CH 134.1

Chapter 134.1 – Magnanimous

Qi Yang’s silence continued all the way until they returned to the princess’s mansion. She laid on the bed and began catching up on sleep, without saying anything else.

Lu Qipei was also silent. She didn’t defend herself or disturb Qi Yang’s mood, and just stayed by her side. She watched as the latter returned to the mansion and fell asleep on the same bed as her – Lu Qipei was exhausted, but unable to sleep at all.

On the contrary, although Qi Yang was also full of worries, she unexpectedly fell asleep very quickly.

Lu Qipei’s uneasy heart finally calmed down gradually when she heard the light and shallow breathing by her side. She waited for a while, listening to the breathing sounds, before finally lifting the blanket carefully and getting out of bed before drowsiness could hit her.

Qi Yang did not wake up.

Lu Qipei dressed neatly again and put on a dark cloak before quietly walking out the door.

Just like Qi Yang asked, the Chaoyang Tower incident this time was mostly related to Xie Yuan – although he had died, it did not mean that the forces under him also collapsed. This was especially true in Liang state, where Xie Yuan’s forces were not suppressed at all. And Lu Qipei knew that Qi Bo’s desire for revenge had never changed, and the Lu family’s and Xie Yuan’s forces had never been clearly separated.

If Qi Bo contacted Xie Yuan’s remaining forces and planned this assassination… If he completely avoided the Lu family’s forces, it was not impossible for Qi Bo to hide things from Lu Qipei.

Lu Qipei’s heart felt heavy. The reason she was timid in front of Qi Yang was not because Xie Yuan was her father. It was more because Qi Bo, because he had shown some abnormalities when she met him at the beginning of the year, but she didn’t give it enough attention.

If she had taken it seriously back then, wouldn’t yesterday’s incident not happen under her strict investigation?

This idea had been lingering in her mind ever since it popped up. It made her feel guilty, uneasy, and unable to wait a moment longer. She had to go to the Lu Mansion and ask Qi Bo the truth this very night!

Lu Qipei did as she thought, and left for the Lu Mansion in the middle of the night.

On the way, she had already thought about how to ask the questions, but when the carriage stopped at Lu Mansion, she was stunned. The Lantern Festival had just ended, and other houses still had big red lanterns hung outside in celebration. But only the Lu Mansion had two white lanterns hanging outside its gates, looking very lonely and desolate amidst the festive colors.

When white lanterns were hung outside a mansion’s entrance, it usually meant that there was a funeral. But there were only white lanterns outside the Lu Mansion, but no white flags. And Lu Qipei was the only master of the mansion. Since Lu Qipei was fine, there was a subtle meaning in the white lantern outside the Lu Mansion.

Lu Qipei looked at the white lantern in a daze, then suddenly thought of something and her expression slightly changed.

She took a few steps forward and knocked on the gate. The gatekeeper quickly opened the door, and Lu Qipei noticed that he had a white mourning cloth wrapped around his waist. The gatekeeper did not look surprised to see her return late at night, and just opened the door, saying, “Young Master, are you back?”

Lu Qipei frowned and asked, “What’s with the lantern at the door and the mourning cloth around your waist?”

The gatekeeper was somewhat surprised when she asked that, and quickly replied, “It’s Qi Bo. Qi Bo is already old, and he passed away this morning. The Mansion sent someone to report to the princess’s mansion at noon, but Young Master wasn’t there at the time… Did Young Master not receive the news?”

Lu Qipei’s eyes twitched slightly when she heard this and she understood – when she and Qi Yang returned to the mansion tonight, their complexion looked so ugly that the princess’s mansion’s servants did not dare to report. After all, Qi Bo was just the Lu Mansion’s butler. Lu Qipei was not very close to the Lu Mansion, and in outsider’s eyes, there was no need to offend the Princess and the Prince Consort for his sake.

But after thinking about the situation, Lu Qipei still couldn’t believe that Qi Bo just died like this. The person who might be the culprit died at such a sensitive moment, just before she came to seek an explanation!

With part disbelief and part surprise, Lu Qipei told the gatekeeper while keeping her face calm, “Bring me there to take a look.”

The gatekeeper didn’t have any suspicion, closed the mansion’s gate and took Lu Qipei to the mourning hall.

Speaking of which, Qi Bo was just the Lu Mansion ‘s butler, but who didn’t know who the elder in Lu Mansion was? For the past thirty to forty years, the entire Lu family was supported by Qi Bo. If it wasn’t for his loyalty, let alone the Lu siblings, even their mothers would have died long ago. So even though Qi Bo had handed over the power now and Lu Qipei had taken over the Lu family’s forces, Qi Bo still had a special status in the Lu family.

So when he died, even without Lu Qipei’s order, white lanterns were hung outside the Lu Mansion, and a mourning hall was set up inside. Even the servants of Lu Mansion consciously wore mourning cloths.

When Lu Qipei entered the mourning hall, the servant keeping watch held a mourning cloth in his hand, not sure if he should give it to her.

Throughout history, there had never been a master who wore mourning cloth for their servant. But Qi Bo’s status was somewhat special. Before Lu Qipei took over, he was actually the real master of the Lu family. But he still raised the Lu siblings, and even returned to them what was their right. In their early years, Lu Qipei and Lu Qicheng also treated him with the respect they should give an elder.

Unfortunately, that was only in the early years. Although Lu Qipei was somewhat afraid of Qi Bo back then, she really regarded him as an elder and a good person. But now the two sides had almost completely fallen out with each other, and Qi Bo was likely to leave a mess for Lu Qipei that would be a headache to think about.

Lu Qipei ignored the servant and strode over to the coffin in front of her.

The coffin was laid in the mourning hall, and had not been sealed yet. Lu Qipei walked to the coffin’s side and stopped, pursing her lips as she stared at it for a while. Just when the others were wondering why, she suddenly reached out to push open the coffin’s lid.

The servants next to her were all startled. They wanted to stop her but didn’t dare to, so they could only watch as Lu Qipei did it.

With a slightly dull sound, the tightly closed coffin lid was slowly pushed open. After Lu Qipei stopped, she stretched her head and looked inside, and indeed saw Qi Bo lying inside. His face looked normal, and his eyes were tightly closed. His expression was calm and peaceful, as if he was only sleeping.

Lu Qipei had a slightly stunned expression, and she soon reached inside the coffin under the others’ incredulous eyes.

She checked Qi Bo’s breath, checked his pulse, and finally even touched his face to make sure there were no traces of disguise. Finally, she was forced to believe that Qi Bo was really dead. Dead so suddenly!

After a moment of silence, Lu Qipei turned her head and asked, “What exactly is going on? Qi Bo was in good health, why did he suddenly die?”