The temperamental white moonlight is back, and the entire Marquis's family obediently calls him

He didn't care about the lives of his enemies or his own people; all he cared about was winning, getting promoted, and collecting rewards and salaries.

Later, the general who intended to promote him discovered this and summoned him to his tent for a heart-to-heart talk.

After learning what he wanted, the commander remained silent for a long time before saying earnestly, "Ning Chuan, if you want to continue to rise in rank, you can't just win."

"Military merit alone cannot provide the best life for your wife and children."

"You need connections, you need to build momentum, and you also need the support of the people and your colleagues."

Zhou Ningchuan took it to heart. From then on, he stopped being so solitary, started making friends, and began to learn "compassion".

Zhou Ningchuan didn't have many of his own ideas, but he was a quick learner and soon became the most qualified candidate to become the next leader in everyone's eyes.

Even Chu Yuan'er's father entrusted his daughter to him.

This action earned Zhou Ningchuan a lot of goodwill—in everyone's eyes, he must be extremely loyal and devoted to his comrades for them to entrust their orphanage to him with peace of mind.

Zhou Ningchuan readily accepted.

This is very good for his reputation. If Zhao Zhao comes back and finds out about this, she will definitely think he did a great job.

As for Zhou Ningchuan's most hidden and selfish thoughts, he never mentioned them to anyone.

He didn't care about anyone except Zhao Zhao. He didn't want Zhao Zhao to feel unfamiliar with him, nor did he want Zhao Zhao to see the dirty corners of his heart.

Zhou Ningchuan never expected that Chu Yuan'er would shout these words out in public.

Perhaps it was because of the years they had spent together that Zhou Ningchuan gradually came to regard Chu Yuan'er as an insignificant decoration, and there were times when he couldn't even be bothered to hide it.

Over time, Chu Yuan'er began to glimpse some of his true character.

Thinking of this, Zhou Ningchuan's violent tendencies intensified.

Such a person shouldn't be alive.

If his words reached his wife's ears and she noticed something was amiss... he couldn't imagine what kind of look his wife would give him.

He shouldn't have worried about his reputation; he should have acted sooner.

However, He Ling can protect her for a while, but not forever.

Zhou Ningchuan needed to see her disappear from this world before he could feel at ease.

"My lord, shall we return to the manor?"

Sensing Zhou Ningchuan's overwhelming killing intent, Steward Sun wished he could disappear into a crack in the wall.

But with the time approaching, Steward Sun had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask a question.

"You said this morning that if you had time after interrogating the prisoners, you would go back to have dinner with your wife."

Steward Sun is a seasoned veteran of the Marquis's mansion; he is adept at assessing situations and has excellent insight.

He figured out the pattern: whenever the old lady was mentioned, the Marquis's mood would improve considerably, and even if he was angry, his anger would subside somewhat.

Zhou Ningchuan calmed down a bit, waved his hand, and got into the carriage.

Just as Steward Sun was about to instruct the coachman to return to the manor, he heard Zhou Ningchuan say coldly, "Go to the Zhang manor."

Manager Sun was taken aback.

He remembered that when the Marquis returned to the capital, the whole city was spreading rumors that the Marquis's wife had brought bad luck to him, which was why the Marquis was seriously injured.

This so-called divination was presented to the emperor by the Director of the Imperial Observatory, Zhang.

After the Marquis recovered, he sent someone to deliver a message to Lord Zhang, which naturally involved both coercion and enticement.

Lord Zhang behaved himself for a while.

But the Marquis clearly hadn't forgotten this matter.

The Marquis is seething with anger this time and is probably looking for a place to vent it.

The Marquis's carriage soon stopped in front of the Zhang residence.

After the Marquis alighted from the carriage, Steward Sun mustered his courage and reminded him, "Sir, we must give Lord Zhang some face."

Zhou Ningchuan sneered: "He doesn't even deserve it!"

*

"Is your injury feeling better?"

Zhou Ming'an handed the tea to Miss Lin.

Lin Shuhui took it and said with a smile, "It's been resting for a month, and it's already healed."

"You have no idea how cooped up I've been these past few days. My mother was afraid that going out in the wind would be bad for my wound, so she kept me at home to recover."

"Yesterday I begged and pleaded, swearing that I just wanted to have a chat with you, before I finally got my mother's permission."

Lin Shuhui stretched and yawned: "I've been holding it in for so long!"

After saying all this, Lin Shuhui suddenly remembered that Zhou Ming'an and Madam Lu's relationship seemed to be not very good. She was talking about her and her mother's relationship, wasn't she just hurting their feelings?

She quickly turned to look at Zhou Ming'an, but saw that he showed no sign of surprise. Instead, he began to talk about his own affairs:

"My mother is the same. Ever since that incident a month ago, she was afraid I would be frightened, so she sewed me sachets and cooked calming soup. Every day she would ask me a bunch of questions, like whether I slept well last night, or if there was anything I wanted to eat..."

As Zhou Ming'an spoke, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

She had only heard these things from others before.

These little things might be a nuisance to others, but for her, they were something she had been begging for for over a decade without getting.

Now, she finally has a mother, and she can finally "complain" like them.

Lin Shuhui grinned, thinking of the hug between Madam Lu and Zhou Ming'an that day, and guessed that their relationship had improved a lot, which made her feel more at ease.

"By the way, have you heard?"

"The Director of the Imperial Observatory, Zhang, has been dismissed."

Zhou Ming'an was taken aback, then pondered for a moment: "Is it the one who spread rumors last year?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Shuhui smiled inwardly, thinking, "She really is different now."

When this matter was mentioned last year, Zhou Ming'an thought that the divination might be true, but now it has become a "rumor".

"It was him."

"You didn't know about this? Your father personally led the search party. It's said that... they discovered the Zhang family had accepted bribes, and the investigation uncovered many other people."

Zhou Ming'an was shocked: "The Imperial Observatory can accept bribes? Who would bribe them and why?"

"You wouldn't understand," Lin Shuhui said mysteriously. "Two years ago, His Majesty wanted to build a summer resort in the mountains outside the city, but he didn't know whether it should be on Cangrao Mountain or Qingpo Mountain, so he asked the Imperial Observatory to calculate it."

"Finally, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau said that the feng shui of Cangrao Mountain was better, so His Majesty ordered that the villa be built on Cangrao Mountain."

Zhou Ming'an suddenly realized: "So it was the owner of Cangrao Mountain who bribed the Zhang family?"

"On the contrary," Lin Shuhui said, suppressing a laugh, "it was the owner of Qingpo Mountain who bribed him."

Zhou Ming'an was puzzled.

"What do you think this is? All the land under heaven belongs to the emperor. Where the emperor builds a house is the 'honor' of the people. The actual amount of money given to the people is pitifully small."

"Who wants to get into this mess—without land and no money?"