Lin Hairu was also eating pastries and almost choked when she heard this.

The maid patted her back and poured her tea, and she managed to swallow it.

Then she took a deep breath and asked, "—what did you say?"

Lin Mao felt his aunt was a little baffled. He put down the cake in his hand, patted the cake crumbs on his hands and said, "Yining's father is back, so I went to propose marriage."

He asked again: "Didn't I tell you this a long time ago?"

Lin Hairu wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. Yes, Lin Mao had this plan when he was young.

"Why didn't you discuss it with me before going? The Duke of Yingguo is a distinguished family. It's very rude of you to come and ask for marriage on your own." Lin Hairu said, "I wonder what you'll do if they reject you."

"We have to try to know if it will work or not." Lin Mao said with a smile, "It doesn't matter if it doesn't work. I have tried it anyway. Besides, the Duke of England likes me very much."

This guy is always very confident that others like him. I don’t know where his confidence comes from. In fact, in many places he is a character that everyone hates.

"Third Young Master, why are you still outside? Why don't you come in..." Ruixiang's voice suddenly sounded outside the pavilion.

Luo Shenyuan is back?

It took Lin Hairu a moment to notice Luo Shenyuan walking in with his entourage. He seemed expressionless. Lin Mao greeted him, but he gave him a cold glance. Then Luo Shenyuan asked Gu Jingming to follow him.

Gu Jingming often accompanied the Emperor, reading with him and accompanying him on hunting trips. He understood the Emperor's thoughts better than anyone else, and the two of them often communicated.

Gu Jingming mentioned Cheng Lang's upcoming promotion to Assistant Censor. Old Master Cheng was a former censor, and the current Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate was his most prized student. While Cheng Lang's promotion might seem sudden, it must have been a significant effort behind the scenes. The Censorate was now practically controlled by the Wang Yuan faction, and Cheng Lang was considered a half-member.

"My mother has been trying to find a marriage for me recently..." Gu Jingming said leisurely, "I've been thinking about it but can't find anyone suitable. I might as well ask for my cousin Yining's hand in marriage. My mother likes my aunt so much, she will definitely agree."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Luo Shenyuan looking at him with a sharp gaze like a knife out of a sheath, cold and piercing.

"Just kidding, I have nothing against my cousin Yining!" Gu Jingming said with a faint smile, "Even if I did, I wouldn't dare to say anything."

"Although Lin Mao is smart, he's very slow when it comes to matters between men and women. He can't compare to me, young master." Gu Jingming opened his folding fan and waved it. Seeing that Luo Shenyuan's expression hadn't changed at all, he whispered, "Lord Luo, I'm your right-hand man. Lin Mao said that what he said to Yi Ning was a romantic relationship - I don't think so. He just thought Yi Ning was fun."

Luo Shenyuan subsided, paused, and said, "That's fine." He took a sip of tea and continued, "I'm about to take up the position of Minister of Works, which means I'll be Lin Mao's immediate superior. His personality really doesn't suit him to be a Censor-in-Chief; he offends people too easily. He's already offended several officials in the Ministry of Works. He'd be better off becoming a local official. The prefect of Jiaozhou, Shandong, is about to retire. If Lin Mao were to become the magistrate of Gaomi County first, he could be promoted to prefect in a few years based on his achievements."

"Having said that, but to go from being a secretary to being a county magistrate..." Although the rank is the same, seventh grade, one is a Beijing official, in charge of entanglement with officials from the Ministry of Works, while the other is a local official, how can they be compared?

Luo Shenyuan asked, "Do you think I'm abusing my power for personal gain?"

Gu Jingming forced a smile: "I naturally don't dare to think so."

It’s not that I don’t think so, but I don’t dare to think so.

Luo Shenyuan continued, "Duke Ying has always been fond of Yining. Lin Mao's family lives far away in Yangzhou, and he has six brothers. He wouldn't agree to this marriage."

"Then you..." Gu Jingming asked hesitantly, "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid." Luo Shenyuan stroked the rim of the cup and said slowly, "Okay, you can go out first."

After Gu Jingming left, a spy entered Luo Shenyuan's study. He saw Lord Luo leaning against the armchair with his eyes closed. His tall figure was stretched out by the setting sun, and his hands, with distinct joints, slender and strong, resting on the rosewood armrests, were gently clasping.

This proved that he was thinking about something. The spy stood aside and waited silently, not daring to disturb his thoughts.

After a while, Luo Shenyuan opened his eyes and asked, "Have you found out?"

"It's all clear." The spy respectfully handed him the letter and reported verbally, "Lord Cheng is also a smart man. He has been able to stay away from all kinds of women for a while, which is quite impressive. Apart from some rumors about the romantic world and that he once kept a skinny horse, there is nothing else about him. By the way, he seems to have killed someone in his early years, but he was protected by Governor Lu at the time, so no one dared to testify against him."

All correspondence and intelligence exchanges between the Qingliu faction passed through Luo Shenyuan. These were important matters, and Luo Shenyuan would check them one by one.

Killing someone is no big deal, he has killed someone before.

Luo Shenyuan read the letter and sealed it, looking at the sunset outside the lattice window and thinking about something.

Yining's shock and the action of pushing him away that night kept lingering in his mind. She must have been frightened by his sudden action.

He always likes to suppress his emotions, but in fact he is very sensitive and easily affected by the actions of the people he cares about. Thinking about it that night, he was indeed too impulsive.

As for Lin Mao… in the past, the Duke of Ying would have certainly not agreed to Lin Mao's proposal. However, with the recent events at the palace banquet, and Yi Ning's current precarious situation, it's possible the Duke of Ying was panicking and desperate. Many prominent families were present at the banquet, and the Duke of Ying wanted to find a suitable match for her to prevent future trouble. But after the banquet, how many would dare to marry her? Wei Ling could only look for a slightly more prominent young man from an official family.

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