On September 12th, the Lu Mansion was very happy. The Lu Mansion decorated the house with lanterns and decorations and held a grand banquet.
Hundreds of tables were set up for people's running banquets, and the procession of welcoming brides scattered thousands of taels of silver in the streets.
The courtyard was full of guests from the Lu Mansion and the lights were brightly lit.
Mrs. Lu was sitting at the main table, grinning from ear to ear, watching Shen Zhao coming and going to welcome guests and toast.
A man suddenly came into the corridor, looking slightly panicked. He ran behind Mrs. Lu and bowed and whispered a few words.
Mrs. Lu's smile remained unchanged, she stood up and said to the guests: "Everyone, eat and drink well. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Shen Yu was sitting at the female guests' table. After a long time, Mrs. Lu didn't come back.
After waiting for a while, a maid came over and said, "Miss, the old lady wants you to go to the ancestral hall."
Shen Yu was puzzled, got up and went, and met Xie Tingzhou coming from the male guests' table at the entrance of the courtyard.
"Why are you here too?"
Xie Tingzhou said: "Mrs. Lu asked someone to call me here."
Both of them walked into the ancestral hall with doubts. When they saw that the middle door of the ancestral hall, which was usually closed, was wide open at this moment, their doubts became even stronger.
The middle door of the ancestral hall is generally not closed. On weekdays, for cleaning and offering incense, you have to go through the side door or the back door. Unless there is something very important or grand to deal with, the middle door will be left wide open.
Mrs. Lu stood in front of the incense table with her back to the middle door. After bowing her hands three times, she inserted the incense into the incense burner, then turned around and looked at Xie Tingzhou.
"Kneel down."
Shen Yu was surprised and said: "Grandma?"
Xie Tingzhou said nothing and lifted his robe and knelt down when Shen Yu spoke.
Mrs. Lu looked at Shen Yu again, "Kneel down too."
Shen Yu didn't dare to say anything. She bent her knees and knelt down, straightening her back.
Mrs. Lu's eyes lingered on the two of them and she said, "I have arrived at the Yamen of Luozhou Prefecture."
Shen Yu was shocked. She thought of the banquet in the Lu family today, but she didn't see the Luozhou magistrate.
The Lu family was originally from Luozhou, and they had a lot of business dealings, and the officials in the state government offices also made a lot of money. After all, the Luozhou prefect and the Lu family had some financial friendship.
Shen Yu raised her head and looked at Mrs. Lu, "We will leave overnight and will not drag down the Lu family."
"Silly boy." Mrs. Lu's eyes were slightly red, "Grandma was never afraid of being implicated by you. If she can protect you, what if she fights them with these old bones?"
Tears instantly filled Shen Yu's eyes.
Xie Tingzhou looked sideways at her. He could not do anything beyond the rules in the ancestral hall. He could only look at her and comfort her silently.
Mrs. Lu took two steps towards the two of them, "The governor of Luozhou and I have some superficial friendship. He sent someone to report the message. His meaning is very clear. He wants you to leave Luozhou as soon as possible. He can delay it until tomorrow morning at most. .”
Shen Yu asked: "Is he using this as a blackmail to ask for any benefits from you? If he dares to threaten you, I will kill him."
"Don't worry." Mrs. Lu patted her hand and said, "He didn't mention anything. I guess he just wanted to ask for a favor."
Shen Yu thought for a moment and realized that Xie Tingzhou only brought thirty people into the city. Six thousand Qingyun Guards were stationed outside the city hidden in the mountains, but it was impossible for the Luozhou Prefecture not to receive any news.
The current situation was tense, and he would never believe that Xie Tingzhou dared to come with just such a few people, so the Luozhou prefect was in a dilemma.
As the prefect of Luozhou, he should attack Shen Yu, but he was afraid of Beilin and did not dare to take any action.
Moreover, now Shengjing, Beilin, and Luzhou have formed a tripartite confrontation. The three parties are restraining each other, and no one can be sure who will be the final winner.
The prefect of Luozhou didn't want to offend anyone and wanted to be a mere wallow in the middle.
"I understand." Shen Yu nodded.
Mrs. Lu looked at the two people kneeling in front of her, stepped aside and said, "You two, kowtow to your ancestors, your grandfather, and your mother."
Xie Tingzhou's eyes suddenly became clear.
After the three respectful kowtows, the two raised their heads and heard footsteps at the door.
Shen Zhao and Yu Wanqiu came side by side, still wearing bright red wedding clothes. Shen Zhao held a tray in his hand, stepped forward and said, "Grandma."
Mrs. Lu nodded slightly, "Today you two kowtowed in front of your ancestors, which means you have gained the approval of your ancestors. From now on, you and your husband must work together to live in love and harmony."
At the end of the sentence, Mrs. Lu's voice trembled slightly, "Xie Tingzhou, I will hand over my Auntie to you."
Xie Tingzhou kowtowed solemnly to Mrs. Lu, "Grandma, please don't worry, I will protect her with my life."
Mrs. Lu picked up the two jade pendants in the tray and handed one to each of them.
"Auntie." Mrs. Lu wiped the tears from her eyes, "Time is short, and grandma can't give you the biggest wedding. Grandma will make up for it when you return to Luozhou next time."
Shen Yu nodded repeatedly, her eyes blurred with tears and she couldn't see her grandmother clearly. She blinked the tears out of her eyes hard.
Xie Tingzhou looked solemn and said, "Don't worry, I will make up for whatever is missing today."
"Everyone, get up." Madam Lu raised her hand, "You can leave overnight. I'll have someone take you out of the city."
Shen Yu stood up, stared at Mrs. Lu for a while, and then looked at Shen Zhao.
"Don't look at me like that." Shen Zhao said quickly: "We will meet soon. What does it look like crying?"
Shen Yu glared at him through her tears, which made Shen Zhao laugh.
Shen Zhao pulled up his sleeves and tried to wipe them with her like before. As soon as he raised his hands, he caught Xie Tingzhou's gaze from the corner of his eye.
"Okay, okay." Shen Zhao took back his hand, "I will be your wife from now on, so you can coax her."
Yu Wanqiu gently tugged on his sleeve and said softly: "Auntie, your prince, have a safe trip."
Xie Tingzhou: "Thank you very much."
He quietly held Shen Yu's hand under his sleeve and squeezed her palm soothingly.
The front yard was full of guests and friends, drinking and drinking, but the back door of Lu Mansion quietly opened.
Torches lit up the alley.
Xi Feng stood at the door, Chang Liu sat on the carriage, holding a new vat in his arms, and there were thirty Qingyun guards around the carriage.
Lu Yao hiccupped from crying and asked softly: "Why can't you take me?"
Shen Yu said: "There will be a lot of inconvenience in the army in the future. I will send someone to pick you up after I settle down. My sister-in-law has just arrived in Lu Mansion and is unfamiliar with the place. You have to protect her for me."
"I promise..." Lu Yao burped, "I promise to protect her."
"Let's go." Xie Tingzhou took the cloak and put it on her shoulders.
Shen Yu looked at Mrs. Lu on the steps, "I'm leaving."
"Hey, go ahead." Mrs. Lu nodded and said.
"I'll be back to see you soon, you have to wait for me."
Mrs. Lu laughed and said, "Waiting for you, waiting for you, waiting for our grandma to come back."
Shen Yu got on her horse, glanced at everyone in front of the door one by one, and finally met Mrs. Lu's gaze.
"drive--"
Shen Yu clamped the horse's belly and leaped forward.
The team left like a tide. When they looked back, the lights of Lu Mansion had disappeared into the dust and smoke.
