Chapter 40: The Wrong Move

  At this moment in Luyu Hall, Lin Zhaoyan and Lin Ruoyan were asking about the process of finding Nian'er.

  "Girls, you have no idea how tense the scene was! Chen's horse-drawn carriage was speeding along so fast that I was getting dizzy and disoriented inside, but I didn't dare make a sound for fear of being late!"

  "You've had a hard time." Lin Zhaoyan covered her mouth and smiled lightly.

  Lin Ruoyan was also amused by Man Hua, and changed from her previous gloomy anger to tease: "Which part of you got hurt? Later, let your wife's daughter massage the bruise for you, and make you feel comfortable as a master!"

  Lin Zhaoyan smiled and said, "You won't believe it, she really dared."

  "Girls, don't tease me anymore!" Manhua scolded them with a glance.

  Lin Zhaoyan and Lin Xingyan exchanged a smile, and they actually saw the rare tacit understanding in each other's eyes.

  Lin Ruo's smile froze.

  The atmosphere suddenly cooled down, and Manhua also converged her smile, looking at Lin Ruoyan with some trepidation.

  Because of Wan Niang's matter, Fourth Sister and Fifth Sister rarely got along with each other, she also intentionally teased to ease the relationship between them, but unexpectedly things took an unexpected turn.

  Fortunately, Lin Ruoyan did not play dumb this time, but instead straightened her face and asked Manhua: "What happened later? Since you brought Nian'er back, shouldn't it be a coincidence? But when you rushed to go, it was at least during the Chen hour. The city gate opens at the Si Zheng hour."

  Manhua saw nothing out of the ordinary and let out a sigh of relief. Then, upon hearing Lin Ruoyan's question, her eyes lit up immediately. "This is exactly what I was just about to say! Actually, we were originally unable to make it in time no matter what. We thought we had to chase after them until they left the city gate, but who would have known that halfway there, someone intercepted us and brought us to Jixi Inn, where they caught Nian'er and the others red-handed."

  "Who?" Lin Ruoyan was puzzled. This was a private matter of the third house, and even Madame Hou might not know about it. How could someone possibly help to intercept Nian'er?

  Man Hua's next sentence immediately stunned everyone.

  "He is the young master of the Lu family."

  "Is it him?" Lin Zhaoyan asked in a low voice, his face expression complex and difficult to discern.

  Last night he reminded her to stop Lin Ruoyan from seeing Liu Wenxuan, and today he helped them block Hongxiu and Nian'er who were about to escape. He really knows something.

  "Do you know?" Lin Ruoyan's face turned cold as she looked at Lin Zhaoyan's reaction, as if she was very familiar with Lu Yan and had some unspeakable secret.

  This feeling made her feel very uncomfortable inside.

  Lin Zhaoyan naturally knew Lin Ruoyan's feelings. She had finally eased her relationship with her, but didn't want to have another falling out because of Lu Yanzi again.

  "No." She lowered her head in thought and shook it: "I just find it strange that Brother Lu would know about this matter."

  "Really?" Lin Ruoyan glanced at her, seeing that her expression was unchanged, and it wasn't good to let herself be suspicious again. Actually, the feeling of just getting along with Lin Zhaoyan was pretty good.

  "Yes." Lin Zhao furrowed his brow and said, "How did he find out about this matter? Even knowing that Madame Wan would send Nian'er out of the capital, and being so clear about Nian'er's appearance?"

  Lin Ruoyan also nodded, "You say that and I think it's quite strange too. According to reason, he shouldn't have known about it. Last night when Zisu had an accident, Yan Zhibiao's hand was injured, and I accompanied him the whole time until we sent them out of the mansion at three o'clock in the morning. During this period, he didn't leave the house even half a step."

  When mentioning the incident of Lu Yan's hand injury, Lin Zhaoyan's face turned slightly red with some embarrassment, but he quickly adjusted his mood and replied: "Since it was Brother Lu who helped, I should return the favor by visiting him to thank him."

  Lin Ruoyan understood her meaning, a faint blush flew across her cheeks, but she pretended to be calm, "Tomorrow I will go with my mother to thank you in person and ask what's going on."

  Lin Zhaoyan let out a quiet sigh.

  To be honest, she didn't want Lin Ruoyan to marry Lu Yanzi in the future. It wasn't that she disliked Lu Yanzi, but simply because she felt he couldn't give Lin Ruoyan the lifelong happiness she wanted.

  But she didn't know how to tell Lin Ruoyan, who was deeply trapped in love and couldn't extricate himself. She could only secretly pray that Lu Yanzi wouldn't fall for Lin Ruoyan, and that one day Lin Ruoyan would grow up and mature, walking out of this self-directed emotional performance.

  The outer door curtain was lifted, and a cold wind poured in directly, disturbing the warm air inside the house, as well as the contemplation of several people.

  "Mother?" Lin Ruoyan looked up and saw that Liu's expression was off, her heart skipped a beat, with an ominous premonition.

  Lin Zhaoyan's eyebrows were tightly knotted, and she subconsciously asked, "Didn't it work?"

  It stands to reason that with both human and material evidence present, it's impossible not to succeed!

  Liu's face turned even more unsightly.

  Lin Mama gave them a "shh" and motioned for them to go out and talk.

  Out of the house, Lin Ruoyan asked eagerly: "What's wrong? Didn't we all find Nian'er? Looking at Mother like this seems to be very unhappy."

  "Never mind, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. It's a loss of one strategy." Lin Mama sighed and recounted what had just happened at Rongshou Hall in detail.

  Lin Ruoyan burst out in anger, "What's going on?! Is it just a matter of punishing her to the point of death?! She's so vicious and despicable, even if she were cut into a thousand pieces, it would be a fate worse than death!"

  "Some people have already died, and that's the end of it. Moreover, even if Tang Mama doesn't take the fall for Wan Niang, Wan Niang won't die anyway, don't forget, she still has the Zheng family backing her."

  "But she's just a lowly and humble daughter of a concubine, no one would want her as a wife unless it was to marry into the Marquis' household as a concubine. Who would care about her life or death?!"

  Lin's mother shook her head in disapproval.

  "Hey, don't be angry, Grandma did her best. You should know that although Wan Niang is a concubine from the Zheng family, she's still a legitimate young lady. Without evidence, it wouldn't be right to kill her without a clear reason. Even if the Hou family has great power and influence, people would still criticize them for this. Moreover, the Zheng family is also a scholarly family, but they married their daughter off as a concubine, which isn't a good thing. A family like that, once they get a hold of some evidence, wouldn't they just use it to extort and blackmail? Do you think that's okay?"

  Lin Ruoyan's face stiffened slightly, and she didn't retort.

  Lin's mother let out a sigh of relief and cast a grateful glance at Lin Zhao.

  Although Liu was dissatisfied with the result, he knew what was reasonable and considered the overall situation. What's worrying is that Wu Niang doesn't understand anything, and once her stubbornness takes over, it will cause a huge commotion, making things even more troublesome in the end.

  Although the result is not as expected now, it is already the best result.

  Luckily the fourth daughter can talk and is good at grasping the soft spot, otherwise the wife would be so angry that she wouldn't know what to do.

  "As long as the green hills are there, we won't worry about firewood. Although this time we let Wan Niang escape, there will definitely be no next time. Moreover, Grandmother and Father should have known Wan Niang's character by now, so even if she comes back to the village one day, she won't have a good life."

  "One day I will make her pay the price, to avenge Zisu's grievances!" Lin Ruoyan clenched his fists tightly, and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes like splashed ink.