It can be said that Meng Zhao was attacked and injured, which put Lu Le under great psychological pressure.
Self-blame and guilt gnawed at his heart like poisonous snakes.
Although Meng Zhao never complained about him at all and even dismissed him, Lu Le couldn't overcome this hurdle on his own.
Now, under the questioning of his foster father Lu Zhong, his defenses completely collapsed, and he knelt down to plead guilty in front of everyone.
Lu Zhong's stern expression remained unchanged, and he stared at Lu Le coldly, his terrifying aura suddenly erupting like a volcano.
Meng Zhao and others' eyes were dazzled. Before they realized what happened, Lu Le rolled down and fell to the side like a broken bag.
The five skinny fingerprints on the round right cheek were distinct, bright red like blood, and raised high.
"This slap was given by me as a father to teach you to think twice and be cautious when doing things in the future.
I don't want this to happen a second time.
As for whether you should be punished, that is the young master’s decision, and you should apologize to the young master.”
Meng Zhao was startled, but it wasn't that Lu Le was slapped that made him fuss.
But he couldn't see clearly or understand how Lu Zhong took action.
In the same way, if you can't even see clearly, once you encounter such an opponent, you will basically be killed instantly.
Meng Zhao silently raised his status as an innate master a few levels higher in his mind, and he would not offend him if he could.
At the same time, he quickly walked to Lu Le's side, helped him up, and comforted him,
"Uncle Zhong, what are you doing? Ah Le is still young, so it is inevitable that he will make some mistakes.
I was injured only because of my own lack of strength, so I can’t blame him."
The effect of his actions was very obvious.
Lu Zhong's originally tense face relaxed. Apparently he was afraid that Meng Zhao would lose trust and confidence in Lu Le, so he deliberately taught him a lesson to calm Meng Zhao down.
After all, Lu Le was his adopted son who he had raised since childhood, so he still had feelings for him.
Meng Zhao was so magnanimous, and he felt at ease.
As for the rest of his subordinates, seeing this scene, they naturally had a good impression of Meng Zhao.
This mentality is also very common. Everyone likes to work under a boss who is generous and tolerant. Even if they make mistakes occasionally, they can be forgiven.
What if Meng Zhao acted extremely cold-blooded, indifferent, or even unreasonable?
Everyone may still be loyal to him, but how sincere they are is not certain.
Although the human heart is unpredictable, you might as well try to capture it for your own use.
"The young master is kind and generous, Ah Le, why don't you thank the young master quickly!"
Lu Le's face was half swollen. He was very ashamed and thanked Meng Zhao, but his speech was a little slurred.
"Sese, slut, sese, slut."
Meng Zhao held back his laughter, nodded slightly, turned to look at Lu Zhong, and said,
"Uncle Zhong, don't stay here. Let's go into the room and talk. I just have something to ask you."
Lu Zhong slapped his forehead with his pipe and said hurriedly,
"You are really confused. Master, please come with me."
We arrived at a room in the mansion used for entertaining guests.
Lu Zhong drove the others out, leaving two people guarding the door to prevent the conversation from being overheard.
Meng Zhao sat in the master's position in the hall with a graceful posture, put the Buddhist beads he was holding in his left hand on the table, picked up a cup of freshly brewed ginseng tea and took a sip, feeling the fatigue in his body go away a little.
Lu Le stood beside him and listened. He pressed a white towel with crushed ice in his hand on his red and swollen cheek. From time to time, he opened his mouth and moved. The soreness and numbness quickly disappeared, and his speech returned to normal.
With a face full of embarrassment, he took the initiative to tell Lu Zhong in detail about the attacks he had encountered along the way and the traitors he suspected.
Lu Zhong sat hunched over on the rather spacious Grand Master's chair, puffing on his pipe and blowing out smoke rings. He listened patiently, occasionally showing a solemn expression, and nodding from time to time, thoughtfully.
The whole thing happened very suddenly and very strangely.
Because neither Meng Zhao nor Lu Le thought anyone would attack them, because there was no reason.
Meng Zhao has not been in Nan'an County for the past ten years. Not only does he have no grudges with anyone, he also has very few conflicts of interest. Now that he has just returned home, he is very low-key and not many people know about him.
What might make people hate him is that he went to his second brother Meng Wen's banquet last night and accepted a bunch of valuable jasper beads, but that's all.
The eldest son Meng Xi is not broad-minded and may be unhappy and dissatisfied with this, but to say that he sent people to attack Meng Zhao frantically just because of this is too hasty and cannot withstand scrutiny.
How could such a madman possibly inherit the Meng family business?
As for Meng Qinghuai, he did show some hostility towards Meng Zhao.
But in the eyes of Meng Zhao and Lu Le, the possibility that he was the one behind the scenes was even smaller than that of the eldest son Meng Xi.
After Lu Zhong heard this, he knocked on the table with his pipe and said slowly,
"Ale, didn't you collect the flying knives, silver needles, and plum blossom darts from that hidden weapon master? Take them out and show them to me."
Hearing this, Lu Le quickly put down the white towel in his hand, quickly took out a piece of rag from the small bag wrapped around his waist, revealed the hidden weapon wrapped inside, and handed it to Lu Zhong.
Lu Zhong clicked his lips, picked up a silver needle and looked at it carefully, put it in the palm of his hand, weighed the weight, nodded, and said as expected,
"The silver needle is mixed with a bit of star-grained steel, which absorbs light when exposed to the sun and hides its edge, making it hard to detect. Moreover, the upper end of the needle feels a bit rough and has been specially polished.
Sure enough, this silver needle and the hidden weapon that killed the guardian of our manor before were probably made by the same person."
"What?"
Meng Zhao and Lu Le were very surprised. They had no idea that the people who attacked them would be the same people who attacked the manor before. Are they so brave?
Lu Zhong looked at the surprised two people and said with a smile,
"Why, are you confused?
In fact, just after hearing your description, I felt familiar.
The dwarf who can wrap around scars with his body skills, the master who has mastered the powerful eagle claw hand, and the master who uses hidden weapons, all have obvious characteristics.
Five days ago that night, they led a group of people into the village.
We killed seven nursing homes in the acquired realm, burned down medicine fields, and looted medicine warehouses, causing us a lot of losses.
Two nurses who narrowly escaped with their lives recorded their characteristics.
Also, there were silver needles left by the hidden weapon master on two of the corpses, so I was so sure.
I have sent people to find their whereabouts before, and I also sent a message from the government. I thought there would be results soon.
I didn't expect that this group of people would dare to ambush the young master and have evil intentions. They are really bold."
Having said this, Lu Zhong shook his head and said bitterly,
"This group of people are not only highly skilled in martial arts, but they have also been trained to be extremely qualified and ferocious. They are definitely not ordinary people.
Thanks to the good fortune of the young master, I was able to overcome this difficulty.
Otherwise, the old slave will go underground and have no face to see the two masters."
He sent people to search for the murderer and almost killed his young master.
Lu Le is suspected of being careless and ineffective in doing things.
Otherwise, if this group of people had been caught earlier, how could Meng Zhao be in danger? This was Lu Zhong's thinking.
Looking at it this way, Lu Le is exactly the same as him, and he has obviously obtained his "true inheritance".