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

Chapter 24 Taking her as a concubine is an honor for her.

Only then did Ouyang Zhenzhu notice that her sitting posture was a bit strange, and asked with concern, "How could you be so careless? Does it hurt a lot?"

Zhiwan shook her head. "It doesn't hurt much anymore. I was so focused on chasing you that I didn't notice where I was stepping and I stepped on a pebble."

Ouyang Zhenzhu felt very guilty. "It's all my fault. I was so busy having fun that I didn't even think to wait for you."

Zhiwan was both amused and exasperated. "How can you blame yourself? It was just an accident, and it wasn't serious at all. If anyone's to blame, it's my own stupidity."

Fu Family Villa.

Upon hearing that Zhiwan had left the villa, Madam Lin frowned. "Didn't I tell you to have someone keep an eye on her? Why did she suddenly leave?"

Granny Chen said, "The people below were originally following them, but Miss Zhiwan followed Miss Ouyang into the depths of the peach grove. The people below were afraid of being discovered, and they thought they would come out after playing for a while, so they stopped following them."

Miss Zhiwan left with Prince Lu; it seems she fell and was injured, needing to return to the city for medical treatment.

"Young Master Lu? Lu Zhan?" Madam Lin asked in surprise.

“That’s right.” Granny Chen nodded. “Not only Prince Lu, but also Prince Duan has come.”

Mrs. Lin frowned. "I did not send invitations to either of them."

"They didn't mainly come to attend the flower-viewing banquet. They heard that the peach blossoms in our villa were blooming beautifully, so they came specifically to admire them. Prince Duan had already spoken to the young master," explained Granny Chen.

Madam Lin sighed, "Luckily they left, otherwise all the young ladies who came today would have been attracted by the two of them."

Chen Mama didn't respond. Although what the lady said was true, didn't the lady secretly favor the Wang family's daughter as the heir's wife?

So what if other young ladies are attracted to Lu Zhan and Duan Ling?
"It's a pity that Zhiwan is gone, otherwise I would like to talk to her." Madam Lin said with some regret.

After a moment's hesitation, Granny Chen asked, "Does Madam still want Miss Zhiwan to become the young master's concubine?"

"I hadn't thought about it before, but as you can see, Hongyi is very fond of her. But given her status, how can Hongyi marry her? Only Yanran is worthy of Hongyi. However, since Hongyi likes her, we can bring Zhiwan into the household after Yanran enters to serve him," Lin said nonchalantly.

"Won't doing it this way offend the Duchess of Dingguo? This old servant has heard that the Duchess of Dingguo dotes on Miss Zhiwan..."

Lin said with a smile, "Zhiwan is just an orphan. No matter how much Wei loves her, she is not her daughter. The family she can marry into can not be of high social standing. Now that our family is willing to take Zhiwan as a concubine, it is an honor for her. There is no reason for Fu to refuse."

Upon hearing this, Granny Chen knew not to say anything more.

After thinking for a moment, Madam Lin said, "Granny Chen, go and prepare some tonics. Since Zhiwan has fallen and injured herself, I can take the opportunity to visit her tomorrow and sound out Madam Lu."

"Yes."

……

Dingguo Gongfu.

Ouyang Zhenzhu personally escorted Zhiwan and her servants into the mansion before leaving.

Back at Yaoguang Pavilion, Shuang'er examined Zhiwan and found that there were only some bruises, which were not very serious. She was relieved, but still took some ointment to remove the bruises and carefully applied it to her.

"Miss, does it still hurt?" Shuang'er asked with concern.

Zhiwan lay on her side and shook her head. "If I don't touch it, it won't hurt."

"Miss, Madam has arrived." At this moment, Dongxiang announced from outside the door.

Upon hearing this, Zhiwan hurriedly tried to get up, but Madam Wei had already entered.

