RPAGF Chapter 533 This can't go on.
Chapter 533 This can't go on.
Granny Zhang's gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Brother Lü, her face showing polite distance.
"Young Master, Miss is still young and is the apple of the Old Madam's eye. If she does anything wrong, please be more tolerant and teach her slowly."
“This girl, Cuihuan, was specially chosen by the old lady. She is clever and sensible. The old lady feels more at ease having her serve by the young lady’s side.”
Lu Ge'er understood that this was Madam Gu putting pressure on him.
His heart turned cold as he looked at his crying sister and the smug Cuihuan.
Looking at the stubborn Zhang Mama again, a deep sense of powerlessness welled up in my heart.
“Granny Zhang,” Lu Ge’er’s voice was calm and even, “it seems that I don’t need my grandmother’s maid to interfere in disciplining my own sister.”
“Cuihuan instigated Miss to act cruelly, and she must be punished today.”
He turned to Lan'er, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of weariness: "Lan'er, your brother doesn't mean to harm you. When you grow up, you'll understand your brother's good intentions."
He waved his hand, signaling the old woman to continue.
Zhang Mama's expression changed slightly, but she didn't say anything more, since Brother Lü was in the right.
Cuihuan was forcibly dragged away, still crying and shouting.
Lan Jie cried even harder, pushed Lu Ge'er away, ran back to her room, and slammed the door shut.
In the courtyard, only Brother Lü, the embarrassed Granny Zhang, and the little maid who was still kneeling on the ground, ignored by everyone, remained.
Lu Ge'er walked up to the little maid and personally helped her up.
"Go to the accounting office and collect three months' wages, then ask the steward to find you an easier job. You don't need to come to Miss Lan's courtyard anymore."
The young maidservant kowtowed with tears in her eyes, then retreated, choking back sobs.
Granny Zhang coughed lightly: "Young Master, this old servant..."
“Granny, please go back.” Lu Ge’er interrupted her. “I will personally go to pay my respects to my grandmother.”
Having met with a lukewarm response, Zhang Mama had no choice but to leave with her entourage, feeling rather embarrassed.
Lu Ge'er stood in the empty courtyard, looking at the tightly closed door, feeling completely lost.
He knew this was just the beginning.
Madam Gu will not let this go easily, and Cuihuan, that maid, is no pushover either.
As for Lan Jie'er... she has already been tainted by those filthy things.
In the evening, when Lu Ge'er went to pay his respects to Madam Gu, he was indeed met with a cold reception.
Brother Lu punished Sister Lan by making her copy books. Sister Lan initially protested, but later she accepted it.
However, the Three Character Classics they handed in every day were written in crooked and messy handwriting, indicating a perfunctory effort.
Lu Ge'er also stopped giving her her daily snacks and treats, trying to use these methods to bring her back on track.
But he underestimated Cuihuan's ability to outwardly comply while inwardly resisting.
In Lan Jie'er's courtyard, she was pouting and sulking.
Cuihuan took out a small plate of delicate osmanthus cake from her sleeve as if by magic.
"Miss, please try this. It was secretly saved for you by the kitchen."
Lan Jie'er's eyes lit up, and she picked up a piece and stuffed it into her mouth, complaining indistinctly, "Sister Cuihuan is still the best to me. My brother is so mean. He won't let me eat this or that."
Cuihuan knelt down and wiped the pastry crumbs from the corner of her mouth. She lowered her voice and said, seemingly unintentionally, "Miss, please don't say that. The young master is only doing this for your own good."
She paused, her eyes darting around, but her tone subtly shifted: "But... the old lady dotes on you so much, who in the whole household doesn't fawn over you?"
"The young master must feel a little resentful seeing how much favor you receive."
"Jealous of me?" Lan Jie'er stopped eating, innocently yet maliciously grasping the deeper meaning.
Cuihuan quickly waved her hand, but her face showed an expression of "that's how it is".
"This servant would not dare to speak nonsense. But the eldest young master is, after all, the future master, and now that the young lady has overshadowed him, how can he be happy about it?"
