Chapter 57: Bumping into an Ugly Matter (Part 2)

  The second watch is calling for pink, all pink, come into my arms!

  She wore a pale pink plain cheongsam with a same-colored skirt, and had her hair styled in double buns, looking exceptionally elegant and beautiful.

  Lin Zhaoyan curved his lips into a smile and said, "You're here too."

  "Ah, ah!" Zhou Wan-yu nodded repeatedly, thinking that it was rare to meet an acquaintance in the palace. Her words were filled with excitement. "Are you the only one from your household who came? I'm here with my mother and fourth sister. My third sister fell ill and couldn't make it."

  Lin Zhaoyan pointed to Lin Xingyan beside him, "This is my seventh sister. And my fifth sister, but she's with her friends right now."

  Zhou Wan Yu casually greeted Lin Xing Yan and smiled at her, "Great, I was just thinking about whether you would come or not while I was in the carriage."

  Lin Zhaoyan also smiled along with her.

  She had met Zhou Wan Yu only once before.

  She actually didn't like people who were too familiar, always feeling awkward, but somehow, she wasn't resistant to Zhou Tan Yu's enthusiasm at all, and even felt a strange sense of closeness.

  Zhou Wan Yu reached out and grabbed her hand, "I heard that the Empress Dowager will arrive in a while, why don't we go have some fun?"

  Lin Zhaoyan subconsciously glanced at Lin Xingyan.

  Lin Xing's words were sparse and his lips were tightly pursed, with a hint of discontent in his eyes, but it was fleeting. He smiled at her and said, "Fourth sister doesn't need to worry about me, you all go have fun!"

  Lin Zhaoyan didn't particularly like being with her, and hearing her say that made it easier for him to be polite to her.

  She pointed to Lu Shi, who was chatting with the other noblewomen not far away, and said to Zhou Wan Yu: "You wait for a moment, I'll go and greet my elder aunt."

  Zhou Wan-yu smiled and agreed.

  Lin Xing's words trailed off as his hands in his sleeves clenched into fists.

  She stared at Lin Zhaoyan's back, thinking resentfully: You're so pleased with yourselves. But because I'm the daughter of a concubine, after today... you'll definitely have to pay the price!

  Lin Zhaoyan went to ask Lu Shi for instructions. Lu Shi had an attitude of not caring, only instructing her to be careful, and then let her go.

  A woman in a crimson skirt looked at Lin Zhaoyan's slender and lovely back, smiled and said: "Is this the fourth young lady of your mansion? I haven't seen her much before, didn't expect her to be so delicate and demure."

  This sounds like Lin Zhaoyan was not allowed to show her face in the past because she had a problem.

  Lu smiled slightly, "The fourth young lady is low-key and introverted, unlike the fifth young lady who is more outgoing. So she doesn't often go out."

  In fact, when it comes to being a person, Si Yatou is actually better than Lin Ruoyan in every way except for her slightly awkward speech. However, the people in the manor don't like Si Yatou, and while her taciturn nature has something to do with it, the main reason is that her aunt doesn't like her.

  This person, if he doesn't have enough capital to go against the trend, will follow suit.

  As for why her aunt didn't like Si Yatou, she hadn't thought about it carefully before. She had only assumed that Si Yatou couldn't speak and therefore wasn't favored by her aunt, but from the attitude of her aunt and Liu Shi today when the Empress Dowager specifically requested Si Yatou to enter the palace, she could see that it was absolutely not as simple as she had thought before.

  I'm afraid there's something fishy going on here.

  She'd better check it out thoroughly!

  When Lin Zhaoyan walked back, there was no sign of Lin Xingyan beside Zhou Wanyu, but instead, there was an additional woman wearing a purple embroidered gemstone blue phoenix patterned jacket.

  She guessed it was Zhou Wan Yu's mother, Lady Miao, the wife of Cheng Nan Bo.

  As expected, when she walked closer, she heard the woman scolding Zhou An Yu to "be chaste and gentle, and humble in words".

  Zhou Wan-yu looked very wronged.

