Chapter 308 He wished he could beat Lin Shiyuan to death with every punch.

Yu's expression was complicated; she didn't know how to express herself.

Are all the maids in the capital like this?

Yao Qingling was so frightened by the wolf that she wouldn't have followed Lin Shiyuan. How could they have thought that Qingling would be alright?

Her life was not in danger, but she was a woman.

A woman is taken out by a man and doesn't come home all night; who knows what kind of gossip will spread!

“Madam, our young lady is different from other young ladies. She will be fine.” Xia Chan persuaded Madam You to go back.

Back in the courtyard, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Yes, these people know the inside story, but others don't.

With so many eyes on the Marquis's residence, there will surely be a lot of gossip spreading tomorrow. How could Vice Minister Lin be so tactless! Even young lovers on a date should have some sense of propriety, shouldn't they?

Xia Chan muttered a few words, then turned around to find Nie Yun and asked her to go to the valley to see if anything had happened.

Logically speaking, Lin Shiyuan is inconsiderate, so the young lady wouldn't have acted that way.

Nie Yun didn't react at all to Xia Chan's request.

She doesn't want to watch other people being lovey-dovey.

Nie Yun said, "Few can match Master's martial arts skills, and with a wolf added to the mix, what can I possibly do?"

She wandered into the kitchen, lifted the pot lid, and saw that there were only a few buns inside. She then pulled Lou Yue over and asked her to make sweet potato soup.

Xia Chan: "..."

Overnight, Qingling and Lin Shiyuan did nothing, which was essentially the same as what happened at Mulan Courtyard.

We chatted about random things, and then I fell asleep.

Before I had a good night's sleep, Lin Shiyuan woke me up.

He had to attend the morning court session and couldn't afford to waste any time.

It was pitch black outside, and they returned to the city almost under the stars and moon.

Upon arriving at the city gate, they arrived just as it was opening. Lin Shiyuan was in a hurry to attend court, so the carriage sped along, making it seem to anyone who didn't know better that there was an urgent military report.

The carriage headed straight for the palace, which was not on the way to the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence, so Qingling got off halfway.

Lin Qiao was a clever girl. Knowing that her brother hadn't returned, she put on his court robes early in the morning and stood guard on the road to the palace, telling him to change on the way.

Lin Qiao secretly called her, "Sister-in-law."

Yao Qingling felt embarrassed by his words, but he stuffed a piece of sesame candy into her mouth and stuck it there.

Lin Qiao chuckled, "Sister-in-law, if you two can get married soon, you won't have to be so secretive. My brother's reputation is ruined now."

The Lin family's ancestors were so wicked they'd jump out of their graves to curse their descendants.

Lin Shiyuan tapped the little girl on the head and told her to take the white wolf home.

He looked at Qingling: "What are you going to do?"

It was still dark, and they couldn't hire a carriage to take her home.

Yao Qingling said, "The bustling market is not far ahead. The vendors are going into town now, so I'll stroll back."

She urged Lin Shiyuan to hurry up, so that the censor wouldn't have an excuse to scold him, and more importantly, she couldn't let the emperor think that he was arrogant because of the emperor's favor.

She waved her hand and walked away gracefully.

Looking at her back, Lin Shiyuan saw no trace of the grievance and dishevelment she had suffered yesterday when she fell into the mud pit; it was as if nothing had ever happened.

The man smiled broadly, and with a powerful shout of "Giddy up!" the horse reared up and continued on its way.

But Zhan Xingzhuo, who was in the alley, saw this scene clearly.

He clenched his fists tightly.

Those two clearly spent the night together.

He even saw the youthful passion he had felt when they were the only ones together in Yao Qingling's face.

them!

them!

Zhan Xingzhuo couldn't control his mind; a scene of a man and woman entwined in love flashed before his eyes.

His fists clenched so tightly they cracked, he wished he could beat Lin Shiyuan to death with each punch!

How dare he... How could he dare!

Minglu's expression was also not good.

He even began to hate Yao Qingling.

How could the young mistress be so shameless as to associate with other men? Doesn't she care about the young master's reputation? He is the heir of a marquis's mansion!

Minglu took a deep breath in anger, then remembered the important matter: "Second Master, you should go to the palace; you'll be late for court."

