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

Under everyone's gaze, Lu Mingzhao remained silent for a long while before slowly saying, "Do you know what mistake Cuilan made? Even if it's a huge mistake, are you going to take the blame for her?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ming'an turned around and glanced at Cuilan behind him.

As soon as they entered the room, Zhao Xianglan, at Lu Mingzhao's behest, gagged Cuilan.

At this moment, Cuilan had so much to say, but she could only look at her with eyes full of sorrowful tears.

Zhou Ming'an pursed his lips, ultimately unable to bear it: "Cuilan is just a little maid with no say. Even if she has done something wrong, it's because I didn't discipline her properly... I hope Mother will tell me what exactly she did wrong."

Lu Mingzhao chuckled lightly: "It wasn't a big deal, just that I caught him doing something sneaky."

"An'an, you have a good nature and are tolerant of your subordinates, but you can't let those who serve you have excessive thoughts."

"You're too young to handle these things, so it's fine. Your mother will handle it for you."

Zhou Ming'an pursed his lips: "May I ask, Mother, what did Cuilan steal?"

Lu Mingzhao casually picked up a hairpin: "This one."

Zhou Ming'an, unaware of Cuilan shaking her head frantically behind him, blurted out, "I told Cuilan to take it!"

"..."

Chu Yuan'er hurriedly placed her hand on Zhou Ming'an's arm, but still couldn't stop her.

When Zhou Ming'an came to his senses, he saw his mother shaking her head with a smile.

Her face turned pale.

Lu Mingzhao glanced at Zhao Xianglan: "Let Cuilan speak for herself."

The cloth strip was removed from Cuilan's mouth, and she said tremblingly, "This servant...did not steal anything."

"The old lady saw me on the way and brought me over to question me."

In other words, Cuilan had no apparent "crime" at all, and even though Lu Mingzhao brought her back, he had not yet punished her in any way; everything was still at the level of verbal interrogation.

As a servant, Cuilan dared not say in front of everyone that the old lady had brought her back to coerce and entice her into revealing something.

After all, Lu Mingzhao still clearly holds her indenture in his hands.

She didn't want to die so soon.

"Did you hear that? I only brought Cuilan back to ask you a couple of questions, like whether you slept well or ate well, but it made you so nervous."

Lu Mingzhao's gaze swept across their faces. "This makes me wonder, are you just worried sick, or did Cuilan do plenty of petty theft in the past, which is why you're so adept at making excuses for her?"

Zhou Ming'an panicked, opened his mouth but didn't know how to explain.

She came today to help Cuilan out of a predicament, and she would agree to help no matter what mistake Cuilan had made.

She had indeed thought that her mother would make things difficult for her, but on the way here, she couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope. Her mother's attitude towards her had changed these days. What if her mother was willing to give in to her this time?

But she never expected her mother to use such methods to trick her.

Seeing that Zhou Ming'an was speechless, Chu Yuan'er became a little anxious.

She grabbed Zhou Ming'an's arm as if to comfort him, her voice choked with emotion: "Madam, why are you teasing the girl like this? She was born after you carried her for ten months. People have hearts, and even if you don't like the girl, you shouldn't treat her like this."

"Cuilan has served you since she was a child. Not to mention that you took her away, what will happen to you? She has always been with you. By falsely accusing her of these crimes, you are tantamount to slapping you in the face."

"Miss Chu need not concern herself with this. I will handle our family matters properly."

Lu Mingzhao did not back down any further.

Regarding Zhou Ningchuan's matter, she could understand Chu Yuan'er. After all, it was hard for an orphan girl who had lost both her parents to be entrusted to a young and successful marquis.

Therefore, Lu Mingzhao made concessions, which enhanced his reputation and also gave Chu Yuan'er some time to think things through.

But when it comes to her children, she will never back down easily.

Lu Mingzhao originally thought that Chu Yuan'er was only hostile towards her, but at least genuinely cared for the three children.

Now it seems that Chu Yuan'er was just stirring up trouble. The more hostile the children were to Lu Mingzhao, the happier Chu Yuan'er was. She was jumping around trying to drive a wedge between the mother and children.

Since that's the case, Lu Mingzhao has no reason not to deal with her.

"Aunt Zhao, see the guest out."

At Lu Mingzhao's command, Zhao Xianglan immediately gave a wink to the old women at the door.

"Miss Chu, please?"

Strong, sturdy old women stepped forward, blocking Chu Yuan'er's path like mountains, forcing her to leave.

Chu Yuan'er hurriedly sought help from Zhou Ming'an. Upon seeing this, Zhou Ming'an grabbed Chu Yuan'er's hand and looked resolutely at Lu Mingzhao.

"Mother, you can't treat Aunt Chu like this. She's not a guest, much less an outsider."

"In my heart, she is already like a second mother to me, and sometimes, she is even closer to me than my own mother."

"You can't keep taking away the people I care about from me."

Lu Mingzhao lowered his eyes for a long while before asking softly, "Otherwise what?"

Zhou Ming'an gritted his teeth: "Otherwise, I'll pretend I don't have a mother like you."

"..."

The air was still, and the courtyard was eerily quiet.

The servants couldn't believe what they were hearing and didn't dare to lift their heads. Even Zhao Xianglan didn't dare to offer any advice.

No matter how much the old lady tormented the young lady in the past, the young lady had never said such heartless words.

Now that the old lady is kinder to the young lady, the young lady has become so emboldened that she dares to confront the old lady directly.

Zhao Xianglan couldn't help but feel remorseful. She should have tried her best to dissuade the old lady from bringing Cuilan back today, otherwise things wouldn't have turned out so ugly.

The manor had finally had a few peaceful days, what are we going to do now...?

In the dead silence, Lu Mingzhao slowly withdrew his somewhat surprised and stunned gaze, lowered his eyes and said, "Mama Zhao, go and invite Young Master Liu over."

Zhou Ming'an's expression went blank and bewildered for a moment.

Young Master Liu...you mean Liu Muyuan, right?

Why did Mother suddenly mention Liu Muyuan? Could it be... that she wants Liu Muyuan to come and witness all this messy, chaotic stuff in her family?

Chu Yuan'er was so shocked that she couldn't speak.

Only Zhao Xianglan was taken aback upon hearing this, and then she understood what the old lady was going to do.

The old lady is trying to add fuel to the fire!

The scene was already in complete chaos, and instead of addressing the problem, the old lady was adding fuel to the fire!

In the vast Marquis's mansion, Cuilan, Chu Yuan'er, and Liu Muyuan are the three people the young lady "cares about." Now, the old lady wants to call over the last one as well.

Isn't this move too risky?

However, when Zhao Xianglan met Lu Mingzhao's calm gaze, she could only silently swallow her shock and the words she wanted to say to dissuade him, and went to invite Liu Muyuan herself.