After walking for a while, the Crown Prince finally couldn't hold back.
"Imperial Uncle, this is the first time I've seen you protect someone like this."
He was truly curious about that Second Miss Lu from the countryside.
Prince Jin paused.
How could someone who could save his life (and had already saved it once) be "someone else"? Though he wasn't a good person, he wasn't so heartless.
Besides, that girl found him very interesting, much more fun than those outwardly proper noble young ladies.
Seeing that he didn't answer, the Crown Prince asked again, "Did Second Miss Lu really stay in the countryside for ten years?"
"Mm."
"Then she isn't afraid of Imperial Uncle?"
The Crown Prince was simply too curious. How could someone agree to get engaged to Imperial Uncle the first time they met?
Could it be that she was captivated by Imperial Uncle's face?
Prince Jin glanced at him. "What, do you think this King isn't the type to make thousands of girls fall in love at first sight and vow to marry no one else?"
The Crown Prince couldn't help but scrutinize his Imperial Uncle.
How could he not be?
"Imperial Uncle's appearance is naturally like the stars and the bright moon, admirable. However," the Crown Prince chuckled, "Imperial Uncle's temperament is cold and arrogant, and he's serious. Little Four and Little Seven have been afraid of you since childhood, and those cousins, they see you like mice seeing a cat..."
"Hm?"
"It's just a metaphor."
The Crown Prince spoke a bit too freely and, seeing his eyebrow raise, quickly reined in his words. "When they were little, those young ladies attracted by Imperial Uncle's appearance would run away after exchanging just a few words with you. You can't deny that everyone is afraid of you, especially those girls."
Prince Jin had been exceptionally handsome since childhood.
When he was little, he also attracted young girls, but none could truly get close to him because they would all be scared away.
Thus, Prince Jin had never liked those girls, always finding them timid, not fun, and uninteresting.
"So, Imperial Uncle, is Second Miss Lu so infatuated with your looks?" the Crown Prince asked again.
So infatuated that she wasn't afraid of Imperial Uncle's temperament anymore?
A scene of Lu Zhaoling leaning over and pulling open his collar flashed in Prince Jin's mind.
He felt a warmth in his chest, and his tone took on a somewhat ambiguous meaning.
"No such thing, she's simply audacious," he said.
The Crown Prince was stunned.
Second Miss Lu audacious?
Lu Ming returned home seething with anger and couldn't hold back, going directly to Tingnuan Tower.
It wasn't even dark yet, and the gate to Tingnuan Tower's courtyard was tightly shut.
He banged on the door.
"Lu Zhaoling!"
Qing Yin heard the noise and came to open the door. As the door opened, she saw Lord Lu, eyes blazing with fury.
"Why is the door shut in broad daylight?"
Lu Ming pushed her aside and strode into the courtyard.
Upon entering, he instantly felt his anger dissipate somewhat, and instead smelled a faint floral fragrance?
Lu Ming was a bit startled; why was he noticing a floral scent when he was so furious?
Looking around the courtyard, it was still the same as before, but for some reason, it looked much more pleasing to the eye, refined everywhere.
At this moment, Lu Ming even regretted giving Tingnuan Tower to Lu Zhaoling; his heart ached.
"Where is your young mistress?"
She heard his voice, yet she didn't come out to greet him.
Raised in the countryside, she truly didn't know proper etiquette!
Lu Zhaoling's voice floated out, "What are you shouting about?"
As soon as her voice fell, she walked out from inside.
Lu Ming saw her face clearly in the afternoon sun.
In just a few short days, Lu Zhaoling's face was no longer as gaunt; it was even noticeably fairer, and she had color in her cheeks.
The swelling on her forehead had completely disappeared, leaving only faint marks that looked like they would heal soon.
She was also wearing new clothes, fitting and elegant, completely different from her miserable state on the first day she returned.
Lu Ming had to admit, she had a good appearance!
Who knew what she would grow into after more nurturing.
Could it be that Prince Jin was superficial and was simply captivated by Lu Zhaoling's face?
"Lord Lu, do you have something to give me?" Lu Zhaoling raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing Lu Ming.
She noticed that Lu Ming had a trace of Talisman Qi on him.
Originally, he was tainted with some bad luck, but now there was a trace of Talisman Qi slowly dispelling the bad luck in his chest.
"I just gave you three hundred taels the day before yesterday!" Lu Ming was enraged by her again. "You're just a young lady, you don't need to do anything, what are you doing with so much silver?"
"What do you care what I do? What, you gave it to me and now you want it back?" Lu Zhaoling walked out, her gaze falling on a section of blue rope exposed on his neck.
It seemed he was wearing something.
Lu Ming took a deep breath and changed the subject.
"Now everyone knows you've been bestowed a marriage to Prince Jin. From now on, when you go out, people will see you as Prince Jin's fiancée.
So, you must always remember that you represent the face of Prince Jin and the Lu family. You must be cautious in words and deeds, behave politely, and speak gracefully..."
Before he could finish, Lu Zhaoling let out a sneer.
"How dare you put your Lu family and Prince Jin side by side? Can your Lu family's face compare to Prince Jin's?"
"Don't forget, you are also a member of the Lu family!"
"Oh..." Lu Zhaoling drew out the sound. "My 'Lu' may not necessarily be your Lord Lu's 'Lu'."
Lu Ming's heart gave a fierce leap.
Could this dead girl know something? Impossible!
"Zhaoling," he softened his tone, "Your father knows that you might have some misunderstandings..."
"Misunderstandings? Is this current Madam Lu my birth mother?"
No one would believe Madam Lu's behavior towards her.
Lu Ming gritted his teeth, "Yes! Your birth mother is her older sister..."
"Distant cousins, don't say it like we're so close," Lu Zhaoling interrupted him again.
She had said before that this current Madam Lu, it was rumored, had initially just come to the Lu family to seek refuge with her cousin. The original Madam Lu, being kind-hearted, never expected that sheltering this cousin would lead to her husband being taken away.
The cousin climbed into her cousin's husband's bed and even became pregnant with a child in the same year as her cousin.
But after the cousin gave birth, something happened, and she left the Lu family, her life or death unknown. Lu Ming seized the opportunity to let the cousin take her identity, becoming Madam Lu, and even erased all traces of the former Madam.
At that time, they were all in the countryside.
The Lu Ming family deliberately concealed it, and once they arrived in the capital, no one knew the inside story, so this current Madam Lu openly acted as the original wife.
Lu Zhaoling, the legitimate eldest daughter born to the original wife, was instead manipulated by them into becoming the second miss.
This was also why Lu Zhaoyun had to lie about being a year older.
"Are you listening to your grandmother's nonsense?"
Perhaps one or two people in the old countryside home knew about these matters. Lu Ming hadn't taken it seriously before, never expecting Lu Zhaoling to find out.
He guessed that his old mother might have let it slip over the years.
Lu Zhaoling did not answer.
Lu Ming then said angrily, "Even if she's not your birth mother, she's still your aunt, and there's some blood relation. What's wrong with her being your mother? Besides, I am your biological father!"
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