Chapter 531 - He Yuxiu’s Plot (1/2)

When Madam Lian returned to her manor, Lian An had not yet returned. In order to show her sincerity, Madam Lian asked the butler told Lian An that she would bring some servants to pray for Consort Xuan and that she might come back tomorrow. Then she hurried to the Repayment Temple outside the city with several servants. It was said that the temple was quite famous and many people would go there to pray for blessings.

Before they set out, a small episode happened. As an official, Lian An had a good reputation. Although he was the minister of the Ministry of Workers, he was clean-handed. Lian’s Manor was not large and there were not many servants in the manor; besides, there were only three carriages for going outside—one of the carriages had always been used by Lian An, which was enough, and one for Madam Lian and the last one for younger and older maidservants.

However, Ming Yu and Ming Xia rarely agreed that, as Madam Lian’s personal maids, they could not ride in the same carriage with the other maidservants, or they would lose the family’s decency. They also claimed that when other families’ madams and misses went out, the personal maids and the ordinary maids rode in different carriages.

Madam Lian’s face darkened as she heard what they said. She was about to lose her temper when an older maidservant came to her and whispered in her ear. Madam Lian asked someone to drag another carriage and solved the problem. The three carriages set off from Minister Lian’s manor and went to the Repayment Temple together.

“Your Excellency, Madam Lian took three carriages out of the manor. One of them is the carriage we kept an eye on last time. Do you want us to keep an eye on it?” the manservant reported respectfully in the study.

“There’s no need. Continue keeping an eye on Lian An, especially noticing if he has any interactions with the people in the palace.” Behind the desk, You Yuecheng’s expression grew cold. He had finally made sure that the person who had ruined his and King Yan’s plan was from Lian’s Manor. Now that the matter had come to a close, he had brought it out easily.

At first, he did not believe that it was Lian An who had done this, so he had gotten people to keep an eye on Lian’s Manor. After all, Lian An had kept a low profile and hadn’t colluded with anyone, so You Yuecheng thought that he would not frame King Yan intentionally. However, it was obvious that he had guessed wrongly. Lian An was a scheming man.

During this period of time, he had his people watch Lian An, and thus he knew that the second miss of the He family, who made a fuss and was missed, was actually in the hands of Lian An. She was raised as a mistress by Lian An in a yard in the Fuqian Street. Lian An would go there once he was free. Now it was the time for him to dote on her.

This thing was hidden from Madam Lian. There seemed to be nothing wrong with other things. Since he had never suspect Lian An before, he didn’t investigate him carefully. After investigation, You Yuecheng found that Lian An had known the He family for a long time, and the latter sent a sum of money to him at intervals. But the money would disappear in the end, and Lian An still lived a poor life.

Then where was the large sum of money?

You Yuecheng had a feeling that Lian An was not a simple man, and should be connected to someone in the palace. Of course, the person was most likely Consort Zhao. After all, she was from the He family. If that was the case, then it should be considered carefully. You Yuecheng did not wish to create chaos in Lian’s Manor.

If Lian An did have something to do with Consort Zhao, perhaps it would be a trump card that could reverse the foregone conclusion at the right time.

You Yuecheng did not wish to stir up trouble in Lian’s Manor, but Mo Xuetong did. The messier Lian’s Manor was, the better it was for her. As Ming Yu and Ming Xia heard Mo Yu’s words, they asked to ride separately from ordinary maidservants. Thus, the matter about the carriage would be exposed. However, that was not enough, and Mo Xuetong wanted it to be more chaotic.

Chaos could make those people panic. If Lian An was easy to deal with, he wouldn’t have become one of the ministers of the Ministry of Workers at such a young age, and his reputation had always been good…

Mo Yu, Mo Ye, and Mo Feng were all sent out by Mo Xuetong.

Lian An returned to the manor at lunchtime. He had come back a little earlier today because he wanted to know about the matter that his wife had gone to King Xuan’s Manor. Consort Xuan was said to be a gentle person, but King Xuan was not. Thinking of that Consort Zhao had made him think of ways to send people to King Xuan’s Manor, he felt a headache.

King Xuan had beaten a dozen concubines to death, making people in his manor fearful. No one dared to do anything. Lian An was trying to stay calm. He felt that it was not the best time to insert someone in King Xuan’s Manor, so he wanted to wait for a period of time. However, Consort Zhao in the palace had urged him, giving him a headache.

“Old Sir, Madam said that Consort Xuan is ill and she is now going to pray for her. She might not be back tonight, so she asked you to rest early and said you don’t have to wait for her.” The butler hurried over to report when he saw Lian An getting off the carriage, rubbing his brows.

Lian An stopped in front of the manor gates and nodded. After thinking for a while, he turned around and walked towards the carriage while saying, “I suddenly remember that there are still some things that I haven’t settled. I won’t be back tonight. Take care of everything in the manor. When the Young Master comes back, you ask him to rest.”

“Yes, Old Sir,” the butler responded although he did not know why Lian An had already left before he entered the manor.

After getting on the carriage, Lian An told the coachman to go to Fuqian Street. The coachman understood what he meant and turned the horse around and went to the yard in front of Fuqian Street. Lian An’s mistress lived there. Of course, it couldn’t be known to Madam Lian. Usually, Lian An went there secretly, and he never dared to spend the night there. But today, since Madam Lian wasn’t home, Lian An seemed to be going to spend the night there. Thinking of the coquettish maid who served Madam He and was like Madam He, the coachman was very excited.

He only felt that he was full of energy. Whipping the horse, he drove the carriage and went there.

When they arrived at the gate of the yard, Lian An got out of the carriage and walked inside. It was a maidservant of 17 or 18 years old who opened the gate. As soon as she saw Lian An, her eyes lit up and she gave him a seductive smile, saying, “Old Sir, Madam is waiting for you. She kept saying that she misses you just now. Come in quickly.”

Recalling He Yuxiu’s charming appearance in the room, Lian An smiled and strode inside. He felt relaxed only when he was here. The concubines in his manor were either old or ugly, so he didn’t like them at all. There were only a few old concubines who had been with him for 10 years.

Madam Lian didn’t allow him to take the two maids that he had taken a fancy to now, claiming that she would train them for a period of time, which made Lian An very dissatisfied. However, his wife looked virtuous on the surface, but she wasn’t an easy-going person. She always made him speechless, and then she said that she did it for his sake in every aspect.