The abstinent and powerful minister is cold and aloof during the day, but he adores her in his dream

Chapter 111 Lu Zhan Discovers Clues

Chen Jiu repeated what Shuang'er had said.

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhan paused for a moment, but said nothing.

Chen Jiu handed over the pastries Shuang'er had given him, saying, "Shuang'er said these are the pastries that Miss Shuang'er loved to eat when she was little. Please try them."

Lu Zhan took it, opened the oil paper, and found some chestnut cakes inside.

He frowned slightly.

He doesn't like sweets, but he still picked up a piece and tasted it.

The overly sweet taste made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

After finishing the meal, I immediately drank two cups of tea.

When they arrived at the inn, the carriage stopped, and Chen Jiu got off first.

After completing the check-in procedures, Chen Jiu returned and said, "Your Highness, this inn is quite clean and tidy. I have already booked three excellent guest rooms."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhan alighted from the carriage.

Just then, Zhiwan also got off the carriage.

"Cousin." Zhiwan curtsied.

Lu Zhan's gaze lingered on her slightly reddened eyes for a moment, and he said gently, "It's a bit late today, let's go sweep the tombs tomorrow morning."

“Okay.” Zhiwan obediently replied, then added, “My wet nurse lives in a small town down below, not far from here. It’s still early, and I want to go see her.”

Lu Zhan thought for a moment and then said, "Wait a moment, I'll go with you."

Zhiwan was somewhat surprised, then shook her head. "The town is rather remote, so you can stay here to rest, Cousin. Pearl will accompany me."

"I can't go to remote places?" Lu Zhan frowned.

Zhiwan choked for a moment, "That's not what I meant, it's just..."

“I’ve been to even the most remote places. You wait here.” Lu Zhan said this without room for argument, and then entered the inn.

Zhi Wan frowned.

She felt embarrassed to ask her cousin to accompany her to the town to see her wet nurse again, since he was so busy and had personally accompanied her back to Jurong.

Moreover, she hadn't seen her wet nurse for a long time, and when they met again, they would inevitably have to catch up, which she was afraid her cousin would get impatient.

Seeing her cousin enter the inn, she really wanted to take the opportunity to slip away, but she only dared to think about it and did not dare to do it.

Seeing that she hadn't gotten into the carriage yet, Ouyang Zhenzhu got off.

"Why aren't you leaving yet?"

“My cousin said he wants to go together,” Zhiwan said.

Ouyang Zhenzhu was also somewhat surprised, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she asked Jiang Shi, who was standing next to her, "Why haven't I seen Duan Ling these past two days?"

"Duan Shaoqing stayed on the big ship," Jiang Shi said succinctly.

Ouyang Zhenzhu asked curiously, "Why did he stay on the big ship?"

"I'm in charge of guarding those bandit leaders and their loot," Jiang Shi said casually.

"He even has to personally guard them? What, are those bandit leaders and the stolen goods that important?" Ouyang Zhenzhu asked again.

Jiang Shi didn't answer this time, only glancing at her indifferently, as if she had asked a very stupid question.

Ouyang Zhenzhu: "..."

She coughed lightly and then asked, "What is Lord Lu doing inside? Why hasn't he come out yet?"

"I need to relieve myself," Jiang Shi said calmly.

Ouyang Zhenzhu coughed and said in surprise, "So Lord Lu also needs to relieve himself!"

Now it was Zhiwan's turn to cough, looking at her with a complicated expression, "Cousin is a person too."

Ouyang Zhenzhu said sullenly, "In my mind, Lord Lu is like a god. I thought he didn't have these troubles of ordinary people." Zhiwan: "..."

Jiang Shi, who was standing to the side, also twitched at the corner of his mouth.

A short while later, Lu Zhan came out. He was unaware that the group had been discussing whether he needed to relieve himself. Seeing the two standing there, he said calmly, "Let's go."

