Chapter 704 - Chapter 704: Speculation
Chapter 704: Speculation
Editor: Atlas Studios
Word soon spread that after Prince Rong left after arguing with the Princess Consort, he stopped Grand Tutor Lu and even taught Lu Jie a lesson. Everyone acutely sensed that this matter was probably related to the Lu family. However, before anyone could find out, the Qi Residence hired a large number of imperial physicians from the palace. After the imperial physicians came out, Prince Rong even chased after them to the palace. No one could sound out anything from the palace, thus nobody knew what the brothers had said.
Everyone was confused by Qi Haoran’s series of actions and could not fathom what had happened at all.
It might be that someone in the residence was sick, and it was an important person. From the looks of it, it might be the Princess Consort and the Young Heir, but why exactly did Qi Haoran find trouble with the Lu family?
The Lu family and Prince Rong didn’t seem to have any interactions, right?
The family members of the Eldest Prince’s study companions understood after their child was sent back. They were originally worried, but when they saw that Qi Haoran was only looking for trouble with the Lu family, they knew that he was only pursuing the matter with the culprit. They could not help but feel relieved.
The Emperor doted on his younger brother and would not interfere as long as he didn’t go overboard. Seeing as Prince Rong only slightly embarrassed the Lu family and did not make things difficult for them in political matters, the Emperor would most likely not interfere.
Although these retaliations were child’s play and did not do any real damage, it was still quite humiliating, alright?
Therefore, they kept quiet and hoped that Prince Rong wouldn’t think of them. Also, they lectured their children, cautioning them to stay away from Prince Rong’s son in the future and forbidding them from calling him a mute.
Although Prince Rong’s son couldn’t even speak at the age of three, he was skilled at the art of reincarnation and had a powerful and protective father.
Just as speculations were running amok outside, Qi Haoran was in great spirits, walking everywhere with his head held high. Now that Little Bear could speak, the stone in his heart was completely lifted.
For a few days in a row, he made a point of walking by Grand Tutor’s front. Every time, he would remind him to educate his descendants well, making Grand Tutor Lu feel extremely aggrieved.
If he could tolerate the former part, he could not tolerate the latter no matter what. It was as if Qi Haoran had a pair of eyes on Lu Jie. As long as he went out, Qi Haoran would definitely appear in front of him and make him kneel and bow to him.
Not to mention Grand Tutor Lu, who had always been prideful, even Lu Jie, who had always been gentle and polite, could not stand such humiliation.
However, there was nothing they could do about it because Lu Jie indeed didn’t hold any official title. When he saw Qi Haoran, he naturally had to kneel and bow. To make things worse, the friends he made were either successful or already officials in the court. At the very least, they had an empty position under her father and brother’s hereditary privilege. Therefore, when they saw Qi Haoran, they only had to bow while standing.
Among his group of friends, only Lu Jie needed to kneel. Lu Jie, who had always thought that he was peerless, could not help but doubt his ability.
It was only then that Lu Jie realized the disadvantage of not having any achievements.
In the past, he looked down on the filthy Great Zhou and disdained using his family and his father’s hereditary privilege to become an official. Naturally, he also disdained taking the Imperial Examination.
Although he had no official title, no one had ever asked him to kneel and bow. Other than meeting the Emperor, even if he met a Prince, he only had to cup his hands and bow. After all, he was the Lu family’s eldest son and future head. Who would insist he kneel and bow?
The world had always been tolerant of aristocratic families.
That was, until now, they encountered someone who wanted to take this etiquette rule seriously.
Previously, nobody insisted Lu Jie bow because they were giving face to the Lu family. Now that they encountered someone who didn’t give face to the Lu family, they could only admit defeat because the law was above all.
Qi Haoran tormented Lu Jie for three to four days, causing the Lu family’s reputation to fall to its lowest point. When Lu Jie knelt while they were standing, his friends suddenly had a strange feeling.
