Chapter 23 I Knew You Would Come
Lu Ji was meeting someone in the yamen. The visitor was the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple and the cousin of Prime Minister Jiang.

"Governor Lu, I have found a lot of evidence of the King of Qin's rebellion in the past two days. I have given it to you. The evidence is conclusive, so you can make a decision now."

Lu Ji sat on the armchair, fiddling with the tea lid slowly. Because of his stern demeanor, even in this leisurely look, he still made people feel intimidated.

After waiting for a long time, he finally spoke: "Master Jiang, I have already seen the evidence you collected. It is credible. However, according to Master Zhang from the Ministry of War, the King of Qin has already collected the tribute and will submit it to the court immediately."

"That's just a delaying tactic of the King of Qin." Lord Jiang said anxiously.

Lu Ji glanced at him and said, "Whether it is true or not, we have to wait and see. It is a bit far-fetched to conclude that the King of Qin is plotting a rebellion based on just this little evidence from Lord Jiang."

He knew that Lu Ji was just sitting on the mountain watching the fight between two tigers, but since the bow had been shot, there was no turning back.

Lord Jiang was upset, but he didn't dare to show it on his face. He just said sinisterly: "Lord Lu, although you are in the limelight now, our Prime Minister Jiang is a veteran who has assisted three dynasties. You should give him some face."

Lu Ji put the teacup on the table with a "click" and smiled calmly: "Lu, I am just doing my job impartially."

Knowing that Lu Ji was busy, Desheng still rushed in despite the guards' obstruction.

Only the people around Lu Ji knew how much this master valued Qin Xiaoning. Now something went wrong. If they didn't report it in time, this master would get angry and their lives might be in danger.

When Lu Ji saw Desheng entering the conference room with sweat all over his forehead, he immediately had a bad feeling. When Desheng leaned over and whispered the truth in his ear, the prince, who had always been as steady as a rock, turned pale.

Lu Qi had not expected that the little girl had such a fierce temper and actually jumped down. He also knew that he had caused trouble, so he was searching on both sides of the river bank with his servants.

Lu Ji brought a large group of people to the river bank. When he saw Lu Qi, his face turned pale and he grabbed the man by the collar without saying a word.

"Please spare me, my Lord. There is a misunderstanding here."

Lu Ji had no patience to listen to his nonsense, so he threw him to the ground, then raised his leg and kicked Lu Qi several feet away like a ball. He fell to the ground with a plop, feeling that all his internal organs were shattered, and he vomited blood.

Lu Ji did not give up. He strode forward and stepped hard on his thigh without caring about his life or death. There was a sound of "crack" in the thigh bone. Lu Qi screamed like a slaughtered pig and fainted.
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When Lu Ji was young, he was also a naughty boy. He used to go to the river to play and often took Qin Xiaoning with him. He taught her how to swim.

Qin Xiaoning fell into the water and swam desperately towards the shore, but the current was too strong and she was washed downstream. While struggling, she grabbed a piece of driftwood in the water, but eventually she lost consciousness due to exhaustion.

After an unknown amount of time, Qin Xiaoning heard a noise beside her ear and slowly opened her eyes. She found herself lying in a thatched cottage. The simple house was shabby and dilapidated. There was a pile of fishing nets at the door not far away, emitting a fishy smell that kept coming into her nose. An old woman was sitting on the doorstep, squinting her eyes, repairing a torn fishing net.

She was lucky enough to be rescued.

Qin Xiaoning wanted to move, but she felt weak all over. Perhaps she had been hungry for too long, and her stomach was rumbling. Just as she was about to call for help, she heard a deep male voice: "Mom, is the young lady awake?"

The old woman replied, "Not yet. He has been unconscious for two whole days. I don't know if he can wake up."

"No, I'll go find a doctor." said the man.

"Where would I get the spare money to save her life?" the old woman said displeasedly.

"Mother, don't be narrow-minded. I have already inquired. The woman from the neighboring village said that if a young lady like this is sold, she is worth at least ten taels of silver. This one is so beautiful. If she is sold to a brothel, she can be worth about twenty or thirty taels of silver."

"How can you sell so much?" The old woman was surprised: "Originally, I was thinking that if I woke up, I would marry you."

"Look at the way this young lady is dressed, she must be from a wealthy family. We can't keep her. If she comes to our house, we'll get into trouble." "That's right." The old woman said with pity, "But it would be a pity to sell her for nothing. If she wakes up, you can let her sleep for two nights first, and then sell her for money."

A man's silly laughter came from outside the door.

Qin Xiaoning was lying on a torn straw mat, her palms full of cold sweat from fear.

Songzhi's mother was right. She was protected too well by Lu Ji. She had no idea how dangerous the outside world was and how cruel the bad guys were.

I am a weak woman, how can I be a match for this woman and this man? Pretending to be unconscious for a while is not a long-term solution.

Qin Xiaoning was racking her brains for a solution when she heard a sudden commotion outside.

"Open the door, open the door quickly!"

"Are they soldiers?" the old woman asked in panic.

The man's voice was relatively calm: "Mom, go into the house and hide the person first, I will deal with it."

As soon as the mother and daughter finished speaking, there was the sound of the courtyard door being pushed open, followed by a clear voice that reached Qin Xiaoning's ears.

"You fishermen, when you go to the river to catch fish, have you ever seen a woman fall into the water?"

Qin Xiaoning, lying in the room, felt like she was hearing heavenly music.

It was Lu Ji's voice.

She knew that he would come to save her.

"Lu Ji——"

Her voice was hoarse, but she called out his name with all her might. Then, without waiting for the mother and child in the yard to react, she rushed out of the hut with all her remaining strength and threw herself into his arms.

In order to find her, he led his men and horses, and searched along the small fishing villages on both sides of the river outside the city, knocking on doors and asking every household. He had not slept for two days and two nights.

Caught off guard, the little girl threw herself into his arms, and it took Lu Ji a while to come to his senses.

The joy of regaining what he had lost made his heart beat wildly, his scarlet eyes moist, he hugged her tightly, lowered his head and kissed her hair again and again.

"You really scared me to death," he said.

"It was Lu Qilang who forced me. I knew you would come to save me." She cried as she spoke, sobbing in his arms, feeling extremely aggrieved.

The guards found a car and Lu Ji settled the person down. Lu Ji personally fed her water and some food. Qin Xiaoning regained some strength and only told Lu Ji that she fell into the water and was rescued by this family, which is why she was safe. As for the evil intentions of this mother and son, she did not mention it.

Although the mother and daughter had evil intentions towards her, they failed in the end. Qin Xiaoning only wanted to remember that they had saved her life and did not want to bring them any trouble.

Lu Ji was a man of great ability. When he saw his followers hesitate when they knocked on the door, he saw something was wrong. But fortunately, the people were fine, so he resisted the urge to kill them. He ordered his men to give them some silver as a reward for their rescue. He didn't say anything else and just took the men back.

　We will consummate the marriage tomorrow and distribute wedding candies, everyone please come!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)