Chapter 345: Concealed Spatial Artifact

Translator: CokeZero Editor: Rainystars

After finishing her words, uncle Lin and Aunt Hua quickly pushed their own son forward.

Li Nantian and Zhou Shaogong’s children also stepped forward.

Lu Jiao looked at the four little boys and said, “Here are four little boys. Each of you can choose a playmate. Remember, from now on, they will share honor and disgrace with you. If you make a mistake, they will also be punished.” As Lu Jiao finished speaking, the four little boys stared at the four little guys in front of the crowd.

The four little ones were already familiar with Lin Xi, but they were not familiar with the other three. However, that didn’t stop them from curiously sizing up these little guys.

Lu Jiao looked at the four little boys and said, “First Born, choose first.”

The First Born immediately spoke responsibly, “Mommy, let the younger brothers choose first.”

Lu Jiao immediately vetoed, “As the eldest brother, allowing your younger brothers to choose first shows your magnanimity, but in our family, you are the eldest son. The eldest brother is like a father, so you have the priority to choose.”

Previously, Lu Jiao indulged the four little boys because they were young. Now, she wanted to establish the right mindsets for them.

She couldn’t let them disregard the feelings of their elder brother just because the First Born was sensible and considerate.

As soon as Lu Jiao said this, the three little boys immediately called out to First Born, “First Born, you are the older brother, you choose first.”

First Born looked at Lu Jiao with bright eyes, feeling indescribably sweet in his heart. Whether he chose first or not didn’t matter to him, but he was happy that his mommy did it this way. Furthermore, mommy remembered his kindness towards his younger brothers, and he felt very happy, as if he had done something good and was being affirmed.

The First Born turned and looked at the four little children, and finally chose Lin Xi. Lin Xi was very happy and grabbed the First Born’s hand, smiling,

“Little Master, I will take good care of you in the future.”

The First Born smiled and said, “I will take care of you too.”

The two of them smiled at each other, establishing the bond between master and servant.

After the First Born made his choice, Second Born ran out and chose Zhou Shaogong’s eldest son, Zhou Changan. Zhou Changan was strong and sturdy, and Second Born immediately took a liking to him. He thought that Zhou Changan could learn martial arts with him in the future, so he would have someone to practice with.

The First, Third, and Fourth Born weren’t particularly fond of practicing martial arts. The Second Born felt lonely practicing alone, but now that he had Zhou Changan, he would have someone to practice with. Not bad, not bad.

Third Bao chose Li Nantian’s son, Li Jincheng, nicknamed Yuanbao.

Yuanbao was a delicate-looking boy, and Third Born was always particular about appearances. He immediately took a liking to Yuanbao and pulled him in. He smiled at Lu Jiao, “Mommy, I’ll choose Yuanbao.”

Lu Jiao nodded and looked at the Fourth Born. In the past, everyone always let the Fourth Born choose first. Most of the time, he was the first one picked, but this time he was left behind. Lu Jiao wanted to see if he would get upset.

Indeed, the Fourth Born felt uncomfortable, so he stood there for a while without speaking, feeling a bit wronged.

Zhou Shaogong’s second son, Zhou Youqin, was a very clever child. He noticed that Fourth Born was unhappy, so he immediately ran over, grabbed Fourth Bao’s hand, and said, “Little Master, I am Xiao Shitou. Please don’t reject me. I will take good care of you in the future.”

When Fourth Bao heard Xiao Shitou’s name, he was surprised and curiously asked him, “Why do you also have the name Shitou? There was also an older brother Shitou in the village where we used to live, and he was a really nice person.”

Xiao Shitou immediately started talking about his own name, and the two little guys got so engrossed in their conversation that they completely forgot about everyone else around them.

Lu Jiao looked at Fourth Born speechlessly. One chatterbox had encountered another chatterbox, and they had plenty to talk about.

Lu Jiao no longer paid attention to Fourth Born and turned to address the people standing below, “Alright, from now on, just focus on your assigned tasks. I don’t want chaos in the house.”

Lu Jiao spoke with a solemn tone, and everyone in the courtyard responded loudly, “Lady Lu, rest assured, we will fulfill our duties.”

Lu Jiao waved her hand, signaling everyone to disperse. However, just as she finished waving her hand, a weak voice from below spoke up, “Lady Lu, I haven’t been assigned a task yet.”

Lu Jiao quickly looked down and was surprised to find that it was Li Nantian’s blind mother who was speaking.

Although Old Lady Li couldn’t see, she didn’t want to be idle. In a weak voice, she said, “Lady Lu, I can also contribute. Please assign me to help Aunt Hua in the kitchen.”

Lu Jiao glanced at Li Nantian, who was pleading with his eyes, hoping that Lu Jiao would give his mother something to do.

After considering for a moment, Lu Jiao didn’t refuse and replied, “Alright, from now on, you can help Aunt Hua with cooking and vegetable picking.”

Old Lady Li immediately became more energetic and said, “Okay, I will definitely do more work from now on.”

Lu Jiao nodded and waved her hand, dispersing the crowd and allowing everyone to go to their respective positions.

She turned around with Feng Zhi and headed toward Xie Yunjin’s room.

On the wav. Lu Jiao said to Feng Zhi. “From now on. vou will be mv senior maid and assist me with daily affairs. Liu An and Liu Fu will be responsible for taking care of me.’

During this period, Lu Jiao observed Feng Zhi’s abilities, and she was quite capable.

“Lady Lu, I understand,” Feng Zhi replied.

Lu Jiao entered Xie Yunjin’s room and explained the arrangements for the servants to him. She then said, “In the future, Ruan Kai and Zhou Shaogong will protect you personally, so you won’t easily get hurt again.”

However, Xie Yunjin did not fully agree with Lu Jiao’s arrangement. He looked at her earnestly and said, “If Ruan Kai is by your side protecting you, I will have Zhou Shaogong by my side. If you’re still worried, I can bring Li Nantian with me when I go out. That way, I’ll have two people protecting me as well.”

Lu Jiao, however, ignored his suggestion. She knew herself well. She had a concealed spatial artifact on her body and was not concerned about her own life.

On the contrary, Xie Yunjin needed more people to protect him. Now that the four prominent families knew that he had become the advisor to the magistrate, they would spare no effort in sending people to kill him to prevent him from disrupting their network of relationships with officials. Therefore, Xie Yunjin’s safety was the most important.

“Stop talking about it. It’s settled. I rarely leave the house anyway, so I don’t need that many people. Having Ruan Zhu with me is enough,” Lu Jiao said, finishing her words and preparing to leave.

Outside the room, Lu Gui and Officer Zhao hurriedly walked in.

As soon as Officer Zhao entered, he anxiously said, “Yunjin, it’s not good. The lover of Luo Xinwu, whom we previously captured, has been killed.”

Xie Yunjin’s face immediately turned gloomy, and he looked at Officer Zhao with an unhappy expression, “You repeatedly assured me that it would be arranged properly and that there would be no mistakes. But now, the person has been killed again. What does this mean? It means that everyone in the county’s justice system, from top to bottom, has been bribed.”

Xie Yunjin had been hesitant about putting Luo Xinwu’s lover in the district jail. His suggestion was to find another place and arrange for guards to watch over her.

However, Officer Zhao thought it would be convenient to keep her in jail, as he believed it would be difficult for the other party to make a move. He thought his few trusted subordinates were reliable, but now it seemed that they had been bought without his knowledge..