A whirlwind marriage: The real heiress marries a warlord.

After the Lan family published their story in the newspaper, the entire southern city learned of the Lan family's secret.

Even ordinary people in the city are talking about it with great interest.

This has also sparked a lot of speculation. Tabloids dare to write anything, and some of their ideas are strangely interesting.

Qin Yan admired the writer's talent, while Cheng Tianxun simply enjoyed the spectacle.

Cen Yan arrived at their villa.

"What are you looking at, so happy?" he asked Cheng Tianxun.

Cheng Tianxun laughed as he watched.

"This tabloid is talking about my love story with Qin Yan, how we exchanged longevity locks when we were kids and were supposed to get married, but things didn't go as planned..." Cheng Tianxun said.

Cen Yan: "It's so tacky, what's so funny?"

Cheng Tianxun thought he didn't know how to appreciate things and was just a boorish man, so he didn't bother arguing with him.

He then handed it to Qin Yan to see.

Qin Yan said, "The description is very smooth; the writer is quite good."

Cen Yan: "..."

Cheng Tianxun chuckled for a while before asking Cen Yan, "Is there something you need?"

"Lan Zheng contacted me and wants to invite you and your wife, along with Mrs. Lan, to dinner," Cen Yan said.

He added, "Madam Lan and Lan Zheng have both moved out. Madam Lan owns many houses, all on the same street as my private residence. They occupy four of them."

Cheng Tianxun: "They're rich and powerful. But what does that have to do with us?"

Cen Yan: "Didn't your sister-in-law already acknowledge you as family? Since you've done so, why don't you take a group photo and publish it in the newspaper to confirm the matter?"

After a pause, Cen Yan lowered his voice, "Lan Zheng said that they can't keep Lan Muhe detained indefinitely, and Ye Xianting's case has to be closed eventually. If they don't solidify the relationship, Lan Muhe will definitely talk nonsense after she's released."

It must resonate with people.

Everyone is waiting for further developments regarding the Lan family's reunion.

Since there was no scandal involved, the fact that it spread widely was simply because Mrs. Lan spent money to buy the front page headline in the newspaper.

They will soon be forgotten.

It is also possible that someone will take advantage of the situation and distort the truth.

"We don't care about these things," Cheng Tianxun said.

Cen Yan: "Don't make the decision on your own. Let your sister-in-law consider it."

Qin Yan was silent for a moment before saying, "I can take a photo with them and have it published in the newspaper."

Cheng Tianxun: "You don't need to wrong yourself."

"I'm not wronged. Just as my older brother said, we also have to consider whether others will turn around and accuse us. Most people don't know what I look like."

"I resemble Madam Lan, which is strong evidence. With this evidence, at least this matter is confirmed," Qin Yan said.

Cheng Tianxun then said, "Reply to Lan Zheng and tell him to book a private room."

"Lan Zheng means to go to their house. That house is like my private residence, with a banquet hall, so the whole family can have a meal without feeling crowded," Cen Yan said.

Qin Yan nodded: "That's good. It's more private at home, so there won't be any eavesdroppers."

Cheng Tianxun: "Let's do it this way."

After exchanging a few more casual words, Cen Yan got up to take his leave.

They quickly arranged a time to have a meal on the first day of the fifth lunar month.

Something happened during this time.

The second concubine went to the official residence to ask the warlord about the Lan family.

"Muhe and Tianyu are somewhat acquainted; it's fashionable for young people to make friends these days. When she went missing, Tianyu asked about it," the second concubine said.

The warlord has been staying at the official residence during this period.

Upon hearing this, the warlord frowned: "That's a fake. Why associate with her? She hasn't disappeared; she's just hiding at home and refusing to be seen."

"It's not just her, it's also because she's Miss Du's friend. Tianyu also has dealings with Miss Du," the second concubine said.

Miss Du is Du Zhuojun.

The warlord frowned: "Tell him to stop hanging out with shady characters."

Second wife: "He might have some free time."

After Cheng Tianyu's arm was dislocated by Cheng Tianxun, he stayed at home and did not return to the army even after his arm recovered.

The warlord was too busy and forgot about it.

The second concubine said, "Tianyu is an ambitious person. If you leave him idle, he'll just give up and do whatever he wants. I feel sorry for him."

This is an attempt to reinstate Cheng Tianyu to his original position.

The warlord wasn't in the mood for that at the moment, and simply said, "Let's wait a bit longer."

"Commander, I can't manage the child by myself. Could you talk to him?" the second concubine said.

She was pushing her hard.

The warlord's mind began to soften: "Tell him to get ready; he'll be busy in a few days."

The second concubine agreed and then left.

After she left, the warlord's wife gave the warlord a stack of photographs.

It was Cheng Tianyu, Du Zhuojun, and the second concubine who were photographed meeting.

Several other photos show the second concubine meeting with several middle-aged men.

The warlord frowned: "What does this mean?"

Is the second concubine implicated?

At her age, she's doing this? Even the warlord's wife wasn't this foolish when she was young.

"These people are managers of banks, foreign firms, and money shops under Du Rongfei. Du Rongfei has disappeared, and the Du family has a huge fortune, so they may be incorporated into the clan."

"At this point, if we help Du Zhuojun seize the opportunity and then marry her, who will benefit?" the warlord's wife asked.

The warlord said, "There's nothing wrong with her planning her son's wedding. It's just that she's short-sighted."

He actually wanted Du Rongfei's wealth as well.

But the Du family's money wasn't so easy to take. The clan head, Du Changqing, was quite prestigious, and he was afraid that public opinion would not forgive the military governor.

It's not worth being so short-sighted as to invite such trouble.

"She might not be after her son's wedding, but rather trying to raise money for the royalists. A few days ago, my spies learned that several royalist outposts in Tianjin had been destroyed, which dealt them a heavy blow."

"Now she may need some money to make a comeback. She's willing to use your son to secure a way out for herself and the royalists," the governor's wife said.

The warlord's face was grim: "That's slander! There's absolutely no evidence that she's a royalist. We can't convict her just because of her background."

"If she really cared about her son, she would know that the warlord's son didn't need to find a young wife with a generous dowry; he only needed to marry into a political or military family."

"Finding a daughter from a fallen family for money only brings no benefit to Tianyu's future," said the warlord's wife.

The warlord remained silent.

The warlord's wife then said, "Your private property has been entrusted to her for management. If you have some free time recently, why don't you check the accounts of the old house and see how much of your private treasury is still recorded in the ledgers?"

Governor Cheng was stunned for a moment, then a sudden thought flashed through his mind, and he almost couldn't sit still.

After the governor's wife finished speaking, she left, leaving Governor Cheng alone pacing in the outer study.

The claim that "the second concubine is a member of the royalist party" has been brought up for more than a year or two. Cheng Tianxun has made this claim several times.

There is also some evidence within the military.

The warlord was skeptical.

His relationship with his second wife was a fashionable, free-choice romance. He liked her, but he didn't respect her, thinking she was incompetent and incapable of achieving anything significant.

If anyone were to speculate that the warlord's wife, Xiang Ying, was a member of the royalist party, the warlord would immediately believe it. This was because Xiang Ying truly possessed both the ability and the ambition to do so.

The second concubine was just an ordinary housewife. She was the legitimate daughter of the Prince's mansion, but she was also kept hidden away in her boudoir, unlike the warlord's wife who went abroad to study alone at the age of ten.

But the warlord's wife said that the second concubine might be using the warlord's private treasury.

The money in the private treasury was a drop in the ocean compared to that of the military governor's mansion, but it was still money that the military governor had painstakingly saved up.

"I need to find a pretext to check the accounts," the warlord thought.