Lan Jinqin had always presented a gentle and delicate image. But now that she suddenly changed into a fierce look, Peilan was so frightened that she stood still, unable to utter a word.
Xiao Rencheng took a step forward. Just as he was about to help interrogate, a hasty and angry voice came from outside the crowd:
"Who is causing trouble in front of my Wen Mansion?!"
Everyone immediately stepped aside and looked in the direction of the voice.
They saw Wen Zilong quickly getting off the carriage and walking towards them.
Because he walked in a hurry, his handsome face was covered with a thin layer of sweat and a blush.
He had exchanged a few more words with some of his colleagues after leaving the court, so he was delayed on his way back home. He never expected...
It was only after Wen Linshi sent a young servant to report the matter outside the imperial city gate that he rushed back in a hurry.
"My lord!"
Seeing Wen Zilong, Peilan immediately squeezed out of the crowd and threw herself into his arms like a flying arrow.
Wen Zilong was caught off guard and was hugged tightly. He couldn't help groaning inwardly.
Now it was all over. The fact that he had a mistress was confirmed.
Wen Zilong nervously pushed Peilan away at arm's length. Looking up, he saw Lan Jinqin's cold gaze and Xiao Rencheng's obscure eyes. A chill ran down his spine.
He had just decided to reconcile with Lan Jinqin, but Peilan had ruined everything.
And to make matters worse, Xiao Rencheng had caught him red - handed.
He didn't even know if he would be impeached during the court session tomorrow!
Wen Zilong was furious. He scolded Peilan angrily, "Why don't you just stay in your own courtyard? What are you doing making a scene in the Wen Mansion? Look at the mess you've made!"
"I've told you before that I respect and love my wife. I was drunk that night and had a moment of folly with you. As a man, I had to take responsibility. I've arranged for you to live outside and will give you a proper name someday. But if you're not well - behaved and make my wife unhappy, then I'll have to give you some silver and send you away from the capital!"
Wen Zilong quickly came up with a reason for keeping a mistress, downplaying the important parts.
He wanted to maintain his image of respecting his wife while also showing that he was a responsible man.
He was really busy.
"Hubby." Lan Jinqin curled her lips in a half - smile. Then a thin mist appeared in her eyes. Instantly, she complained in a pitiful and delicate way, "Hubby really has a good mistress!"
Wen Zilong couldn't find anything wrong with this statement. He didn't know that Lan Jinqin had just staged a good show of pretending not to know Peilan.
The onlookers also couldn't find anything wrong. They just thought that Lan Jinqin was trying to hold back her grief upon suddenly facing the fact that her husband had a new lover.
Even Xiao Rencheng was extremely angry. He wished he could punch Wen Zilong right away.
Wen Zilong hurriedly walked towards Lan Jinqin. "Wife, it's not like this. I didn't know she was so ignorant and dared to bother you..."
"Otherwise, let's go into the mansion and talk about it!"
Looking at so many people gathered in front of the Wen Mansion, he felt that his image had been shattered into pieces and could never be put back together.
Lan Jinqin was very generous. Hearing this, she agreed gracefully, "Then hubby, come home after you've dealt with this."
After saying that, she walked into the Wen Mansion without looking back.
She left behind a good reputation of being reasonable and considerate.
Look at Lady Wen. Facing the fact that her husband had a woman outside, she didn't make a fuss. How could she be the kind of jealous woman who would drive someone out?
The image of a jealous woman that Peilan had created for Lan Jinqin before instantly crumbled in everyone's hearts.
But Peilan was completely unaware that she had ruined everything. All she could remember was the threat Wen Zilong had made to her just now.
She clung to Wen Zilong's sleeve and cried persistently,
"My lord, what did you just say? You want to give me some silver and send me away?"
"Do you think that just because that promissory note is destroyed, everything doesn't count anymore?"
"Everyone here saw that promissory note! Everyone can be my witness! My lord, you can't get rid of me!"
Wen Zilong was stunned for a moment.
The next second, his face changed drastically.
"Promissory note? What promissory note?"
A bad feeling welled up in his heart, and cold sweat broke out on his back.
Could it be the vow letter he had written to Peilan?
Xiao Rencheng said with a half - smile, "Don't be panicked, Lord Wen. The promissory note is destroyed. It's right there."
He pointed to the completely ruined flowered note beside the ditch in front.
The flowered note was no longer recognizable. It was a dirty, black piece of paper with filth seeping around it, making people feel nauseous.
