Father had already arrived in Dingzhou?

Lu Hong stretched his brows, nodded with a smile, and looked at Ling Jingshu naturally: “Shu biǎomèi, Ah Qian, and I are going to pick up our Father at the pier. We can only come to enjoy the flowers on another day.” 

Ling Jingshu’s reaction was a bit strange. The pale pretty face was almost bloodless, and the thin smile on the corners of her lips faded away. Her pupils contracted slightly, and then calmed down quickly: “Lu biǎogē, please go ahead.”

The originally gentle voice was instantly like winter ice and snow.

Lu Hong was secretly surprised but didn’t think much about it.

Lu Qian’s whole body trembled, and he glanced at Ling Jingshu with extremely complicated eyes, as if he wanted to say something, his lips moved, but finally, he didn’t open his mouth. He lowered his head and left with Lu Hong.

After the Lu Hong brothers left, Ling Jingshu stood there for a long time.

It was so long that Bai Yu and Ling Xiao noticed something was wrong.

Ling Xiao couldn’t see it and didn’t know that Ling Jingshu’s pretty face was as pale as snow at this time, and her expression was stiff. But Bai Yu saw her face, and her heart sank, and with concern and anxiety on her face, she asked: “Miss, what’s wrong with you? Weren’t you fine just now?”

Ling Jingshu took a deep breath: “Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Repeated again: “I’m really fine.” She has been reborn in her girlhood. The humiliation suffered was forever in the past. She didn’t have to be afraid, she will never let herself fall into the situation of her previous life again…

Ling Jingshu repeated in her heart several times, and her trembling hands finally subsided.

With this appearance, it was clear that something was wrong, and it was clearly something serious.

But Ling Jingshu didn’t want to go into details, and Bai Yu and Ling Xiao couldn’t force her, so they had no choice but to stay by her side.

……

The sound of footsteps from far broke the silence.

Ling Xiao had the most sensitive ears, frowned, and asked loudly, “Who is it?”

“It’s me.” A familiar girl’s voice sounded, and it was Ling Jingxian who came. She was in a hurry, and the usual sweet smile disappeared from her face. When she came closer, there was even a gloomy expression between her brows.

Looks like she was here to find fault.

Ling Jingshu was full of thoughts, and her reaction was unavoidably slow: “Xian tángjiě, what are you doing here?”

Ling Jingxian pulled the corners of her lips and sneered, and her voice was sharp and mean: “This is the peony garden of the Ling family. Why can’t I come?”

After finishing speaking, she looked around and questioned with displeasure: “Where is Hong biǎogē? Didn’t he come to Peony Garden with you? Why is he gone now?” 

Hearing that Lu Hong and Ling Jingshu came to Peony Garden together, Ling Jingxian was filled with jealousy and hatred, so she quickly came to find her.

Ling Jingshu was in a very bad mood, full of anger and grievances, and there was nowhere to vent those emotions. Ling Jingxian rushed to the door, of course, she would not be polite: “The legs are on his body, he can come and go when he wants, and no one can do anything about it.” 

“Never mind. Xian tángjiě wants to see him, so she should have informed him earlier, or asked someone to stop him and let him wait for you here.”

Ling Jingxian: “…”

Ling Jingxian was furious, and her pretty face turned red, with anger flashing in her eyes, she gritted her teeth and said, “Ling Jingshu! You promised me that day…” Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Ling Xiao’s figure, swallowed the next words abruptly, and said instead: “What you promised me, you will not forget it!”

Ling Jingshu raised her eyebrows coldly: “I never promised anything.”

Ling Jingxian’s expression changed suddenly. Just about to say something, Ling Jingshu’s cold voice sounded again: “I am not interested in what you want at all. What you want to do has nothing to do with me. If you mention a word to me again, don’t blame me for turning my face.”

The tone was very impolite.

Listening to these words, Ling Jingxian’s angry face quickly receded, and she even showed a flattering smile: “My good sister, I just said the wrong thing in a moment of impatience, and I’m here to accompany you as a sister. Can you not take it to your heart?”

Ling Xiao listened in a daze, and couldn’t help interjecting, “Xian tángjiě, what are you and Ah Shu talking about? Why didn’t I understand a single word?” 

Ling Jingshu opened her mouth to answer, but Ling Jingxian rushed to answer: “It’s a little secret between us sisters, so don’t ask about it.” 

Ling Xiao had an honest and kind personality, and after Ling Jingxian said this, he really stopped asking.

Ling Jingxian rolled her eyes, couldn’t help it, and opened her mouth to ask again; “Xiao tándi^[1]male cousin younger than you from the paternal side, Hong biǎogē came to the Peony Garden with you just now, why is he missing now?”

Ling Jingshu seemed to be a different person recently, indifferent temperamentally, and with sharp words, she was really not easy to provoke. So Ling Xiao looked easy to talk to.

“A servant came to report just now, saying that Gūfu^[2]husband of father’s sister has arrived at the pier, so Hong biǎogē and Qian biǎodì have gone to pick him up.” Ling Xiao said quickly.

