Zheng Shanchang's trip to the capital was secretly arranged by Chu Luoxun.
The residence was where Zheng Shiyi used to live, and it was very secluded, so ordinary people couldn't find it.
Lu Yanzhao lightly touched the ground with his toes, shaking off the guards around him and quietly entering the courtyard.
Zheng Shanzhang stood with his hands behind his back, and upon hearing the commotion behind him, he replied calmly, "You've arrived."
Lu Yanzhao bowed to Headmaster Zheng and said, "Student Lu Yanzhao greets Headmaster Zheng."
"Hmph, this old man cannot accept Lord Lu's greeting." Headmaster Zheng's expression was rather unpleasant, and his plump face was full of frost when he turned around.
Lu Yanzhao lowered his head and remained silent.
Zheng Shanzhang rubbed the ruler in his hand, then found a stool and sat down.
"come over!"
Lu Yanzhao stepped forward, glanced at the ruler, and smiled slightly: "Does the headmaster intend to punish the student? I wonder what mistake the student has made to anger the headmaster so much!"
"I've heard that you've repeatedly opposed the Crown Prince in court. Is that true?"
"Please investigate this matter thoroughly, Headmaster!"
Zheng Shan was speechless. Lu Yanzhao completely ignored his words, making it impossible for him to ask any further questions.
After a pause, Zheng Shanchang softened his tone: "I am cultivating you with great care, not so that you will repay kindness with enmity. You should always be grateful in your heart. Now that you are in a high position and are a favorite of the Emperor, you should help the Crown Prince more."
Lu Yanzhao was humble, bowing his head and cupping his hands: "What the headmaster says is true. This student will certainly live up to the headmaster's kindness in cultivating me and will definitely do my best to assist the Empress's son."
He was merely assisting the Empress's son, not the Crown Prince.
Headmaster Zheng nodded in satisfaction, stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "Just remember your original intention. I was a bit harsh just now, Yanzhao, please don't take offense."
Lu Yanzhao's eyes flickered, but his attitude remained gentle: "A strict teacher produces outstanding students, and I dare not take offense!"
After bidding farewell to Headmaster Zheng, Lu Yanzhao was abducted by the Crown Prince's men as soon as he stepped out of the alley.
Inside the private room, Chu Luoxun was sipping tea. When he saw Lu Yanzhao enter, he smiled and raised his hand to indicate, "Please sit down."
It was rare to see Chu Luoxun being so polite, so Lu Yanzhao lifted his robe and sat up straight.
He was waiting for Chu Luoxun to speak first.
After a while, Chu Luoxun asked, "Did you see Headmaster Zheng?"
"yes!"
Next, Chu Luoxun and Lu Yanzhao chatted casually, seemingly just talking, but in reality, every sentence was a test.
Chu Luoxun was testing whether the person in front of him would listen to Zheng Shanzhang's words and be loyal to him. Lu Yanzhao's answer was watertight.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door, and Zheng Shiyi reported, "Your Highness, the person you requested has arrived."
Lu Yanzhao was taken aback, but quickly regained his composure.
Chu Luoxun: "Let him in!"
The door opened, and a woman dressed in a moon-white floral-embroidered dress walked in carrying some pastries. She lowered her head, revealing her snow-white neck and graceful figure. Even the rational Chu Luoxun was momentarily stunned by her beauty.
Bai Lian'er looked up, only to meet the dark eyes of the person sitting upright beside her.
The moment she stepped inside, it was as if I saw glimmers of light in those clear, cold eyes, but they vanished quickly, like a fleeting moment.
Lu Yanzhao's gaze swept lightly over the woman, his expression returning to calm.
This woman's figure does resemble Gu Nanjiao's somewhat, but upon closer inspection, she is not even a tenth as good as Jiaojiao.
What's Chu Luoxun up to?
Bai Lian'er snapped out of her daze, remembering the Crown Prince's instructions, and brought the pastries to Lu Yanzhao, curtsying slightly: "My lord, these are some pastries that Lian'er made. Please try them."
