Can a System Have Bad Intentions? - Chapter 15

Lu Tang didn’t want to think about whether being thin mattered. All she knew was that by the time she finished that heaping bowl of food, she felt like she might burst at the dining table.

“Had enough?”

Just as Lu Tang put down her chopsticks, Qin Mo asked.

Lu Tang burped, “Hic~”

Song Qingzhan laughed, “I didn’t realize Young Master Lu could eat so much. You must not have eaten well yesterday, right?”

Lu Tang tried to regain some dignity, “Yesterday I was scared and didn’t sleep at all. I was just very hungry today. Normally, I can’t eat this much.”

Qin Mo chuckled, “Indeed, yesterday you were so scared you acknowledged two fathers. Today you even tried to escape. No wonder you were starving!”

Lu Tang clenched her fists. How could this man be so infuriating!

For a moment, Lu Tang doubted whether Qin Mo was really an imperial agent. Maybe he was just a bandit after all!

If he were an official, wouldn’t he… Lu Tang turned to look at Song Qingzhan.

The scholarly and refined Song Qingzhan was pouring tea for Qin Mo, softly asking him, “Where should we sleep tonight?”

Lu Tang: !

Why did I even look over!

While they were talking, a young bandit rushed in, “Boss, the officials and people from the Lu family are here. They’re just at the foot of the mountain.”

Lu Tang looked sharply at Qin Mo.

Qin Mo glanced at Lu Tang, then slapped the table, “Get your weapons!”

As everyone stood up, Lu Tang followed them outside.

Song Qingzhan said, “Young Master Lu, if everything goes smoothly, you’ll be able to leave tonight. However, you might have to endure some discomfort for a while.”

The “discomfort” Song Qingzhan mentioned involved tying Lu Tang up, gagging her, and covering her head with a black hood.

Lu Tang made one weak request, “Don’t tie my stomach, okay?”

Feng Chunshan roughly escorted Lu Tang halfway down the mountain.

The black hood wasn’t completely opaque; she could faintly see the torches and the figures moving in the light below.

But from this distance, she couldn’t see the people from her family.

“Young Master!”

Lu Tang was straining her eyes to see when she heard a familiar voice.

It was Yuan Bao.

Footsteps and panting sounds approached quickly.

“Young Master, Young Master!”

Yuan Bao’s urgent shouts drew closer.

Feng Chunshan yanked off the black hood, shoving Lu Tang forward, “Look carefully!”

Yuan Bao rushed over, his eyes red, “Young Master!”

Lu Tang, gagged, couldn’t speak.

After being tied up for two days, aside from the initial panic, he hadn’t been very scared. But seeing his own people suddenly brought a wave of indescribable emotion, and tears streamed down his face.

“Young Master, don’t worry. Madam came herself to ransom you. Everything will be fine.” Yuan Bao was both anxious and helpless.

Feng Chunshan roughly pulled the black hood back over Lu Tang’s head, “See that? He’s all in one piece. Three thousand taels of silver. Pay up and you get him back unharmed!”

Through the hood, Lu Tang saw Yuan Bao heading back down the mountain.

Feng Chunshan shouted down to those below, “Listen up down there! Your young master is tied to a tree. Bring three thousand taels of silver up here, and we’ll return him in one piece. Don’t try any tricks, or I’ve dismantled more plans than I have arms!”

As he spoke, Feng Chunshan tied Lu Tang to a large tree and left.

There was a flurry of noise from both the mountain and below.

After about a quarter of an hour, hurried, anxious footsteps approached. Through the hood, Lu Tang could vaguely see his mother’s silhouette.

He made muffled sounds through the gag.

“Little Tang!”

Madam Qiao, supported by Lu Shuqing, stumbled forward.

Yuan Bao quickly cut the ropes binding Lu Tang, and Lu Shuqing tore off the hood and threw it to the ground.

“Little Tang!”

Madam Qiao held Lu Tang’s face, tears streaming down.

Lu Tang spit out the rag in her mouth and threw herself into her mother’s arms, “Mother! Sister!”

Lu Deren was not present.

Once Madam Qiao let go of Lu Tang, Liang Cheng emerged from behind her, eyes red and choking up, “Brother Tang, I thought I’d never see you again!”

Lu Tang kicked him, “Damn it, can’t you say something nice?”

Then she hugged Liang Cheng tightly.

Liang Cheng, taller than Lu Tang, cried like a fool, “Brother Tang, I couldn’t protect you…”

After a brief moment of emotion, the group headed down the mountain and back home.

Liang Cheng accompanied Lu Tang to the doorstep, reluctant to leave, “Brother Tang, I’ll come over first thing tomorrow morning!”

Lu Tang kicked him, “If you ruin my sleep, I’ll kill you!”

Laughing, Liang Cheng left.

Back in the house, after a bath and a change of clothes, Lu Tang sat down opposite Madam Qiao and Lu Shuqing. The three finally began to talk calmly.

“Where’s Father?” Lu Tang asked, pouring tea for his mother and sister.

Madam Qiao remained silent, but Lu Shuqing rolled her eyes, “Him? He was afraid the bandits would kill him if he went to ransom you, so he pretended to be sick!”

On the day Lu Tang was kidnapped by the real bandits, Qiao Fu had rushed over with Yuan Bao.

Lu Shuqing hadn’t realized the bandits were real, so when she saw Qiao Fu, she took her emergency pill.

Lu Shuqing fainted, and with Lu Tang kidnapped by the bandits, the Gu family tried to take her away forcefully.

Luckily, Qiao Fu took Gu Songming hostage, and Yuan Bao managed to bring Lu Shuqing home.

When Qiao Fu met Madam Qiao, she realized Lu Tang was truly taken by bandits.

But then the Gu family accused Madam Qiao at the government office, claiming she had hired fake bandits to ruin the marriage.

Magistrate Zhao immediately had Madam Qiao arrested for questioning.

But before the questioning was over, someone came to see Magistrate Zhao. Initially, Magistrate Zhao was sure it was Madam Qiao’s scheme. However, after the visitor left, he declared that Lu Tang had indeed been kidnapped by real bandits.

Almost simultaneously, the bandits sent a ransom note demanding three thousand taels of silver for Lu Tang’s return.

They specifically wanted silver, not banknotes.

“Guess what Lu Deren’s reaction was? He almost said outright that losing a son wasn’t a big deal, but losing the silver was unacceptable!”

Recalling the events, Lu Shuqing ground her teeth in anger.

“Three thousand taels of silver. We couldn’t come up with that much on short notice. But Mother was amazing. While I was still wondering what to do, Mother had Uncle Qiao bring the account books to the county office and the neighboring county office, forcing the officials to repay their debts.”

The Lu family were wealthy merchants. Whenever Qingshui County needed to fund major projects, they borrowed money from the Lu family.

The Lu family’s business was widespread, with many ventures in neighboring counties, where the officials also borrowed money from time to time.

They took the money and issued IOUs, to be repaid when the court funds were allocated.

However, the repayments were never timely.

Usually, Madam Qiao turned a blind eye to this, but with her son’s life at stake, she couldn’t afford to be lenient.

After Lu Shuqing explained everything, Lu Tang clicked his tongue, “I know what Magistrate Zhao heard that day.”