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

Chapter 213 Lu Zhan: This is what I deserve.

Zhiwan: "..."

She didn't know how to explain it to her aunt.

After all, the idea of ​​sharing a dream is truly baffling.

If she claims she and her cousin had no physical intimacy, then in her dream they certainly did very intimate things.

Moreover, during this trip to Jiangning, her cousin did kiss her, and more than once.

Of course, in her dream, she also flirted with her cousin in various ways and did many shameful things.

But just now, my cousin took all the blame.

He told his aunt that it was his own frivolous behavior that had completely purged her.

If she were to tell her aunt at this point that nothing had happened between her and her cousin, her aunt would not believe her.

She sighed inwardly.

Well, marrying her cousin wouldn't do her any harm. Besides, her aunt loves her so much, so there shouldn't be any conflicts between her and her mother-in-law in the future. Also, her first child can take her surname, Zhi.

Since that's the case, whether she takes a husband or not is not so important.

After thinking it through, Zhiwan said sincerely, "I don't blame my cousin. It was my own choice."

Wei did not believe her words, thinking that she was forced by her son.

"You silly girl, it's clearly your cousin who's in the wrong, yet you're still making excuses for him. If he ever dares to treat you badly in the future, I'll never forgive him!"

Zhiwan hurriedly said, "Cousin, you really didn't..."

Wei interrupted her helplessly, "Don't speak up for him. He's morally flawed and needs to be taught a lesson. Besides, kneeling won't break him."

Zhiwan frowned, seeing the fatigue on her aunt's face. In the end, she didn't say anything more, but said, "Aunt, you must be tired from your journey. Go and rest."

Wei nodded. "My old bones really can't take any more strain. I'll go and rest now."

"Mmm," Zhiwan responded, helping her lie down on the bed.

After giving a few instructions to Granny Fang, Zhiwan left and went to her room.

Shuang'er had been waiting for a long time.

Seeing his young mistress return, he hurried forward and asked somewhat nervously, "Miss, what brings Madam here?"

She was still unaware of what had happened in Lu Zhan's room.

What she was worried about was that the lady's sudden arrival might have been because she had caught her young lady and the young master in the same room, and that her young lady might be questioned.

“My aunt cares about me and came all the way here for me,” Zhiwan said, then told her about her aunt’s decision after thinking for a moment.

Upon hearing this, Shuang'er was overjoyed. "Miss, this is wonderful! Your suffering is about to end."

Upon hearing this, Zhiwan frowned. "Don't say things like that again. Otherwise, if outsiders hear it, they might think that I wasn't treated well in the Lu family, even though my aunt and uncle treated me so well."

Shuang'er slapped her own mouth. "It was my fault for speaking out of turn. Madam treats you so well. I really shouldn't have said those things."

Although there were always some short-sighted or snobbish servants in the Duke of Dingguo's mansion who spoke ill of the young lady, overall, she had a good five years there.

At least, since the fall of the Zhi family, Miss has no longer had to live a life of wandering, hunger, and cold; on the contrary, she has received very good care.

"Miss, I wonder if the Duke and the Old Madam will object to your marriage with the Heir Apparent?" Shuang'er changed the subject, her heart filled with worry as she thought of Old Madam Lu's dislike for her young mistress. "Uncle will listen to Aunt, so I'm not worried, but getting past the Old Madam will indeed be difficult," Zhiwan said calmly.

However, she wasn't too worried. Since her cousin wanted to marry her so much, he would naturally find a way to appease the old lady.

Moreover, the person in charge of the household is the aunt, and in the Lu family, the aunt has a lot of say.

At most, the old lady could only give her a cold shoulder and make things difficult for her verbally.

She didn't care about the old lady, and was unmoved by a few difficult words.

"What should we do then?" Shuang'er was very worried, as she had witnessed the old lady's harshness.

"What's there to worry about? It's my cousin who insists on marrying me, not me. If the old lady wants to scold me, she won't be able to scold me," Zhiwan said nonchalantly.

Seeing that she wasn't worried at all, Shuang'er also relaxed.

At this moment, in the neighboring yard.

Duan Ling brought over a file, intending to show it to Lu Zhan. However, upon entering, he found Lu Zhan kneeling on the floor, supporting himself on a small table while handling official business.

Seeing this, Duan Ling clicked his tongue in amazement, circled around Lu Zhan, and teased, "Is this a new skill you learned on your trip back to the capital—handling official business while kneeling?"

Lu Zhan ignored him and asked indifferently, "Is there something you need?"

"Of course there's something wrong. This is a list of officials involved in smuggled salt, listing their crimes. Several high-ranking officials in the court are also implicated. What do you think we should do?" Duan Ling asked seriously.

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhan took the file handed to him, flipped through it, and said, "Duan Ling, let's put this matter aside for now."

"I finally obtained the evidence of those people's crimes, why should I put it aside for now?" Duan Ling frowned, puzzled.

Lu Zhan said calmly, "This is the Emperor's will."

Duan Ling was stunned, then said indignantly, "But they are smuggling salt in the hold. If we don't deal with it, won't that embolden them even more? Right now they are smuggling salt, but soon they may openly exercise their power and directly smuggle salt for personal gain."

"How could I not know that? But the Emperor said that clear water has no fish, and local officials also need some profit to serve the court. He told us to turn a blind eye and not to be too concerned." As Lu Zhan said this, there was a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.

Duan Ling laughed in anger, “Those people are all fat and strong, how could they have skimmed off a little bit of profit? I think the Emperor clearly wants to protect those officials in the court. After all, one of them is Consort Zhang’s brother. If it were anyone else, daring to touch the salt, they would have already lost their heads.”

"Duan Ling, watch your words!" Lu Zhan warned in a deep voice.

Duan Ling was stunned for a moment, then complained in a low voice, "We've been holed up here, working hard to clean up the cancerous tumors for the court, and the Emperor just dismisses all our hard work with a few words."

Last year, the Emperor was furious about officials embezzling disaster relief funds, so why is he acting so differently today? Is it because one of the officials involved is Consort Zhang's brother?

Lu Zhan said, "His Majesty's intention is that we should find the descendants of Prince Jin as soon as possible, and put other matters aside for now."

Duan Ling sighed, "Those descendants of the Prince of Jin, who knows where they're hiding? How can they be so easy to find?"

"Those two river bandits, haven't they given in yet?" Lu Zhan asked in turn.

"No, he's being very stubborn..." Duan Ling hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly remembered someone, his eyes lighting up. "Isn't Chen Jiu here? We can make him use his looks again." With that, he was about to go out to find Chen Jiu, but then he remembered something and turned back. "Old Lu, what exactly did you do to anger Auntie? How long are you planning to kneel like that? Should I go to Auntie and plead for you?"

How could Lu Zhan not hear the gloating in his words? He glanced at him indifferently and said unhurriedly, "No need, this is what I deserve."

Upon hearing this, Duan Ling became even more curious, "What exactly did you do?"

Lu Zhan brushed the dust off his sleeves, a slight smile playing on his lips. "I was just trying to secure a marriage for myself."

(End of this chapter)