These words were like a poisonous seed, quickly taking root and sprouting in Lan Jie'er's heart.
It turns out that her brother disciplined her not for her own good, but out of jealousy!
A few days later, a servant boy of thirteen or fourteen years old, in his haste to deliver a message to the steward, accidentally bumped into Lan Jie'er at the corner of the covered walkway.
The servant was so frightened that he was scared out of his wits and repeatedly apologized.
"You blind bastard!" Lan Jie'er was emboldened by Cui Huan's words.
The servant knelt down to admit his mistake, and she raised her hand and delivered a resounding slap.
With a sharp, piercing "snap," the sound was crisp and jarring.
The servant covered his face, both shocked and frightened, and stood there stunned.
Instead of trying to dissuade her, Cuihuan stepped forward and helped Lan Jie'er up, her eyes full of approval.
“Miss’s dignity is growing stronger every day! This is the demeanor of a mistress of the house!” she said loudly, as if she was deliberately speaking to the servants passing by.
"These servants should be treated with both kindness and severity! When the young lady gets married in the future, her husband's family will not dare to neglect her."
Lan Jie puffed out her chest from the praise, looking at the stunned servant with a smug expression on her face.
From then on, the servants would avoid Lan Jie'er like mice would avoid a cat, bowing and avoiding her from afar, for fear of getting any bad luck on her.
These things, one by one, reached Lu Ge'er's ears.
He pieced together the events, and a sinister picture slowly unfolded in his mind.
After the autumn hunt, his grandmother's sudden "concern" led to the arrival of two maids with unclear intentions in his room.
And now, Cuihuan's "tutoring" of Lan Jie'er...
This is not affection; it is the most vicious form of "praise to death" in the shady dealings of the inner quarters!
They wanted to raise Lan Jie'er into an arrogant, domineering, and useless person who had nothing to offer except her status!
A good-for-nothing who will become a laughingstock and a disgrace to the entire family in the future!
And he, as the elder brother, couldn't even discipline his only younger sister. Wasn't he utterly incompetent?
If he were to pursue an official career, he would be thoroughly corrupted from the root by the phrase "incompetent in managing his household."
What a ruthless calculation!
Lu Ge'er was seething with anger, but his face remained calm.
He knew that theory was useless!
The night was deep, and the chill seeped into the bones.
Lu Ge'er tossed and turned in bed.
In the dream, Lan Jie'er had already come of age and was dressed in a gorgeous gown embroidered with gold thread, but her face carried a captivating and vicious expression that clashed with the gown.
She slashed a maid's face with a gold hairpin, screaming and cursing so loudly it hurt people's eardrums.
The scene shifts, and she is abandoned by her husband's family, standing alone in an empty courtyard. Everyone looks at her with contempt and fear; she is deserted by all.
She pointed at the people around her, laughing wildly, her laughter becoming shrill and eventually turning into sobs.
"Lan'er!"
Lu Ge'er suddenly sat up in bed, his chest heaving violently, his forehead and back covered in cold sweat.
The moonlight outside the window was as white as frost, and in the quiet room, only his rapid breathing could be heard.
He looked at his trembling hands, and the desperate scene in his dream felt more real than any reality.
No, he absolutely could not let Lan Jie'er go that far. Never!
Lu Ge'er came out of the bedroom, intending to go see Lan Jie'er.
Before they even reached the courtyard gate, they heard a cough, followed by Lan Jie'er's scolding.
"Cough cough cough, what bad luck! You've offended me, can you take responsibility for that?!"
Lu Ge'er's heart tightened, and he walked over quickly. He saw Lan Jie'er standing with her hands on her hips at the door of the woodshed.
Cuihuan was holding a large lock and was about to lock the door to the woodshed.
In the woodshed, an old servant woman with gray hair was curled up in a corner, coughing and struggling to breathe. She was none other than Granny Chen, who had taken care of their biological mother back then.
"What are you doing!" Lu Ge'er's voice was as cold as ice.
Startled by the sound, Cuihuan nearly dropped the lock in her hand.
When Lan Jie turned around and saw Lu Ge'er, she showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, she righteously complained.