Chapter 408: The Retaliation of the Liu State Duke’s Mansion

Chapter 408: The Retaliation of the Liu State Duke's Mansion

After Lu Kuan departed from Lu Lingyun, she considered the likely retaliation from the Liu State Duke's Mansion.

She summoned Shuang Hong, "Did you deliver the item to Liu Ye?"

"Dong Sheng took care of it."

"Good job," Lu Lingyun said with a slight smile.

As the saying goes, to truly defeat someone, you must break their spirit.

Just using the Liu family's own methods against them isn't sufficient; we must utterly crush their morale!

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At General Cheng's estate.

That very night, someone dumped feces outside General Cheng's estate.

"General, we have a serious problem!" The next morning, the gatekeeper found the mess and hurried to Cheng Qi's quarters to inform him.

"What is it?"

"Our gate—it's been covered in feces!"

Cheng Qi was silent for a moment.

"General, we need to alert the Imperial Guards and get them to look into this!"

Hearing the servant's words, he said, "Never mind, just get the gate cleaned and double the guards tonight."

Some things are obvious without an investigation.

Cheng Qi looked down, just ordering the gate to be cleaned and the guard to be reinforced.

The steward nodded, "Understood."

But despite cleaning the gate by day, it was defaced with feces again by night.

This time, the area was more extensive, with the entire boundary of General Cheng's estate being targeted.

The gatekeepers pursued the vandals, but no sooner had they left than a mob surged forward, dousing the gate and plaque with buckets of filth.

The servants came back, trudging through the feces-laden entrance, yelling in exasperation.

How could they possibly defend against this!

By the next day, all the neighbors surrounding General Cheng's estate could detect the foul odor, scowling and pinching their noses as they observed the newly arrived household.

Everyone was curious and gossiped, and when they found out that this was General Cheng, set to marry the shamed woman from the Liu family who had been involved with her father-in-law, their expressions turned to revulsion and contempt. Worse still, they had to put up with the reek of feces day after day.

They cursed the adulterous couple outside, calling them immoral and lamenting their misfortune to be neighbors with such people.

Cheng Qi's residence quickly became despised by all the surrounding neighbors.

Being cursed and pointed at was one thing, but whenever the servants of General Cheng's estate went out, whether to shop or for any other reason, they would be ambushed by unknown assailants, dragged into corners, and beaten.

"General..."

While Cheng Qi and Qin Shaojing were having a meal inside the house, a servant who had been badly beaten came in to complain about being attacked.

Hearing that their own General's mansion had been plagued with incidents one after another, Qin Shaojing, who was eating, lowered her head and didn’t dare to utter a word.

When Lu Lingyun came to collect debts, she could point at Cheng Qi's nose and berate him, dictating what he should do and how.

But now, she dared not make the slightest sound.

How could she dare to jump out and question what had happened, dragging Cheng Qi to report to the authorities and seek retribution.

It was clear at a glance that this was the retaliatory tactics of the Duke of Liu's mansion!

Sometimes, the revenge of the high officials and nobles in the Imperial City is not necessarily straightforward and honorable, nor does it have to be taken to extremes; they prefer to use these dirty tricks.

To make it impossible for you to survive in the Imperial City!

After all, if the Duke of Liu's mansion openly targeted the General's mansion, who wouldn't know it was because of their daughter-in-law who was involved in an affair with her father-in-law!

If the matter were to escalate, it would only disgust the Emperor and make everyone laugh at them.

This kind of sneaky and underhanded tactic is not exposed to the light, but it is extremely effective!

Every person who leaves the General's mansion is beaten, whatever they want to buy is destroyed, and every night their house is splashed with excrement, making their whole family stink.

If the General's mansion had any property, such as a shop or a few acres of land, they could ruin their business, destroy their estate, and ensure they fail at everything they attempt!

The trick doesn't need to be sophisticated; it just needs to work.

To make them unable to eat good food, to make them unable to go out, to make them cursed by everyone, to ensure no one associates with their family.

As long as Cheng Qi and Qin Shaojing live a day in the Imperial City, they can make their lives miserable for a day.

Qin Shaojing lowered her head and didn’t dare to utter a word, while Cheng Qi looked at the beaten servant and sighed deeply, "Go to the clinic and get bandaged, put it on our tab."

"General, I just went to the clinic, but as soon as the people at the clinic heard that I was from the General's mansion, they refused to sell us medicine."

Hearing this, Cheng Qi's eyes showed a trace of weariness, "Go to the storeroom and get a bottle of ointment for wounds, apply it yourself first."

"Yes," the servant covered his face.

The servants of the General's mansion were all loyal soldiers who had followed Cheng Qi from the border; they were devoted to him.

After the beaten servant left, Cheng Qi's steward came forward, "General, tomorrow is your wedding, our banquet..."

Cheng Qi thought for a moment, "Carry on as planned."

"Yes."

The steward went out to continue preparing for the wedding the next day.

He frowned and sighed, ah~ the first thing to do was to wash the gate!

"Everyone, get moving, first wash the gate and the courtyard walls, make sure it's clean! Tomorrow is the General's wedding, there must be no smell!"

The servants, hearing the steward say this, all looked worried.

Washing their own gate for several days in a row, what kind of respectable family does this!

"To tell you the truth, our General has really lost his mind, he shouldn't have married that tramp!" one servant said discontentedly.

"What are you talking about!"

"Brother Zhang, haven't you seen it yourself! Our general's victorious residence has been ruined by her! Now we can't even step outside, as people start pointing and cursing at us!"

The butler frowned and stayed silent.

Others started complaining loudly.

"That woman must have bewitched our general! A divorced woman has him wrapped around her finger!"

"It's a shame for our general! He was so valiant on the frontier, yet he ends up marrying such a tramp!"

"Don't even mention it, that hussy is going to be our lady of the house. With her promiscuous ways, she’s got no dignity as a lady of the house. Who knows how many times she’ll cheat on our general!"

The complaints grew louder and reached Nanny Qin, who, hearing them, stood with her hands on her hips and scolded angrily.

"What are you all saying! Who are you calling a tramp and a hussy!"

Seeing Nanny Qin come out, Butler Zhang stepped in to mediate, "It's nothing, you must have heard wrong."

"Do you think I’m deaf or blind! You all have really gone too far, daring to openly insult your lady of the house in the residence. I think you all want to die! Where’s the family discipline! Drag them all down and beat them with the paddle!"

Hearing this, Butler Zhang said, "Nanny Qin, we’re all rough men from the frontier, our tongues are loose. Please, for my sake, let this matter pass."

"For your sake? Who do you think you are!" Nanny Qin’s eyebrows shot up.

"How dare you speak like that! Our Brother Zhang was once the general’s deputy!"

"Our Brother Zhang could have been awarded a hundred households, he resigned his post to follow the general! How dare you, an old hag, insult him!"

"Your mistress is a slut, and you, old woman, are a vile wretch!"

"What’s wrong with insulting your slutty mistress! Even the two-cent prostitutes in the brothel alley are cleaner than your mistress!"

"You dare to beat us, come on, come on!"

The servants in the courtyard surged forward, venting all their dissatisfaction with Qin Shaojing.

"Rebellion! You’re all rebelling!"