However, Wen Zilong rushed forward in a few steps. He bent down and picked up the flowered note regardless of the filth.
Seeing that the words on it were completely unreadable, he secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Wen Zilong casually threw the flowered note back into the ditch. He wiped his hands with the handkerchief handed over by the young servant and said,
"Since it's destroyed, it's destroyed. I, Wen Zilong, am not an irresponsible man. Why do you have to come to the Wen Mansion in such a hurry and make my wife worried?"
"However, since you're here, go into the house and take a rest first. You can't keep torturing yourself like this. I'm worried about your health."
Wen Zilong's gentle words finally soothed Peilan's panicked heart. She nodded obediently:
"It was Lan'er who was too impulsive and implicated my lord and my lady... It's all my fault. Back then, my lord was busy and worried about my lady's family's affairs. He had to ask for help outside and socialize every night, getting drunk. Lan'er really felt heart - broken, so I..."
"So you took care of him into his bed." Xiao Rencheng coldly interrupted her chatter. "Miss Peilan is really gentle and considerate. Knowing that Lord Wen was in great need of a considerate confidante at that time, she recommended herself to share Lord Wen's worries. It's really wonderful."
His words made the onlookers snicker.
What a loving and exemplary couple in Daye.
What loyalty and unwavering love for life.
It turned out to be all fake!
Wen Zilong was ridiculed but couldn't find a word to refute. He said to the Wen family's bodyguards with a livid face:
"What are you all standing here for? Don't I pay you enough salary on weekdays?"
"So many people are gathered in front of the residence of the Minister of War. Are you all blind and don't know how to ask them to leave?"
Only then did the bodyguards rush up and clear the crowd away.
Wen Zilong led the way into the mansion, and Peilan followed him in small steps.
The area outside the Wen Mansion instantly became quiet.
Only a pair of official boots embroidered with the pattern of auspicious cranes remained beside the ditch where the flowered note had fallen.
Xiao Rencheng's all - seeing eyes stared intently at the tightly closed gate of the Wen Mansion.
It was understandable that Lan Jinqin had been overly nervous about the flowered note just now.
But Wen Zilong's reaction was abnormal.
Logically speaking, wasn't the destruction of his own promissory note a good thing for Wen Zilong?
Why was he so nervous?
So nervous that he didn't care about anything and just had to pick up the flowered note to take another look.
What was he trying to confirm?
And what was Lan Jinqin so eager to find on that flowered note?
On the fifteenth day of the fifth lunar month.
Along the Qinhuai River, famous throughout Daye, merchants gathered, and scholars flocked. It was a place of debauchery and endless revelry every night.
The women of the red light district leaned on the long chairs along the shore, showing off their charms, creating a unique scenery known as the "Beauty's Lean".
As night fell, boats sailed on the river. The gentle breeze blew across the face, and the pool of spring water was tinged with the color of rouge.
The largest and most luxurious painted boat on the river was particularly eye - catching.
This painted boat belonged to Prince Song Chengyuan. Every time Song Chengyuan's painted boat sailed on the river, other boats were not allowed to get close.
At this moment, the giggles of women and the hearty laughter of men faintly drifted out from above the painted boat.
It made the people on the shore stop and watch, filled with envy.
Inside the painted boat, Prince Song Chengyuan had not arrived yet.
Some high - ranking officials from the capital had already come.
Dancing girls were everywhere, and cups of wine were clinking.
Xiao Rencheng and Song Yinghuai stood on the deck. The gentle breeze blew their clothes, in stark contrast to the debauchery inside the cabin.
Song Yinghuai listened to the information Xiao Rencheng had just obtained. His face remained calm:
"Sheng Jiangli... He is indeed the adopted son of the old Marquis Lan, not the one adopted by the Marquis of Changping since childhood."
This explained why Sheng Jiangli was so familiar with Caiyu.
"But why did he leave the Lan family?"
"This matter is also a bit of a secret. I spent a lot of effort to find out." Xiao Rencheng said, "Sheng Jiangli's biological father is Sheng Mu, the vice - general under the old Marquis Lan. Back then, when the Lan family was guarding the Jin region, the Hu people outside Yanmen Pass were very powerful. The Lan family's army had many conflicts with the Hu people's army. Thirteen years ago, the Hu people suddenly broke into the pass."
"Yanmen Pass is the most important of the nine strategic passes. With its natural barrier and the old Marquis Lan's guarding, it was impossible to fall. But on that day, a large number of Hu cavalry suddenly appeared inside the pass..."