Chapter 181 Even wounds that have healed for many years still bear scars.
Gao Zhian's eyes darkened, and his expression turned grim.
Zhou Wanqing seemed not to notice, "Brother, sister-in-law was coughing and taking care of things at home the other day."
“Yesterday I saw her looking at the peach tree in her yard and saying, why isn’t it blooming yet?”
Seeing his elder brother's expression, Gao Zhilin quietly tugged at his wife's sleeve.
Zhou Wanqing glanced at her husband, then pursed her lips and remained silent.
Zhou Congxian glanced at his sister, then chuckled, "Now that Brother Zhian is a carefree man, how could he miss out on such beautiful flowers at Baima Temple?"
The smile on his lips stung Gao Zhian's eyes.
He made a mistake and was banished from the capital by His Majesty, falling from grace into obscurity.
Those who used to address him as Commander Gao now call him Brother Zhi'an.
It's as if by falling down, these people can now be on equal footing with them.
His lips twitched slightly. "Brother Congxian is a very busy man now, yet he still has the leisure to appreciate flowers."
Zhou Congxian smiled and said, "I've been quite busy lately. I finally managed to get some time to rest today. I thought the scenery at Baima Temple was quite nice, so I decided to enjoy the flowers with Miss Meng."
Meng Shilan was originally happy to watch the show, but when she heard his words, she glanced at him sideways.
"How come I didn't know it was you who invited me?"
"Green Willow, have you been bribed by Lord Zhou? I was wondering why you had to come to White Horse Temple to admire the flowers."
Green Willow was startled. She dared not look at Gao Zhian's deathly gaze and quickly waved her hands in denial.
"No, Miss, it's just that now is the perfect time to enjoy the flowers, that's why I brought it up."
Meng Shilan turned her head and said, "That's right, what does it have to do with Lord Zhou?"
She looked like she wanted to sever ties with him.
Zhou Congxian was not annoyed. "It's better to meet by chance than to invite someone. Meeting is fate."
Meng Shilan, "..."
She never knew Zhou Congxian was like this before.
She turned to leave, but Zhou Congxian shamelessly tried to chase after her.
Zhou Wanqing was truly amazed today; she never imagined her older brother had this side to him.
Zhou Wanyan then came out of the octagonal pavilion, and she was startled when she saw Meng Shilan's face.
"She, she!"
“Eldest sister,” Zhou Wanqing said immediately, “this is Miss Meng from the Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion.”
Zhou Wanyan was a little taken aback.
This face is exactly the same...
Meanwhile, Zhou Congxian and Gao Zhian got into a fight.
"Gao Zhian, what I do is none of your business! You have a harem of wives and concubines, isn't that enough to satisfy you?!"
That's a very blunt statement.
That's practically the same as saying Gao Zhian is shameless.
Gao Zhian's eyes reddened with anger. "Zhou Congxian, you're nothing but a hypocrite who's all talk and no action."
"When you abandoned your beloved concubine back then, wasn't it for your career advancement?"
"Now that you're seeing Miss Meng, is it for her face, or for the power of the Meng family!"
Both were military generals, and every move they made was a deadly strike.
Gao Zhian was arrogant and proud. Although his family was only a marquisate, his grandfather, father and he himself all held important positions.
The Zhou family's grandfather was posthumously granted the title of Duke by the late emperor, and Zhou Congxian's father only received the title by chance, though his position was marginal.
The British Duke's Mansion, at its peak, was also in decline.
While studying at the Imperial Academy, he was chosen as the Crown Prince's study companion, while Zhou Congxian was the Second Prince's study companion.
Who could have imagined that the crown prince would die young?
The second prince was made the new crown prince.
None of these changes shook his family's status, and he believed that this glory would last forever.
Unexpectedly, he watched as Zhou Congxian rose through the ranks while he remained stagnant.
He didn't take any of this to heart.
He suddenly fell from grace, with no chance of recovery.
Gao Zhian stared at Zhou Congxian, his jaw clenched. This man, whom he had never taken seriously before, was now able to humiliate him with impunity.
Why does he have such good fortune?!
The second prince ascended the throne and became His Majesty.
The former concubine has now transformed into a daughter of the Meng family.
The two fought fiercely, from the long corridor to the octagonal pavilion, and from the octagonal pavilion to the flower grove.
Every punch lands hard, every move exudes a unique style.
Meng Shilan noticed that the two of them seemed to be in a good mood.
She did it on purpose. She changed her mind as soon as she saw Zhou Congxian. She made him pick up the jade pendant and also made him discover Gao Zhian's shady intentions.
She deliberately provoked a conflict between him and Gao Zhian, just like she had with Song Jiyun back then.
The only difference is that she was forced into it.
Zhou Congxian did so voluntarily.
Why should women be forced to fight to the death for a man?
She also wanted to let men experience this feeling.
It's not like they can just snap their fingers and expect women to flock to them.
Zhou Wanqing watched Meng Shilan's back, though she couldn't see it, and pursed her lips slightly.
There had been many misunderstandings between the two in the past; she misjudged and mistrusted Song Jiyun.
When she thought she was dead, her first thought was that she hadn't properly apologized to her.
The person is right in front of her now.
Her mouth, however, was as if it had been sewn shut and she couldn't open it.
Meng Shilan watched the two fight with a cold eye, finding it utterly boring.
Without a second thought, he turned and left, stepping on the jade pendant that Zhou Congxian had crushed.
Seeing that she was about to leave, Zhou Wanqing chased after her.
"Miss Jiang... Miss Meng!"
She glanced at Green Willow and said, "You go down first. I have something to say to your young lady."
Green Willow glanced at Meng Shilan, and seeing that she didn't speak, she could only retreat first.
Zhou Wanqing bit her lip, "Are you... are you doing well...?"
