good season

Chapter 139 Little Lamb Brother (Two chapters combined)

Zhu Yu held Sun Lingzhi's hand and said softly, "How could I forget my Zhizhi? That's why I called you here without asking anyone else. Isn't it because I missed you?"

In the past, if Zhu Yu spoke to her in such a gentle tone, Sun Lingzhi would have fainted with joy.

But now, she actually found the voice effeminate.
And Zhu Yu's hands, although he was pampered, were still a man's hands, very strong, but now, the hand holding Sun Lingzhi was softer than a woman's.
Sun Lingzhi didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she still struggled subconsciously. Although she was an actress, Zhu Yu still caught a hint of disdain in her eyes.

In the past, Zhu Yu would not have paid attention to these things. Women were just things for him to vent his frustrations on, and he would not care about the joys and sorrows of a mere object.

But people change, and Zhu Yu's change began when she lost those two ounces of flesh.

Ever since his youthful days were over, Zhu Yu has become more and more sensitive.

Well, this shameless woman actually dares to look down on him now. It's not time for her to call him "My Lord" in that coquettish voice anymore.

Zhu Yu wanted nothing more than to snap Sun Lingzhi's neck immediately, but he held back.

Sun Lingzhi cannot die yet, at least not before Aunt Lan.

"What happened to your father after he was kicked out of Jinbao Casino last time?" he asked with concern.

Sun Lingzhi's eyes flickered, and she quickly said, "It's his good fortune that Grandpa remembers him. Father doesn't know that he's been hiding these days, not even daring to go home."

Sun Lingzhi wasn't lying; her father was indeed hiding and had frequently sent her mother to ask her for money, which annoyed her to no end.

"How about this, I'll talk to the people at Jinbao Gambling House and have them settle his accounts," Zhu Yu said.

Sun Lingzhi's heart was pounding. If Zhu Yu wanted to settle accounts with Sun Hongbin, she would have done so long ago. Why bring it up now?
She instinctively pressed her hand against her stomach; this was her source of confidence.

"Master, if there is anything you need me to do, just give the order. In my heart, you are my everything."

Zhu Yu sneered inwardly. "I just said I'd settle your father's score, and now you think you can do whatever you want?"
Didn't you look down on me, the young master?
Damn bitch!
“My father now has those two beautiful sisters and a pregnant concubine, Aunt Lan. He has probably forgotten about you long ago. But don’t be sad, you still have Master. You can serve Master from now on.”

Sun Lingzhi was overjoyed; she could now stay by Zhu Yu's side.

But the next moment, a wave of nausea surged up. She tried to suppress it, but failed. She vomited with a "whoosh," but luckily she turned her head to the side in time, so she didn't vomit on Zhu Yu.

This has actually been going on for a while now; it's normal morning sickness.

However, Zhu Yu did not think that way.

Zhu Yu now has a sensitive, fragile heart.

When I asked her to stay by my side, she actually vomited out of disgust!
Zhu Yu stopped pretending. He glared fiercely at Sun Lingzhi, the murderous intent in his eyes making her tremble. Her body went limp, and she knelt down, saying, "I am pregnant, it's yours, Master!"

Zhu Yu was stunned.

Is Sun Lingzhi pregnant?
Whether it's his or not doesn't matter, because the child in Sun Lingzhi's womb, even if it's not his, is still his father's.

but
Zhu Yu suddenly laughed. Interesting, very interesting!

"Good, I have a son, hahaha! But it's a pity that Aunt Lan is pregnant. If she gives birth to a son, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my position as heir. I'll have to step aside, let alone the one in your belly. Poor thing, he came at the wrong time."

He waved his hand and said to Sun Lingzhi, "I'll talk to my father and have him write a letter of release from the concubine. You can leave the manor and find another one while you're still young."

Sun Lingzhi was startled. Let her leave the manor? What about the child in her womb? Should she find an honest man to take over?

She was a concubine in the Marquis's mansion; what decent family would dare to marry her? Not to mention she was pregnant.

No, her son is from a noble family; even if he is born out of wedlock, he is still a son of a marquis.

She gritted her teeth, suppressing her nausea, and threw herself into Zhu Yu's arms: "Master, don't let me go, please, please let me stay, I'm pregnant with your son."

Zhu Yu tried to push her away in disgust; this bitch had just vomited and smelled sour.

But he wasn't fully recovered yet and didn't have the strength to push her away. He could only let that stinky mouth rub against him, and he felt like vomiting.
The next day, after spending several days in the courtyard, Aunt Lan wanted to get some fresh air in the garden. Several maids carefully accompanied her. As they passed a rockery, Aunt Lan encountered Sun Lingzhi, who was hiding there secretly shedding tears.
"My father owes a lot of gambling debts, and my mother came to me asking for money, but I have no money to give her."

