The concubine is soft and delicate, making her the treacherous minister's white moonlight

Chapter 52 What you see is what others want you to see
After calming down a little, he turned to look at Lin Mowan, and the anger in his eyes disappeared. Lin Mowan still looked at him pitifully and asked, "Does Brother Zhou hate me?"

"..." Zhou Shiran sighed, was silent at first, and then after struggling for a long time, he said, "No."

Lin Mowan's expression lit up: "Can I come to see you again in the future?" Although she had never looked for you before, she still had to ask this question.

Sure enough, Zhou Shiran showed an embarrassed expression, but when he met Lin Mowan's almost pleading eyes, he finally compromised and said, "Okay, but don't let Qiaoniang know. I don't want her to be sad."

Hearing this, Lin Mowan almost burst out laughing. She was afraid that she would be sad, but she did not reject the ambiguity of other women. She raised and then pressed down the corners of her mouth, which really made her almost unable to hold it back.

She laughed at herself in her heart: Pei Jingjian, it seems we are both bad people. But she tried not to change her expression, put on a smile, and replied: "Okay, I understand."

After saying goodbye to Zhou Shiran, Lin Mowan got on the carriage back to Ziteng Garden. The carriage began to move slowly. The smile on her face gradually became simpler, calmer, and finally disappeared completely, leaving only an impatient indifference...

The next morning after a week, Lin Mowan met Zhou Shiran again. She was invited to join a spring outing among other noble ladies. It was Luo Qiaoniang who invited her. The outing was held on a scenic mountain.

Lin Mowan brought Xiao Sanhua, who had not been married for a long time, to a deserted pavilion and sat down. Xiao Sanhua did not show any signs of stress. After getting familiar with the smells around the pavilion, she lazily lay down on the table and closed her eyes.

The weather was good today, and the place everyone chose was an open lawn on the top of a mountain with a great view. The winter chill had gone away, and many wild flowers were in full bloom, looking particularly vibrant.

Luo Qiao Niang was flying kites with a few close sisters. From time to time, she could hear laughter coming from over there. There were also people strolling on the lawn, or sitting down to chat and eat snacks, which was very pleasant.

Not long after, outside the originally peaceful lawn, several carriages stopped steadily on the road not far away. The girls stopped what they were doing and turned to look over.

Lin Mowan was sitting in the pavilion, and she also looked back. Among several imposing carriages, she immediately saw the carriage of Beidinghou Mansion.

Is it Shen Weiyuan?
Lin Mowan was feeling somewhat confused when Luo Qiaoniang ran into the yard holding a kite. Following her gaze, she saw Zhou Shiran getting off a carriage nearby. He trotted to the Beidinghou Mansion's carriage and waited for the person inside to get off.

Sure enough, the person who got off the carriage was Shen Weiyuan.

In addition to Shen Weiyuan and Zhou Shiran, there were Xiao Sheng and several other officials who looked unfamiliar. It seemed that they were not here for a spring outing.

Luo Qiaoniang's words also confirmed this. She said, "I heard from my husband that there is a manor not far from here. It belongs to the Shen family. It seems that it was specially used for them to discuss things."

Lin Mowan nodded, but didn't say much. She watched them walk into the path in the woods beside her. Then she withdrew her gaze. When she looked back, she saw a person standing outside the pavilion.

She held her already visibly pregnant belly and politely asked the two, "Can I come in and sit down?"

Lin Mowan looked at her and recognized her at a glance as the person who was attacked in the temple that day, Guo Yinli's wife, Han Ruoqing.

Lin Mowan didn't say anything, so Luo Qiaoniang quickly said, "Of course, please come in."

"Thank you." Han Ruoqing smiled and nodded, and the maid beside her helped her carefully into the pavilion and sat down.

Perhaps because she was a mother, Luo Qiaoniang was particularly able to understand the hardships of being a pregnant woman, and she quickly poured her a cup of tea. Han Ruoqing thanked her and the two chatted for a while.

