The Favored Heiress
Chapter 351: An Unexpected Encounter with Shang Lu

Chapter 351: Chapter 351: An Unexpected Encounter with Shang Lu

Shang Yu left, leaving her alone in the old mansion?

Li Qiao ’oh’ed, lowered her head to touch her nails, and her tone was very light, "Do you have external injury medicine with you?"

She remembered the small green gourd bottle, which had a significant effect on treating external injuries.

Luoyu was momentarily taken aback, Miss Li was actually proactively asking for external injury medicine.

She reined in the smile that had surfaced on her lips and quickly replied, "Liuyun has already gone to the old mansion’s medicine cabinet to get the hematoma ointment for you."

Li Qiao nodded, fell silent for a few seconds, and then asked, "Did he say where he was going?"

"No," Luoyu’s reply was too crisp and decisive, and her increasingly lowered head was also very deliberately avoiding her gaze.

Li Qiao looked at her deeply for a moment, then waved her hand, "I won’t be attending the family banquet, help me tell..."

"Miss Li should still go, the gentleman is still waiting for you. Eldest Young Master has just gone out on a task, he’ll be back in a while," Luoyu’s explanatory words restored a bit of vitality to Li Qiao’s dimmed eyes.

Oh, as long as it wasn’t a runaway from home, it was fine.

Under Luoyu’s persistence, Li Qiao still refrained from acting willfully.

After all, with Shang Zonghai in front, Shang Yu behind, and being on the old mansion’s territory where there were many mouths and eyes, she couldn’t be too willful.

...

The family banquet was held at Yuezhai Hall, and the more than a dozen banquet tables had already been filled with people.

Li Qiao arrived a bit late and walked to the main table, nodding apologetically, "I’m sorry, uncle, I’m late."

Shang Zonghai waved his hand amiably, saying it wasn’t late, and then looked behind her, "Where is Shaoyan?"

Li Qiao pursed her lips, "He is..."

The excuse she was about to give hung on her lips when just outside the doors of Yuezhai Hall, bathed in the sunset’s afterglow, a tall and hidden figure approached from afar.

Housekeeper Xiao immediately gestured towards the door and bent forward to say, "Sir, the Eldest Young Master has arrived."

Li Qiao looked back accordingly and indeed saw Shang Yu walking in with a proud posture, one hand in his pocket.

His expression was still cold, his gaze steady and fierce, his shirt collar inexplicably unbuttoned by three buttons, revealing a wild and deadly air, with his tousled hair swinging unrestrainedly as he walked.

Li Qiao’s clear, deer-like eyes met his across the space, and then she pursed her lips and looked away, not wanting to reveal anything in front of everyone.

In a blink of an eye, the man reached the main table, glanced at Li Qiao, and sighed silently, his voice slow as he said, "Sit."

At the main table, the three of them each occupied one side.

Shang Zonghai, with his acute senses, picked up on the somewhat off atmosphere between the two and his calculating eyes fell on the rolled-up sleeve of Shang Yu, "Did you go out?"

"Yes," the man responded tersely.

Shang Zonghai looked deeply at Shang Yu and turned to command Housekeeper Xiao, "Get a towel, let him wipe himself."

Li Qiao, who was sipping her tea with her eyes downcast, narrowed her eyes in confusion and scrutinized the man from top to bottom with her peripheral vision.

Seconds later, she saw an inconspicuous bloodstain near his cuff.

It definitely wasn’t from earlier because his sleeves had been down then.

This was...

Li Qiao was still quietly speculating about his reason for leaving the house, while Shang Zonghai timely said, "Since the person has been taken away, the law will surely punish them severely, remember not to go overboard in your retribution."

At that moment, Shang Yu took the towel from Housekeeper Xiao, casually wiped his hands, and said with a cold and rash tone, "I’m still alive, no need for you to over-worry."

The ’over-worrying’ Shang Zonghai: "..."

Li Qiao sipped her tea, her eyes downcast to hide the turmoil beneath them.