Aunt Lan felt a pang of sorrow. Her father was also a gambler, and she was sold by her mother, changing hands twice before finally ending up in the hands of Lord Zhu.

Fortunately, her family home was far away, and the money had changed hands twice, so her father and mother didn't know her whereabouts. Otherwise, they would definitely have come to her door asking for money.

"Alas, we are in the same boat, both pitiful souls."

Meanwhile, Yan Xia returned to the Ministry of Justice.

Although the wound on his head had not yet healed, Yan Xia couldn't wait any longer. His cousin's case was still unresolved, and now the Ministry of Justice had six more corpses.

In recent days, a strange atmosphere has been spreading throughout the capital, even in the Hanlin Academy.

Those sanctimonious scholars all turned into gossipy old women. Anyway, they were usually quite idle. Even scholars would chat when they had nothing to do.

The topic of conversation most often now is Zhu Yu, the heir apparent of the Marquis of Baoqing.

Today was another day to enter the palace. As usual, Yang Shengqiu read a few pages of an ancient book to Emperor Yongjia.

When Emperor Yongjia was young, he loved reading. The palace library had many rare books, and there were still many he hadn't read. Yang Shengqiu's job was to read these rare books to Emperor Yongjia one by one, and sometimes he would also discuss them with Emperor Yongjia.

He enjoyed the work, not only because it allowed him to read rare and precious books, but also because it gave him the opportunity to impress the emperor with his scholarly pursuits.

Today was different from usual. After reading a few pages of the ancient book, Emperor Yongjia did not comment, but asked, "Minister Yang, have you heard the rumors circulating in the capital recently?"

Yang Shengqiu answered truthfully: "Your Majesty is foolish and does not know which rumor Your Majesty is referring to. I have only heard some things about the heir of the Marquis of Baoqing."

Emperor Yongjia smiled and said, "Then, Minister Yang, tell me about the rumors surrounding the heir of Marquis Baoqing. I have only heard snippets of information in the palace. Minister Yang, tell me what you have heard."

Yang Shengqiu took a deep breath. He had long heard that the old lady of the Baoqing Marquis's mansion and the Consort Li were cousins, and that the emperor had always been very protective of the Baoqing Marquis's mansion and Zhu Yu.

He thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth. So he told the story he had heard about the divine rat's punishment on earth.

Emperor Yongjia chuckled and asked, "What does Minister Yang think?"

Yang Shengqiu: "I dare not look."

Emperor Yongjia paused for a moment, then burst into laughter. He looked at Yang Shengqiu and said, "As expected of the top scholar I personally selected, interesting, very interesting!"

Yang Shengqiu didn't know what the emperor meant by "interesting," but he breathed a sigh of relief. The affairs of the Marquis of Baoqing's mansion were not something he could comment on.

Emperor Yongjia said, "Alright, that's enough for today. Someone, take the pastries sent by the Imperial Kitchen back to Scholar Yang."

Yang Shengqiu immediately knelt down to express his gratitude. He had been to the palace many times, but this was the first time he had received a reward.

Carrying a box of pastries, Yang Shengqiu left the palace and got into a sedan chair to go home. Just as he drove out of the imperial city, a carriage blocked his way in the middle of the road.

A servant stepped down from the carriage and walked to the sedan chair: "I am from the residence of Princess Jianing. I have been sent by the Princess and the eldest son to deliver an invitation to the flower viewing party to Scholar Yang. Scholar Yang's residence is locked up tight, which is a pity. I did not expect to run into you on the road."

Yang Shengqiu nodded slightly and accepted the invitation: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness and the eldest son. I will definitely attend."

After the servant left, the sedan chair continued on its way. Yang Shengqiu opened the invitation; the flower viewing party was in five days.

Princess Jianing is the younger sister of Princess Jiayi and the older sister of Princess Jiaan. Although she is not a legitimate princess, her birth mother is Consort Meng, who was the Empress Dowager's Consort Shu.

The retired emperor's first empress died young, the second empress was deposed, and after the death of the imperial concubine, Consort Meng became the head of the imperial concubines, even the emperor's birth mother, Consort Li, was ranked behind her.

Even now, Consort Li still cannot shake Consort Meng's position.

There are five imperial concubines in the harem. The highest-ranking concubines are Consort Li and Consort Shu. One is the emperor's birth mother, and the other is highly respected. In addition, she has no children, so the retired emperor trusts her, and the current emperor also respects her very much.

