Outside, Lu Qingwan and Feng Xiwu were unaware of Feng Qingheng's thoughts, their attention fixed on the Xuanjia Army soldiers diligently using various tools to drain the water.
However, before long, the exquisitely decorated courtyard was filled with murky wastewater, yet the water in the lotus pond seemed to have hardly decreased.
Li Yang was troubled, "With so much water, how long will it take to bail it all out?"
Lu Qingwan also found it slow. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, and she spotted a clump of bamboo in the corner. Her eyes lit up.
She sprang up, "Go, chop down a few bamboo stalks. Get me one that's slightly thinner and three that are thicker."
Li Yang didn't understand, but he went nonetheless.
Wielding his sword with no regard for it, he swiftly cut down several bamboo stalks. As Lu Qingwan requested, three thick ones and one thin one, he dragged them, branches and leaves still attached, before her.
The leaves brushed past the faces of the soldiers standing by, earning Li Yang a barrage of disdainful glances.
Lu Qingwan also showed her displeasure, "Cut off all these branches and leaves. Be careful not to damage the bamboo stalks."
"Yes, Princess Consort!"
Li Yang replied, calling over the soldiers, "Come and help!"
Several soldiers, carrying their sabers, rushed over and, with a flurry of chopping, reduced the four main stalks to bare poles.
They even cleverly bundled up the small strips of paper on the ground and carried them away.
Lu Qingwan nodded approvingly, "Li Yang, speaking of which, you're their superior, aren't you? If you had even a third of these boys' cleverness, you wouldn't have to go to the Dark Hall every day."
Others went to the Dark Hall as punishment, but Li Yang was either in the Dark Hall or on his way there.
If Feng Xiwu didn't need him for tasks, he probably would have settled in the Dark Hall.
Feeling so despised by Lu Qingwan, Li Yang was on the verge of tears. He playfully whined, "Princess Consort, you know I'm their superior. Please, leave me some face!"
Then, inexplicably, he flew into the lotus pond where a group of Xuanjia Army brothers were laboriously bailing water. He landed spread-eagled, a rather painful fall.
Li Jin awkwardly rubbed his nose. To act so coy with the Princess Consort in front of the Prince, this fellow truly had a death wish.
Lu Qingwan looked at Feng Xiwu with a half-smile, "Bathing in mud, Your Highness's subordinate has quite a peculiar hobby?"
Feng Xiwu played dumb, "His actions have always been unconventional. Princess Consort need not mind him. What are you planning to do with these bamboo stalks you had cut?"
"Drainage," Lu Qingwan replied concisely. "Help me clear the joints inside. As I said before, don't damage the bamboo stalks."
She addressed Feng Xiwu, but the guards dared not let Feng Xiwu do such work.
Li Jin quickly picked up a bamboo stalk and volunteered, "Princess Consort, allow me."
Without waiting for Lu Qingwan's consent, he took the thinner bamboo stalk and inserted it into the thicker one, pushing with all his might.
With a crack, the thicker bamboo stalk split.
Li Jin's palm was caught by the split stalk, and the pain was so intense he could barely breathe, but he only felt embarrassed.
He looked at Lu Qingwan sheepishly, "Princess Consort?"
"It's not something that can be done with brute force." Lu Qingwan took the bamboo stalk. "Go and cut another bamboo stalk of similar thickness."
Li Jin hurried off to cut bamboo, while Lu Qingwan held a bamboo stalk, comparing it. Feng Xiwu reached out, "Let me try."
Lu Qingwan pouted, "If you all keep trying, the soldiers will be exhausted to death!"
Feng Xiwu smiled without speaking, took a bamboo stalk, and like Li Jin, inserted the thinner bamboo into the thicker one. However, his movements were far more elegant than Li Jin's.
With what seemed like a gentle push, barely making a sound, the thinner stalk directly protruded from one end of the thicker stalk.
Lu Qingwan took it and saw that all the joints inside were cleared, yet the outer wall of the bamboo remained undamaged.
"Not bad!" Lu Qingwan was satisfied and casually picked up the remaining bamboo stalk. "Process this one too."
Li Jin, who had returned from cutting bamboo, eagerly went to the side and retrieved the thin bamboo stalk.
Feng Xiwu repeated his previous action, clearing the joints of all three bamboo stalks. Lu Qingwan tore a piece of cloth from her clothes and handed it to Li Jin, "Use this to tie the three bamboo stalks together. Fill them with water, place one end in the lotus pond, and the other in the drainage ditch by the wall."
Li Jin had just made a mistake and, though his mind was filled with questions, he dared not say anything more and obediently followed instructions.
However, before long, he discovered that listening to Lu Qingwan was an incredibly wise decision!
"Princess Consort, what... what is happening?!"
With just three bamboo pipes, the water from the lotus pond was flowing on its own into the drainage ditch several zhang away. It was astonishing.
Lu Qingwan deliberately teased, "Your Highness, you can let the soldiers come up!"
The Xuanjia Army soldiers watched in astonishment as Li Jin inserted a bamboo pipe into the water, and the water in the lotus pond began to recede on its own.
Following Feng Xiwu's command, they climbed out of the dark place, not minding their wet clothes, and rushed to examine the drainage pipe.
Seeing that no one was operating the bamboo pipes at either end, and the water was indeed flowing out of the lotus pond by itself, they were all stunned.
"Princess Consort came up with such a brilliant method! She's too smart!"
"Exactly! Whoever calls the Princess Consort an ugly, useless woman, I'll be the first to object!"
The young soldier declared excitedly, only to be lightly slapped on the forehead by Li Jin.
"The Princess Consort has the Prince protecting her, why do you need to object?"
"That's right!"
A group of soldiers burst into laughter, unaware that this small incident had earned Lu Qingwan a good impression among the Xuanjia Army.
It had paved a good way for Lu Qingwan to become the mistress of the Xuanjia Army.
"Subordinate pays respects to the Regent!"
Han Guang emerged from Lan Yurou's mourning hall. Two yamen runners escorted Lu Siwan out. Upon seeing Feng Xiwu, they stepped forward to pay their respects.
Feng Xiwu looked over slowly, "Has the case of Madam Lan been investigated?"
"Yes, Regent." Han Guang respectfully replied, "Miss Lu Er had a conflict with Madam Lan and her daughter, and accidentally killed Madam Lan. That's why the obituary was not issued and the burial was rushed, in an attempt to conceal the evidence."
"It wasn't me, it truly wasn't me!" Lu Siwan, escorted by the yamen runners from the Jingzhao Prefecture, struggled excitedly, her two male escorts unable to restrain her. "Your Highness, you know this! My mother wasn't killed by me! She's my own mother, how could I possibly kill my own mother! Your Highness, say something! You were the one who killed her..."
"Enough, Wan'er, I truly didn't expect you to be this kind of person!" Before Lu Siwan could finish, Feng Qingheng interrupted her impatiently. "You said Lu Qingwan had disappeared, and you feared that if the bride went missing, it would implicate the Marquis's mansion and incur the Emperor's displeasure, so you replaced her in the sedan chair. Seeing that the deed was done, I indulged your face. Later, when the Emperor ordered me to marry you as a concubine, I also prepared meticulously. Yet you still orchestrated the witchcraft incident to frame Lu Qingwan. You claimed it was because you feared Lu Qingwan would fight for me, and I forgave you once more! Now, you even dare to kill your own mother. I truly cannot tolerate this! You are my woman, and I don't want you to suffer physical pain. I will send you on your way now!"
Saying this, he snatched the saber from the yamen runner's hand and thrust it into Lu Siwan's abdomen.