Jiang Mengxin, Xu Qin, and others were incredulous upon seeing the banner, feeling as though they were watching a TV drama and suspecting they were dreaming.
What right did Lu Ming, a nobody graveyard keeper, have to deserve the words "Loyally Serve the Country"?
Had he made any significant contributions to the nation?
No!
Xu Qin coughed twice and timidly said, "Minister Liang, I think you might have made a mistake. Why would this banner be for Lu Ming? It must be for someone else, right?"
Liang Jiadong replied, "How could this be a mistake? It was a direct order from Mayor Liang himself, and I personally procured the banner. Do you think the Mayor of Modu and a Minister would both make a mistake?"
"No, no, of course not." Xu Qin glanced back at Jiang Mengxin, and the mother and daughter were both dumbfounded, completely unable to grasp what was happening.
Jiang Mengxin deliberately stepped forward and inquired, "Minister Liang, it's not that we don't believe you, but this is rather sudden. Why would you suddenly present a banner to Lu Ming? And such an important one at that."
To be honest, even Liang Jiadong himself might not have been able to bear the weight of the words "Loyally Serve the Country."
Let alone a lowly live-in son-in-law?
Liang Jiadong explained, "What, didn't Lu Ming tell you?"
Jiang Mengxin shook her head.
Liang Jiadong burst into laughter and then recounted what had just happened: Lu Ming had cooperated with a Five-Star General to achieve a great feat, apprehending Hai Wentao, a traitor who had harmed the nation and its people.
During this apprehension operation, Lu Ming's contributions were immense, and therefore, he deserved such a banner.
After hearing Liang Jiadong's explanation, Jiang Mengxin and Xu Qin were even more bewildered.
Were they joking?
They had just driven Lu Ming away, and now they were calling him a hero?
Even more infuriating was the fact that Xu Qin had driven Lu Ming away precisely out of fear of retaliation from Hai Wentao, wanting to distance herself from him. Now, they were saying Hai Wentao was a great traitor who had harmed the nation, and Lu Ming was a hero.
What did that make Jiang Mengxin, Xu Qin, and the others?
Opportunists!
Liang Jiadong said, "Let's not waste any more time. Please invite Lu Ming out quickly. I want to present the banner to him in person."
Jiang Mengxin hurriedly said, "Lu Ming said he had something to attend to and went out. We don't know when he'll be back. How about this, Minister, you can leave the banner here for now. As soon as Lu Ming returns, we'll immediately give it to him."
Liang Jiadong nodded. "That's fine. I also have a lot of official duties to attend to. I'll trouble you, President Jiang."
With that, Liang Jiadong had people carry the banner into the Xiao family's residence and then left with his entourage.
Even as the car drove away, Jiang Mengxin still felt it was unreal. The group returned to the living room, exchanging glances, unsure of what to say.
To protect themselves, they had chosen to drive Lu Ming away.
Now that Lu Ming was a hero, should they invite him back? The problem was, it would be too embarrassing!
Xiao Zhan stood up and said, "Leave this to me. I'll go and call Lu Ge back. I believe with Lu Ge's magnanimity, he won't dwell on such a matter."
Xu Qin let out a scoff and said dismissively, "Won't dwell on it? You don't know Lu Ming. That brat holds grudges worse than a needle. We misunderstood him this time, and he's probably putting on airs so high that even a grand procession might not be able to invite him back."
Everyone fell silent.
After a long while, Jiang Mengxin said, "Regardless, we have to invite Lu Ming back. If not for anything else, then for our own safety, we must get Lu Ming back. If others find out we drove Lu Ming away to curry favor with Hai Wentao, wouldn't we be branded as 'accomplices'? If someone decides to deal with us then, we'll have no way to defend ourselves."
Hearing this, Xu Qin stamped her foot furiously.
Waving a feather duster, she cursed, "This damned Lu Ming, he just can't stop causing me trouble! Is it our fault this time? Did we want to misunderstand him? No! The words were on his lips; he could have explained things clearly, but he just didn't. Who is to blame for that? Accusing us of misunderstanding him, bah, he was clearly putting on a show!"
Jiang Mengxin sighed, "Alas, Lu Ming's temper is just like that. What can we do about him?"
The mother and daughter, singing in harmony, somehow shifted all the blame onto Lu Ming.
Xiao Zhan, listening beside them, shook his head and thought to himself: With the two of you acting like this, even if Lu Ming had told you the truth back then, would you have believed him? You would have thought he was talking nonsense and still driven him away. Whether he said it or not, the outcome would have been the same.
Xiao Zhan now truly understood how difficult Lu Ming's situation was.
In the future, when Xiao Zhan looked for a wife, he would prioritize his mother-in-law and definitely not find one as unreasonable as Xu Qin.
Jiang Mengxin raised her hand, signaling everyone to be quiet. "Stop talking. I'll call Lu Ming now and ask him to come back."
Immediately, she dialed Lu Ming's phone number.
But embarrassingly, it directly displayed: The number you have dialed is switched off.
"Damn it!" Xu Qin cursed, "This little brat, does he really think he's so important? He dares not answer my call? Who gave him the guts?!"
Jiang Mengxin also shook her head and quietly put down her phone.
She muttered to herself, "Today, I've truly seen what it means for a petty man to achieve success."
...
Jinling, Heavenly God Island.
The news of Hai Wentao's arrest reached Murong Shuang immediately. Terrified, she didn't even have time to eat and frantically checked the situation.
Although Murong Shuang deeply disliked Hai Wentao and found him unpleasant, she was aware of his capabilities.
Hai Wentao was ruthless, meticulous, and definitely not someone who could be easily subdued. Yet, he had been arrested within a few hours of arriving in Modu?
After all, Hai Wentao was a Three-Star General, not an ordinary citizen that you could arrest at will.
After reviewing the entire incident, Murong Shuang fell silent.
Everything was logical.
And yet, everything was also eerily bizarre.
Deputy General Qin Tong said, "I didn't expect the higher-ups to transfer Hai Wentao to Modu this time just to catch him in a trap. Alas, we were still hoping to use his help to solve Murong Ba's case, but he ended up falling into a trap himself."
Murong Shuang narrowed her eyes slightly and analyzed, "This is all too coincidental."
Suddenly, Murong Shuang looked at Qin Tong and asked a very pointed question.
She asked, "Qin Tong, if it weren't Hai Wentao, but me, who went to Modu to investigate Murong Ba's incident, would I also have been arrested?"