Zhenbei Marquis Mansion.

Zhao Mingzhu sat in the small house where Zhao Lin lived and felt a sense of depression.

It was just a small room of only five or six square meters, and with a bed and cabinets crammed in, the space was cramped and of course depressing.

Zhao Mingzhu sighed softly.

She felt depressed after sitting for a while, and how had Zhao Lin lived here for three years?

"Miss, someone is here." Yu'er came in and said.

She was a woman, the cook in the marquis's mansion.

"Miss, you called me?" The cook came over timidly.

Zhao Mingzhu said, "Don't be afraid. I have something to ask you. Did Zhao Lin ever borrow needle and thread from you?"

"Zhao Lin? Master Lin, yes, yes. One time he asked me to borrow needle and thread, saying he wanted to sew something, but he didn't say what it was, and I didn't want to help him."

The cook knelt down hurriedly and said, "Did he do something bad with the needle and thread? My lady is very discerning. This has nothing to do with me. I don't know what he needs the needle and thread for."

Zhao Mingzhu frowned slightly: "He didn't say what he wanted to sew?"

The cook said, "No, he won't tell me even if I ask him."

Zhao Mingzhu nodded slowly and said, "What else have I done with you?"

The cook looked at Zhao Mingzhu and hesitated to speak.

Zhao Mingzhu's face darkened: "Speak!"

The cook said, "Let me teach him how to make soup."

"Making soup?" Zhao Mingzhu was puzzled. "Does the mansion need him to make this?"

"It's not for use in the mansion." The cook said carefully, "Two years ago, when the eldest lady had morning sickness and couldn't eat, Master Lin asked me to teach him how to make an appetizing soup for her."

Zhao Mingzhu was stunned.

She remembered.

At that time, Zhao Lin had just returned.

Zhao Mingzhu suffered from severe morning sickness during pregnancy. She vomited everything she ate, and in the end she even vomited when she drank water.

That very night, the doorman reported that a man claiming to be Young Master Lin of the Zhenbei Marquisate came to bring food to Zhao Mingzhu. Zhao Mingzhu was in a bad mood because she had been vomiting all the time, so she ordered Zhao Lin to be driven away without hesitation.

Afterwards, when they heard that Zhao Lin refused to leave, they thought that the doorman had not informed Zhao Mingzhu, otherwise he would not have been refused entry. The doorman called the security guard, beat him up and threw him aside, even breaking his soup bowl.

Zhao Lin sat outside Prince Yu's mansion for a long time before limping back.

Since then, Zhao Lin has never been to Prince Yu's Mansion again. Even when Zhao Mingzhu invited his brothers and sisters to visit Prince Yu's Mansion, Zhao Lin found an excuse to refuse.

Zhao Mingzhu felt that Zhao Lin was not presentable, and she never invited him to such gatherings again.

Zhao Mingzhu felt a pang of sadness. What had she done?

Is it really because she was vomiting so much that she was in a bad mood?

There was definitely a reason for being in a bad mood, but it was more because the other person was Zhao Lin.

She was afraid that he would be embarrassed and be seen by Prince Yu's concubines and laughed at for having such a brother.

Wasn’t Zhao Chenhan allowed in several times when he came?

"Master Lin is not a cook. He spent a long time learning how to make that soup, and even got several burns on his hands before he could do it. Actually, I could just do it myself, but he disagreed and insisted on doing it himself..."

The cook was still rambling on, so Zhao Mingzhu collected herself and asked, "What else?"

The cook said, "Young Master Lin also learned from us to cook other dishes for the Marquis and his wife, but the Marquis and his wife thought he was not doing his job properly and scolded him, so he never cooked again. As for other things..."

The cook hesitated to speak.

"explain!"

"He begged us to save him some leftovers."

"What does he want with leftovers?"

"eat!"

"What?"

Zhao Mingzhu's voice suddenly rose: "When did the Marquis' Mansion become so poor that they had to eat leftovers?"

The cook kowtowed quickly and said cautiously, "I dare not hide it from you, Miss. The Marquis and his wife don't like Young Master Lin, and the young ladies don't like him either, so you understand."

Yes, Zhao Mingzhu certainly understands.

What the superiors like, the subordinates will definitely follow.

Zhao Jingzhou and his wife didn't like Zhao Lin, which led to some servants bullying him. They cut corners on things that should have been his, causing him to go hungry. He didn't even have a monthly salary and could only eat leftovers.

But who could be blamed for this? Zhao Jingzhou, Han Yuehua, or Zhao Lin himself?

Zhao Mingzhu sighed and asked, "What do you think of Zhao Lin?"

The cook said, "Young Master Lin is very friendly and kind to us servants. He also respects and loves the Marquis' wife and the young ladies."

"How do you know that?"

"Young Master Lin often asks us about the young ladies, especially you, the eldest lady. He heard that you have been proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting since childhood, and can even help the lady manage the properties of the Marquisate. He admires you very much and says that you are his idol."

"Idol?"

Zhao Mingzhu was a little dazed.

I just did what a young lady from a marquis's mansion should do, but I became another person's idol?

"Yes, idol! I can sense that Master Lin is serious about what he said, and he's not just saying it for us. He often pesters us to tell us about the eldest lady, how she manages such a large estate in the Marquisate, how she defeats her competitors, and how she uncovers corrupt officials in the shop."

"He said the eldest lady was the most powerful woman he had ever seen. She controlled hundreds of people in the mansion. There was no one more powerful than the eldest lady in the world."

"He said he wanted to learn from Missy and work hard to become like her."

"He said that one day he hoped to be like the eldest lady, letting everyone know that Zhao Lin of the Zhenbei Marquisate is both civil and military, and not bring shame to the eldest lady or the Marquisate."

"When he said these words, Master Lin's eyes sparkled with admiration. I believe that words can deceive people, but eyes cannot."

"Worship, huh?"

Zhao Mingzhu imagined the scene, Zhao Lin waving his hands like a little child and saying these words. His eyes must have been so bright that people couldn't look directly at them, right?

At that time, my position in his heart should have been perfect and beautiful, right?

But what did I do?

I destroyed this beauty with my own hands!

Zhao Mingzhu's tears fell without warning, and they kept coming more and more, and she couldn't stop them.

"Miss, what's wrong with you?" The cook was very scared.

Yu'er said, "Go out first, and don't tell anyone about what happened today."

"Yes, I'll take my leave."

The cook ran away quickly.

Zhao Mingzhu tearfully said to Yu'er, "Zhao Lin never said these words to me."

"Never asked me these things."

"If I knew, if I knew, I..."

Zhao Mingzhu was so choked up that she couldn't speak.

Yu Er could only comfort her: "Don't blame Miss. There are so many things to take care of in the palace, how can I have time to care about him."

"No!"

Zhao Mingzhu shook her head: "You know, I promised him that he could go to the palace to play as he pleased, but I had him driven away. I am not worthy of being your sister!"

Yu'er said, "We can only blame him for not telling the young lady. If he had told the young lady, she would have let him in."

Zhao Mingzhu just shook her head and cried.

At that time, she also looked down on Zhao Lin and wished that this person did not exist in the world. Zhao Chenhan was her real brother.

With this idea in mind, even if Zhao Lin said those words in front of her, she would think it was fawning and flattering, and would not let him in.