The Minister: Cold by Day, Hot by Night

Zhi Wan froze, clenching her fists. She didn’t dare look up. All she could see was the corner of a man’s dark blue robe and a pair of black boots.

It was her cousin, Lu Zhan.

Recalling their trysts in the dream and her own bold, absurd actions, her face flushed hot. Mortified, she wished the ground would swallow her whole and quickly lowered her head.

She simply couldn’t bring herself to face her cousin.

She was so full of regret and embarrassment that she wished she could just vanish on the spot.

Watching the girl with her head bowed, Lu Zhan had a pretty good idea of how she was feeling.

His thin lips tightened. The displeasure he’d felt seeing her whispering with Chen Junyu was now replaced by a different kind of exasperation. He softened his voice and asked, "Are you feeling unwell, Cousin?"

Zhi Wan jolted and snapped back to reality, stammering, "No! Thank you... Cousin."

"Ah Zhan, what are you doing here?" Seeing her son, Lady Wei was both surprised and delighted.

A thought occurred to her, and she hurriedly glanced behind him.

But only Chen Jiu was with him, no young lady. She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

She had thought her son’s sudden appearance at the opera house meant he was bringing a young lady to a show.

Apparently not.

"When I returned to the manor, I heard you brought my cousin to the opera, Mother. I realized it’s been a while since I’ve seen one myself, so I thought I’d come and join in." Lu Zhan said calmly, his gaze flicking toward Chen Junyu. "I didn’t expect to see Mr. Chen here as well."

"Greetings, Mr. Lu." Chen Junyu stood and gave him a bow, then tactfully moved to a nearby seat.

Lu Zhan swept his robes aside and matter-of-factly sat down in the seat Chen Junyu had just vacated.

Zhi Wan’s breath hitched, and her body went rigid.

Even with a small table between them, she felt incredibly awkward and uncomfortable.

’If I’d known this would happen, I would have been more restrained in the dreams.’

Zhi Wan wanted to cry but couldn’t shed a tear.

"What’s playing at the opera house today?" Lu Zhan asked nonchalantly, his head lowered as he toyed with the cup in his hand.

Zhi Wan: "..."

Noticing her hesitation to speak, Lu Zhan paused before venturing, "Is it *The Peony Pavilion*?"

Zhi Wan’s eyelashes trembled. Feigning composure, she replied, "I think... it is."

"Hmm, that’s good. It should be worth watching." A faint smile touched Lu Zhan’s lips.

Just as Zhi Wan was starting to feel like she was sitting on pins and needles, the opera began.

She used to love watching the opera, but right now, she wasn’t in the mood at all.

She kept her head down and focused on eating the sunflower seeds on her plate, using the action to hide her unease.

’I should thank Chen Junyu for shelling all these seeds for me,’ she thought. ’At least it gives me something to do.’

As she was eating, the dish was suddenly gone.

Stunned, she turned to look at the man beside her.

The dish of sunflower seeds was now in her cousin’s hand.

She stammered, "C-Cousin?"

"Chen Jiu hasn’t had lunch yet, and he’s a bit hungry. You don’t mind if he has these, do you, Cousin?" Lu Zhan asked casually.

Hearing this, Zhi Wan immediately looked toward Chen Jiu.

Chen Jiu: "..."

’I ate a huge lunch, didn’t I? I’m not hungry at all.’

He stared blankly as he accepted the dish from the Princely Heir.

’Why is the Princely Heir being so nice to me all of a sudden?’

"Thank you, Miss." Though panicked on the inside, Chen Jiu put on a cheerful grin and thanked her.

Zhi Wan shook her head. "It’s just some sunflower seeds. If you’re hungry, take these pastries, too." She then handed him the plate of pastries from the table, though she was very confused. ’Sunflower seeds won’t fill you up. Why did Cousin give him the seeds and not the pastries?’

Chen Jiu hurriedly took them, and then it suddenly dawned on him.

’The seeds were shelled by Chen Junyu for the Miss. The Princely Heir must not want her eating seeds shelled by another man, so he’s just using me as an excuse!’

’No wonder the Princely Heir was being so nice to me all of a sudden.’

’The Princely Heir is jealous!’