Zhiwan nodded and got back into the carriage with Ouyang Zhenzhu.

The carriage drove out of the city and headed towards Jingning Town.

Jingning Town was indeed not far from Jurong; it took about 45 minutes to get there.

However, when Zhiwan and Shuang'er followed their memories and found Chen's wet nurse's house, they found that she was living with strangers.

The two thought they had remembered it wrong and began to get a little anxious.

"Auntie, did the Chen Yumei family live here before?" Chen Jiu asked as he stepped forward.

The old woman glanced at them, frowned, and said, "I don't know any Chen Yumei, but before we moved in, there was indeed a large family living here, and the lady of the house was indeed surnamed Chen."

Upon hearing this, Zhiwan quickly asked, "Do you know where they moved to?"

"I heard that Sister Chen's son ran a shop, lost money, and had no choice but to sell this house to us. Two years ago, the whole family went back to the countryside to farm," the old woman replied.

"Do you know which village they went to?"

The old woman thought for a while before saying, "It seems to be a village under Jingning Town, called... called Hongye Village."

"Thank you," Zhiwan said gratefully. Turning around, she saw that Lu Zhan had also gotten off the carriage, so she said to him, "Cousin, the wet nurse has moved to the countryside. I need to go to Red Leaf Village. You and Chen Jiu should go back first."

"Let's go together." Lu Zhan said without room for argument and then got into the carriage.

With her mind on Chen the wet nurse, Zhiwan didn't care about anything else and quickly got into the carriage with Ouyang Zhenzhu.

The carriage drove towards Red Leaf Village.

The road to the village was difficult to travel, and coupled with the long carriage ride that day, Zhiwan's back was starting to give out. By the time she got off the carriage, her face was already quite pale.

As soon as Lu Zhan stepped off the carriage, he noticed her pale face and frowned, asking Shuang'er, "What happened to her?"

Shuang'er immediately said, "Miss was hit on the back with the hilt of a knife by that Liu Niang earlier, and it hasn't fully healed yet. Today, after sitting in the carriage for so long, the bumpy ride must have aggravated the injury on her back."

Lu Zhan was taken aback. The next moment, he suddenly looked up at Zhi Wan, his dark eyes filled with emotions that were so complex that they were impossible to decipher.

Zhiwan felt uneasy under his gaze, but she was preoccupied with her wet nurse and didn't dwell on it. She quickly instructed Shuang'er, "It's getting late, hurry up and ask where the wet nurse lives."

Shuang'er then went with Chen Jiu.

"Wanwan, come sit down for a while." Ouyang Zhenzhu sat on a large rock by the roadside and beckoned Zhiwan over.

When Zhiwan walked over and sat down next to her, she saw her cousin standing there with his eyes downcast, seemingly lost in thought, but his aura was somewhat intimidating.

Ouyang Zhenzhu rubbed her arms, leaned close to Zhiwan, and whispered in her ear, "What happened to Lord Lu? Did you offend him?"

Zhiwan shook her head blankly, "No..."

Before long, Shuang'er returned excitedly with Chen Jiu. "Miss, we found out that Nurse Chen's house is at the end of the village."

Zhiwan immediately stood up.

The group boarded a horse-drawn carriage and headed towards the end of the village.

Inside the carriage, Chen Jiu saw his young master sitting there with his eyes lowered, his brows and eyes seemingly covered in frost. He shrank back in fear for a moment.

What happened to the Crown Prince?
Could it be that this godforsaken place is making him impatient?
But didn't he insist on coming along?
Thinking it over, he mustered his courage and reassured her, "Young Master, once Miss Biao sees her wet nurse, she can go back."

Lu Zhan did not react.

Chen Jiu coughed lightly, "Your Highness..."

Lu Zhan's gaze swept coldly over him.

Chen Jiu immediately shut his mouth, but inwardly he thought: The young master's face is more fickle than the weather in June!
(End of this chapter)