Consort Li fought with her for half her life, and even though her son became emperor, he still couldn't surpass her in terms of official rank.

Moreover, Consort Meng never made things difficult for the Empress, nor did she vie for power in the harem. Compared to Consort Li, who was always trying to set rules for the Empress and concubines, Consort Meng got along well with all the concubines. Furthermore, she only enjoyed her life and never sought power or profit, all of which pleased the Emperor greatly.

As a result, Princess Jianing, born to Consort Meng, was also highly regarded by the Emperor, and even this flower viewing party was held at her residence.

In terms of status, Princess Jianing was not as good as Princess Jiayi, the daughter of Empress Yuan. Normally, the flower viewing party would have been given to Princess Jiayi. However, this year was different. Although parents do not have to observe mourning for their son, Xiao Zhen had just "died" for a year, and Princess Jiayi had recently given birth to a daughter. It was neither reasonable nor emotional that she should have to worry about this. Therefore, the flower viewing party was held at Princess Jianing's residence.

Yes, Yang Shengqiu had already heard about the flower viewing party from the sidelines.

He also heard that the flower viewing party was just a pretext; it was actually a matchmaking event where the most eligible young men and women in the capital would choose their ideal partners.

And he, the newly crowned champion who is still unmarried, is one of the candidates.

Yang Shengqiu did not feel humiliated. People are different. What he had earned through years of hard study and a lifetime of hard work might not be as good as what others received in the womb.

So what's wrong with using his academic achievement as the top scholar to get an invitation to a flower viewing party?
Besides, can he say he won't accept it?

he can not.

Would he dare not go?
He dare not.

Moreover, among all the scholars in the world, how many can receive such an invitation? And how many can become the chosen son-in-law of the most prestigious young ladies in the capital?
Yang Shengqiu was willing to accept any noblewoman who took a liking to him, as long as she wasn't a princess.

Yes, he didn't want to marry a prince; he didn't want to become the second Prince Consort Xiao.

Back then, Prince Consort Xiao was only a third-place scholar, while he was the top scholar. Prince Consort Xiao also had the powerful Xiao family behind him, while he had nothing. Therefore, he was even less willing to spend his entire life just drawing eyebrows for the princess in front of the mirror.

Yang Shengqiu let out a long breath, looking at the pastry box on his lap and the invitation on top of it.

He eventually emerged from that small county town. He was still an orphan without parents, but he was also a top scholar, someone who could enter and leave the imperial palace.

"Stop in front of that bookstore," he told the sedan chair carriers.

When he was a child, his grandfather was a royal physician. Back then, his grandfather often brought him to this bookstore. Now, whenever he is feeling emotional, he comes to this bookstore.

This place always calms him down, just like when he was a child with his grandfather.

He handed the pastry box and invitation to his servant Xiao Mo: "You take the sedan chair and go back first. I'll walk back myself."

Xiao Mo didn't ask any further questions. This was always the way the young master was. Besides, it wasn't far from home.

Yang Shengqiu walked into the bookstore alone. The bookstore clerk already recognized him and said with a smile, "Young Master Yang is here. We just received two new books today. They are printed by Hanmotang and are very hard to find. Even the small-sized ones only managed to get ten copies of each."

Yang Shengqiu smiled and said, "I've come at just the right time."

The bookstore was a two-story building. The books that Yang Shengqiu was interested in were all on the second floor. There was no counter on the second floor, so he could take the books from the shelves and browse them himself.

The bookstore owner was a kind man. There were tables and chairs on the second floor, where some poor scholars who couldn't afford books could even copy them.

Yang Shengqiu went up to the second floor and quickly found two new books printed by Hanmotang. One of them was written by Zhou Hanlin, who had just retired last month. Yang Shengqiu was very interested and took a copy to sit down and read it.

There was already someone sitting at the table he usually sat at. Yang Shengqiu was stunned. It turned out to be a little girl.

The people of the capital were not closed off, and women could occasionally be seen in bookstores. However, most of them would buy books and leave without staying long. This was the first time Yang Shengqiu had encountered a woman sitting in a bookstore reading.

Fortunately, there were two tables here, otherwise Yang Shengqiu would not have been able to sit down.

He walked to another table and was about to sit down when he heard a pleasant voice behind him: "Brother Little Sheep."

Yang Shengqiu froze, thinking he had misheard. Without turning around, he sat down stiffly.

But then the voice rang out again: "Little Lamb Brother, do you still remember Zhuxitang in Wu? And the braised pork that Old Doctor Yang loved to eat?"