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

Chapter 203 Lu Zhan really hid it well!
Suppressing her resentment, she hugged Wei's leg and cried, "I know you value Sister Zhiwan, Aunt. Please don't be angry with me. Just consider what I said earlier as nonsense. I'll take my leave now."

Looking at the pitiful little girl crying in front of her, Madam Wei felt no sympathy whatsoever. Just as Lu Lan was about to step out of the pavilion, she suddenly said, "Lu Lan, Wan'er shouldn't have offended you, right?"

Lu Lan's body stiffened slightly, her fingers under her sleeves digging tightly into her palms.

Did Zhiwan not offend her?

If it weren't for Zhiwan, how could she have been schemed against by Lu Xin and subsequently lost her innocence?
Although no one said anything openly, everyone secretly laughed at her for being a withered flower.

She hated Zhiwan.

If Zhi Wanruo had gone to Lu Xin's room that day, she wouldn't have been the one to suffer.

She shielded Zhiwan from disaster.

Lu Lan suppressed the tears welling up in her eyes and said softly, "Auntie is joking. Sister Zhiwan has always taken good care of me. How could she have offended me?"

After she left, Madam Wei felt increasingly uneasy and sent someone to fetch Granny Fang.

“Last time Wan’er went back to her hometown to sweep the tombs, you went with her. Did you notice anything…” Wei hesitated for a moment.

How could she not see through Lu Lan's little tricks?

On the surface, Lu Lan was worried about Wan'er, but every word she said revealed that Wan'er had seduced A Zhan. This was to make Lu Lan disappointed in Wan'er and hate her.

Even though she knew it was Lu Lan's trick, she was still somewhat influenced by what Lu Lan said.

Because of his son's unusual behavior after returning from Jiangnan, he even said something absurd like wanting to marry into his family.

My son is so busy that he has no time to meet girls.

She knew her son's personality best.

He was so pure and detached from worldly desires that he was almost like a monk.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he decided to marry into the family of the girl he admired.

She thought of all the eligible girls in the capital, but still couldn't come up with a clue, so she assumed that her son had met some girl in Jiangnan.

But now, after hearing Lu Lan's words, she couldn't help but think of Wan'er.

Because Wan'er had accompanied her son when she returned to Yangzhou to sweep the tombs last time, and Wan'er was also preparing to find a husband to marry into the family.

In addition, Wan'er left without saying goodbye yesterday. Later, her son told her that Wan'er's wet nurse had an accident, so Wan'er had to go back to Yangzhou. He also happened to be going to Jiangnan and would escort Wan'er to Yangzhou to visit her wet nurse.

She didn't think much of it yesterday, but now that she thinks about it, there are many suspicious points in what her son said.

Even if Wan'er's wet nurse had an accident and needed to return to Yangzhou, there was no need for her to leave without saying goodbye. Moreover, in the letter Wan'er left for her, she revealed that she would not be returning to the capital.

The more Wei thought about it, the more alarmed she became.

Could it be that my son really has something going on with Wan'er?
Could it be that Wan'er was forced by her son?

"Madam, what are you referring to?" Granny Fang asked when she saw that Madam Fang stopped speaking halfway through her sentence.

Madam Wei snapped out of her daze and clenched the handkerchief in her hand. "Granny Fang, last time in Yangzhou, did you notice anything... off between A-Zhan and Wan'er?"

Granny Fang was taken aback.

What's wrong between the prince and his cousin?
After thinking hard for a while, she shook her head, "No, but the young master does take good care of Miss Biao. Once, when they encountered river bandits, Miss Biao was thrown into the river by them. The young master jumped into the river without hesitation and rescued her."

This is the older cousin showing his love and care for his younger cousin; there's nothing wrong with it.

"What? Wan'er has encountered such a thing? Why didn't you tell me?" Madam Wei was shocked.

Granny Fang said apologetically, "This old servant forgot." "Are you getting senile? How could you forget something so important?" Madam Wei was somewhat displeased, and at the same time began to doubt Granny Fang's competence.

If Granny Fang could forget to tell her something so important, then if there really was something between Zhan and Wan'er, Granny Fang probably wouldn't even notice.

Thinking of this, she told her what Lu Lan had just said.

Upon hearing this, Granny Fang's expression changed drastically. "How could this Fourth Miss slander the Young Master and Cousin like this? The two of them are completely innocent!"

“There’s no smoke without fire! Although Lu Lan’s intentions are impure, the fact that she dared to bring this to my attention suggests that it might actually be true. Think carefully again, is there anything unusual between those cousins?” Madam Wei said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Granny Fang frowned and said, "Speaking of unusual things, there's something that I'm not sure if it counts?"

"What kind of thing?" Madam Wei asked hurriedly.

"When we were at the villa in Yangzhou, Miss Biao and Miss Ouyang lived in the same courtyard, which was separated from the courtyard where the young master lived by only one wall. The young master did come to the courtyard where the two young ladies lived, but only twice."

One morning, the prince suddenly entered the courtyard before the two young ladies had woken up.

The prince waited in the courtyard for a long time.

Later, when the young lady got up, the prince even picked a crabapple blossom from the courtyard and put it in her hair.

They said the flowers were a perfect match for the young lady.

Upon hearing this, Madam Wei clutched her chest, looking as if she couldn't breathe, which startled Granny Fang. She quickly stepped forward to pat her back and anxiously asked, "Madam, what's wrong?"

Madam Wei glared at her through gritted teeth, "Granny Fang, you'll drive me to my death sooner or later!" Such obvious abnormal behavior, and she didn't even find it inappropriate?
Which male cousin would put flowers in his female cousin's hair?
This is so ambiguous, even a blind person could see it's inappropriate, right?

Granny Fang looked terrified. "Madam, please don't frighten this old servant!"

Wei took a deep breath to calm herself.

Her eldest son is really well hidden!
She thought he was truly a man of few desires, but little did she know that he was thinking about his own little cousin.

Good, good, good, what a refined scoundrel!
No wonder Wan'er suddenly left without saying goodbye; she must have been scared away by her son.
Her son even came up with such a high-sounding reason, and she actually believed it.

What do you mean by taking Wan'er back to Yangzhou to visit her wet nurse? In her opinion, her son has clearly imprisoned the little girl.

Realizing this, Madam Wei could no longer sit still and ordered in a deep voice, "Granny Fang, pack your bags quickly, I'm going to Yangzhou!"

……

Zhiwan was unaware of what had happened at the Duke of Dingguo's mansion.

She stayed on the deck for a while, then it started to rain heavily, so she had to go back to the cabin.

She slept half the day yesterday and slept well last night, so she wasn't sleepy at all. After asking Shuang'er to find her paper and pen, she began to draw.

This painting took up an entire afternoon.

Just as she felt a soreness in her neck and was about to get up and move around, a slender hand reached over her shoulder and picked up the painting she had placed aside.

Zhiwan paused for a moment, then, as if realizing something, quickly tensed up.

"My cousin must have made a lot of money from drawing these, right?"

The next moment, a deep male voice sounded above her head.

Zhiwan's expression changed, and she immediately stood up, trying to snatch the painting back from the man's hands. However, the man was prepared and raised the painting high. Not only did she fail to snatch the painting back, but she also lost her balance and fell into the man's arms.

Lu Zhan paused for a moment, then instinctively supported the girl's waist.

(End of this chapter)