The Minister: Cold by Day, Hot by Night

Listening to their conversation, Zhi Wan clenched her fists.

’She couldn’t bear to imagine what would happen if her aunt found out. If Lady Wei knew her cousin only had the idea of marrying into another family because of her, how would she see her? Would she think she’d seduced him? Would she be disappointed in her—and even come to hate her?’

At this thought, her resolve to leave the Capital City hardened.

’As long as she left, her cousin would give up this notion of marrying into her family.’

Unfortunately, Zhao Donglai had told her at noon that there were no more boats to Yangzhou that afternoon. She would have to wait until the next morning.

She would just have to wait until tomorrow to leave.

"What do you think, Cousin?"

The man’s low voice broke through Zhi Wan’s thoughts.

She was taken aback. "What?"

"Mother just offered to formally adopt you as her daughter," Lu Zhan reminded her gently.

Zhi Wan heard this and quickly refused, "I couldn’t..."

"And why not?" Lu Zhan arched an eyebrow.

Zhi Wan was speechless.

Lady Wei shot her son a glare before taking Zhi Wan’s hand. "Wan’er, this unfilial son of mine, your cousin, is such a disappointment. How about this? Your uncle and I can formally adopt you as our daughter. Then you wouldn’t have to leave the Lu Family. In the future, when you take a husband to carry on your family name, you can still live here at the Lu Family home."

Zhi Wan was stunned. Seeing her aunt’s earnest expression, she said hurriedly, "Aunt, I couldn’t possibly accept. It’s not right. Besides, I must carry on the Zhi family line."

"That’s easily solved," Lady Wei said, surprisingly progressive. "After you find a husband, your first child can take the Zhi surname, and any after that can take the Lu surname. It’s no trouble at all."

Zhi Wan was at a loss for words.

Lu Zhan pressed a fist to his lips, nodding in agreement. "An excellent proposal, Mother!"

Zhi Wan was speechless.

Noticing her cousin’s gaze on her, she quickly lowered her head.

Now, just hearing her son speak gave Lady Wei a headache. She always felt he was scheming something outrageous. "You’re the one who wants to marry into someone else’s family, so don’t you stick your nose in this! Stay out of it!" she snapped.

Lu Zhan frowned. "What’s wrong with marrying into a woman’s family? Mother, you shouldn’t be so old-fashioned. You can accept my cousin taking a husband to live with her, so why are you so displeased now that I want to do the same? Mother, that’s blatant favoritism!"

Lady Wei was left speechless.

After a long moment, she finally managed to choke out, "How can that be the same?"

"How is it any different?" Lu Zhan retorted.

"Your father and I are both alive and well, and you are our only son! Besides, a family of our standing doesn’t need you to go marry into someone else’s house! If you do that, how can your father and I show our faces in public? You’ll bring shame upon yourself, too! Aren’t you afraid of becoming a laughingstock?" Lady Wei grew more agitated as she spoke.

"I don’t care what others think," Lu Zhan said coolly.

He infuriated Lady Wei. "You’ve completely lost your mind!"

’When her son refused to take a wife, she worried. Now that he was finally willing to marry, she worried even more.’

She delivered an ultimatum. "If you won’t change your mind, then my offer stands. When we get back, I will discuss it with your father. We will adopt Wan’er, and in the future, everything in the Duke Dingguo Mansion will be hers!"

"Excellent. I have no objection," Lu Zhan replied with a nod.

Lady Wei: "..."

Zhi Wan: "..."

Just then, the carriage arrived at the Duke Dingguo Mansion. Not wanting to spend another moment with her son, Lady Wei took Zhi Wan by the hand. "Wan’er, let’s go!"

After they stepped out of the carriage, Zhi Wan saw that Lady Wei’s expression was still grim. She couldn’t help but try to comfort her in a hushed voice, "Aunt, please don’t be angry. My cousin must be joking with you. He would never really marry into another family."

At her words, Lady Wei’s expression softened slightly. But just as she was about to speak, she heard her son’s calm, measured voice from behind them. "I’m not joking."

Zhi Wan froze.

"You ungrateful whelp!" Lady Wei whirled around and cursed, her patience finally gone.

