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

Chapter 294 Lu Zhan: Cousin, don't be angry, I... really like it.
"No." Lu Zhan chuckled and touched her face, explaining, "After dawn, you will be my servant, accompanying me to the hunting grounds."

"Why?" Zhiwan asked, puzzled.

Why did my cousin suddenly make such a decision?
My cousin hadn't mentioned it before.

"Crown Prince," Lu Zhan said, uttering only two words.

Zhiwan immediately understood, but said with some worry, "I've never dressed as a man before, will people be able to tell?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhan's gaze unconsciously fell on her body.

Zhiwan followed his gaze, her face instantly turning red. She said angrily, "What are you looking at?"

Lu Zhan coughed lightly, looked away, and said in a low voice, "My cousin is indeed... a bit plump."

Zhiwan's face flushed red. She bit her lip, glared at him, and turned her back, not wanting to talk to him anymore.

Lu Zhan hugged her from behind, his warm lips close to her ear, and whispered, "Cousin, don't be angry, I... like it very much."

He spoke the last three words very softly, but Zhiwan still heard them.

Her face turned so red it looked like it was about to bleed, and she buried her face in the blanket in embarrassment.

Lu Zhan smiled, stroked her hair, and said softly, "Change your clothes."

"Okay." Zhiwan composed herself, responded softly, and sat up.

Lu Zhan placed a set of men's clothing he had prepared on the quilt, then lowered the curtain and walked a little further away.

Zhiwan sat on the bed and changed into men's clothing.

After changing, she lifted the bed curtains and got out of bed.

"Cousin, I've changed it. Do you think this will be okay?"

Lu Zhan turned around and his gaze fell on her.

When Zhiwan saw his gaze and the somewhat serious look on his handsome face, she suddenly felt nervous and looked down at herself. "Am I...am I not like a man?"

Lu Zhan didn't say anything, but instead led her to the mirror and let her see for herself.

Upon inspection, Zhiwan immediately noticed the problem.

Her face was fine; they could just paint it black with ash later. But her body…

Looking at her bulging chest, her face flushed a deep red.

Even though the men's clothing is already quite loose, it's still easy to tell.

"What... should we do?" she asked in a low voice, too embarrassed to look at the man behind her.

Her body was so large that there was no way to hide it.

“I have a way, but my cousin will have to suffer a bit,” Lu Zhan said hoarsely.

"What method?" Zhiwan turned to look at him.

Lu Zhan whispered something in her ear.

A moment later, Zhiwan took a white cloth from the cabinet and handed it to him.

Then, at her cousin's prompting, she took off her coat.

Lu Zhan stood behind her, wrapping the white cloth around her body layer by layer.

"Cousin, just bear with it." After Lu Zhan finished speaking, he tightened his grip.

Zhiwan cried out in pain instantly.

Lu Zhan was startled and immediately let go, pulling her into his arms. Seeing that her face was pale with pain, he felt very sorry for her and coaxed her softly, "Never mind, I won't bother you anymore."

Zhiwan looked at him with teary eyes, "But people will find out."

As Lu Zhan tore off the cloth covering her, he reassured her, "Don't be afraid, I'll have someone take you to a town near the hunting grounds."

Upon hearing this, Zhiwan bit her lip and nodded, "Okay."

"Does it still hurt?" Seeing that she was too weak to stand, Lu Zhan couldn't help but reach out and rub her sore.

Zhiwan's face flushed red again, and she whispered, "Much better."

Lu Zhan was still worried, so he loosened her sash. "Let me check."

Zhiwan was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant and hurriedly straightened her clothes. "No need."

That would be so embarrassing.

Lu Zhan paused, hugged her, and comforted her, "Didn't I already see it yesterday?" Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Lu Zhan pulled her hand away and opened her clothes.

A moment later, he closed his cousin's clothes, but a thin layer of sweat had already seeped onto his smooth forehead, and his voice was low and hoarse, "They've gotten a little red, I'm afraid we'll have to apply some ointment."

