Chapter 782: Chapter 744: Young Master, Will You Take Me Away?

Seeing Father Wen’s off reaction, Wen Shun asked, "Dad, do you know Brother Nameless?"

Father Wen came to his senses and murmured, "He looks very much like the son of an old acquaintance of mine."

"Really? Then why are you just standing there? I’ll go bring him back for you right away."

Wen Shun made to run but was grabbed by Father Wen, "Don’t go."

"Don’t you know him?" Wen Shun asked, "Invite him back to stay a few more days. By the way, Dad, who is his father? Is he in our county?"

Father Wen replied, "I haven’t seen him for many years, he should no longer be in Pingjiang County. The kid probably has important matters, if he’s gone, let him go!"

Hearing this, Wen Shun didn’t think much of it.

That day, Father Wen was absent-minded, closed the shop early, and went home. Mrs. Zhou asked why he came home so early, and he used Wen Shun as an excuse, saying that since their son rarely came home, he wanted to make something nice for him.

At home, Mrs. Zhou went straight to the kitchen to start the fire and prepare dinner.

Outside, Father Wen was chopping wood, with the face of that young man, slightly familiar, surfacing in his mind from time to time.

No wonder he always thought the face looked familiar, but he never expected that his own son would show up on his doorstep.

Father Wen didn’t know why Lu Yanqing suddenly came to Ningzhou, but his visit to the Wen Family, even kneeling and kowtowing to him in the end, showed that he had already acknowledged him as his biological father in his heart.

As for acknowledging each other?

Not to mention that he had promised Lu Xingzhou and his wife never to acknowledge Lu Yanqing, even if he hadn’t promised, he wouldn’t take the initiative to do so.

He admitted that he had dreamt of this child countless times, but upon waking, he had to face reality.

Lu Yanqing was indeed his biological son, but many years ago, he had already married Mrs. Zhou, and now he had a fourteen-year-old son, Wen Shun.

Once the relationship was exposed, if Lu Yanqing were to ask him why, how would he explain it?

Keeping it unspoken and unrecognized was the best protection for his son.

...

Shortly after leaving the Wen Family, Lu Yanqing bought several sticks of incense and a few pounds of spirit money. After inquiring about the location of Da Huan Mountain, he hitched a ride on an old man’s donkey cart.

The old man, hearing that he was heading to Da Huan Mountain, asked, "Young man, do you have relatives there who got into trouble?"

Lu Yanqing paused momentarily, then softly acknowledged.

The old man sighed with a mouthful of resentment, "What a crime it was. Although it caused a stir across Pingjiang County back then, the case was suppressed right at the county seat. I heard it was done by that lawless little devil from the Capital, the beloved grandson of the late Empress Dowager. Who would dare provoke him? It’s only pitiful for so many workers who not only didn’t get a single coin but also lost their lives for nothing. Even after being convicted and exiled, he was released again. If you ask me, such a heartless person deserves a thousand cuts and more."

Seeing Lu Yanqing looking at the distance, uninterested in engaging, the old man smiled, "Young man, haven’t you been back for many years?"

Lu Yanqing silently nodded.

"No wonder," the old man said, "When Mr. Song came to investigate the case back then, he buried those over eighty bones and stacked a grave mound. Unfortunately, an earthquake later destroyed it all, but someone set up a shrine for them, with all the spirit tablets inside. If you head to the shrine directly, you can see it right away—it has names on it; you’ll find which of your relatives it is at a glance."

From what he heard, Lu Yanqing guessed that it was his parents who built the shrine for the spirit tablets.

The shrine was built at the foot of Da Huan Mountain, and when Lu Yanqing arrived, he found, to his surprise, that there was already a young woman inside. It seemed she had just finished offering incense and prayers. When she turned and saw him, her face quickly flushed.

Lu Yanqing found her face familiar and, after a moment, recalled that this young woman was the customer who bought five boxes of rouge from Wen Shun’s shop that day.

Lu Yanqing had no intention of speaking to her, letting his gaze fall upon the altar table.

"So, it’s you!" the young woman spoke first, her tone filled with surprise, "Are you also here to mourn a relative?"

Lu Yanqing nodded, as a form of acknowledgment, then walked over to the incense table, placed the bag of incense and paper aside, knelt on the cushion, and kowtowed to the eighty or so spirit tablets.

Three kowtows for each spirit tablet.

The young woman standing at the door was startled by this and couldn’t help but intervene, "That’s enough with three kowtows, your relatives in heaven can see your sincerity."

Lu Yanqing didn’t respond, continuing to kowtow with utter focus.