"Mother, calm yourself. Don’t let your anger harm your health," Lu Zhan said, still unruffled.

His completely unbothered demeanor only fueled her anger. Rubbing her throbbing temples, Lady Wei finally gave up, turned on her heel, and stormed through the mansion gates.

Zhi Wan moved to follow, but the man’s voice stopped her. "Cousin, let’s talk."

"I... I have something to do," Zhi Wan stammered, her heart seizing in panic. She quickly scurried away.

Watching the girl flee as if escaping a disaster, Lu Zhan’s brow furrowed deeply.

Chen Jiu, who was following behind, also sensed that something was amiss. ’Why does the Miss seem so afraid of the Princely Heir?’

’Could it be that the Princely Heir did something to her?’

Chen Jiu pondered this, lost in thought.

"What has my cousin been doing all day?" Lu Zhan asked in a heavy voice.

Chen Jiu quickly snapped out of his reverie and reported, "Early this morning, the Miss left the mansion. She first paid a visit to He Xu Bookstore. I assumed she was there to buy books, but it turns out she was selling paintings to the store. Afterward, the Miss went to Zhimei Restaurant.

I was afraid of being discovered, so I didn’t dare get too close. I don’t know what she discussed with Zhao Dong and his wife.

However, around noon, Zhao Dong came to the mansion looking for the Miss.

I was unable to learn the specifics of their conversation."

Lu Zhan listened, a thoughtful expression on his face.

’She’s selling paintings to a bookstore?’

He recalled seeing her paintings in a dream.

Those paintings...

Remembering the scenes and people in those paintings, his eyelid twitched. He was suddenly struck by a terrible premonition.

"Chen Jiu, get to He Xu Bookstore immediately. Buy every painting they have and bring them back to me!" Lu Zhan commanded, his voice grave.

Chen Jiu blinked. "All of them?"

"The ones with portraits of men," Lu Zhan said, his lips tightening into a thin line. He prayed it wasn’t what he was thinking.

"Yes, sir." Chen Jiu departed at once.

「By evening,」 Chen Jiu had returned and laid out the purchased paintings on Lu Zhan’s desk.

He wiped the sweat from his brow. ’What on earth does the Princely Heir want with all these paintings?’

’And did I even buy the right ones?’

He had gone to He Xu Bookstore and stated his request, and the manager had promptly hauled out every single painting and album in the store that featured images of men.

The mere thought of those albums made Chen Jiu swallow hard.

He had accidentally flipped open one of the albums. It was filled with risqué illustrations...

But they were all of men, so it wasn’t exactly obscene. Still, the portraits depicted men in all sorts of poses—many with their robes half-open, some even in post-bath scenes that would make anyone’s imagination run wild...

Just as this thought crossed Chen Jiu’s mind, he saw his master flip open one of the albums.

Fearing a reprimand, he quickly deflected the blame to Manager Jin. "You said you wanted portraits of men, so I told Manager Jin as much, and he just dumped this entire pile on me..."

Lu Zhan was already flipping through one album. When he saw an unfamiliar man’s face on the page, he let out a small sigh of relief. "I see. You’re dismissed," he said coolly.

Feeling as if he’d received a royal pardon, Chen Jiu beat a hasty retreat.

By the time Lu Zhan finished looking through the albums, his handsome face was as black as the bottom of a wok.

Although the men in the albums didn’t have his face, many of the settings were intimately familiar. Some depicted the bathing chamber in his own quarters, others his study, and some were even set in his bedchamber.

The scenes were rendered in near-perfect detail, so he recognized them instantly.

This artistic style was unmistakably his cousin’s.

He had seen his cousin’s paintings in his dreams.

’She must have painted the scenes exactly as they were to save herself the trouble.’

As for the men in these paintings...

A vein throbbed on Lu Zhan’s temple.

’Should he count himself lucky that, in the dream, his cousin couldn’t see his face clearly?’

He remembered that time in the dream, when he saw the paintings she had on her table. The girl had lied to him, claiming she drew them for her own amusement, just for her to look at, and that they would never end up on the market.

And yet...

Lu Zhan pinched the bridge of his nose.