Chapter 294 It was just a lie to deceive her.

Zhou Zhining picked up Xiao'er from the next private room.

The child was having a great time playing with Tao Weixian's servant and didn't want to leave.

Zhou Zhining forcibly took it away.

They boarded the carriage, but did not see Zhan Xingzhuo.

"Where is Second Master?"

She was afraid that Zhan Xingzhuo would get impatient and go to the restaurant to find her, and that he would see everything.

Minglu said, "Second Master is not feeling well and is resting in a small shop in the alley ahead. We'll go there now."

Zhou Zhining breathed a sigh of relief, then her breath caught in her throat again: "Imperfectly healthy? Is he sick? Did he eat something disgusting at the palace banquet?"

There are many despicable tricks in the palace, and she was afraid that Zhan Xingzhuo would fall into one of them.

“He’s not feeling well, how can you leave him alone? Hurry up and go,” Zhou Zhining urged.

Minglu drove the carriage: "Don't worry, young lady, Second Master is very careful and won't catch anything. He probably caught a chill and has a headache. I've already sent Doctor Li over to examine him."

"Oh, that's good." Zhou Zhining felt even better knowing that Zhan Xingzhuo had come out to find her despite not being well.

He still puts her first, just like before.

Zhou Zhining smiled.

"Mother, what is this?" Xiao'er picked up a sachet from the floor and held it in the air, watching it sway back and forth.

Zhou Zhining looked at the sachet, her eyes instantly shifting from soft pleasure to coldness and ruthlessness.

She snatched the sachet from the child's hand, smelled it, and her eyes hardened.

This is a sachet for women.

Moreover, it is the gourd shape that Yao Qingling likes to use the most, and it is exactly the same.

Zhou Zhining gripped the sachet tightly, squeezing it until it was deformed.

Yao Qingling rode in this carriage not long ago!

Perhaps Zhan Xingzhuo didn't come to pick her up because he was taking a walk in the rain with Yao Qingling?

Ha, what illness? It's just a lie to fool her.

The carriage swayed, and a corner of the curtain was inadvertently lifted. Through that small opening, Zhou Zhining looked at the back of Minglu ahead.

That lackey is no better than his master.

Zhan Xingzhuo wanted both women, and he kept busy coaxing one and then the other!

Tears welled up in her eyes; she would never again feel guilty or ashamed for her wandering thoughts towards him.

"Mother, did the rain get into your eyes?" Xiao'er climbed into her arms, touched her eyes, and curiously put them in his mouth.

Zhou Zhining pulled the child's little hand away, wiped it with a handkerchief, and said softly, "Tears don't taste good."

Then, she remained silent.

The sachet she was clutching in her palm was punctured by her fingernail, and the perfume powder inside leaked out.

She didn't notice.

The carriage stopped again in front of the small wine shop, and Minglu got off the carriage to pick up Zhan Xingzhuo.

He drank quite a bit more and was slumped over the table, completely drunk.

“How could you drink so much…” Minglu sighed and was about to help him up when a woman’s voice sounded behind her, “Let me do it.”

Zhou Zhining gently helped the man up, saying, "Second Master, let's go home."

Zhan Xingzhuo opened his eyes halfway, unable to see who was in front of him, but he could vaguely smell a familiar fragrance.

“Go home… okay, let’s go home…” He smiled and let Zhou Zhining help him walk out.

Sitting in the carriage, he held Zhou Zhining's waist tightly, his head slumped on her shoulder, fast asleep.

Zhan Xingzhuo had a dream in which Yao Qingling came to pick him up and take him home.

Just like when we were newlyweds.

He never took her with him when he socialized with friends and colleagues. She didn't mind, but she would go out to look for him if she found he hadn't come home yet.

They would search all the way here, and when they opened the door and saw him drunk, they would frown, but they would never say a word to him and would silently take him away.

At that time, Zhan Xingzhuo was doing it on purpose, secretly tormenting her.

That way, Zhou Zhining won't be sad anymore.

But Yao Qingling didn't understand. She just thought she shouldn't interfere with his social life and that she only needed to fulfill her duties as a wife.

Zhan Xingzhuo had not expected that Yao Qingling, once she understood, would turn on him so ruthlessly.