She suspected... that Shang Yu had gone looking for trouble with Wen Shi and Shang Fu.

Indeed, just twenty minutes ago, two police cars were attacked on the road, yet all officers and public officials from the committee remain unharmed.

Only the prisoner Shang Fu was shot in both shoulders and legs, and Wen Shi had his entire arm hit by three bullets.

Their lives are not in danger, but the public servants were bewildered.

The bullets were fired from outside, and even though the transport vehicle was moving, the assailant’s marksmanship was exceptionally accurate, targeting only Shang Fu and Wen Shi.

...

During this family banquet, Li Qiao and Shang Yu had no interaction throughout.

The atmosphere at the main table was also unusually somber; aside from Shang Zonghai, who occasionally engaged in conversation, Li Qiao kept her head down and ate, while Shang Yu kept drinking.

During this period, many members of the collateral branches came up with glasses in hand to exchange pleasantries—some flattering, some probing, and more still were just coldly observing.

This was a family banquet, yet it was laced with too much personal grudge and interest disputes that it didn’t seem like an ordinary, harmonious, and pure family gathering.

Li Qiao ate very little, her heart filled with mixed feelings and completely lacking any appetite.

Though she and Shang Yu hadn’t spoken, he drank a lot—fine medicinal alcohol and red wine. Under Li Qiao’s observation, he had downed at least seven or eight glasses.

Throughout the meal, he still served her food, but much less frequently than before.

Li Qiao was feeling repressed, and as the banquet concluded, she stood up and left Yuezhai Hall without looking back.

Shang Zonghai and Shang Yu couldn’t leave right away, surrounded by other family heads offering toasts, and amidst the polite words, their awe was not hard to detect.

After all, with Shang Zonghai in charge, and today’s Clan Assembly having expelled both the eighth and eleventh families, including Shang Fu in a clear act of intimidation, the other collateral branches could not help but act cautiously.

Fearing they might be the next to be expelled.

And the several elders of the Elders’ Hall all looked displeased, with the Three Elder clutching his teacup tightly and turning his head to ask, "Great Elder, did the association leader consult with the Elders’ Hall about today’s expulsion of the eighth family?"

Great Elder Hu Ying glanced in the direction where Li Qiao had left, giving a cold snort, "Consult? If he had consulted, would I be as surprised as you are?

Up to now, haven’t you seen that the association leader is deliberately undermining the authority of the Elders’ Hall, not even involving us in matters of expulsion from the clan records?"

For a moment, the three elders looked at each other with darkened gazes, none of them speaking, but simultaneously turning their eyes towards Li Qiao’s retreating figure.

They knew well enough that the appearance of this girl had disturbed a certain balance, and most likely... she could no longer stay.

...

In the back garden of the old residence, Li Qiao wandered aimlessly.

The slanting glow of the sunset spread a blanket of golden yellow, and Luoyu followed her silently a few steps away.

It seems that Eldest Young Master and Miss Li have had a quarrel.

This seems to be the first time they have been at odds for so long.

Unknowingly, Li Qiao arrived near the artificial lake, standing at the lakeside and looking at the shimmering water, her mood as unsettled as the lake surface when a breeze stirs.

And then...

"What, what, what are you doing here?"

A startled exclamation came from behind and slightly to the side. Li Qiao turned around emotionlessly, saw his bland face, slightly tugged at the corner of her mouth, and said nothing.

Shang Lu, it’s been a long time indeed.

Luoyu called out "Second Master" from a few steps away, glanced at his flamboyant motorcycle attire, with a hint of disdain fleeting through his eyes.

Of all the people in the Shang Family Clan, the one who seemed to live the most carefree life was probably this Second Young Master.

Ignoring world affairs, enjoying scenic delights, indulgent and wilful.

Shang Lu looked at Li Qiao warily, cautiously maintaining a safe distance, and his gaze impolitely swept over Li Qiao, "Why aren’t you saying anything? Why are you at our place? How did you get in, are you following me?"