out from the corner, raised his fist and hit Mingyu, his face covered with snot, and shouted at the top of his voice: "Get out, get out! You eat our food, use our things, live in our house, get out!"