r18novel Chapter 1930 Half a Broken Arrow
Chapter 1930 Half a Broken Arrow
Lu Zhaoling stood in the spot where Zhou Shiyue had stood as a child, gazing at that tree.
“This tree is strange,” the old Duchess said, looking at the tree with her. “It’s been more than ten years, and it’s still pretty much the same as before. It hasn’t grown any bigger or become any more lush, but it hasn’t died either. It’s just been pretty much the same.”
"Has it not been pruned in the past ten years or so?" Lu Zhaoling asked.
"No, because it hasn't changed much, it seems like it won't grow any bigger, so there's no need to prune it."
"One year, the Duke came to take a look and found it a bit strange. He thought he should have someone dig it up to see if there was anything buried under the tree. So he had someone dig a hole, but they didn't find anything. He then said it was better not to move it and filled the hole back up."
Even looking at it this way, Lu Zhaoling couldn't see anything wrong with the tree.
Moreover, there's nothing wrong with this courtyard.
In fact, the feng shui of this courtyard is quite good, and the sunlight shines through it. Although the tree has not grown much in more than ten years, it is full of vitality.
Lu Zhaoling walked over, reached out and touched the tree trunk, then circled the tree.
A few steps behind the tree is a wall, and next to the wall grows a clump of pink muhly grass.
Lu Zhaoling's gaze fell on this clump of grass. She looked closely and could vaguely see wisps of purple energy emanating from the ground within the grass.
It was probably covered by grass before, so she didn't notice it.
Lu Zhaoling's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Zhou Shiyue back then wasn't looking at that tree, but rather at the wall behind the tree and this clump of grass?
"Madam, were these grasses here back then too?" Lu Zhaoling asked.
The old Duchess also came over, looked at the clump of grass, nodded and said, "Yes, there is. This clump of grass seems to have grown on its own. Around this time of year, it turns pink, and we all think it's quite pretty, so we didn't pull it out."
Lu Zhaoling said, "Can I call someone over to dig up these weeds?"
"Why not? I'll have the servants bring over the hoes and let them do it."
Lu Zhaoling nodded.
The old Duchess quickly summoned her servants.
The servants dug up the clump of grass as Lu Zhaoling had instructed.
"what?"
The servant's eyes widened. "Madam, Your Highness, there's a broken arrow in the ground."
A broken arrow?
Lu Zhaoling has already seen it.
As the servant was about to bend down to pick up the broken arrow, Lu Zhaoling immediately stopped him.
"Don't move, I'll do it."
The servant was taken aback.
He hadn't expected the Princess Consort of Jin to be so approachable.
Even noble people would think that the soil dug out like this is dirty, but she didn't avoid it. She just stood by and watched, and now she even had to pick up a broken arrow from the soil herself.
Lu Zhaoling had already picked up the arrow that was covered in mud.
The arrow has an arrowhead, made of iron, which is now rusty. It also has half of the shaft, broken off, and no fletching.
Strangely, this half of the rusty arrow was faintly emitting a purple aura.
She couldn't see any markings on the arrow.
"Your Highness, is there something wrong with this broken arrow?" The old Duchess hadn't expected to find half an arrow here. In her opinion, such a sharp weapon was somewhat ominous.
“No one has ever stayed in this guest courtyard with arrows,” she had been carefully recalling, and indeed, in the decades since she married into the Duke’s mansion, she did not remember anyone shooting arrows here. “Our children also have a small training ground; they wouldn’t play around with arrows here.”
So where did this broken arrow come from?
Could it be that someone deliberately brought it here and secretly buried it?
She had heard before that to frame a family, one should bury bloodstained weapons in their house, which would ruin the family's luck and possibly bring them great misfortune.
But their Duke's mansion seems to have been doing quite well all these years?
Her family members are all safe and healthy; she and the Duke have both lived long lives.
Lu Zhaoling examined the arrow for a while before saying to the old Duchess, "Don't worry, Madam. It seems this arrow is harmless. I'll go inside and take another look."
She went into the guest room and looked around. The room was simple, and she didn't notice anything wrong with it.
It seems the problem lies with this half-arrow.
"Can I take this back with me?" Lu Zhaoling asked the old Duchess. "And I should tell the Prince about what happened back then."
“Of course,” the old Duchess quickly said. “We’re telling you about this now so you can handle it. The Duke and I are getting old; if we don’t talk about it soon…”
Lu Zhaoling glanced at the old Duchess and smiled.
"The old lady will live to be a hundred years old."
Huh?
The old Duchess's eyes lit up slightly upon hearing Lu Zhaoling's words.
Although she wasn't that afraid of death, and didn't force herself to live a long life, hearing about living to a hundred years old still made her feel good as she got older.
Especially since the person who said these words was Lu Zhaoling, the old Duchess felt as if she had been blessed when she heard her words.
Perhaps it was psychological, but she felt a little lighter all of a sudden.
She chuckled to herself and thanked Lu Zhaoling.
"Thank you so much for your kind words, Your Highness."
“Let’s go back to the old Duke’s mansion. It looks quite nice,” Lu Zhaoling said.
"Okay, okay, okay."
They returned to the front hall, where the old Duke and Zhou Shiyue had already returned from the study and were talking.
There was a box on the table next to the old Duke.
They saw Lu Zhaoling and the old lady return, and at the same time looked at their wives questioningly.
The old lady nodded slightly to the old Duke.
"The princess said that everything is fine in our manor."
The old Duke was overjoyed, "Really?"
“Hmm,” Lu Zhaoling also gave Zhou Shiyue a look, then turned to the old Duke. She hadn’t looked at the old Duke’s face before, but she took a look now, and the result was quite surprising to her. “The Duke and the old lady are both destined to live to be a hundred years old.”
This couple will likely live to be a hundred years old in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty; that would be considered an auspicious sign.
Another person who lived to be a hundred years old was Fu Dafu.
The old Duke burst into laughter upon hearing this.
"The princess is quite eloquent."
Although he believed that Lu Zhaoling was quite capable, he hadn't really taken her words seriously. He didn't expect that Lu Zhaoling really meant to live to be a hundred years old. He thought Lu Zhaoling meant that they were healthy and long-lived.
In his view, longevity meant living to seventy or older.
"What are you holding in your hand?" Zhou Shiyue had already seen what she was holding when she came in.
His gaze fixed on the broken arrow.
Lu Zhaoling was also watching his reaction.
"Half an arrow," she said, as a maid brought over a basin of water.
This is what she just asked for.