As soon as she entered the room, she smelled the medicine and saw Zhiwan lying on the couch. She immediately frowned and said, "I knew something must have happened if you came back so early. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm sorry to have worried you, Aunt. I'm fine," Zhiwan said apologetically.

"I can smell the medicine, and you're still trying to hide it from me?" Madam Wei sat down on the edge of the bed, deliberately putting on a stern face.

"I'm really fine, I just fell and my hip hurts a bit," Zhiwan explained.

Madam Wei frowned. "How could you fall down like that?" Zhiwan didn't dare to tell her about Wang Zeren, afraid that she would worry, so she lied. "When I was chasing Pearl, I didn't pay attention to my footing and then I fell."

"Let me see." Madam Wei was afraid that she was hiding her injuries, and wanted to see them with her own eyes before she would feel at ease.

Zhiwan was a little embarrassed, but she still pulled down her pants, revealing the spot where she had fallen and hurt herself.

Her skin was fair and delicate, so the bruises were particularly noticeable and looked quite serious.

Madam Wei gasped, her face full of heartache, "You fell so hard, and you still say you're fine."

Zhiwan blushed and pulled her pants back up. "It just looks serious. It doesn't hurt much now. It's really nothing."

"Are you sure you're alright? What if you've broken a bone... No, we still need to call a doctor to take a look." The more Wei thought about it, the more worried she became.

Zhiwan quickly stopped her, saying, "Aunt, it's just a minor injury. If the bone had been broken, how could I be so relaxed? There's no need to call a doctor. I'll be fine after a few days of rest."

"Are you really alright?" Wei asked hesitantly.

"I'm really fine." Zhiwan nodded affirmatively.

Seeing that she had repeatedly assured her, Madam Wei did not insist on calling a doctor anymore. She only said, "If anything happens, you must tell us in time, otherwise a small injury will turn into a big one, and that would be a loss."

“I know,” Zhiwan replied obediently.

Not wanting to delay her rest, Madam Wei got up and said, "Then you rest well. I'll go back first and come to see you again tomorrow."

"Take care, Aunt," Zhiwan said softly.

After Wei left, she was about to look for Shuang'er when she found that Shuang'er was no longer in the room. Her expression changed immediately, and she hurriedly called Dongxiang, "Go to the torture chamber and bring Shuang'er back."

Dongxiang didn't understand, but she still went to the torture chamber as instructed.

When she arrived, Shuang'er had already been beaten ten times.

Although the executioner spared her life because she was a young woman, the ten strokes of the cane were still quite severe.

When Dongxiang arrived, Shuang'er was struggling to get up from the torture bench.

She was startled and rushed forward to help him up, "Shuang'er, why are you being tortured?"

"I have offended the Crown Prince," Shuang'er said in a low voice.

"Ah?" Dongxiang was very surprised. Only then did she realize that the two old women in the courtyard were also there. They had already been tortured and were now supporting each other.

"Let's go," Shuang'er urged, enduring the pain.

Dongxiang didn't have time to ask any more questions and quickly helped her back to Yaoguang Pavilion.

Orchid Academy.

Madam Wei felt that the matter of Zhiwan's fall was probably not so simple, so she asked Granny Fang to summon the servants who had accompanied Zhiwan to the banquet that day for questioning.

A moment later, Granny Fang returned.

"The maid and two old women who went with me went to the punishment room to receive their punishment after they returned. They are currently in bed recovering from their injuries and are unable to report back to the madam."

Madam Wei was taken aback. "Who gave them the punishment?"

"Those two old women said it's the young master," Granny Fang replied.

"Zhan'er?" Madam Wei was even more surprised. "What happened?"

"I heard that the young master was also at the Fu family's villa today. The old women said that the young lady encountered danger in the peach blossom forest, but they didn't know exactly what happened. They didn't keep up with the young lady at the time, and the young master said that they had failed in their duty, so he told them to go back to the manor to receive their punishment," said Granny Fang.

(End of this chapter)