  Lin Zhaoyan lowered her head and smiled lightly, thinking that Zhou Wanyu had probably just seen her. In the excitement of rushing over at the moment, she forgot to greet Miao Shi.

  "Junior has seen madam." Lin Zhao stepped forward and spoke in a light tone.

  Miao's voice stopped, he turned his head and looked at her for a moment before saying: "So you are Lin Si, the young lady? Yan sister has been mentioning you frequently since she returned from Lingyun Temple that day. She said she wanted to invite you over to play but couldn't find the time."

  Perhaps it's not that Zhou Wan Yu can't be spared, but rather this madam is unwilling?

  Lin Zhaoyan smiled silently without making a sound.

  "Xiao Yan is a great sister!" Zhou Wan Yu couldn't help but speak up, "If it wasn't for her that day, San Jie..."

  "Have you forgotten what your mother just said?" Miao's family glared at Zhou Wan-yu, then turned to Lin Zhao and said: "Since the two of you know each other, get together and have a good time, but be careful with your words and actions."

  Lin Zhao nodded and said "yes".

  "Alright mother, you go talk to the other madams now, don't always be staring at me, I'll take care of myself."

  Miao looked away in dissatisfaction until Zhou Wanyu lowered her head to admit her mistake, and only then did she leave after reminding her a few words.

  Looking in this direction, it's undoubtedly Lu Shi they're looking for.

  The Jian'an Marquis's estate and the Chengnan Earl's estate were not close, and Miao Shi did not understand her situation, which should be inquired about.

  She's just a young lady from a secluded family, what can she possibly find out? Even if she's worried about her daughter being friends with the wrong people, Mrs. Miao is really making a big deal out of nothing.

  Fortunately, Zhou Wan Yu was not heartless and as soon as Miao left, she regained her usual carefree personality. She smiled and said: "Let's go have some fun! By the way, Sister Zhao Yan, have you been to the imperial palace before? This is my first time here, I didn't expect it to be even more magnificent than I imagined!"

  Lin Zhaoyan said: "Actually, this is also my first time coming here."

  "Really?" Zhou Wan-yu was somewhat skeptical. "Isn't it said that you have an aunt in the palace as a concubine, and yet you don't even come to visit her?"

  Lin Zhaoyan said helplessly, "Entering the palace is not that simple. It's not like you can come and see just because you want to. You must get the approval of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor first."

  Even if they entered the palace today, without the permission of the Empress Dowager, they still cannot go see Consort Jing on their own.

  "Oh." Zhou Wan Yu suddenly enlightened and nodded, then asked: "Then Zhao Yan sister, do you now know what the empress dowager likes and dislikes?"

  Last time she told Zhou Wanyu in a letter that she didn't know what the Empress Dowager liked, which was true.

  At this moment, upon hearing these words, he looked her up and down with a smile, saying: "Don't worry, there's nothing on you that the Empress Dowager dislikes, nor is there anything that the cat by the Empress Dowager's side dislikes. Later when you meet the Empress Dowager, as long as you behave normally, she will definitely like you."

  "It seems that Fourth Sister really does understand the Empress quite well!" Lin Xing's calm and mocking voice came from behind.

  She turned around, except for Lin Xingyan. Lin Ruoyan and her three or four close friends actually followed over as well.

  They all looked at her with great interest.

  Lin Ruoyan glared at her, obviously not allowing her to tell others about the news that Liu had easily inquired.

  She lowered her eyes and pulled Zhou Wan's hand, "I heard that the other side planted melon leaves chrysanthemum from the southern country, let's go take a look."

  Zhou Wan-yu nodded vaguely.

  "Is that your sister? She's indeed as timid and fearful as you described." A girl in an apricot-colored dress with a folded hem chuckled to herself, watching the two of them walk away.

  Lin Ruoyan smiled slightly, but her eyes were filled with sorrow.

  "It's still better if you understand the rules." The girl said again.

  Lin Ruoyan raised an eyebrow at Lin Xingyan, a cold smile in her heart.

