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

Chapter 5 Another Dream
"Don't come looking for me again," Zhiwan said angrily.

"This is my territory. It seems you've come looking for me," the man said casually without looking up.

Zhiwan was speechless.

She wandered aimlessly around the study, and just as she was about to pull a book off the shelf, she suddenly felt a tightness around her waist.

By the time she realized what was happening, she had already been carried to the desk.

The man's long, elegant fingers lifted her chin. "Why are you so temperamental?"

"That's just how I am. If you can't stand it, you can leave!" Zhiwan slapped his hand away, raised her chin, and spoke arrogantly.

"Grandma?" the man's voice was teasing. "You must be quite young."

Zhiwan paused for a moment. The other party was trying to figure out her age. She wasn't going to fall for his trick.

Seeing that she didn't speak, the man's gaze suddenly fell on her swollen chest, as if he were assessing something.

Noticing his gaze, Zhiwan's face flushed, and she quickly covered herself with her hands, her face red. She tried to remain calm and said, "Don't look at what you shouldn't see, don't you understand?"

The man didn't speak, but instead pinched her chin and kissed her.

While still thinking about the grudge from earlier, Zhiwan suddenly opened her mouth and bit the other person without any politeness.

The man winced in pain, letting out a muffled groan. His grip on her waist tightened, and the kiss, which had been gentle, suddenly became fierce.

Zhiwan's initial smugness was quickly replaced by panic.

She was pinned to the table by the man, kissed passionately.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the study door. The man paused and turned to face the door.

Meanwhile, in Yaoguang Pavilion, Zhiwan woke up.

Recalling what happened in her dream, her face flushed, and then her brows furrowed.

That's strange, why did I dream about that person during the day today?

She had only taken a short nap when she fell asleep.

Although she often dreamed of that person at night for the past six months, she never dreamed of him during her afternoon nap.

She didn't understand what triggered her dream.

Sometimes I won't have those kinds of dreams for ten days or half a month, but other times I'll have them for several nights in a row.

The key point is that those scenes felt very real. Although she couldn't see the man's face clearly, she was certain that it was the same man in her dreams.

Sometimes, she can't even tell which is reality and which is a dream.
……

Qingyun Residence, Study.

Lu Zhan took off the official robe that he had taken off during his lunch break and put it on. He straightened the hem of the robe and then said in a deep voice, "Come in."

His personal bodyguard, Chen Jiu, entered. "Your Highness, the Ministry of Justice just delivered a case file. They went to the Court of Judicial Review, but finding you were not there, they brought it to your residence."

"Understood." As Lu Zhan took the file, he regained his usual clear-headed and meticulous demeanor.

Recently, the Ministry of Justice received a bizarre case. Local officials reported it to the Ministry of Justice, and after the Ministry of Justice reviewed it, the case file was submitted to the Court of Judicial Review for review.

After Lu Zhan finished reading, he instructed Chen Jiu, "Go and fetch Ouyang Shaoqing."

"Yes." Chen Jiu accepted the order and left.

By the time Ouyang Lei arrived, Lu Zhan had already finished reviewing the case.

He stood by the window, teacup in hand, lost in thought. His long, dark eyelashes drooped slightly, partially obscuring his black pupils. His thin, slightly pursed lips conveyed a restrained, ascetic air, unfathomable and impossible to fathom. Ouyang Lei yawned and complained as soon as he entered, "I've been working on cases with you for two nights in a row. I only managed to doze off for a short while before your people rushed me here. Even if I had a body of iron, I couldn't take it."

A hint of fatigue lingered between Lu Zhan's cool brows. He ignored Ouyang Lei's complaints, turned around and walked over, saying calmly, "Once this busy period is over, I'll let you take a two-week vacation."

Ouyang Lei raised an eyebrow, "Such a good thing?"

Lu Zhan's narrow eyes were slightly closed, his expression unreadable. He responded calmly, placed the teacup on the table, then walked to the table, sat down, picked up the file, and handed it to him, saying, "Take a look at this first."

Ouyang Lei's spirits lifted at the thought of a two-week vacation, and he felt that the man surnamed Lu had finally had a change of heart.

But after he finished reading the case file, he felt terrible.

He looked at Lu Zhan with a wary expression.

"You don't mean to make me make a trip to Xuzhou, do you?"

Lu Zhan lifted his eyelids and glanced at him, tapping the table lightly with his well-defined fingers, and said in a deep voice: "This case is suspicious, but the evidence provided by the local government all points to a retired soldier who was returning home and stopped by the town to stay overnight and killed the innkeeper. However, after the innkeeper died, his belongings were not lost. According to the waiter, the soldier did not have any conflict with the innkeeper when he stayed overnight. On the contrary, the two chatted happily and drank several pots of wine together."

"I believe the soldier had no motive to kill the shopkeeper, but the shopkeeper was killed with a single stab wound, and there was blood on the dagger the soldier was carrying, and he signed a confession. There may be more to this than meets the eye. To avoid wrongful killing, I wish to reinvestigate this matter, and therefore I have decided to send you to investigate."

Ouyang Lei's legs went weak. No wonder he was suddenly told he would be given a two-week leave; this was what was waiting for him.

He pointed to his bruised eyes and said with a mournful face, "Boss, have some pity on your brother. If I don't get some rest, I'll die young. Investigating this matter doesn't necessarily require me to go; someone else can go."

Lu Zhan glanced at him and said unhurriedly, "Investigating this matter is beyond the capabilities of others. Besides, if you had made fewer trips to the brothel, you wouldn't be so anxious."

Ouyang Lei: "..."

“We will be traveling by water to Xuzhou, so you can rest well on the boat,” Lu Zhan added.

Ouyang Lei: "..."

Seeing that there was no way to change the situation, he had no choice but to compromise: "I can go, but when I come back, you must keep your promise and give me half a month off."

“Of course,” Lu Zhan nodded in agreement.

Ouyang Lei reluctantly picked up the case file and read it again.

He immediately scoffed, "This shop owner is over fifty years old, but his wife is only in her early twenties. Moreover, she went back to her parents' home before the shop owner's accident. What a coincidence! Could this matter be related to the shop owner's wife?"

Lu Zhan nodded. "After you arrive in Xuzhou, you can start by investigating the shop owner's wife."

Ouyang Lei nodded, put away the file, and his expression became more serious. "There's no time to lose, so I'll set off as soon as possible!"

"Okay, take a few more people with you, and be careful on the road!" Lu Zhan reminded him.

In the evening, Madam Wei brought Granny Fang to the study.

"Didn't Lei Zi come this afternoon? Why did he leave so quickly?"

“I’ve asked him to investigate a case,” Lu Zhan said.

"I was also thinking of inviting him to the flower viewing banquet the day after tomorrow," Madam Wei muttered.

Lu Zhan's eyelids twitched, and a bad feeling suddenly arose in his heart. "What flower appreciation banquet?"

Wei glanced at him, but did not answer his question. Instead, she said with dissatisfaction, "I had arranged for you to meet the Lin family girl today, but you haven't come back for two days."

Lu Zhan frowned slightly. "I told you I don't want to get married yet."

“You said the same thing a few years ago, and it’s been dragging on for years.” Madam Wei said irritably, taking a robe from the tray in Granny Fang’s hands. “This robe was picked out for you by Wan’er and me at the Brocade Pavilion today. Try it on. If it doesn’t fit, we can send it to be altered later. There’s still time.”

"What do you mean by 'it's not too late'?" Lu Zhan remained seated, his cold eyes fixed on his mother.

(End of this chapter)