Speaking of Zhou Ying who was still swinging outside, Luo Qiao'niang's eyes were full of doting and helplessness. She seemed to always say that she was naughty, but it was difficult to hide the mother's love for her daughter.

After a brief conversation, Han Ruoqing looked at Lin Mowan, who was always standing aside without getting annoyed. He carefully and gently examined the girl in front of him who seemed to be deliberately distant from everyone.

After thinking for a while, she spoke: "Miss Lin, thank you for that day. If it weren't for you, I might have been in danger." This time, of course, she came to thank her specially. Lin Mowan withdrew her gaze from the scenery and fixed her calm eyes on her. After a slight hesitation, she just shook her head and replied indifferently: "You're welcome."

Han Ruoqing opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but Lin Mowan's cold attitude made her feel that the person in front of her was a little difficult to get along with.

Until Luo Qiaoniang patted her hands and took the initiative to smooth things over: "Mrs. Guo, don't mind. Xiaowan is just not very good at dealing with others. In fact, she is a very good person. She often comes to the rouge shop to help."

Lin Mowan still said nothing, but she felt an indescribable feeling in her heart. This silly girl thought she was really as good as she looked. What you see is just what others want you to see.

Luo Qiao Niang's "Qiao Ji" can be said to be a very famous rouge shop in the local area. Most girls in and out of the city would go there, including all the noble ladies in the palace, who would only use hers and not those from other families.

Therefore, Luo Qiao Niang was extremely famous both inside and outside the city, and there were few girls who did not know her, and the same was true for Han Ruoqing.

Listening to Luo Qiaoniang's words, Han Ruoqing also smiled with relief.

Everyone played until dusk. When the sun set, they ate their lunch on the lawn and were about to pack up and go back. Everything was going peacefully.

Coincidentally, at this moment, the person who went to the neighboring village to discuss something also came out. It seemed that he had just finished the discussion and was about to leave.

Several officials seemed to be aware of the situation here. Their wives were also on the spring outing. After discussing the matter with Shen Weiyuan, they took the wives away as well.

Zhou Shiran was no exception. Before he came closer, Luo Qiaoniang waved to him while holding Zhou Ying. The smiles on both of their faces became deeper and deeper. Until Zhou Shiran saw Lin Mowan standing beside him, his smile froze immediately. However, he could not show it, for fear that Luo Qiaoniang would notice something unusual.

Zhou Shiran walked closer, took Zhou Ying from Luo Qiaoniang's hands, tried his best to ignore Lin Mowan beside him, and started chatting and laughing with Luo Qiaoniang.

Lin Mowan just stood aside and didn't go forward to talk, but she caught a glimpse of a familiar black shadow out of the corner of her eye. She subconsciously looked up and saw Xiao Sheng and Shen Weiyuan. Obviously, Xiao Sheng came to pick up Bai Yun.

After the two met up, Bai Yun suddenly looked over, with a flash of teasing in his eyes, and then he strode over.

"Miss Lin." She smiled at Lin Mowan.

Lin Mowan also smiled back and bowed respectfully: "Madam."

Xiao Sheng was a little confused, not quite understanding what she was going to do. He turned around and glanced at Shen Weiyuan who had already noticed that side, then ran over quickly, pulled Bai Yun's sleeve, and whispered, "Let's go."

Bai Yun didn't care. He just turned around and gave him a look. Then he turned back to look at Lin Mowan and continued, "Are you alone? Why don't we go together?"

Lin Mowan didn't say anything, but her expression showed obvious hesitation. She could feel that Bai Yun's invitation did not seem friendly, but it did not seem hostile either.

Ever since they first met at the Jiang family, this person seemed to have been speculating about something about her. Lin Mowan was a very cautious person, so when facing someone like Bai Yun, she naturally had a fake smile.

She shook her head gently and was about to refuse, but Shen Weiyuan came over at some point and said, "Let's go together."

These three simple words left Lin Mowan with no reason to refuse.

But at this moment, a girl suddenly came out from behind Shen Weiyuan. She looked about the same age as Lin Mowan. She looked at Lin Mowan and asked, "Second brother, who is she?"

(End of this chapter)