’Truly, a man in love has a heart smaller than the eye of a needle!’

Chen Jiu inwardly grumbled about his master’s pettiness.

Zhi Wan forced herself to watch the opera, hoping it would distract her from the awkwardness.

And sure enough, it worked.

Just as she was getting engrossed in the performance, a low voice suddenly sounded in her ear. "Here, have some."

Zhi Wan paused. Turning her head, she saw that her cousin had pushed a dish filled with shelled sunflower seeds in front of her. Next to his hand was a pile of empty shells; he had clearly shelled them himself.

She hesitated for a moment before taking it. "Thank you, Cousin." She didn’t dare meet his eyes. After setting the dish down, she fixed her gaze back on the stage, but her heart was in turmoil.

’Cousin probably doesn’t know I’m the girl from his dreams, right?’

Zhi Wan thought, trying to fool herself.

After what felt like an eternity, the opera finally ended. Zhi Wan was about to get up when Ouyang Zhenzhu approached, her eyes red-rimmed. "Wanwan, that performance was so moving! It made me cry buckets."

Seeing the glistening tears in the corners of her friend’s eyes, Zhi Wan said with a helpless sigh, "It’s all just a story."

"It may be a story, but it’s still so moving," Ouyang Zhenzhu whispered, then furrowed her brow. "Do you think anyone in the real world could be like Du Liniang and meet the man they love in a dream?"

At the mention of dreams, Zhi Wan subconsciously glanced in Lu Zhan’s direction, only to have him turn his head toward her at that very moment.

Their eyes met. Her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately looked away.

"Dreams... are the opposite of reality," Zhi Wan finally whispered after a long pause.

"You’re right. Who in real life dreams of people they’ve never met, or people they barely know?" Ouyang Zhenzhu nodded in agreement, her mood lightening considerably. She pouted. "It’s all fake, all of it!"

Zhi Wan fell silent.

Thinking of her own dreams, she had to admit they were absurd and unbelievable, too.

And yet, it was happening to her.

’Thinking back to when the dreams started, Cousin and I barely knew each other. In fact, I was terrified of him back then and kept my distance. We barely interacted, so how could we have dreamed of each other?’

’That’s why, even when I found out the man from my dreams was real, it never occurred to me that it could be my cousin.’

But to her utter shock, the most impossible person turned out to be him.

"Alright, let’s go," Lady Wei said, rising to her feet.

Zhi Wan snapped out of her thoughts.

The group left Qingyin Pavilion.

"Wanwan, Lady Lu, Mr. Lu, my cousin and I will be heading back now," Ouyang Zhenzhu said, bidding them farewell.

Looking at her dear friend, Zhi Wan felt a pang of reluctance. Her mouth opened, but all she managed to say was, "Get home safe."

After Ouyang Zhenzhu and Chen Junyu left, Zhi Wan followed Lady Wei into the carriage.

’With the carriage walls between us, I won’t have to face him anymore.’ Just as Zhi Wan was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Lu Zhan lifted the door flap and entered.

Zhi Wan: "..."

’Just what I was afraid of.’

"Didn’t you ride here on horseback?" Lady Wei asked, looking at her son with surprise.

Her son rarely shared a carriage with her when they went out.

"I’m a little tired, so I had Chen Jiu ride my horse back," Lu Zhan said calmly, taking the seat beside Zhi Wan.

Zhi Wan froze, not daring to move a muscle.

"What did you think of the opera, Cousin? Was it good?" he suddenly asked, turning his head toward her.

A chill ran down Zhi Wan’s spine. She nodded. "It... it was... good."

Lu Zhan paused, then turned to Lady Wei. "Chen Junyu is nothing special. Mother, don’t bring my cousin to meet him again. We wouldn’t want people to get the wrong idea."

Hearing this, Lady Wei snapped, "You’re about to become some family’s live-in son-in-law, and you have the gall to meddle in your cousin’s business? Lu Zhan, I’m warning you! If you don’t drop this absurd idea of marrying into another family, I’ll formally adopt Wan’er as my own daughter, find a husband who will marry into *our* family, and let *him* inherit your title!"

Lu Zhan lowered his gaze. "That’s an excellent idea, Mother."

Lady Wei was struck speechless.