CH 22.5

Chapter 22.5 – Cat, Fish and a Bowl of Soup (5)

Lu Qicheng faced away and didn’t even look at the dead cat, and he didn’t speak for a long time.

However, Qi Bo would not allow him to just run away like that. Under Qi Bo’s sharp gaze, Lu Qicheng finally didn’t hold back anymore and said angrily, “I did it, so what? She’s my body double, so everything should be for my sake. Why are you questioning me now because of her!?”

When Ah Yu heard this, she lowered her head and knelt down by the side, trying to make her presence as small as possible.

Qi Bo didn’t mind letting her listen; after all, she was already a dead person in his eyes. He was disappointed after he heard what Lu Qicheng said, and shook his head as he sighed, “Young Lord, you are too impatient, how would you achieve great things in the future? You also know that everything she’s doing right now will be for you. So what’s wrong with letting her take your place in the court? As you are… you can’t take over her place right now.”

Lu Qicheng became angrier when he heard that. What did he mean by taking over her place? Obviously it was her that was taking his place right now, everything about her was his! Did even Qi Bo change his mind and look down on him, and valued Lu Qipei more and more instead?

It was easy to think too much when you had nothing to do, and this was not the first time Lu Qicheng came up with that idea. It was precisely because of this that he became more impatient and anxious. That was why he couldn’t wait anymore and tried to kill Lu Qipei, disregarding the current situation.

But he couldn’t say that to Qi Bo. So although his teeth were clenched and his eyes were gloomy, he still gave him an explanation. “The wound on my face is healing and getting better, and it will recover with time. Now that the official position has been set in place, it’s better to kill her quickly than to let her appear in front of the world too long and leave more possible flaws for the future.”

He looked up at Qi Bo as he said that, his eyes fierce as a wolf, “She’ll die sooner or later, so what’s the point in keeping her?”

If Lu Qipei really died, it wasn’t impossible to make arrangements for what comes next. After all, the two of them were very similar. Lu Qipei had shown her face in Hanlin Academy yesterday, but was not familiar with everyone yet. As long as he called in sick for two months, he should logically be able to replace her.

Wasn’t the reason Lu Qicheng died in the previous life because Qi Yang knew Lu Qipei well and saw through how?

Although Lu Qicheng did not get reborn and did not have any memory of his previous life, those concerns were reasonable – this was the best excuse he had been thinking of for a long time before he started trying to convince Qi Bo.

If he hadn’t known the current situation clearly, Qi Bo would have praised Lu Qicheng for making a good decision when he saw him like this. Unfortunately, how could things be as simple as what he had said? What’s more, that wasn’t what Lu Qicheng was really concerned about.

Qi Bo once again felt Lu Qicheng’s short-sightedness and sighed in his heart, thinking that he was truly hopeless. He looked fine in the past, but it turned out that his heart was so fragile and he couldn’t endure anything. Compared to that, Lu Qipei’s open mind and indifference to fame and fortune was better than him. Unfortunately, that kind of temperament wasn’t suitable either. He raised these two children by himself, but neither of them was worthy!

Qi Bo became a little dejected when he thought of that, and he didn’t want to argue with Lu Qicheng anymore. He picked up the dead cat again, then turned around and left. When he went out, he gave the guard waiting outside a sideward glance. The guard immediately understood and rushed into the room, covering Ah Yu’s mouth and dragging her away.

Lu Qicheng only looked at it coldly and didn’t say anything.

There was a lot of ruckus in the Lu Mansion from early in the morning, but luckily the butler Qi Bo was very strict and issued the gag order in time, so the news didn’t spread. When Lu Qipei left on time in her official’s robe, everything was completely calm.

But this calm was only on the surface. What happened in the Lu Mansion this morning was soon reported to Jingchen palace.

Qi Yang had been in a good mood this morning. Meeting Lu Qipei again after a long time was a happy occasion, and on top of that, they both went to choose her new princess’s mansion together. There was a peach blossom forest in the mansion, and they would also plant Lu Qipei’s favorite green bamboos there in the future.

This time, the princess’s mansion would not feel so cold and lonely, nor would it be stained with their blood.

It would be their home.

Qi Yang was in a very relaxed mood, and she also had a good dream last night. When she woke up this morning, she ordered her maid to prepare ink and brush, then drew on the plans sent by the Ministry of Work. She carefully planned their future residence, and planned to bring the plans to Lu Qipei in a couple of days.

It was at this time that news came from outside the palace – after Qi Yang was reborn, her desire to be in control became very strong, and she could no longer bear seeing Lu Qipei be persecuted without her knowledge. Therefore, she planted spies in the Lu Mansion from a long time ago.  There were spies in the old Lu Mansion that Lu Qipei lived in before, and there were even more spies in the newly built Lu Mansion. Even more coincidentally, the servant sweeping Lu Qipei’s courtyard this morning was one of hers!

The spy saw the stray cat’s death with his own eyes and heard from Lu Qipei that she was the one who fed the cat, so Qi Bo’s gag order naturally had no effect.