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

Chapter 300 Her cousin was her closest person.
“The young master should have arrived at the hunting grounds by now, but he only arrived today. He has many things to do, so I’m afraid he can’t get away,” Tong Da replied.

Upon hearing this, Zhiwan understood that her cousin was too busy to come see her today.

Once inside, she closed the door, intending to rest.

When Tong Da saw her enter the house, he dragged a chair over and sat down by the door.

He had promised the prince that he would protect his cousin.

The young lady cannot afford any mishap, otherwise he will not be able to explain to the Crown Prince.

With nothing to do and having gotten up early this morning, Zhiwan fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She didn't know how long she had been asleep when she suddenly felt someone standing beside her bed, which startled her so much that she immediately opened her eyes.

When she saw that there was indeed someone standing by the bed, she opened her mouth to call out to Tong Da, but the person spoke calmly, "Little niece, don't call out!"

The words "little niece" silenced Zhiwan.

She stared in astonishment at the person beside the bed.

It was already dark outside, and the house was dark inside with no lights on. Only a figure could be vaguely seen standing there.

"Uncle...?" After a long while, Zhiwan finally found her voice and called out softly.

"Hmm," the person responded and sat down on the chair beside the bed.

Seeing that he meant her no harm, Zhiwan became a little bolder.

She got out of bed, lit the candle, and turned to look at the other person.

When she saw the mask on the other person's face, she paused, then exclaimed in surprise, "Are you the person I met on the stairs this evening?"

"Yes," the man replied in a low voice.

"What happened to your face?" Zhiwan blurted out.

The man paused, then removed his mask.

When she saw his face clearly, Zhiwan was so frightened that she almost screamed.

The other person's face was covered with crisscrossing scars, which was quite frightening and completely changed his former handsome appearance.

She clutched her chest and asked in a trembling voice, "You...you're really my uncle?"

The man sighed and put the mask back on his face. "I am Zhiye, your father Zhiyu, my twin brother."

Zhiwan recognized his voice; it did indeed sound very similar to the one she had heard on the Yangzhou boat that day. Furthermore, the fact that he had mentioned her father's name dispelled her doubts, and she asked with concern, "Uncle's face...why has it turned like this? Weren't you being escorted to the capital?"

Speaking of this, Zhiye's eyes turned gloomy, "Isn't it all thanks to your cousin?"

“Cousin?” Zhiwan was taken aback and asked in confusion, “What does it have to do with my cousin? He was just following orders to escort you back to the capital.”

Zhiye sneered, "Because I look exactly like your father, the emperor had seen your father before. He was afraid that if the emperor saw me, he would know that your father was also a descendant of the Prince of Jin, and that this would implicate you. So he tried to kill me halfway there, causing me to fall off a cliff."

Although I miraculously survived, my face was lacerated by sharp rocks during the fall.

Zhiwan was completely confused. "What? A descendant of the Prince of Jin? Uncle, what are you talking about?"

Seeing that she knew nothing, Zhiye sighed, "Little niece, if your grandfather hadn't been plotted against by the current emperor and then exterminated, you would be a royal princess, a golden branch and jade leaf, and would never have fallen into living under someone else's roof."

Zhiwan frowned in disbelief, "How is this possible?"

This is utterly absurd. Her father is just an ordinary person. How could he be connected to the royal family? “Every word I said is true. I did not lie to you. Did you think that Lu Zhan went to Yangzhou before just to inspect Jiangnan? That was only on the surface. In reality, he was on the emperor's secret orders to go to Jiangnan to find the descendants of the Prince of Jin.”

I was careless and fell into his trap, ending up in his hands.

Upon seeing my appearance, he guessed that your father was also a descendant of the Prince of Jin.

If the emperor hadn't suddenly issued an edict ordering him to secretly escort me to the capital, he would have wanted to kill me back in Yangzhou.

Even so, he had already laid out everything on his way to the capital, intending to kill me. "Zhiye said calmly.

Although he tried his best to restrain himself, he was still filled with grief and indignation when he thought about what had happened recently. He questioned, "He wanted to marry you, but at the same time he wanted to murder your own uncle. You still want to marry such a beast in human form?"

Seeing how confidently he spoke, Zhiwan felt somewhat uneasy.

Is she really a descendant of the Prince of Jin?
Hearing her uncle's question, she calmed down a bit. "No, my cousin isn't a wolf in sheep's clothing. He's a good person."

If what her uncle said is true, and her cousin did that to protect her, how could she blame her cousin?
If her uncle was a good person, she believed that her cousin would never hurt him, no matter what.

"He's cunning and ruthless. You think he's a good person? You're so naive." Zhiye found it extremely ironic.

“But he’s better than you!” Zhiwan blurted out. “I know what Uncle did. Your hands are stained with blood, and you’ve killed so many innocent people. How can you judge my cousin? At least my cousin has never harmed any innocent people.”

Upon hearing this, Zhiye said sadly, "Wan'er, I am your only family in this world, how could you side with an outsider?"

“My cousin is no outsider!” Zhiwan retorted. Her cousin was her fiancé and the person closest to her.

Meeting her uncle's disapproving gaze, she said firmly, "You are my uncle, and I should respect you. But the heinous things you did can never be washed away. You may have your reasons, but those reasons are not an excuse for you to hurt innocent people."

Now that your uncle has escaped, he should turn over a new leaf, be a good person, and stop doing those heinous things.

I believe that my grandfather and father, in heaven, would not want to see my uncle do evil deeds.

Zhiye was annoyed and uncomfortable after being scolded and lectured by her niece.

After a long pause, he coldly rebuked, "Leaving aside other matters, the royal family and we have a blood feud. We cannot leave your grandfather's death unavenged."

"I won't object to your marriage to Lu Zhan, nor will I stop you, but you must cooperate with me and gather useful intelligence for me."

Zhiwan shook her head. "Uncle, you've come to the wrong person. I won't betray my cousin. And I hope you can let go of those hatreds as soon as possible. I believe Grandfather wouldn't want you to become an executioner just to avenge him."

"What kind of bewitching drug did Lu Zhan give you? How could you be so devoted to him that you don't even want to avenge your family?" Zhi Ye roared, slamming her fist on the table.

With a loud bang, the table collapsed and fell to the ground.

"Miss, what happened?" At this moment, Tong Da's voice rang out from outside the door.

Seeing that her uncle had gone mad and noticed that his eyes looked strange, Zhiwan decisively ran towards the door.

"Tong Da!"

However, just as her hand was about to touch the latch, her arm tightened, and a strong force pulled her backward.

Zhiwan was terrified and immediately cried out, "Tong Da, help!"

She had barely finished speaking when the door was kicked open.

Tong Da rushed in.

Zhiye kicked a stool and smashed it at Tong Da. While Tong Da was throwing a punch to block, she quickly picked up Zhiwan and jumped out of the window to escape.

Tong Da was shocked and quickly chased after him.