It turned out that Gūfu came.

Ling Jingxian frowned and said with a smile: “Gūgu has been talking about it all day, and my Gūfu finally came. Speaking of which, Bóbo and his family^[3]father’s elder brother should be here soon! Grandma’s birthday is coming soon, if he doesn’t come back, he won’t be able to make it in time. “

As soon as the words fell, a servant girl came to report with a happy face: “The old lady ordered the servants to deliver the message to the young masters and ladies. The Eldest Master and his family have also arrived at the pier. Now they are loading the luggage and getting on the carriage. They are coming to the mansion together. Requesting the young master and ladies to go to the Yonghe Hall together.” 

“Talk about Cao Cao and Cao Cao will be there.”^[4]basically speak of the devil and the devil will be there but in a more respectful manner Ling Jingxian laughed, and then took Ling Jingshu’s hand affectionately: “It’s more lively if we go together. Bóbo and the others are also returning after five or six years. Look at it, I will have to cry like my Gūgu came back later.”

She thought the words were humorous, and she giggled coquettishly after she finished speaking.

Ling Jingshu glanced at her expressionlessly.

Ling Jingxian was smiling happily at first, but being looked at with such a blank face, she gradually smiled a little embarrassingly: “If you don’t want to go there, then I’ll take a step first.” 

She couldn’t help but mutter to herself. Bóbo’s family was coming back, and the Gūfu who they had never met before was also coming. It was a great happy event for the whole family to reunite. Why was there no joy on Ling Jingshu’s face?

Although Bai Yu didn’t understand the reason, she recalled Ling Jingshu’s deliberate avoidance when Madam Ling and others came back. So she said to Ling Jingshu in a low voice: “If Miss doesn’t want to show up, I will report to Yonghe Hall and say that Miss is unwell. …..”

“No need!”

Ling Jingshu took a deep breath and interrupted Bai Yu: “I’ll go there with Xian tángjiě.” 

You can hide for a while, but you can’t hide for a lifetime.

What should come will always come, and what should be faced must be faced. She had to straighten her chest and face the nightmare of her previous life.

…

Along the way, Ling Jingxian tactfully kept her mouth shut.

Ever since Ling Jingshu woke up from a high fever, her temperament, words, and deeds had changed a lot. When Ling Jingshu was concentrating on her pretty face, it actually exuded an air of coldness and chill.

To put it bluntly, Ling Jingxian was a stern paper tiger, who usually showed her teeth and claws, but when she met Ling Jingshu with a stern face, she immediately shied away… 

After arriving at Yonghe Hall, Ling Jingshu restrained herself almost immediately The whole body relaxed. Smiling, she went forward to salute Old Lady Ling and others, and then quietly stood beside her stepmother, Madam Li.

Ling Jingxian secretly cursed at herself. I must have been dazzled just now, thinking about so many things. Ling Jingshu clearly still looked gentle and docile!

While chatting, everyone waited for Uncle Ling and Uncle Lu to return.

“Brother has worked in the Ministry of Industry for many years, and I heard that he is highly appreciated by the Secretary of the Ministry of Industry. Minister Qiao of the Ministry of Industry is about to retire. The vacant seat will most likely belong to the Eldest brother.” 

Fifth Master Ling met many people regularly. Most of them were officials, and they also knew a lot about the promotion of officialdom in the Great Zhou Dynasty. At this time, they talked with eloquence, which was quite convincing.

Fourth Master Ling smiled and took over the conversation: “Brother has been an official of the Ministry of Industry for so many years, and he should be promoted to a ministerial position.” 

The Secretary of the Ministry of Industry was a fourth-rank official position. If you can be promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, you will be in the third rank.

If you considered the official position of the third rank, in the capital city where there were as many nobles as dogs and royal relatives, they were not considered high-ranking officials. However, if you considered the civil service, then this ranking can be regarded as the first. After another eight or ten years, maybe he can go one step further and become one of the six official ministers.

When mentioning her eldest son, Old Lady Ling was full of pride and joy, with a smile on her face: “Of course, it is best to be promoted. However, the most important thing is safety. At my age, I don’t want anything else. I only look forward to my children and grandchildren. And pray that the whole house is safe.”

The whole house is safe?

Ling Jingshu twitched her lips sarcastically.

The Old Lady Ling thought well, but it was a pity that the uncle was unwilling to be mediocre, and insisted on getting involved in the vortex of the struggle for the throne, causing himself a huge calamity, and was sent to the prison of the Ministry of Justice. In order to rescue him from the prison, the Ling family sold their properties and begged everywhere, and finally rescued him after they got help from the Lu family.

After this incident, Uncle Ling lost his official position and was devastated. Most of the Ling family’s business also disappeared, and the family started to gradually decline.

It was also because of this that Lu An dared to put her under house arrest in the mansion without any regard for the face of the Ling family. After she had worked so hard to escape back to the Ling family, Old Lady Ling refused to offend Lu An because of this, and cruelly tied her up and sent her back to the Lu family… 

In life, power and profit cannot be escaped. It was the innocent and poor she who paid the price.