Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 223 Sister-in-law
In the Golden Palace, the atmosphere was as solemn as the dead silence before a storm.

Lu Jing's face was gloomy, as if covered by dark clouds, and he exuded a coldness all over his body. As he listened to the civil servants' reports on spring ploughing in various places, his expression became increasingly uglier, even to the point of being frightening.

The young Yu'er was sitting on the dragon throne. She was frightened by Lu Jing's appearance. Her little mouth curled up and her eyes were filled with tears. She looked so pitiful that anyone who saw her would feel pity for her.

The court had previously experienced a major turmoil, and many civil servants were fired for being involved in it, and a group of new faces were subsequently supported to take office.

The old tutor was invited back again to be responsible for teaching Yan'er.

The old tutor also brought a group of students under his tutelage into the court, most of whom came from poor families, half of whom were personally fostered by Lu Jing, and the other half were from aristocratic families. Because Yu'er was young, most of the military commanders believed in the eldest princess, and all the civil and military officials loved Yu'er as if she were their own child. At this moment, seeing Yu'er's aggrieved look of wanting to cry but holding back, everyone secretly blamed Lu Jing in their hearts: If the princess is missing, you should have sent someone to look for her. Who are you trying to scare with such a stinky face here? The emperor is almost scared to tears by you.

However, Lu Jing had a hard time speaking out his feelings. Although he was extremely anxious, he really couldn't go looking for Su Qingwan at all costs.

As the regent, the late emperor gave him supreme power, but also bound him tightly to the throne. Now is a time of trouble, and the situation in Kyoto is delicate. If he leaves carelessly, the eldest princess is likely to take the opportunity to seize power.

Once this happens, the power of the poor in the court will inevitably suffer a heavy blow, and the reputation and prestige he has painstakingly accumulated will instantly vanish. Lu Jing knew that Su Qingwan must have anticipated this and left resolutely.

The eldest princess stood aside, looking at Lu Jing like this, feeling secretly proud in her heart. Although her face did not show much emotion, her eyes were full of gloating.

After the turmoil, the imperial court was in ruins. As the regent, Lu Jing shouldered the heavy responsibility of stabilizing the court, and his every move attracted much attention. As long as he dared to step out of Kyoto, the princess would be able to disrupt the situation and reshuffle the cards. In her opinion, all this was very interesting. Su Qingwan once said that although Lu Jing had feelings for her, he was far less loyal to the emperor. But now it seems that the regent is clearly deeply in love. Even in the morning court, he couldn't hide his inner anxiety, and his emotions were all written on his face.

Lu Jing's search for the Princess of the Southwest was originally a secret.

The strange thing is that Zhou Jingming couldn't control his mouth. After getting drunk one time, he talked nonsense and even said that the Princess of Southwest didn't want to marry Lu Jing and had run back to the southwest.

That day, Zhou Jingming drank with Ningyuan Hou and General Chen. All the officials secretly speculated whether the two generals deliberately got Zhou Jingming drunk in order to spread rumors. After all, Lu Jing's marriage has always attracted much attention. Once the rumor spread, Lu Jing would have reservations if he wanted to force the Princess of Southwest to marry him.

After Ningyuan Hou learned of Su Qingwan's true identity, he regarded her as a treasure in his heart. Fearing that she would come to the capital and get involved in this mess, he tried his best to persuade Lu Jing to give up the marriage.

Unexpectedly, Lu Jing responded that the princess was just homesick and returned to the southwest to visit her relatives. His marriage with the princess was arranged by the late emperor, which was a golden word and could not be changed.

After hearing this, Ning Yuan Hou secretly cursed Lu Jing in his heart, but he had no choice but to do so because this was indeed the order of the late emperor. Who would dare to disobey?
The morning court ended and all officials withdrew. The princess walked to Lu Jing's side and said in a cold tone: "Xiao Wu has returned to the southwest. There is no need for you to put on such a sullen face. Look how scared Yan'er is."

As she spoke, she raised her eyes to look at the little emperor with red eyes.

Hearing this, Lu Jing subconsciously looked at Yu'er, his heart softened, he half squatted down, and said softly: "Your Majesty, I am not angry with you." Yu'er nodded sensibly, stretched out his little hand, gently touched Lu Jing's face, and said in a baby voice: "Lord Lu, please be happy."

Seeing this, the princess couldn't help but tease, "You are not as sensible as Yan'er."

After saying that, she took Yan'er's hand and walked towards the direction where the tutor was giving lectures.

Lu Jing returned to the palace alone, feeling increasingly anxious and uneasy.

He recalled that when his eldest sister-in-law left the capital, she left in a hurry. This was all too coincidental. He had been in the situation before and had never thought about it in depth. Now that he calmed down and carefully recalled the past, he found many unusual things.

Like the Princess of the Southwest, the eldest sister-in-law loves to wear skirts embroidered with peonies, has similar demeanors and manners, speaks in a similar tone, and even likes the same foods.

On New Year's Eve, he gave his eldest sister-in-law a plum blossom. Why did he do that? Now that he thought about it, it was because when he saw his eldest sister-in-law, he suddenly felt that she was very similar to the princess. Although their faces were different, their eyes were exactly the same. Moreover, the Southwest Princess wore a mask from beginning to end and never showed her true face. During the days he spent with the princess, they had a mutual understanding, but Qingyun was always very vigilant, always guarding by her side and never leaving.

The reason for this was either that the princess was extremely ugly, or... she simply didn't dare let anyone see her true face.

Huainan is famous for its beauties, especially the lineage of the Huainan King. Just looking at Lu Nianqing's appearance, one can imagine that the people of the Su family are all handsome. When Lu Nianqing was mentioned, an idea suddenly flashed through Lu Jing's mind. Thinking back carefully, Lu Nianqing's eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to those of his eldest sister-in-law.

But how could this be possible? My eldest sister-in-law had been married to the capital for three years, so how could she be related to the Princess of Southwest? He remembered Li Xueying's cry before her death, accusing my eldest sister-in-law of being fake and not Xie Zhaolan.

My brother has mentioned this several times, and my mother also said that my eldest sister-in-law's temperament changed drastically after she returned.

In order to prove that the eldest sister-in-law's identity was a fraud, Li Xueying even went crazy and went to dig graves. And during the confrontation in the Yangxin Palace, she kept saying that she had killed the eldest sister-in-law and destroyed her appearance.

If what Li Xueying said was true, then who was the eldest sister-in-law living in the mansion? Was she also wearing a mask? Could it be Su Qingwan?
While he was thinking, Li An came hurriedly.

After Lu Jing became suspicious, he sent Li An to investigate the connection between Su Qingwan and Xie Zhaolan. Li An hurried forward and reported: "Master, you guessed right. After the eldest young lady went to the government to handle her household registration, she immediately left the capital. There was a constable in the government who was patrolling at the time and saw a man looking for her. I asked the constable to draw a portrait."

When Lu Jing heard this, his heart tightened and he reached out to take the portrait.

The moment he unfolded the portrait, his eyes froze instantly. The person in the painting was a face he was very familiar with - Chen Feng, the leader of the Huainan Death Squad.

Lu Jing's heart was beating wildly, and the answer was about to come out, "Sister-in-law, is that you?"