Chapter 561
Chapter 561
After Lu Jinchang rose to his feet, he stood respectfully to one side, waiting for Li Zhiwei and the others to give their instructions. He had no idea that the “prince” standing before him was not the Prince An he knew.
Lu Jinchang could not understand why Prince An and Princess Consort of An had suddenly appeared at the entrance to the Jiang residence.
Especially when the Jiang family’s gates were tightly shut.
Lu Jinchang did not dare raise his head, afraid that he might offend Prince An. At that moment, all he could do was pray silently that the prince had come to Lu City to attend to some private business.
“Cough. Magistrate Lu, my consort and I are somewhat tired after just arriving in Lu City. Arrange for us to rest at the post station,” Xu Mu said deliberately, giving a light cough after receiving Li Zhiwei’s signal.
Upon hearing this, Lu Jinchang inwardly groaned. The post station in Lu City could go ten years without receiving a single guest, and by now it was badly run-down.
How could he possibly let Prince An and his party stay there?
“If Your Highness and Her Highness do not mind, perhaps you could stay in the rear compound of the county office for the time being?” Lu Jinchang asked uneasily.
“Zhiwei, we…” Lady Yao felt uneasy as soon as she heard that they were to stay at the county office. She did not understand. Weren’t they supposed to stay at the Jiang residence?
“Let’s listen to Zhiwei.” Li Tianyou quickly took Lady Yao’s hand and shook his head at her.
After all, their daughter must have her reasons for doing this. All they needed to do was cooperate.
“Then we shall trouble Magistrate Lu to lead the way.” Li Zhiwei nodded at Xu Mu, and only then did he say coldly, “Lead on.”
“Of course, of course!” Lu Jinchang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he motioned to a servant beside him. The servant hurriedly ran back to tell Madam Yu to clear out all the rooms in the rear compound of the county office.
The servant immediately followed his orders and ran off.
Lu Jinchang was anxious, worried that if he returned too soon, Madam Yu would not have finished preparing the courtyard.
Fortunately, it seemed as though Heaven had heard Lu Jinchang’s prayers. Just as they were about to leave, the Jiang family’s main gate creaked open from within, and Steward Jiang hurried out in a panic.
“Magistrate Lu, please wait!” Jiang He was also extremely flustered.
The moment the servant had seen Magistrate Lu arrive outside the Jiang residence, he had hurried to report it to Jiang He. He had also told him that several other people had come looking for the Eldest Young Master Jiang.
Jiang He knew all about Madam’s attitude just now.
But at this point, he could no longer concern himself with anything else. If Magistrate Lu came to their residence but did not enter, and word got out afterward, how would the Jiang family maintain its standing in Lu City?
Xu Mu gestured for Lu Jinchang to respond.
Only after receiving Xu Mu’s signal did Lu Jinchang finally relax. He had been worried that Prince An would lose patience.
After all, the longer they stayed, the more time Madam Yu would have to prepare the courtyard.
“Oh, isn’t this Steward Jiang? I thought no one was home today,” Lu Jinchang said.
Although he did not know what had happened outside the Jiang residence just now, anyone capable of becoming the magistrate of Lu City was no fool.
The Prince An and his consort might very well have come to Lu City for the Jiang family.
The Jiang family dealt in medicinal herbs. Perhaps Prince An wanted to purchase some medicine from them.
Still, he had never expected the Jiang family to dare shut Prince An outside their gate. They truly had some nerve.
“Magistrate Lu must be joking. The Eldest Young Master has indeed gone out, and Madam is in poor health, which is why we neglected you. Please do not take offense, Magistrate. Please forgive us!” Jiang He said ingratiatingly.
At the same time, he was secretly wondering whether these people had extraordinary identities.
After all, if even Magistrate Lu was bowing and scraping before them, then they had to be officials of at least a higher rank than the magistrate.
Jiang He failed to notice Li Tianyou and Lady Yao standing behind the others. Otherwise, he would have been utterly shocked—the man looked exactly like their young master, as though he had been carved from the same mold.
What Jiang He knew even less was that the identities of Prince An and Li Tianyou were not merely greater than that of a county magistrate.
In the capital, Lu Jinchang would not even be qualified to put shoes on their feet.
Lu Jinchang frowned upon hearing this. If Jiang Yuanrang was not home and there was an elderly mistress who was ill in the residence, then he truly would find it difficult to enter the house.
However, he could not figure out whether Prince An intended to visit the Jiang residence.
“May I ask where the Eldest Young Master Jiang has gone, and when he will return?” Lu Jinchang asked after some thought.
The only person in the residence who could make decisions was Jiang Yuanrang. If Prince An really wanted to purchase something from the Jiang family, they would probably have to wait until the Eldest Young Master Jiang returned.
“This… This old servant does not know when Young Master will return. Magistrate Lu, perhaps after he comes home, I can ask him to pay you a visit at the county office?” Jiang He said with an embarrassed expression.
After all, Jiang Yuanrang had not told them when he would be back.
“Agreed,” Xu Mu said curtly.
“Then I shall trouble Steward Jiang to inform the Eldest Young Master Jiang. This magistrate will await his arrival at the county office.”
Only after receiving the “Prince An’s” permission did Lu Jinchang dare to speak.
The group then climbed into their carriage and headed toward the county office. Along the way, Lu Jinchang prayed that Madam Yu would work quickly.
Fortunately, when Lu Jinchang had gone to meet Li Zhiwei and the others, he had already ordered Madam Yu to begin preparing.
When they returned to the county office, Lu Jinchang finally breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the servant nod at him.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, please come inside!” Lu Jinchang bowed to Xu Mu and Li Zhiwei, who were walking at the front.
“Father!”
As soon as they entered the county office, a young woman in a pink ruqun rushed out from the side. With an aggrieved expression, she tried to run over to Lu Jinchang.
“Miss, the magistrate has important guests. You cannot go over there.” Adviser Feng hurriedly stepped forward and stopped Lu Ning'er.
Lu Ning'er was the eldest daughter born to Lu Jinchang’s concubine, Yao Yayin. Because Lu Jinchang doted on her mother, Lu Ning'er had often relied on that favor to act spoiled and arrogant.
But this was not a place where she could behave recklessly.
The person who had come was none other than the powerful Prince An from the capital.
The slightest mistake could result in the crime of decapitation.
Feng Du did not dare let this reckless young miss bring disaster upon everyone in the county office.
“Adviser Feng, how dare you stop me?” Lu Ning'er had never expected that this adviser, who usually followed her father around like a dog, would actually dare obstruct her.
She was furious. She would definitely make Father replace him.
“How noisy! Cuihua, slap her!” Li Zhiwei stopped and spoke with an expression of displeasure.
She naturally knew that this woman might be the county magistrate’s daughter.
But this was the county office, and the girl was shouting and making a scene. It was clear that Magistrate Lu had failed to teach his daughter properly.
“Princess Consort, please spare us. This subordinate failed to discipline his daughter properly.” Lu Jinchang hurriedly fell to his knees and begged for forgiveness.
At that moment, Lu Jinchang was also displeased by Lu Ning'er’s reckless and discourteous behavior.
It was one thing for him to indulge her on ordinary days. But today, he had specifically instructed the women of the household not to appear at the county office, lest they offend some important guest.
“Magistrate Lu, is this your daughter?” Xu Mu could see that Li Zhiwei was displeased, so he looked at Lu Jinchang unhappily and asked.
“Replying to Your Highness, this is my eldest daughter by a concubine, Lu Ning'er.” As he answered, Lu Jinchang motioned for someone to bring Lu Ning'er over to pay her respects to the “Prince An.”