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

Chapter 288 Rumors
Su Qingwan knew that Lu Feng wouldn't give up so easily, and she also knew that his methods were nothing more than rumors. She waited quietly for two days and didn't hear any rumors.

The Prince's residence was already preparing for the wedding. The inner court would have a master of ceremonies and palace maids to explain the procedures, teach etiquette, finalize the banquet guest list, wedding attire, and so on—all very complicated matters. She could delegate some tasks to Qingyun, but had to handle others herself; she was extremely busy. The closer the wedding date approached, the less discreet Lu Jing became, frequently visiting the villa. Sometimes he'd come to have tea with her, sometimes to dine with her, and in his spare time, he'd play marbles with Su Qingwan. Su Qingwan was also very competitive and always dragged Lu Jing to play, hoping to beat him once, but unfortunately, she always lost.

The two tacitly avoided mentioning Lu Feng. After dinner that day, Su Qingwan and Lu Jing took a walk in the courtyard to digest their food. Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, "When Lu Feng saw me at Nanfeng Tower that day, did he go back to look for you?"

"I did look for him," Lu Jing told the truth. "He insisted that you were Xie Zhaolan."

"Then what did you say?"

“To be honest, you are Princess Su Qingwan of Huainan, not Xie Zhaolan. This is not a lie to him.” Lu Jing said calmly. “If he insists that you are Xie Zhaolan and offends you in any way, just ignore him. We will not be living in the Lu family. Except for holidays, we will not see each other most of the time.”

"So, he's convinced I'm Xie Zhaolan, then you..." Su Qingwan wanted to ask him, if Lu Feng is convinced she's Xie Zhaolan, then the family should be as well, so why hasn't anyone contacted her, and how has he handled things?

Lu Shaoqing and Lin Shi are one thing, but what about his mother? Zhang Shi doesn't seem like someone who can accept her son's unconventional behavior, so why hasn't she said a word?

Lu Jing seemed to see through her thoughts, "Mother is unaware of this matter."

Su Qingwan chuckled, "Feeling guilty?"

"Don't worry, I will make things clear to her before we get married."

Su Qingwan didn't know how Lu Jing resolved this matter. Zhang Shi hadn't come to her at all. Lu Jing was a very responsible person and wouldn't leave his troubles to her. He would definitely resolve it before the wedding. Su Qingwan believed in him, but she couldn't help feeling sorry for him, as he had to face Zhang Shi's blame, admonitions, and scolding all by himself.

Knowing his nature, he wouldn't hide anything or lie; he would simply tell Zhang the truth: Zhang wouldn't agree to their marriage, and Lu Jing wouldn't compromise. Zhang would inevitably have to compromise, and she would feel some pain in her heart. Su Qingwan thought, what could she do? Things had come to this point; neither she nor Lu Jing had a way out.

She was willing to share the burden with Lu Jing, but was Lu Jing willing?

He was an extremely proud man, and if she stood with him and took the blame, he would definitely feel sorry for her, so Su Qingwan didn't make things difficult for him.

Su Qingwan didn't hear a single rumor circulating outside. Li An was the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which controlled public opinion in the capital. Guiding and controlling public opinion was a piece of cake for him. It would be extremely difficult for Lu Feng to spread rumors unfavorable to Lu Jing. Lu Jing must have considered these things, so he wasn't worried at all. Any slight hint of such a thing would be suppressed by Li An. However, although she didn't hear a single rumor outside, the news that Lu Jing was going to marry Xie Zhaolan, who was his elder sister-in-law, spread throughout the Lu family clan.

Lu Feng knew that the Embroidered Uniform Guard controlled public opinion in the capital, so he decided to go all the way and inform Lu Shaoqing and the clan elders about the matter. The Lu family was not a family of officials for generations; they had climbed their way up from humble beginnings. However, scholars valued their reputation and cherished their honor, and had never had an affair with their elder sister-in-law. This matter caused a great uproar in the clan.

Lu Shaoqing and Madam Lin were even more stunned, never expecting Lu Jing to do such a thing.

Madam Lin was horrified. "Ziyu and Zhaolan... How could Zhaolan suddenly become the Princess of Huai'an? Does that mean the rumors about Ziyu and her are true? It's utterly absurd!!"

Lu Shaoqing's face also darkened. "Are you sure you didn't see wrong? Don't talk nonsense!"

Lu Feng was practically swearing to the heavens, "Father, how could I joke about something so important? It really is Xie Zhaolan. After her divorce, she somehow became the Princess of Huainan, and now she's going to marry into the Lu family. Xie Zhaolan attended several banquets at the Lu family, and all the ladies and young women in the capital recognize her. She'll be recognized whenever she moves around the capital. If word gets out that she and her uncle are having an affair, our Lu family's reputation will be ruined. Ziyu absolutely cannot marry Su Qingwan."

Zhang remained silent, her face deathly pale. She had been claiming illness for the past few days and had not left the house. She would not have appeared if Lu Shaoqing had not insisted on inviting her.

Several clan elders rebuked Lu Jing for his improper conduct, questioning how he could possibly marry his elder sister-in-law. They argued that this would invite ridicule and humiliation, especially since he was now the regent and his reputation was of paramount importance.

Lin looked angrily at Zhang, "Sister-in-law, is this really true? What did Ziyu say? We must explain clearly. He absolutely cannot marry Xie Zhaolan. Isn't our Lu family already ridiculed enough? We don't want to make a fool of ourselves again!"

Zhang sneered. She was naturally against Lu Jing marrying Su Qingwan. She also knew that if Lu Jing married Xie Zhaolan, everyone in the Lu family would be ridiculed if she appeared at the banquet.

Lu Jing could never shake off the infamy of coveting his elder sister-in-law and having an affair with her. However, Lu Jing had told her the whole story: Xie Zhaolan was dead, and the person who returned after Li Xueying entered the manor was Su Qingwan, not Xie Zhaolan. They were twin sisters. The Lu family had indeed killed the eldest princess of the Prince of Huainan. Su Qingwan had already shown mercy. Zhang felt sorry for Su Qingwan's past and did not want Lu Jing to marry her, so she was bound to attract infamy.

However, she was furious as she listened to the clan elders denouncing Lu Jing and Lin Shi being aggressive. Why?
Why should her son be ridiculed and humiliated like this?

If Lu Feng hadn't let Zhao Lan down, Zhao Lan wouldn't have died, and none of this would have happened. They were the ones who did all the bad things, and it was Zi Yu who cleaned up the mess. So why is everyone blaming Zi Yu?
"Ziyu said that people can look alike. That's Princess Huainan, not Xie Zhaolan. Young Master, you're already married and divorced Zhaolan long ago. Don't pay too much attention to Zhaolan. You should know what to say and do. The princess never said she was Xie Zhaolan. She was the princess Ziyu personally brought back from Huainan. Ziyu knows who she is. Do you believe Ziyu or the young master?" Madam Zhang couldn't help but mock. "What happened between the young master and Zhaolan? He's full of lies. I don't think his words are credible. I believe Ziyu more. That's Princess Huainan. If you want to condemn Ziyu, I will stand with him."