  If it weren't for the palace, she would have to pretend to be sisterly and loving, otherwise she would have kicked her out long ago. How could she possibly allow her to suddenly intervene?

  No wonder you're a cheap person, your face is really thick!

  Compared with Lin Ruoyan's depression, Lin Zhaoyan, who was far away from the source of the war, was much more relaxed.

  It was Empress Dowager who set up the Hundred Flowers Banquet, so there were countless beautiful flowers in the imperial garden, vying with each other for beauty, dazzling people's eyes.

  "Where is the Calendula you mentioned? I didn't see it?" Zhou Wan-yu looked around, with a very curious expression.

  Lin Zhaoyan lost his smile, "What lotus leaf chrysanthemum?"

  This silly girl is too simple-minded. What she just said was just an excuse she made up. She actually believed it.

  "Nothing?" Zhou Wan-yu furrowed her brow and said with a sigh, "He really likes chrysanthemum, I was about to say..."

  She didn't quite catch what Lin Zhaoyan was muttering behind her and asked subconsciously. "Who?"

  Zhou Wanrou's mouth was busy, her pretty face turned red, and she stammered: "No one. Right, that... we'll go ahead and take a look again. It seems like there are still many varieties up front that we haven't seen before!"

  After finishing speaking, he didn't care about Lin Zhao's reaction and ran far away like a gust of wind.

  Lin Zhaoyan felt a bit helpless, and she glanced around at the surroundings. They were walking on the flower-stone path, surrounded by exquisite and colorful pavilions for each season. The view was blocked, and if they went further in, they wouldn't be able to see anyone else.

  She intuitively didn't want to go any further, in case something went wrong. But she couldn't leave Zhou Wanyu alone either, so she had no choice but to wait where they were.

  Anyway, this place is where palace maids can see, and if someone wants to find her, it's also very convenient.

  About a minute later, Zhou Wanyu still hadn't returned.

  Lin Zhaoyan felt something was off and wanted to call out a few palace maids to search, when suddenly, not far away, Zhou Danyu's voice rang out.

  Her heart skipped a beat and she didn't even bother to find a palace maid as she hurried towards the source of the sound.

  Zhou Wanyu was lying on the grass, as if she had been frightened, her face was very pale.

  Lin Zhaoyan hastily walked over and asked: "You didn't..."

  "Shh!" Zhou Wan-yu pulled her over and whispered, "Don't make a sound, don't make a sound, I almost got discovered!"

  Lin Zhaoyan was confused, but seeing her tense expression, he could only follow along with her words and remain silent.

  It seems that Zhou Wan-yu has run into something big.

  Inside the palace, there were originally many dirty and shady things, but they were all done in private and couldn't be made public. If they really stumbled upon some "good things", they would probably not be far from death.

  But she found it strange that today, when the Empress Dowager was hosting a banquet for foreign envoys' wives, should be the busiest and most lively time, even if some people in the palace had business to attend to, shouldn't they choose a better day?

  Choosing today, or in the Imperial Garden, isn't this openly asking for trouble?

  "Shouldn't we be going?" Zhou Wan-yu ventured cautiously.

  Lin Zhaoyan said: "I didn't meet anyone when I came, probably you saw wrongly, there's nothing going on, let's go back."

  She didn't want to ask Zhou Danyu what she had seen. The first rule of being a palace guard was not to ask and not to speak, the more you knew, the more trouble you'd get into.

  She didn't ask, but that doesn't mean Zhou Wan Yu won't talk about it.

  "I just saw two or three little girls push a seven or eight year old boy into the pool!"

  There is indeed a lotus pond in the garden, right opposite where Lin Zhaoyan is standing.

  Lin Zhaoyan furrowed his brow.

  Trouble the little friends who follow the article to set it to 【automatic subscription】, yeah, it's more convenient like this~

  Also, Xiaoyi has obtained the Great God's Light! I didn't notice it until now, so I'm informing everyone that if you've fully subscribed to Xiaoyi's book, you can go and receive Xiaoyi's Great God's Light. Hehe, thanks! (......)