The heir of the Lu family didn’t seem like much. At least when he was kneeling, they could still stand.
So what if the Lu family were aristocrats? They still had to yield to the imperial power. Just look at the Cui family, the Lu family, and how arrogant the aristocratic families used to be. If Emperor Jingyan wanted to invite the aristocratic families to an audience, he’d have to see if they had the time. However, although the head of the Lu family was appointed a first-grade Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor, he wasn’t even in charge of enlightening the Eldest Prince. Furthermore, Grand Tutor Lu was merely a fourth-grade official in the Imperial Academy. Neither position held any true power. Much less mention the other aristocratic families—there was not a single one of the descendants of the aristocratic families serving in the Imperial Court.
The Yan family was also one of the small aristocratic families. But since Qi Xiuyuan restored the good name of Grand Tutor Yan and granted him a posthumous title, Minister Yan had been loyal to the current Emperor. He ignored the aristocratic families and only followed the Emperor’s lead.
Therefore, before Qi Haoran realized it, his actions consolidated the imperial power and the influence of the aristocratic families decreased significantly.
At this moment, Grand Tutor Lu and Lu Jie had yet to anticipate this outcome. They were purely fuming at Qi Haoran’s humiliation.
Grand Tutor Lu said angrily, “How long is Qi Haoran going to cause trouble? It’s just a fight between children. Why did an adult like him get involved?”
“Uncle, can’t we teach him a lesson? You have so many students serving in the Imperial Court. There must be someone who can keep him in check. I don’t believe that a general like him can be squeaky clean,” Lu Yuan shouted unhappily.
During this period of time, he had been asked about this by his classmates in the Imperial Academy. They were all trying to find out how the Lu family had offended Prince Rong. It was simply annoying.
Unknown to most, his six-year-old nephew had insulted Qi Haoran’s son, but his nephew had almost been beaten until his parents could not recognize him. Who were they going to seek justice from?
Grand Tutor Lu remained silent.
Lu Yuan stomped his feet. “Uncle, why is our Lu family so timid? If we don’t retaliate, I’m afraid anyone can ride on our Lu family’s heads in the future.”
Lu Jie glanced at his cousin and could not bear to look at his stupidity. With his father’s magnanimity, he was most likely bound by restraints. Otherwise, there would already be a ruckus in the Imperial Court. Would he have allowed Qi Haoran to keep causing such a meaningless ruckus?
Naturally, Grand Tutor Lu would not expose his shortcomings in front of his nephew. After sending Lu Yuan away, he met Lu Jie’s understanding gaze and was instantly furious. “I told you to become an official long ago, but you refused to listen. If you heeded my words, you would definitely have a place in the court now. Do I have to be restrained by others like this?”
Lu Jie frowned. “Father, do you have something on Qi Haoran?”
“No.” Grand Tutor Lu said with an ugly expression, “The evidence is in the current Emperor’s hands.”
Speaking of this, Grand Tutor Lu got mad. He got his subordinates to wipe traces of his visits to the Hall of Diligent Governance. Halfway through, he realized that the Emperor had already grasped this weakness of his. Originally, he was afraid that Qi Haoran would use this to deal with him. Just as he was about to cut off his tail in hopes of survival, he realized that the Emperor had no intention of using this weakness against him. It seemed that as long as they did not retaliate against Qi Haoran, the Emperor would not use this weakness against him.
Otherwise, would he need to remain silent until now and do nothing while Qi Haoran took revenge on them?
Grand Tutor Lu rubbed his forehead as he said, “I’m afraid the Emperor doesn’t want to fall out with our Lu family now, so he endured it and didn’t attack. In that case, there’s no need for us to force him to take this step. However, we can’t let Qi Haoran continue like this. Tomorrow, bring Yan’er to the Qi Residence to apologize. If Qi Haoran continues to harp on this after the apology, it’ll be him who is unforgiving.”