The Minister: Cold by Day, Hot by Night-Chapter 117: She Needs to Vent

Despite their haste, it was already dark by the time the group returned to Jurong.

Zhi Wan still felt a little awkward as she stepped down from the carriage. Seeing only Chen Jiu waiting there, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

’What Nanny said was just too mortifying.’ She was dreading seeing her cousin more than anything right now.

"Miss, the Princely Heir has already gone inside," Chen Jiu said, stepping forward. "He instructed me to wait here and take you to your rooms to rest."

"Thank you for your trouble." Zhi Wan nodded.

Chen Jiu had booked five rooms in total. Three were superior-grade rooms for Lu Zhan, Zhi Wan, and Ouyang Zhenzhu. The other two were secondary rooms for Chen Jiu, Jiang Shi, the coachman, Nanny Fang, and the others.

Zhi Wan and Ouyang Zhenzhu were given adjoining rooms.

After escorting the two of them, Chen Jiu withdrew.

Her mother’s heirlooms were on Zhi Wan’s mind. As soon as she was in her room, she dismissed Nanny Fang and Shuang’er. Then, she took the box, sat at the table, and studied it.

These were the belongings her mother had left her.

Zhi Wan’s eyes began to burn. She gently caressed the box, her gaze soft and filled with a loving longing.

A moment later, she carefully opened it.

She had thought it would contain her mother’s jewelry or something of the sort, but upon opening it, she discovered it was a book.

Stunned for a moment, she picked up the book, examined it, and then began to flip through its pages.

It was an account book.

Zhi Wan was surprised at first, but the more she read, the graver her expression became.

She lay awake all night.

「The next day」 At the crack of dawn, she got ready and left her room, intending to go to an incense and candle shop to buy supplies for sweeping the graves. However, when she got downstairs, she saw Lu Zhan returning from outside with Chen Jiu and Jiang Shi.

Zhi Wan froze for a moment before stepping forward to curtsy. "Cousin."

Lu Zhan paused. Noticing the dark circles under her eyes and her haggard, exhausted expression, he assumed she hadn’t slept well because of the upcoming visit to the graves. "It’s still early," he said. "You can go back to sleep for a bit."

"I’m not going back to sleep." Zhi Wan shook her head. "I need to go buy incense and joss paper. I’m going to visit my parents’ graves soon."

"Miss, the Princely Heir has already bought the incense, joss paper, and offerings. You don’t need to go," Chen Jiu interjected, holding up the items in his hands.

Only then did Zhi Wan realize that he and Jiang Shi were both carrying the very things she needed.

She looked at Lu Zhan in astonishment. ’Did Cousin wake up this early just to buy these things for me?’

She was deeply moved. A shimmer of tears appeared in her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes. "Thank you, Cousin," she whispered.

Lu Zhan saw her eyes reddening and his brow furrowed. He couldn’t understand why such a trivial matter would move her so much.

"It was nothing," he said gently. "Don’t give it a second thought."

Zhi Wan turned away, sniffling as she tried to suppress her tears.

The shock from the account book last night had been immense, and now, with her cousin’s kindness this morning, she found it difficult to keep her emotions in check.

Lu Zhan had been about to head upstairs, but when he saw her slender body trembling as she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, his heart tightened. He took two steps closer and asked in a low voice, "Cousin, what’s wrong?"

The sudden male voice, sounding so close behind her, made Zhi Wan jump.

She hastily wiped her tears away and turned. "I-I’m fine."

Lu Zhan’s gaze lingered on her face for a moment. With her red-rimmed eyes and tear-streaked cheeks, she looked achingly vulnerable—not at all "fine."

He pursed his thin lips but didn’t press her, saying only, "Good. As long as you’re alright."

Just then, Ouyang Zhenzhu came downstairs.

"Wanwan, I’ll come with you to buy incense and joss paper. We can go pay respects to your uncle and aunt in a bit."

At her words, the tears Zhi Wan had just managed to suppress threatened to fall once more.

’The sun had barely risen, yet Zhenzhu, who loved to sleep in, had woken up so early for her sake.’

’How could she not be moved by such a gesture?’

’She had her cousin and a dear friend. They both cared for and protected her. She wasn’t a helpless, lonely orphan after all.’

"Zhenzhu, thank you, but my cousin already bought everything," Zhi Wan said sincerely, squeezing Ouyang Zhenzhu’s hand.

"Oh, he already got it all? And here I thought I was up plenty early. I never expected Mr. Lu to be up even earlier." Ouyang Zhenzhu sighed. "Well, in that case, let’s set off now. We should go pay our respects to your uncle and aunt sooner rather than later."

Although Zhi Wan was anxious to pay respects to her parents, their graves were a considerable distance away. "Let’s go after breakfast," she said.

"Alright, whatever you say," Ouyang Zhenzhu replied, linking her arm through Zhi Wan’s.

The group set off after they finished their meal.

Upon arriving at the graves of Father Zhi and Mother Zhi, Zhi Wan expected to find an overgrown, desolate scene. Instead, she found her parents’ tombs were tidy and clean. In front of them lay a few offerings and the remnants of recently burned joss paper.

Clearly, someone had swept the graves not long ago.

’It must have been Nanny Chen and her family,’ Zhi Wan thought.

The others were surprised as well.

They had come prepared with tools, ready to chop down branches and clear away weeds.

But it turned out there was no need.

Chen Jiu scratched his head, and he and Jiang Shi set their tools aside.

Zhi Wan waved off help from Nanny Fang and Shuang’er, personally arranging the offerings one by one before the tombstones. She then lit the incense with her own hands and knelt.

"Father, Mother, please forgive your unfilial daughter for only coming to see you now." By the time she finished speaking, tears were already streaming down her face.

She had only been here for her parents’ burial; in the years that followed, she had never come back.

’Thinking about it now, I really have been a terrible daughter. They only had one child, and I never once came to sweep their graves. Down in the underworld, they must be so disappointed in me.’

She pressed her forehead to the ground, remaining there for a long time as her tears soaked the soil before her.

Ouyang Zhenzhu’s heart broke at the sight. She turned anxiously to Lu Zhan. "Mr. Lu, what should we do?"

Lu Zhan’s gaze rested on the slender girl kneeling before the graves, her shoulders shaking with sobs. His dark eyes swirled with an emotion no one could decipher.

After a long moment, he said calmly, "It’s fine. She needs this release."

Hearing his words, Ouyang Zhenzhu, who had been about to go to her friend, halted.

’Poor Wanwan.’

Wiping away a sympathetic tear, Ouyang Zhenzhu suddenly missed her own parents and brother back in the Capital City.

’From now on,’ she thought, ’I’ll never complain about their nagging again.’

Kneeling behind Zhi Wan, Shuang’er wiped away her own tears and sobbed, "Master, Madam, may you rest in peace. The young miss is grown now, and this servant will continue to watch over and care for her. Please, rest assured!" With that, she shuffled forward on her knees and helped Zhi Wan to her feet. "There now, Miss. Master and Madam wouldn’t blame you. In the future, we’ll just come back more often to pay our respects."

Zhi Wan nodded and sat up, her face streaked and blotchy with tears.

Lu Zhan and Ouyang Zhenzhu then took incense sticks and stepped forward to pay their respects to the two elders.

"Uncle, Aunt, my name is Ouyang Zhenzhu, and I’m Wanwan’s best friend," she said. "Please don’t worry, I will also protect Wanwan and not let anyone bully her."

Lu Zhan remained silent, his handsome face inscrutable. No one knew what was on his mind.

Clasping the incense, he bowed deeply to the two elders before planting it in the earth before the tombstone.