The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

Chapter 195 Lu Lingyue's Current Situation

"out?"

Li Jing thought for a moment, and by this time, he had already taken Zhao Yu to the banquet.

He said he had something important to do, and he never came back after he left.

"Important things?" Li Jing frowned. "What else could be important to Zhou Chengye?"

Zhao Yu suddenly said, "Could it be that someone impersonated His Highness and took Zhou Chengye away? Without His Highness's permission, Zhou Chengye certainly wouldn't dare to leave."

It's not impossible. Li Huaijiang has become powerful now, so it's not surprising that he would come up with this idea.

"Li Huaijiang only arrested Zhou Chengye, so he certainly doesn't have any evidence to implicate that matter. There's no need to panic too much for now."

Li Jing wondered which of the people from before were still alive.

Li Huaijiang was very happy today, as she had taken this first step.

“The Dali Temple has people keeping a close eye on things. Li Jing can’t find anyone to help him. I’m the victim, and it’s perfectly legitimate.”

The palace maid nodded in agreement.

"Princess."

Li Huaijiang stopped and saw Princess Yongning walking towards her in the distance.

"Why did my elder sister come to see me?"

"What exactly is going on between you and the Crown Prince?"

Li Huaijiang said matter-of-factly, "Haven't my relationship with him always been like this? Knowing that Zhou Chengye wanted to harm me, and that he was the one who sent him, of course I wouldn't sit idly by and wait to die."

Princess Yongning felt it wasn't that simple. She wasn't stupid; she wouldn't believe Li Huaijiang just because he said a few words.

"What is my elder sister suspecting?"

Li Huaijiang didn't want to be on the opposite side of Princess Yongning, which is why she helped her at that time.

"It's nothing, I was just overthinking it."

Princess Yongning realized that Li Huaijiang was unwilling to say more, so she simply stopped asking.

Not long after Shen Hanyu returned, she received some news about Lu Lingyue. It wasn't difficult to investigate, so Xiao Ran didn't intend to hide it from her.

“Lu Lingyue is indeed having a miserable time. When the Earl of Guangning is not in the manor, Xiao Ran will find all sorts of reasons to punish her, so that the Earl of Guangning will have a reason to ask. She couldn’t bear it and told the Earl of Guangning that she was going to the estate, but she was brought back.”

Having run away only to be found again, her fate was predictable. Lu Lingyue now lives in constant fear at the Guangning Marquis's residence.

Shen Hanyu listened, realizing that this method was the same one Xiao Ran had used against her before.

Even if Zhou Yurong wanted to protect him, he was powerless to do so because he had to go out and do other things.

"That's pretty tragic."

"She is currently being watched by Madam Xiao and has no way to leave the Guangning Marquis's residence."

Lu Lingyue was definitely not willing to continue like this, and Shen Hanyu understood her quite well.

Lu Lingyue was indeed thinking about how to turn her current situation around.

As soon as Xiao Ran returned to the manor, she looked up at the newly transferred maidservant beside her.

"Go and call Lu Lingyue over."

Now everyone in the manor is afraid of this ill-tempered Madam Xiao, so the maidservants dared not delay and quickly went to bring Lu Lingyue over.

Lu Lingyue's eyes flickered as she approached Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran raised her hand and placed it on Lu Lingyue's stomach.

"Why is it taking so long? There's still no sign of pregnancy. Weren't you quite capable before?"

Lu Lingyue flinched; she hadn't expected Xiao Ran to be so vengeful.

"Madam."

Xiao Ran leaned back slightly. "Go pour me some tea."

As she poured tea again, Lu Lingyue looked at her fingers, which were covered with many scratches, all from pouring tea.

Lu Lingyue dared not disobey, and the maid placed the scalding hot teacups on the tray.

"Pick it up."

Xiao Ran smiled maliciously. After being confined for several months, it would be unreasonable for her not to vent her anger on Lu Lingyue. Zhou Yurong wouldn't dare to do anything to her now, and everything had returned to normal.

Lu Lingyue's fingers trembled, and the moment they touched the teacup, she instinctively pulled them back.

"hurry up."

Xiao Ran urged her on, but didn't let Lu Lingyue get too close, otherwise it wouldn't be good if she spilled tea on her.

Lu Lingyue gritted her teeth. This Xiao Ran, she could wait a few more days.

She endured the heat and brought the tea over, but Xiao Ran hesitated to take it. Lu Lingyue couldn't take it anymore and threw the teacup on the ground.

The moment the teacup shattered, the two old women pinned Lu Lingyue down.

Lu Lingyue was already used to it. She closed her eyes and endured it. Xiao Ran was smarter now. She could make someone punish her without leaving any marks on her body, except for her burned hands.

As night fell, Zhou Yurong went to Lu Lingyue's room.

Lu Lingyue was waiting for him to come. She got up and hugged Zhou Yurong's waist.

"Zhou Lang, my finger hurts so much."

Lu Lingyue pouted and placed her hand in front of Zhou Yurong.

Zhou Yurong sat down and applied the medicine to her.

"Did she torment you again?"

"I'm used to it, it's alright, Zhou Lang."

Seeing how sensible Lu Lingyue was, Zhou Yurong felt a little guilty.

"Just be patient. As long as I'm here, she won't do anything to you."

Lu Lingyue couldn't wait any longer; her eyes darted around.

"Is it true that Zhou Lang is taking a day off tomorrow?"

Zhou Yurong hummed in agreement.

"Could you take me out for a walk?"

Her words were pleading, and coupled with her recent sob story, Zhou Yurong had no choice but to agree.

I'll take you out tomorrow.

Lu Lingyue achieved her goal and relaxed considerably.

The next morning, Shen Hanyu learned that Lu Lingyue and Zhou Yurong had gone out together.

"Lu Lingyue has arranged for someone to do something, should we do something about it?"

Looking at the things that had been delivered, Shen Hanyu said, "Let's help Lu Lingyue out, make things easier for her, and make Xiao Ran suffer a bit."

Lu Lingyue has come to terms with this. Instead of keeping Zhou Yurong's favor to herself, she found another person for Zhou Yurong.

If this person were to enter the manor, he would indeed be able to relieve a great deal of pressure on Lu Lingyue, just like she was back then.

Miao Cui looked at the names on the list. Lu Lingyue had really gone all out and had been ripped off by that person.

Zhou Yurong and Lu Lingyue went out in a carriage together. Lu Lingyue didn't rush to the main topic, but instead took a stroll around other places with Zhou Yurong first.

"Aren't you afraid of being punished by the First Madam now?" Zhou Yurong placed a hairpin in Lu Lingyue's hair.

Lu Lingyue smiled and said, "I'm just enjoying a half-day of leisure. Why should I think about so much?"

She led Zhou Yurong to a tavern.

"Why are you here?"

Zhou Yurong had never been to this tavern before, but it looked pretty good.

“It’s not easy for Zhou Lang and me to have a meal in the manor. Today we have some time, let’s have a drink.”

Zhou Yurong did not refuse and found a seat by the window.

Lu Lingyue took a deep breath. Now there were only two steps left. If she could succeed, she could relax a lot, and Xiao Ran wouldn't be chasing after her alone.

"This is the green leaf wine you requested."

A beautiful woman brought over a glass of wine, exchanged a glance with Lu Lingyue, who nodded, took the wine, and lightly flicked the bottle neck twice with her fingertips.

Seeing that Lu Lingyue was ready, the woman smiled and turned to leave.

"Green Leaf Wine?" Zhou Yurong had never heard of this before, so he poured himself a cup.