The gates slammed shut in front of Ji Qingyuan. He rubbed his nose, his heart still throbbing with shock.
A sense of shame filled him as he stared once more at the closed gates.
He had misjudged Lu Liangwei just now. How could Ling Lihua’s daughter be such a greedy person?
He sighed, wanting to apologize to Lu Liangwei, but Lu Hetian had already refused to let him through the gates. There was no point lingering, so he turned and left.
At this moment in the mansion, Lu Hetian scoffed, “That petty fellow Ji Qingyuan, does he think that only the Ji Family has good stuff? Pah!”
At the sight of her father cursing angrily, Lu Liangwei smiled sweetly, made a “Pah” sound just like him, then said indignantly, “Exactly. The Grand Duke Family is also a noble house with plenty of good trinkets. Only Duke Ji would see that miserable piece of jade as a treasure. How short-sighted of him!”
When Lu Hetian heard this, the fury in his heart instantly dissipated a fair amount. He reached out and pinched her nose, saying in amusement, “You talk too arrogantly, young lady!” Despite his words, his tone was not reproachful.
Lu Liangwei stuck out her tongue playfully.
Seeing her like this, Lu Hetian said with a slightly more serious expression, “That jade bangle has an extraordinary origin. It was a token of love given by the late Emperor Emeritus to the late Grand Empress Dowager. Later on, the Grand Empress Dowager gave it to the late previous Empress Dowager. The late Empress Dowager has deep connections with the Ji Family, so she gave the bangle to the family’s now-deceased old Madam, who then gave the bangle to Ji Linghui, the current Prudence Consort.”
Lu Liangwei felt dizzy just by listening to all this, and she said in bewilderment, “Dad, that’s too complicated.” What with the late Grand Empress Dowager and the late Empress Dowager and the Ji Family’s old Madam… These complicated relations baffled her, but they did not stop her from understanding the value of this jade bangle.
As it was a token of love from the late Emperor Emeritus to the late Grand Empress Dowager, then passed down from generation to generation, its meaning was even more precious and extraordinary.
No wonder Ji Linghui and Ji Qingyuan reacted like that.
It could be said that this small jade bangle was the Ji Family’s death-exemption guarantee, just like the Dowager Duchess’s golden sword. Both of them promised the owner certain privileges.
Lu Hetian said light-heartedly, “You don’t have to worry about those. As for what you said before, you can say it in front of me but absolutely not when you’re outside. Otherwise, if someone hears it, they might report you for disrespecting the late Empress Dowager.”
Lu Liangwei nodded and replied meekly, “I understand. I won’t say it when I’m outside.” At the same time, she exhaled secretly in relief seeing that her father was finally no longer angry.
“Weiwei, come with me. I’m going to give you something.” Lu Hetian suddenly thought of something and said mysteriously.
Lu Liangwei whispered curiously, “Are you going to give me gold, Daddy?”
Hearing this, Lu Hetian smiled and stroked her head mirthfully. “How come you’re so obsessed with money? It won’t do a young lady like you any good. You’re better off wearing jade.”
Lu Liangwei disagreed. In her opinion, jade was fragile, and no matter how valuable it was, it would be worthless once broken. On the other hand, she did not need to worry about gold that way.
Gold was just so wonderful. It was valuable and convenient.
Well, that was just the kind of peasant she was!
Lu Liangwei followed Lu Hetian to Gentle Breeze Court, where he lived.
Lu Hetian crossed the courtyard and brought her straight to the study.
After entering the study, Lu Hetian released Lu Liangwei’s hand and walked to the bookshelf by the wall. He triggered a mechanism, and a hidden compartment popped out.
Lu Liangwei was not too surprised to see this.
As the Grand Duke with great military power, he naturally kept confidential documents in his study, and these documents sometimes needed to be stored safely in a hidden compartment.