"Lian'er's cooking skills are always excellent. I, the Crown Prince, will try some, and Yanzhao, you should try some too."
"Your Highness, I do not like sweets. Please eat."
Chu Luoxun did not force her, and waved to Bai Lian'er with a smile. Bai Lian'er stood up and respectfully stepped aside.
"What do you think of this young lady, Yanzhao? Why don't I, the Crown Prince, bestow her upon you as your concubine!"
Bai Lian'er, who was standing to the side, had a slight change in her eyes. She didn't know why, but her heart started pounding. She pursed her lips and looked at Lu Yanzhao, her face visibly turning red.
Lu Yanzhao frowned and said directly, "She is not even one-tenth as beautiful as my wife, and is not qualified to be a concubine."
Chu Luoxun hadn't expected his rejection to be so direct, and his expression immediately changed: "I only found you a suitable person because I pitied your wife's pregnancy and the hardship she was enduring, and she couldn't take care of you. I never expected you to..."
Bai Lian'er stumbled and almost dropped the pastries in her hands.
From childhood to adulthood, everyone who saw her said she looked like a fairy princess, with a graceful figure, and was qualified to enter the palace.
To everyone's surprise, the man in front of her said that her appearance was not even a tenth as good as his wife's. Bai Lian'er felt a tightness in her chest and wanted to see what this man's wife looked like.
Wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, Bai Lian'er knelt down: "Lord Lu is a man of integrity and upright character, and he and his wife are deeply in love. Their marital relationship is truly enviable. I am willing to serve you as your servant."
"Hahaha!" Chu Luoxun laughed loudly. As expected of the person he chose, she was willing to enter the Lu family even as a servant.
"Yanzhao, the beauty does not seek the status of a concubine, but enters the manor as a maid. We must not be too forward with her feelings."
“But I’m afraid I’ll wrong this beauty!” Lu Yanzhao said.
Gu Nanjiao was feeling bored at home and her temper was getting increasingly irritable, so it was better to find someone for her to vent her anger on.
Chu Luoxun came to us willingly; if we don't make things difficult for him, it would seem like we can easily bully him.
"I'm not wronged! I'm not wronged!"
Before leaving, Lu Yanzhao took Bai Lian'er's indenture.
...
Gu Nanjiao, heavily pregnant, paced back and forth in front of the door, looking around. It was already dark, and Lu Yanzhao still hadn't returned.
In the distance, a carriage could be seen approaching, with Lu Yanzhao riding a tall horse, exuding a rather imposing aura.
The carriage stopped in front of the gate. Lu Yanzhao dismounted and pulled Gu Nanjiao into his arms, gently scolding her, "Why did you come out without even a maid?"
Gu Nanjiao narrowed her eyes and looked at the carriage next to her: "Why is there a carriage?" She leaned over Lu Yanzhao and sniffed him, and there seemed to be a faint fragrance about him.
She felt uneasy: "Why are you so late? Where did you go?"
Lu Yanzhao whispered a few words in her ear, then said loudly, "Someone saw that you were having a hard time during your pregnancy, so they specially sent you a maid to do as you please."
Send her a maid? Who would be so kind!
Bai Lian'er waited in the carriage for a long time, but no one greeted her, so she had no choice but to lift the curtain and get off the carriage by herself.
Looking up, she saw a woman in fine clothes standing on the steps in the center of the Lu family mansion's plaque. Lu Yanzhao carefully embraced the woman, his eyes filled with a deep affection that Bai Lian'er had never seen before.
Her gaze fell on the round belly, and Bai Lian'er understood. She slowly got off the carriage and curtsied to Gu Nanjiao: "This must be Madam. This servant Bai Lian'er greets Madam."
The woman before her looked somewhat familiar. Remembering Lu Yanzhao's words, Gu Nanjiao curled her lips and said, "Rise!"
Bai Lian'er frowned. Why did Madam Lu say "Rise"? Did she think she was royalty?
Bai Lian'er felt disdain. She had heard Zhou Wan mention during her training that Madam Lu was just a country lady, crude and rude!
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