Chapter 135: His runaway wife (1/2)

Duke Wu's mansion

Some minutes earlier, at Lu Yingjie's study.

Lu Yingjie read through the reports sent down two days ago by the clerk at the ministry of justice. He had a lot of pending work in his hands, which had piled up during his short stint in the ice prisons. One would think that considering what his entire family, himself included had been put through these past few days. The Emperor would give him a few more days break, even if it was only just three days but that wasn't the case.

Prime Minister Shi's demotion affected every single department not just his main office. It had created a massive backlog caused by the frequent arrest of officials. Emperor Zhong wished to root out the remnants of former prime minister Shi's men. Everyone was invited to work overtime to make up for the absence of a prime minister.

Lu Yingjie didn't get mad when the reports arrived the next day after they were released. It was a lot like the Emperor not to make life comfortable for him. For a paternal uncle, he wasn't concerned about how things turned out for his nephews. He would be very okay if something happened to them.

The letter summoning him back to court four days from now came in with another set of reports delivered yesterday morning. He has gone through half of the latest set when he felt a headache coming. He put down the last report he was going through and stood. He needed to stretch his legs, he walked out of the room and stood in front of his study.

He looked out at the peach tree in the middle of his courtyard. The afternoon sun felt a lot

hotter than usual, it was nearly time for his next dose of medicine. His face got sour at that thought, he couldn't avoid taking the medicine. Not since Zhu Fengyin took charge of the arrangement, she had done so after discovering that he didn't like taking his medicine.

He went back into his rooms and took out a few jars of peach wine, he was in the mood for a drink or two. He walked to Lu Yaozhu's study with the jars of wine, there was no maids insight at his brother's courtyard which was usual during this time of the day.

There was no one to announce his presence, He walked to the sliding door and knocked. There wasn't any answer, 'the window was open so he must be in. A'zhu usually answered after a knock', he thought looking to the side of the building to check once more if the window at the side of the window was open.

He knock once more before pushing the door open, ”let us have a drink, A'zhu. I brought over my best stash”, he said as he walked in. His brother's fast movements made him pause by the step, eyes open wide. A male jacket was draped around his sister-in-law's shoulders while his brother hugged her tight. He quickly turned around, ”sorry for interrupting you two”.

Blushing heavily, Su Liya quickly rearranges her clothes. She pulled out of Lu Yaozhu's hold and rushed out of the room through the other door. Lu Yaozhu frowned as he watched her leave, he played heavily at his brother when he turned back around. 'Talk about having horrible timing' he thought as he stood out walked to the table at the centre of the room.

Lu Yaozhu grunted his reluctance at being interrupted, ”let us get this over with”.

Lu Yingjie walked to the other side of the table and after placing 12 jars of peach wine on the table, he sat opposite Lu Yaozhu. He could barely look his younger brother in the eye, there was a few seconds of awkward silence. Lu Yingjie broke the silence with an apology ”Sorry for the bad timing, that was my bad_”

Lu Yaozhu walked to the cupboard behind him, took out two cups of wine and brought them back to the table. He pushed a cup to his elder brother, picked up a jar of wine and unlocked the jar. He poured some in his cup before interrupting Lu Yingjie, ”Stop talking and drink”. He brought the cup to his lips and tipped it up.

”Okay”, he replied. He picked up another jar and poured himself a cup of wine. They drank silently for some minutes.

Three jars in and Lu Yaozhu was finally ready to talk glanced at his brother and said ”I heard that the clerk at the palace came over with a summoning letter. When are you expected back at court?”

”In for days, I was hoping that he would extend my stay longer but he didn't. Once again, his conscience seems non-existent” he downed a cup of wine.

”He must be mad that his plan failed, He put a lot of thought into that plan. Too bad.”