"We're here."
Lu Xiao had just dozed off against the back of her seat. Hearing the voice, she opened her eyes to a view of a lush, green lawn outside the window.
"Let's get out." Lu Xiao rubbed her eyes and followed Ares out of the hover car. "I wonder if they've prepared lunch at home."
She was a little hungry and hoped Earl Lu Ge Wei wouldn't make them go without lunch.
'I hope so, anyway,' Lu Xiao thought as she led Ares to the entrance of the Earl Mansion.
After scanning her face to enter, she saw someone kneeling on the lawn from a distance. Lu Xiao's brow furrowed. She hadn't expected to see something like this the moment she returned.
According to the original owner's memories, this was Duobin, one of her mother's side husbands. His bare upper body was covered in a crisscrossing network of whip marks.
Seeing this, Lu Xiao subconsciously recalled how Ares had looked when she first met him. 'It seems this mother and daughter are cut from the same cloth,' she thought.
The man heard them and turned his head. Upon seeing them, he immediately lowered his head respectfully. "My deepest apologies for being an eyesore, Young Miss."
"Did my mother make you kneel here?"
"I angered Madam; it is not her fault." Duobin didn't look particularly strong. On the contrary, he had a sickly air about him. Lu Xiao couldn't tell if he was naturally like this or just ill.
Hearing his words, Lu Xiao wasn't particularly surprised. "Kneeling out here in this heat is indeed an eyesore. Go back to your room."
Although Duobin was one of Earl Lu Ge Wei's side husbands, a side husband was only a slight step above a regular husband. Faced with Lu Xiao, a female, he could only obey.
"Yes, Young Miss."
Watching the man limp away, Lu Xiao led Ares toward the villa. On the way, she ran into the butler who had come out to greet her. "When I was coming in, I saw Duobin collapsed on the path. Send him something to relieve the heat later. Don't let him die at home and upset my mother."
The butler froze for a moment at her words and instinctively looked at Lu Xiao, as if to confirm whether she was serious. After all, things like this had happened often in the past, but Lu Xiao had never paid them any mind. For her to suddenly speak up like this was quite a surprise.
However, as the butler, he couldn't say much. He simply lowered his head and agreed. "Madam is very happy to know you've returned, Young Miss. She is already waiting for you."
"Is lunch ready? I'm hungry." Lu Xiao had no intention of staying long and planned to leave after eating, so naturally, she needed to know the status of the meal.
The old butler stiffened again before nodding. "It's being prepared now."
"Then we'll go see Mother first," she said, as if she wasn't the one who had just been asking if the food was ready.
Upon entering the main hall, she saw a woman sitting on the sofa. She was over forty, but she was impeccably maintained. Sitting there holding a porcelain cup, she looked graceful and regal.
But thinking about how this person treated males, Lu Xiao didn't believe for a second that she was a kind-hearted soul.
"Mother, it's been a while. You look younger than ever." Lu Xiao walked over with a smile and sat down unabashedly in a chair. She picked up a teacup and took a sip. 'Tasteless. Even lemonade is better than this. I want to go home even more now.'
Lu Ge Wei glanced at her and let out a soft chuckle. "It's only been a few days, and you've certainly learned how to talk."
Her words trailed off as she looked at Ares, who was standing beside Lu Xiao. "So this is the man you insisted on having? He doesn't look like much."
Lu Xiao hadn't expected Lu Ge Wei to start finding fault with Ares right away. She glanced at the man, whose expression was as impassive as ever. 'Is he forcing himself to endure it, or is he just used to it?' she wondered. "Naturally, my taste can't compare to Mother's eye for selecting males, but Ares is more than enough for me."
"If you can't compare, then you should learn more. Don't go out and disgrace the Earl Mansion. Ares won't need to go to the military headquarters anymore, right? Once a male is married, there's no need for him to show his face in public."
Hearing this, Lu Xiao was glad she wasn't drinking water, or she definitely would have sprayed it everywhere.
'What kind of talk is that? The Qing dynasty fell ages ago. Have we moved on from foot-binding to brain-binding?'
"Ahem, on this point, Mother, you and I are different. I'd be bored to death seeing him around me all day. Even the best relationships need some distance. Besides, I want Ares to continue earning military merits for me. He's only a Major General right now. He should at least become an Admiral, like Father."
That's right, Lu Ge Wei's main husband was an Admiral, and also the original Lu Xiao's father.
And because he was an Admiral, he completely ignored Lu Ge Wei's attempts to control him, so she often took out her anger on her side husbands and other husbands.
So when Lu Ge Wei heard Lu Xiao say this, her expression changed. "This just goes to show how young and naive you are. You're easily deceived by these riffraff males. Let them grow their wings, and watch out—they'll stop listening to you."
The implication of her words was painfully obvious.
Lu Xiao just smiled and glanced at the time. "Is it just you at home today, Mother? I don't see my sisters."
The original Lu Xiao had two younger, underage sisters, who also had arrogant personalities.
"They're both out. You didn't even call before you came back, so who knew when you'd be here?"
"True. If Ares hadn't remembered, I really would have forgotten about coming home. Mother, you've been talking for so long. Shouldn't it be time to eat? I'm hungry."
Seeing Lu Xiao so dead set on eating, Lu Ge Wei felt a pang of bitterness. Why did it feel like Lu Xiao's personality had changed so much this time?
In the past, although mother and daughter weren't particularly close, she could feel that Lu Xiao respected her. That much was clear from how Lu Xiao would secretly try to imitate her methods.
But this time, she felt no respect from Lu Xiao. Instead, Lu Xiao had been taking veiled jabs at her the entire time.
However, she wasn't yet sure if it was just her imagination.
"Since you knew you'd be hungry, why didn't you eat more on the way?"
"Well, I was looking forward to coming home. It's not like Mother would deny me a meal, would she?"
Lu Ge Wei truly couldn't bring herself to starve her, not when she was an Earl, after all.
Her own daughter coming home and not even getting a meal—it wouldn't sound good if word got out.
"Let's go." Lu Ge Wei stood up and led them to the dining hall. On the way, however, she glanced at Ares, who was following beside Lu Xiao. "Why is he eating with you? Don't you know that males aren't allowed at the table?"
Lu Xiao almost burst out laughing.
'Is she trying to be funny?'
"Ares always eats with me at home. I don't like the table to be so cold and empty. Please understand, Mother. Besides, we won't be coming back often, so just indulge me a little, my dear mother." As Lu Xiao spoke, she reached out to take Lu Ge Wei's arm. But before her hand could touch her, Lu Ge Wei shuddered as if she'd seen something filthy and quickly took two steps back. "Hey, hey! Fine, do whatever you want!"
After speaking, she even rubbed her arms, looking completely grossed out by Lu Xiao's cloying display.
Seeing that her little act had worked, Lu Xiao glanced back and gave Ares a mischievous wink.
Ares felt as if something had just struck him right in the chest.