Chapter 461 The Trouble at Linan Wang’s Mansion
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Yuwen Chu closed the door and walked in calmly. He first put down the lamp and then took out a handkerchief to wipe Mingzhu, but she refused to easily give him the opportunity to be attentive. She snatched it away and hid behind the screen to wipe herself.
Occasionally stealing a glance outside, Mingzhu saw Yuwen Chu bending over to tidy up the remnants of his clothes on the floor. His figure was tall and slender, broad-shouldered with a narrow waist, powerful long legs, and his side profile was handsome and charming. Thinking of his reckless behavior in the darkness just now, her face suddenly reddened, and her heart thumped wildly in her chest.
She couldn’t help but think that if he apologized or something, she would overlook it. So deliberately dragging her feet, she refused to go out, waiting for Yuwen Chu to become impatient and call her, so she could act coy and moody to achieve her desired effect.
However, she waited and waited, but Yuwen Chu didn’t call out to her. Instead, she heard a door sound. Unable to resist, Mingzhu peeked out and couldn’t help but feel half-dead with anger. She was alone in the room with only a lamp, and Yuwen Chu had actually left! He actually left! After doing such despicable things to her, he didn’t even say a kind word and just left like this! Unforgivable!
She kicked the folding screen in anger, almost knocking it down. Hastily, she caught the screen. After all, it was part of her dowry, and breaking it would mean a loss.
Little did she know that this sandalwood screen inlaid with glass was incredibly heavy, and she couldn’t hold it up at all. The result of forcing it might affect the safety of the child in her womb. Mingzhu made a quick decision not to support it, letting the screen fall down. If it broke, she would just have to repair it later.
Then she watched helplessly as the screen steadied itself. When she peeked out again, she saw that Yuwen Chu had just withdrawn his hand from the screen. He hadn’t left after all! Mingzhu immediately felt proud, “Using the same trick twice is stale! Your Highness, can’t you try something new?”
Yuwen Chu smiled, “For others, using the same trick twice is not advisable. But for you, it works every time.”
Was he implying she was naive? Mingzhu’s face darkened, and she walked out without saying another word. She didn’t want to talk to him anymore.
Yuwen Chu gently grabbed her wrist, looking down at her with a smile, “Are you angry? Don’t be angry. Let’s make up, alright?”
“Humph~ Just because you said so, we’re supposed to make up? I don’t agree.” Mingzhu turned her face away, refusing to look at him. He knew from which angle his face looked the best and what expression she liked the most. Just now, he was playing the bandit, and now he was pretending to be gentle? She had seen enough men and wasn’t falling for his tricks!
Yuwen Chu gently held her, “Since you don’t agree to what I say, then you say it. Whatever you say, I’ll agree. I won’t sulk with you.”
Mingzhu teased him, pushing him away with a smile, “Go away! Disturbing people in the middle of the night to serve us bath, tomorrow I’ll be nagged by the matrons again. If this spreads to my family, my mother will scold me.”
Yuwen Chu also couldn’t help but laugh, “If I don’t do this, how will I know that you actually miss me?”
“Shameless. Who misses you? You’re sick, but you don’t know how to take care of yourself.” Mingzhu refused to admit it, but she couldn’t deny that they were both very happy. It seemed like all the worries and fears from the past few days had been blown away by the wind, and they were still living their happy little life.
“I just wanted you rest assured. I’m not so sick that I can’t tidy up after you.” Thinking of her reaction just now, Yuwen Chu felt proud and satisfied.
After bathing, the couple chatted for a while before reluctantly going to bed separately.
The next morning, Mingzhu got up to check on Yuwen Chu, who was already in the study next door receiving Mr. Meng and others. There were too many things piled up, and while the officials reported their matters, they also expressed their concerns to him, making it hard to stop.
Mingzhu sent people to check on him several times, but he was always busy, so she didn’t directly persuade him to rest to avoid affecting his image in front of his subordinates. Instead, she sent food every half hour or so. Sometimes it was medicine for Yuwen Chu, and sometimes it was snacks for the officials, giving Yuwen Chu a chance to take a break.
By being so attentive and sending food several times, the less important officials were embarrassed to come over to Yuwen Chu, and by the afternoon, the atmosphere in the Yinghui Hall finally quieted down.
Seeing Yuwen Chu looking tired, Mingzhu let him lie on the couch and massaged his head and shoulders, while briefing him on today’s visitors. At first, Yuwen Chu nodded occasionally while leaning on her, but later, he fell asleep, exhausted.
Mingzhu sighed. She didn’t realize how tired Yuwen Chu was before. She only thought he was busy. Now that he was unwell, she realized just how tired and busy he was. It was rare for him to find time to accompany her.
This job was simply inhuman. If she didn’t want to become a widow, she really had to take good care of Yuwen Chu. Mingzhu carefully put Yuwen Chu’s head on the pillow, covered him with a blanket, and slipped off the couch gently. She instructed someone to look after him and went to discuss with the kitchen maids and Xiangli how to prepare dinner.
Wenwen was studying attentively on the side, and when they had arranged everything properly, she enthusiastically chased after the kitchen maids and Xiangli, asking about the dishes’ combinations and which dishes were suitable for whom. She said that when she returned home, she would prepare meals for her family elders, and when her father returned for the New Year, she would personally prepare the banquet.
Zheng Momo watched with delight and whispered to Mingzhu, “Second Miss is truly charming and adorable. There won’t be any problems with her future marriage.”
That was exactly what Mingzhu hoped for. She wasn’t as perceptive as Yuwen Chu when it came to people, but she was waiting for him to get through this busy period so she could find a more suitable match for Wenwen, playing a decisive move to remove Second Sister-in-law Su’s nephew from the equation.
As evening approached, Fu Mingzheng sent a message saying that Yuwen You had also been summoned to the Dali Temple for questioning. This was because the people from the Central City Guards Office found a pair of jade bracelets belonging to the missing Jiang Shanshan in a pawnshop, leading them to a guard in the Linan Wang Mansion. Immediately, Commander Li Dazhong personally went to the lotus pond in the Linaan Wang Mansion and found the official waist token that Jiang Shanshan had worn at the wedding banquet that day.
After searching through the lotus pond, a completely disfigured female corpse was found. The woman had been fatally stabbed in the neck, and the official robes she wore indeed belonged to Jiang Shanshan. However, the maids who served Jiang Shanshan went to identify the body and said that while the body’s figure resembled their second young miss, the face did not.
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