"No need," Zhiwan quickly pulled her clothes tighter and turned away.

Seeing that she was embarrassed, Lu Zhan did not insist any further and said gently, "Go and change your clothes back. I will have someone escort you out of the city."

"Ah."

A moment later, Zhiwan changed into a simple and neat dress and left the Zhi residence with her cousin.

In the dark alley, a carriage was parked there. The driver was neither Jiang Shi nor Chen Jiu, but Zhi Wan still felt that the man looked somewhat familiar.

Seeing Lu Zhan bring Zhi Wan out, the coachman didn't ask any questions and stood respectfully to the side.

After Lu Zhan helped Zhiwan onto the carriage, he whispered a few words of advice to the driver.

The coachman said respectfully, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will protect Miss Biao."

"Okay, go ahead," Lu Zhan said calmly.

The coachman responded, sat on the carriage shaft, cracked the whip, and drove the carriage away from the dark alley.

Zhiwan sensed the carriage was moving and hurriedly opened the window.

She wanted to say goodbye to her cousin, but the carriage had already driven far away.

She could only see her cousin standing far away in the alley, looking somewhat lonely and desolate, perhaps because it was still dark.

Only after her cousin was out of sight did Zhiwan get back into the carriage. For some reason, she felt uneasy and unsettled. She suddenly regretted that she should have endured the pain, so that she could have stayed by her cousin's side.

However, she comforted herself, telling herself that she was just going to the hunting grounds ahead of everyone else and that she would see her cousin soon.

As dawn approached, many people were already queuing at the city gate, waiting to leave the city.

Zhiwan opened the window a crack, looked outside, and then closed it.

Just then, the coachman's voice rang out from outside, "Miss, you'll have to wait a little longer before the city gates open. You can take a short rest."

Zhiwan paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered that the coachman looked familiar.

He is Tong Da.

She had met him twice.

One time, he pretended to be Consort Wang's lover and caused a scene at the Duke's mansion; another time, his aunt summoned him for questioning, and she encountered him outside the Lan Courtyard.

Thinking of this, Zhiwan felt much more at ease.

Bored while waiting in the car, she wrapped herself in a blanket and planned to take a nap.

She fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke up, the carriage had already left the city.

She opened the window and looked outside, only to see a carriage speeding along the official road.

Seeing this, she closed the window, opened the carriage door, and asked Tong Da in front, "Are we going to the hunting grounds?" "Yes, Miss Tong," Tong Da replied respectfully.

Zhiwan nodded, then asked, "How did we get out of the city?"

“I have the heir’s token, so the guards didn’t check it and let me through,” Tong Da replied.

Zhiwan suddenly realized why she was sleeping so soundly; it turned out the guards hadn't checked her.

"If Miss is hungry, there are some snacks in the hidden compartment of the carriage. Have some to tide you over," Tong Da said.

Upon hearing this, Zhiwan sat back in the carriage, opened the hidden compartment, and indeed found some snacks inside.

She ate some herself first, then took some more and handed it to Tong Da, saying, "You should have some too."

Tong Da was taken aback for a moment, but did not refuse. He grinned and said, "Thank you, Miss Tong."

He stayed up all night guarding the back gate of the Zhi residence and hasn't eaten since; he's been starving ever since.

In the afternoon, the two arrived at a town near Weichang.

What Zhi Wan didn't know was that no sooner had Xuan Yuan Hongjun seen the emperor off at the palace gates than he sent a letter to the Zhi residence in the name of the Crown Princess.

Xuanyuan Hongjun was full of ambition, imagining the scene of holding the beauty in his arms. However, the person he sent returned with a dejected face. "Your Highness, the servants of the Zhi family said that Miss Zhi took people to the temple to fulfill her vow early this morning, and she probably won't be back for several days."

"What?" Xuan Yuan Hongjun's smug expression froze. Realizing what had happened, he flew into a rage and kicked the man to the ground. "Damn it!"