Lu Ming was now full of regret.
But regret seemed useless. He hadn't known the item was on Lu Zhaoling before! If he had known, would he have waited until now to send someone to the countryside to pick her up?
"Who knows where she lost it? She can't even remember." Madam Lu looked at her husband. "My lord, why are you looking for that thing?"
As if she had thought of something, her eyes lit up, and she suddenly grabbed Lu Ming's arm. "Could that porcelain doll be very valuable? Is it a priceless treasure?"
Lu Ming shook off her hand and said irritably, "What good thing are you dreaming of?"
"Then why are you so concerned about that porcelain doll?" Madam Lu looked at him suspiciously. "Wait a minute, my lord, tell me honestly, that porcelain doll isn't sculpted in the image of that cheap woman, is it? Are you so anxious to get it back because you want to see it and miss her?"
Lu Ming was instantly choked with anger by her.
"What nonsense are you talking about? And didn't I tell you not to mention that person? If you ruin my plans, I won't let you off!"
Madam Lu was startled by his somewhat ferocious expression.
"I won't say it then!"
Why was he so fierce?
Who told him not to explain clearly what the porcelain doll was for.
"Hmph, and also, I told you to find out where Granny Jin went. How could you send her to Prince Jin's hands when you were supposed to pick her up properly? Isn't that deliberately ruining my important matters?"
Thinking of this, Madam Lu's expression wasn't very good either.
"Granny Jin's daughter sent a letter, but it didn't explain clearly, only that Granny Jin was injured. I plan to go see her myself."
"Then why aren't you hurrying?"
Madam Lu bit her lip and left the house with her maid.
Granny Jin was a servant in their Lu Residence, but after her daughter got married, she was bought out and sent out to help take care of children.
However, the Lu family would occasionally ask her to do things, like this time, sending Granny Jin to the countryside to pick up Lu Zhaoling.
Madam Lu went to Granny Jin's house and indeed saw that her hands and legs were injured, and there were several bloody scratches on her face.
"Madam, I've suffered terribly!"
As soon as Granny Jin saw Madam Lu, a glint flashed in her eyes, and she immediately started wailing.
Madam Lu looked at her wrinkled old face with some disgust.
"You still have the nerve to wail? Didn't I instruct you to bring that girl back properly? How did something happen? And when something happened, you didn't tell me in time. Do you know that you've ruined our important matters?"
"Madam, this old woman is truly wronged!" Granny Jin slapped her thigh. "How could I not go and tell you? I was severely injured, and inviting a doctor and getting medicine cost quite a bit of silver..."
This was clearly asking for money.
"Alright, alright, won't I cover your medicine expenses? Tell me what happened!"
Upon hearing that Madam Lu was willing to pay for the medicine, Granny Jin's wailing stopped. She flattered her a few times, then began to recount what happened that day.
"This old woman went to the countryside. The Old Madam was initially unwilling to let me take the Second Miss, but hearing it was the Lord and Madam's intention, she didn't stop me. I took Second Miss back to the Capital City, and along the way,
I probed her as Madam instructed, but Second Miss was like a silent gourd, couldn't get a peep out of her even with three sticks, and was timid. In crowded places, she would bury her head in her chest."
Granny Jin didn't forget to praise one while disparaging the other.
"Someone raised in the countryside is truly timid and can't make it to society. She's completely incomparable to Eldest Miss and Third Miss."
Eldest Miss and Third Miss both came from Madam's womb, shouldn't she praise them well?
"Even Fourth Miss is stronger than her."
Saying Lu Zhaoling was inferior to Lu Zhaohua, a daughter of a concubine, was also a way to subtly belittle her and make Madam happy.
Granny Jin felt she understood Madam, and by speaking this way, Madam would be happy and might give her more money for medicine.
Unexpectedly, Madam Lu frowned after hearing her words.
"You said she's a timid, silent gourd? And she doesn't dare to look people in the eye?"
"Yes! Even when I spoke to her, her replies were like a mosquito's buzz. It just made me angry to watch!"
Although Granny Jin was a servant, she had lived in the Capital City for half her life. Which of the young ladies in the Capital City was as unsophisticated as that girl?
Her face was quite pretty, but she was too thin, with hardly any flesh on her hips. She didn't look like she could bear children well, and with such a physique, some discerning families wouldn't even consider her.
Madam Lu's brows were tightly furrowed.
Could Granny Jin be talking about that wretched girl Lu Zhaoling?
In just these two or three days, that wretched girl had been challenging everyone and everything at home, and even dared to slap people!
And she says she doesn't dare to look people in the eye?
Her eyes were so sharp, like they contained knives!
"Granny Jin, I want to hear the truth. You don't need to talk nonsense just to flatter my Yun'er and Yue'er," Madam Lu said in a deep voice.
"Oh, Madam, how could I dare not tell you the truth? What I said is absolutely true."
Looking at Granny Jin, it seemed she really wasn't lying.
"First, tell me, what exactly happened? How did she get into trouble, and why didn't you bring her back to the Lu Residence?"
"This matter," Granny Jin's eyes darted around, "I really don't know. We traveled safely all the way, and we were almost at the Capital City. On a mountain road not far from the Capital City, we encountered a group of people.
They immediately pulled open the carriage curtain, saw that Second Miss's face was quite good, and insisted she was their young master's concubine, then snatched her away!"
"I rushed to stop them, fell out of the carriage, was stepped on by them, and hit my head, passing out. The coachman also ran away. Later, I limped my way back to the city step by step."
Granny Jin secretly observed Madam Lu's expression.
"Didn't you hear that after entering the city, she escaped on her own, ran into a noble, and was sent home?"
Madam Lu was furious when she heard this.
"Do you know who that noble was?"
"I don't know, I just heard my daughter mention it..."
Madam Lu looked at her old face and almost slapped her.
If it weren't for her incompetence, why would Lu Zhaoling have had the chance to meet Prince Jin? Now Lu Zhaoling was even bestowed marriage to Prince Jin, ruining her subsequent plans.
But she didn't bother to tell Granny Jin these things.
Now, Madam Lu was concerned about another matter. "You come back with me and take a look at Lu Zhaoling."
The Lu Zhaoling in Granny Jin's words was completely different from the one at home now! She needed Granny Jin to go back and identify her!
Although Granny Jin didn't understand, she still dragged her injured leg and returned to the Lu family with Madam Lu.
Lu Zhaoling had just returned as well.
After Madam Lu left, Lu Ming wanted to go to Ting Nuan Tower to question Lu Zhaoling himself, only to find out that she had gone out.
Because of this, he threw a tantrum, feeling that Lu Zhaoling was so troublesome right after returning to the Capital City.
Who could she possibly know in the Capital City? And she went out even with injuries.
He waited for her in the front hall and had the butler keep an eye out, telling him to inform him immediately when she returned.
As soon as the butler saw Lu Zhaoling enter the main gate, he immediately told Lu Ming.
"Second Miss is back, looking a bit unsteady on her feet."
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