The abstinent and powerful minister is cold and aloof during the day, but he adores her in his dream

Chapter 117 She Needs to Vent

The group hurried as fast as they could, but by the time they returned to Jurong, it was already dark.

When Zhiwan got off the carriage, she was a little embarrassed, but when she saw that only Chen Jiuhou was there, she breathed a sigh of relief.

What the wet nurse said was so embarrassing; she was now most afraid of seeing her cousin.

“Miss, the young master has already gone in. He instructed his subordinates to wait here and take you to rest,” Chen Jiu said as he stepped forward.

"Thank you for your trouble." Zhiwan nodded.

Chen Jiu booked a total of five rooms. Three superior rooms were for Lu Zhan, Zhi Wan, and Ouyang Zhenzhu, while the other two inferior rooms were for Chen Jiu, Jiang Shi, the coachman, and Granny Fang, among others.

Zhiwan and Ouyang Zhenzhu were assigned to adjacent rooms.

After leading the two away, Chen Jiu withdrew.

Zhiwan was concerned about her mother's belongings. As soon as she entered the room, she sent Granny Fang and Shuang'er away, then took the box and sat down at the table to look at it.

These are the keepsakes left to her by her mother.

Zhiwan's eyes welled up with tears. She gently stroked the box with her hand, her gaze tender and filled with affection.

A moment later, she carefully opened the box.

I thought it would contain my mother's jewelry or something, but when I opened it, I found it was just a book.

She paused for a moment, picked up the book and looked it over, then started flipping through it.

It turned out to be an account book.

Zhiwan was initially surprised, but the more she looked, the more serious her expression became.

That night, she couldn't sleep.

The next day, as dawn broke, she got ready and went out to the incense and candle shop to buy some items for tomb sweeping. But when she went downstairs, she saw Lu Zhan returning from outside with Chen Jiu and Jiang Shi.

Zhiwan was taken aback for a moment, then stepped forward and bowed, "Cousin."

Lu Zhan paused for a moment, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and her haggard and tired face. He assumed she hadn't slept well because of the tomb sweeping trip that day, so he said, "It's still early, you can go back to sleep for a while."

"I'm not going to sleep." Zhiwan shook her head. "I still need to buy incense, candles, and paper money. I'll go sweep my parents' graves later."

“Miss, the young master has already bought the incense, candles, paper money, and offerings, so you don’t need to buy any more,” Chen Jiu said immediately, shaking the things in his hand.

Zhiwan then noticed that he and Jiang Shi were each carrying incense, paper money, and offerings.

She looked at Lu Zhan in surprise. Her cousin got up so early to buy these things for her?

She was deeply moved, and tears welled up in her beautiful peach blossom eyes as she whispered, "Thank you, cousin."

Lu Zhan noticed that her eyes were already red, and frowned, not understanding why such a small thing would make her like this.
He said gently, "It's nothing, you don't need to take it to heart."

Zhiwan turned to the side, sniffed, and suppressed her tears.

The account book incident last night had a huge impact on her, and her cousin's help this morning made her unable to hold back her tears.

Lu Zhan was about to go upstairs when he saw her trembling slightly and wiping away tears with a handkerchief. His heart tightened, and he took two steps closer, asking in a low voice, "Cousin, what happened?"

A man's voice suddenly rang out behind her, seemingly very close, startling Zhiwan.

She wiped away her tears haphazardly and turned around, saying, "N-nothing."

Lu Zhan's gaze lingered on her face for a moment. Her reddened eyes and tear-streaked face made her look so pitiful, not at all like someone who was alright.

He pursed his thin lips, not pressing for answers, and simply said in a calm voice, "It's good that you're alright."

As they were talking, Ouyang Zhenzhu also came downstairs.

"Wanwan, I'll go with you to buy incense and paper money. We'll offer incense to your uncle and aunt in a little while."

Upon hearing this, the tears that Zhiwan had just forced back almost fell again.

It was barely dawn, but Pearl, who usually loved to sleep in, had gotten up so early for her. How could she not be moved by such thoughtfulness?
She has a cousin and good friends who care about her and love her. She is not a helpless orphan.

"Pearl, thank you. My cousin has already bought it." Zhiwan shook Ouyang Pearl's hand and said sincerely.

"You've already bought them? I thought I got up early enough, but I didn't expect Lord Lu to be up even earlier than me." Ouyang Zhenzhu sighed. "Then let's set off now and go offer incense to Uncle and Aunt as soon as possible."

Although Zhiwan was thinking about going to offer incense to her parents, their graves were not close by, so she said, "I'll go after I finish breakfast."

“Okay, I’ll do whatever you say,” Ouyang Zhenzhu said, taking her hand.

After having breakfast, the group set off.

When Zhiwan arrived at the graves of her parents, she expected to see a desolate and overgrown place. However, to her surprise, her parents' graves were very clean, and there were some offerings and unburned paper money in front of them.

It's clear that someone had visited the grave not long ago.

It must be the Chen wet nurse's family.

Zhi Wan thought.

Others were also surprised.

They were all prepared and brought tools to cut down trees and clear weeds.

As a result, it was of no use.

Chen Jiu scratched his head and, together with Jiang Shi, put the tools aside.

Zhiwan refused the help from Granny Fang and Shuang'er, and personally placed the offerings one by one in front of the tomb. Then she lit incense and knelt down in front of the tomb.

"Father, Mother, please forgive your unfilial daughter for only coming to see you now." As she spoke, Zhiwan's face was already covered with tears.

She only came once, when she buried her parents, and didn't come again for the next few years.

Thinking about it, she really was very unfilial.

She was her parents' only child, but she never came to sweep their graves.

Her parents, even in the afterlife, must be utterly disappointed in her.

She kowtowed to the ground, remaining there for a long time, letting her tears soak the soil in front of her.

Seeing this, Ouyang Zhenzhu was heartbroken and looked anxiously at Lu Zhan, "Lord Lu, what should we do?"

Lu Zhan's gaze fell on the little girl kneeling before the grave, her figure frail, her shoulders trembling from crying. In his dark eyes were emotions that others could not understand.

After a long pause, he said calmly, "It's nothing, she just needs to vent."

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Zhenzhu, who was about to step forward, stopped in her tracks.

Wanwan is so pitiful.

Ouyang Zhenzhu wiped away her tears with heartache, suddenly missing her parents and brothers in the capital.

From then on, she no longer found them nagging.

Kneeling behind Zhiwan, Shuang'er wiped away her tears and sobbed, "Master, Madam, may you rest in peace in the afterlife. Miss has grown up, and I will continue to protect and take good care of her. Don't worry!" As she spoke, she crawled forward two steps and helped Zhiwan up. "Alright, Miss, Master and Madam won't blame you. From now on, we'll come back to offer incense to them more often."

Zhiwan nodded, straightened up, her face streaked with tears.

Lu Zhan and Ouyang Zhenzhu then took incense sticks and stepped forward to offer them to their two elders.

"Uncle and Aunt, my name is Ouyang Zhenzhu. I am Wanwan's good friend. Don't worry, I will protect Wanwan and not let anyone bully her."

Lu Zhan remained silent, his handsome face deep and somber; no one knew what he was thinking.

He held the incense sticks, bowed to the two elders, and then placed the incense sticks in front of the tombstone.

(End of this chapter)