The young woman furrowed her brows slightly, "Sir..."

Lu Yanqing still didn’t react.

After kneeling over two hundred times, having spent almost the duration of an incense stick on it, he finally rose to his feet, his forehead bruised and his stance slightly wobbly.

The young woman hurried over to support him.

Lu Yanqing pulled away from her grasp, bent down to pick up the bag on the ground, took out what was inside, loosened the spirit money, lit it with the nearby white candle flame, and threw it into the large incense burner, then separated and burned the incense sticks, three sticks per offering, slowly placing them in.

The young woman stood by the whole time, witnessing Lu Yanqing kowtow over two hundred times and then watching him place over two hundred incense sticks into the incense burner. Initially confused, she gradually seemed to understand, "Sir, are you paying respects to everyone here?"

After finishing the incense offerings, Lu Yanqing suddenly looked up at her, "Do you have someone here?"

"My father," the young woman replied, her expression somber, "When the incident happened back then, he didn’t survive and ended up buried beneath."

Lu Yanqing scrutinized her clothing.

Clearly, she was a young lady from a wealthy family. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to buy over forty taels of silver worth of rouge from Wen Shun’s shop in one go.

Being from a wealthy family, how could her father have been a miner?

The young woman, sensing Lu Yanqing’s scrutinizing gaze, truthfully explained, "My mother was originally the daughter of a wealthy family in the prefecture, but she fell in love with my father against her family’s wishes and married into the village. Later, when my father had his accident, my maternal grandfather sent people to bring her back and found her another match, so I grew up in my mother’s new family."

Lu Yanqing wasn’t interested in her past, "It’s getting late, and this place is far from the prefecture; you should head back soon to avoid any mishaps."

The young woman bit her lip, "Sir, could you escort me home?"

Lu Yanqing initially intended to refuse, but considering that he was responsible for her father’s tragedy, he ultimately said nothing. After leaving the mountain, the two rented an ox cart to the county and then switched to a carriage, heading toward the prefecture.

On the way, the young woman introduced herself.

As it turned out, her surname was Fan, her name Zhuowen, and she had secretly snuck out today.

"Aren’t you curious why I sneaked out of the mansion?"

Lu Yanqing slightly raised his eyelids.

Fan Zhuowen’s eyes reddened as she began to speak, "My stepfather is a complete scoundrel. He was not shy about making indecent advances to me after my mother was gone, even resorting to physical advances. I no longer want to stay in that household, can you take me away?"

Lu Yanqing directly refused, "I’m going somewhere you can’t follow."

He wasn’t deaf to Fan Zhuowen’s predicament; he was just helpless.

"Sir..." Fan Zhuowen’s voice carried a sobbing tone.

Lu Yanqing looked at her, his expression serious and earnest, "I think you wouldn’t want to be saved by your father’s murderer."

"W-what?"

Fan Zhuowen’s face went rigid at once.

"I am the one who killed your biological father, the little devil from the Capital, Lu Yanqing." He admitted outright, "Now that you know my identity, do you still wish to follow me?"

"This can’t be... you’re lying, you must be lying!" Fan Zhuowen started rambling incoherently, "How could you be him?"

"If that’s not the case, why would I have been at the shrine earlier, kowtowing and apologizing to so many, and lighting so many incense sticks?"

"No!" Fan Zhuowen still couldn’t accept it, "You must be joking, aren’t you?"

Lu Yanqing gazed outside the carriage window, expressionless, "Fan Mansion, you’re here."

Faced with the prospects awaiting her at home, Fan Zhuowen’s face turned pale, her fingers clenched, seemingly hesitant.

Lu Yanqing rose, preparing to lift the curtain and exit.

Fan Zhuowen suddenly asked him, "You said I’m not able to go where you’re going, what is that place?"

Lu Yanqing’s motion to step down didn’t pause, "I’m not taking you with me."

Fan Zhuowen didn’t follow, biting her lip through the partition as she spoke, "If you really are the murderer, you owe me a life, you should repay it, take me with you, and I’ll let the matters regarding my father go."

Lu Yanqing’s heart remained unperturbed, "If you want revenge, you can kill me anytime. Following me, you’ll only find death."

Fan Zhuowen was determined; she couldn’t bear the thought of being sullied by that old beast, so she had to gamble, "You owe me a life; if I go with you, you’ll surely protect me."

She didn’t know how to define the young man outside as good or bad, but at the very least, his long journey to Ningzhou to pay respects showed that he retained some level of conscience.

If forced to choose between the beastly stepfather and Lu Yanqing, she would rather follow this man who was her father’s killer.