Meng Shilan looked at Zhou Wanqing, who had hardly changed.
"I'm fine, Miss. How have you been?"
Zhou Wanqing breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the smile on her lips.
Her tone became lighter, "Zhou Zhian has no good intentions. I overheard him yesterday that he was coming to Baima Temple, so I quickly asked my older sister to help me bring my brother here."
"Thank you for informing Shuang'er of everything, Third Miss."
Meng Shilan looked in the direction of Baima Temple, her voice filled with estrangement.
Zhou Wanqing, however, didn't notice. Looking at Gao Zhian, who was gradually losing ground, she said, "My brother is now..."
Before she could finish speaking, Meng Shilan interrupted her.
"Third Miss, we weren't very familiar with each other before, and we still aren't now."
"Thank you for informing Shuang'er of Gao Zhian's wolfish ambitions, but I'm afraid I cannot repay you with the same value right now."
Zhou Wanqing was stunned for a moment, "I... I didn't want anything in return from you."
"Aren't we friends...?"
Meng Shilan's lips twitched slightly. "Isn't Miss San's friend Song Jiyun?"
“I was deceived before. I saw through her true colors and stopped associating with her.” Zhou Wanqing’s face flushed red.
"so what."
Meng Shilan lowered her eyes and smiled, "Song Jiyun is the Third Miss's friend, so we should stand together with our friends against the common enemy."
"Now you want to be my friend, but also want to share my hatred of the enemy?"
She looked at Zhou Wanqing with a blank expression.
"The Third Miss's likes and dislikes follow her friends, so she can hurt those her friends hate at will."
Zhou Wanqing had never heard such words before. She opened her lips, but couldn't utter a single word.
Meng Shilan took one last look, and Zhou Congxian sent Gao Zhian flying with a single palm strike.
"You are all the same."
"A simple 'I misjudged you' can erase all the hurt. Miss San can easily brush it off, but I can't."
Even wounds that have healed for many years still have scars.
She left a brief comment and then turned and went down the mountain.
The early spring wind blew through the mountains.
The wind dispersed their words, leaving no trace.
wrong.
It left Meng Shilan with a cold.
Shuang'er's dissatisfaction with Lvliu had reached its peak.
She's dealing with a whole mess at her shop now, and most of the employees seem to think they can control her, saying they don't want to work there anymore.
With everyone gone, the remaining staff simply can't keep up with all the work in all these shops.
But now she's worried about her older sister.
While Green Willow was in the kitchen getting medicine, Shuang'er poured out all her grievances.
"Why keep the green willows? It's cold now, but what about next time?"
"Knowing full well that they have ulterior motives, we still have to play along with them."
"It was fine before, but now that we have the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion as our backer, we still have to feel so stifled."
Meng Shilan's voice was somewhat hoarse.
"This isn't about feeling frustrated; it's about waiting for the right moment to strike and kill!"
"The power of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is a double-edged sword; it can be used by us, but it can also take our lives."
Shuang'er didn't understand, "Anyone who dares to go against Lord Meng is just asking for trouble."
She shook her head. "What the capital city has never lacked is influential people."
"They prioritize their own interests; they may fight to the death today, but they will shake hands and make peace for common interests tomorrow."
"Lord Meng is powerful, but my brother is just a civil official."
"Do you think they might resort to underhanded tactics to establish contact with the Meng family?"
Shuang'er's expression turned serious. If some people really succeeded, and then spread the news to everyone, it would become common knowledge.
Only the older sister was injured, and all the blame in the capital fell on her alone.
Meng Shilan continued, "There's no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days. Having Green Willow by his side is just giving Gao Zhian a false impression."
"Only when we kill Gao Zhian, the heir of the Marquis of Xingyang, in one blow will we give the whole capital the wrong impression."
"Only then can it truly have a deterrent effect, so that when people want to take advantage of others, they will carefully consider whether they can bear the consequences!"
Shuang'er was persuaded and could only nod reluctantly, "Then you must be careful too, your own health is the most important thing."
Meng Shilan nodded, "Alright, I got it. Aren't you busy as a spinning top right now? Just leave me alone."
"You're not a magic pill that will make me better here."
Shuang'er: "Alright, I'll go back to worrying about my own business."
The shop's affairs are giving Shuang'er a huge headache.
With more people, their minds become more calculating.
It is said that women and petty men are the most difficult to deal with.
She thought these men were the real villains, not only scheming and petty, but also always cheating and cunning!
"Miss Yao."
As soon as Shuang'er got off the carriage, more than a dozen men surrounded her.
"What...what do you want to do?!"
The leader of the group was the same guy who caused trouble a few days ago and spearheaded the resignation.
"We don't want to do anything, we just want our wages back!"
Shuang'er frowned. "We've settled all your wages! You've all signed and affixed your fingerprints!"
The shop assistant took out a contract from his pocket. "Back when the shop was about to go out of business, the manager kept us here and we signed this contract."
"As long as we get through this difficult time with the shop, the shop will give each of us a thousand taels as a reward in the future!"
The date on the contract is ten years ago!
It bears the seal of the late Madam Meng, but due to the passage of time, there is no way to verify it.
And nearly half of these guys have been with the company for more than ten years!
If each person gets a thousand, she'll take tens of thousands of taels!
This contract is clearly fake!
The waiter looked smug. "Miss Yao isn't trying to deny it, is she?"
"We've been with the Meng family for over ten years! Is this how you treat us?!"
The men following behind him immediately started jeering.
"that is!"
“We’ve been working for the Meng family for so many years and doing just fine. Now that Miss Meng has come back to take over the shop, she’s hired a woman who doesn’t know anything!”
"We don't want to work here anymore, give us the money that's owed to us!"
"Yes! Pay me back!"
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