Zhan Xingzhuo used almost all his strength to say, "Let's go."

During the morning court session, Zhan Xingzhuo's gaze remained fixed on Lin Shiyuan.

If looks could kill, Lin Shiyuan would have died hundreds of times over.

Even the emperor on the throne noticed that Zhan Xingzhuo was acting strangely.

He spoke up: "Minister Zhan, is there something you want to discuss with Minister Lin?"

Zhan Xingzhuo snapped out of his daze, bowed to the emperor, and reported: "Your Majesty, I have heard that Vice Minister Lin was extremely disrespectful to Yao Qingling, who was recently granted the title of First-Rank Imperial Lady. Yesterday, he even sent a wolf to the Marquis's residence to force Yao Qingling to go out with him."

“Yao Qingling is a Lady of the Imperial Decree personally bestowed by the Emperor. His treatment of her is disrespectful to the Emperor. We beg Your Majesty to punish him!”

The emperor glanced at Lin Shiyuan, his eyes filled with displeasure.

He had warned them to restrain themselves long ago, so why did they go too far?

Officials in the court who disliked Yao Qingling came out at this moment to say that Yao Qingling was unrestrained and lacked the proper conduct of a woman. They claimed that it was her licentious behavior that attracted men to harass her, and that she was the one who lacked self-respect.

"...Yao Qingling used to go on blind dates with eight matchmakers, which has long been the talk of the town. In my humble opinion, the best way is to arrange a marriage for Yao Qingling, so that she can be supervised by a man and be taught to be a virtuous woman."

When the topic of arranging a marriage for Yao Qingling came up, the court officials stopped talking about other things and started discussing it amongst themselves.

Some people say Yao Qingling has a bad reputation, so who would want to marry her? Others say that Yao Qingling is, after all, the mother of the Marquis of Zhongyong, so it's acceptable for her to marry someone of lower social standing.

The point is, we can't find her a man who will marry into her family.

It's said that Yao Qingling is fierce, and that a man who marries into her family might be driven to the brink of suicide by her.

After saying all this, they all glanced at Zhan Xingzhuo, feeling deep sympathy for him because of his past divorce from Yao Qingling and how she forced him to leave the capital.

These people know the truth, but as time goes by, the truth can be presented in another way.

Lin Shiyuan sneered, then suddenly raised his voice: "The court discusses important matters of state. Since when has a woman's marriage become a topic of discussion with politics?"

Therefore, everyone felt that Lin Shiyuan was targeting Yao Qingling for revenge, and that he didn't want her to have a good reputation so that she wouldn't be able to find a good husband.

Zhan Xingzhuo glanced angrily at Lin Shiyuan, then suddenly calmed down.

There was one thing he couldn't understand: since Lin Shiyuan and Yao Qingling were in love, why did he have to ruin Yao Qingling's reputation like this?

But at this moment, he would never expose their affair, much less give them the opportunity to get married.

After the court session, Zhan Xingzhuo didn't even glance at Lin Shiyuan and strode away.

Prince Xin glanced at Zhan Xingzhuo's figure, then at Lin Shiyuan, who was smiling smugly, shook his head with a smirk, and slowly walked away.

Yao Qingling strolled around the streets, ate a bowl of tofu pudding, then a meat pie, looked at the hair ornaments here and the jewelry box there, and before she knew it, it was already broad daylight.

A luxurious carriage drove through the street, its curtains embroidered with the emblem of Jin Mantang.

Yao Qingling stopped to watch the carriage pass by. Just then, the curtain was lifted, and Zhou Zhining met Yao Qingling's gaze indifferently.

Qingling smiled at her, and Zhou Zhining returned the smile. Both of their smiles were sharp and pointed.

After Zhou Zhining lowered the curtain, her face darkened.

She clenched her fingers, her face showing grievance and anger.

Zhan Xingzhuo hasn't returned home after court lately, and sometimes when he wakes up in the middle of the night, his bedside is empty.

When you look for him, he's just spacing out in his study.

She asked Minglu, but Minglu hesitated and refused to say anything, only saying that the Second Master had not gone to see any disreputable women and that he had business at the Duke's mansion.

Zhan Xingzhuo has a bad relationship with the Duke's mansion, so what could he possibly do if he went back?

But in the Duke's mansion, he spent the best year with Yao Qingling!