She would secretly support another man, making him regret his actions and realize how blind he was to his true worth.

Now he knows he was wrong, she finally won against him, is she happy now?

So she came back to him, and she came to take him home...

Zhan Xingzhuo felt like he was floating, but he didn't want to leave Yao Qingling.

She was so warm and so gentle.

The man hugged Zhou Zhining tighter, his lips brushing against her neck.

He and Zhou Zhining had their intimate moments, but never when he was drunk.

And certainly not in front of children.

Zhou Zhining had to cover Zhan Xingzhuo's lips to coax him.

Fortunately, it was just his behavior in a dream, so it didn't take much trouble.

Zhou Zhining took a deep breath, feeling extremely distressed.

What kind of erotic dream is he having?

Who is the woman in my dream?

Is it Yao Qingling, or is it Hongying?

Although Zhou Zhining moved into the new mansion, to the main courtyard where Yao Qingling had once lived, her intimacy with Zhan Xingzhuo only went as far as kissing.

She always felt it wasn't the right time yet.

She had no choice but to give her virginity to Wang Xuan back then. Just that one time caused her to be looked down upon by the Wang family, and she has never been able to hold her head high since. Wang Xuan also uses this incident to humiliate her from time to time.

From that moment on, she knew that once a man had tasted her pleasure, she would no longer be attractive to him.

Her continued aloofness only made Zhan Xingzhuo cherish her more.

However, Zhan Xingzhuo may be different from other men.

Zhou Zhining was confident that she was still Zhan Xingzhuo's number one priority. But after he married Yao Qingling and consummated their marriage, that woman had left a mark on his heart.

The mark was so deep that it almost faded her memory.

He found Hongying in Luozhou, and because she had the same eyes as Yao Qingling, he took her in as his personal maid to serve him.

Hongying was one of only two women Zhan Xingzhuo had slept with, and because of that, he sent money to Luozhou to continue supporting her.

Zhou Zhining glanced at the sleeping Zhan Xingzhuo, her lips pressed together by his teeth, her heart churning with turmoil.

Even knowing that he was dating Yao Qingling, she still couldn't let him go.

She was unwilling to lose to Yao Qingling so easily.

She couldn't bear to part with it either.

She and Zhan Xingzhuo had known each other since childhood, and she couldn't sever their long-standing relationship.

There is no man in this world who treats her better than Zhan Xingzhuo.

She had been married before, and the way others looked at her was that she was just a pretty plaything.

No matter how good Tao Weixian was to her, he was just like any other man, coveting her face.

Behind Xiao'er's back, they called him "little bastard".

But Zhan Xingzhuo genuinely cares for Xiao'er, even though he cares more about his son whom he has only met a few times.

Ha, that's just Yao Qingling's way of keeping Zhan Xingzhuo hanging.

Zhou Zhining felt a surge of hatred when she thought about this.

Yao Qingling is cunning and uses despicable means to seduce Zhan Xingzhuo so much that he can't let her go!

So, could she also...?

Zhou Zhining looked at Zhan Xingzhuo, and her tightly clenched lips slowly relaxed.

When the carriage arrived at the new residence, Zhou Zhining helped Zhan Xingzhuo down and escorted him into his room.

She did not ask anyone else to take care of her.

She instructed the wet nurse to take Xiao'er away and forbid him from coming to see her at night.

Then, she closed the door and bolted it, looking at the man lying on the bed, fast asleep.

After a moment of silence, she stepped forward and whispered in the man's ear, "Brother Xingzhuo..."

Zhan Xingzhuo opened his eyes, looked at the woman in front of him for a while, reached into his clothes and took out a small walnut boat.

"This... I got it from the palace, for... for Xiao'er to play with..."

Zhou Zhining glanced at the small boat and smiled, "It's very exquisite. You went out to find me to give this walnut boat to Xiao'er?"

"Yes, I'm glad you like it." The man nodded and drifted off to sleep again.

Zhou Zhining sat on the side of the bed, holding a small boat shaped like a walnut.

Did he genuinely want to give it to Xiao'er to play with?

It was only after Yao Qingling refused something that he thought of giving it to Xiao'er?