"Lu Zhan, what else do you have to say for yourself?" Lady Wei grew angrier the more she thought about it.

Lu Zhan fell silent for a moment before explaining, "It’s true that I forced my cousin to come to Jiangning, but I was left with no other choice."

"What do you mean, you had no other choice?" Lady Wei exploded. "Don’t make excuses for your lecherous behavior!"

Lu Zhan paused, then said unhurriedly, "Actually, if we’re talking about how things got to this point, Mother, you bear some of the responsibility as well."

Lady Wei froze, staring at him in disbelief. "You’re the one who has acted immorally. What does that have to do with me?"

Lu Zhan closed his eyes and said faintly, "I have feelings for my cousin and had planned to take things slow. But, Mother, you kept taking her to meet potential suitors. I was left with no choice but to confess my feelings to her. She was probably afraid you would misunderstand, which is why she tried to run away.

I managed to stop her just in time, and I certainly couldn’t let her run off again, so I brought her to Jiangning."

Lady Wei was stunned for a moment, then it suddenly dawned on her. ’No wonder Wan’er’s marriage prospects kept falling through. So it was my son sabotaging them all along?’

At this realization, she was so angry she had to laugh. "Weren’t you the one who first suggested that Wan’er find a husband to marry into our family?"

Hearing this, Zhi Wan looked at her cousin in surprise. ’So that was his suggestion?’

Lu Zhan hesitated. "It was my suggestion, but at the time, I didn’t know that my cousin was..."

"Was what?" Lady Wei pressed him.

Zhi Wan’s heart leaped into her throat as she stared nervously at her cousin.

Fortunately, Lu Zhan didn’t mention their trysts in the dream world. Instead, he said, "At that time, I didn’t yet have romantic feelings for my cousin."

Zhi Wan felt a wave of relief, but then her face flushed red at the mention of the phrase "romantic feelings" from her cousin’s lips.

Upon hearing this, Lady Wei suddenly wanted to laugh. ’Isn’t this a classic case of my son shooting himself in the foot?’

She cleared her throat and said with a stern face, "Then shouldn’t you be blaming yourself? Why are you blaming me?"

"If Mother hadn’t disrupted my plans by frequently taking my cousin to meet suitors, I wouldn’t have had to resort to this desperate measure," Lu Zhan said flatly.

Lady Wei was incensed. "What do you mean, ’frequently’? If you hadn’t been sabotaging things, would we have needed to see so many? That first one, Shen Longjin, I thought he was quite good! Not too old, and a perfect match for Wan’er!"

Lu Zhan faltered. After a long moment, a sentence slowly escaped his thin lips. "My age... isn’t that... old."

"Not that old? There’s a ten-year age gap between you and Wan’er! To her, you’re just a grumpy old man!" Lady Wei shot him a sidelong glance.

Lu Zhan: "..."

Zhi Wan glanced at her cousin’s face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, and felt a sudden sense of satisfaction.

Even though her cousin said he wouldn’t restrict her movements, he was keeping a very close watch on her, and she felt incredibly stifled.

Seeing him get taken down a notch, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of schadenfreude.

’So the day has come when my ever-calculating cousin is rendered speechless by a rebuttal!’

Seeing her son’s sullen expression wasn’t satisfying enough for Lady Wei. She continued, "If you hadn’t gone back to the Capital City last time, Wan’er’s marriage to that Chen Junyu might have already been settled."

At this, she feigned a sigh of regret. "That Chen Junyu, what a fine young man! He’s only a few years older than Wan’er, he’s ambitious, and he’s sure to take the top spot in next year’s Spring Examinations!"

Lu Zhan’s face was clouded over. He gave a cold sneer and offered a faint reminder, "Your son isn’t so bad himself. I am already the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, a Third Rank official. Even if that Chen Junyu is lucky enough to become an Advanced Scholar, he’ll just be appointed to some trivial, low-level post. How long will it take him to reach the Third Rank?"

"He may not be your equal as an official, but at least he’s young. You, on the other hand, are old." Lady Wei spread her hands, looking at him with an expression of pure pity.

Lu Zhan: "..."

Seeing her son left speechless by her retort, Lady Wei felt immensely satisfied.

’Hmph. This son of mine has always been proud and arrogant, with impossibly high standards. Of all the well-born ladies in the Capital City, he couldn’t find a single one he liked. And in the end, he set his sights on my Wan’er.’

"Mother, you must have heard the phrase ’love is impossible to control’?" Lu Zhan said, suddenly changing the subject.

Lady Wei blinked.

Zhi Wan was suddenly struck with a bad feeling. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"And so?" Lady Wei asked, her brow furrowed as she recovered.

Lu Zhan glanced at his cousin and said slowly, "Your son was unable to control his feelings and has done many... inappropriate things with my cousin. I hope Mother will take charge and betroth my cousin to me."

Lady Wei was stunned. "What... inappropriate things have you done to Wan’er?" As she spoke, she couldn’t help but look at Zhi Wan.

Zhi Wan’s face was already burning crimson. She never expected her cousin to say something like that.

Faced with her aunt’s scrutinizing gaze, she guiltily lowered her head.

’Even if it was only in a dream, she and her cousin had indeed done all sorts of intimate things. It definitely counted as inappropriate...’

Lady Wei had hoped to hear a denial from her, but seeing her reaction, her heart sank. She snatched up the rattan cane and struck her son with it several more times.

"Lu Zhan, how could you be so shameless? And to think of all the scholarly classics you’ve read!" Lady Wei seethed, grinding her teeth in fury.

Hearing this, Zhi Wan couldn’t pretend to be deaf and dumb any longer. She started to say, "Aunt, actually, I also have feel—"

"Mother, your son has acted improperly, but a woman’s reputation is paramount. Since I am the one who has ruined my cousin’s good name, I implore you to take charge and betroth her to me as soon as possible!" Lu Zhan cut her off in a low voice.

Zhi Wan froze, her gaze complicated as she looked at her cousin.

’Is he protecting me? Even though it’s my aunt, if I were to say that I also did inappropriate things to him, she would probably find it hard to understand, maybe even think it was inconceivable, right? But if this goes on, in order to take responsibility for me and make amends, my aunt will probably agree to my cousin’s proposal and have me marry him. Before they left the Capital City, my aunt had already looked at many high-born ladies for my cousin. She probably already had a preferred candidate for a daughter-in-law in mind, just waiting for my cousin’s official duties to end so she could arrange his marriage. I don’t want to be the reason my aunt is put in a difficult position.’

With this in mind, she bit her lip and knelt beside Lady Wei. "Aunt, my cousin is exaggerating. He didn’t do anything to me. I don’t blame him for bringing me to Jiangning, either. Please don’t trouble yourself. In this life, Wan’er only wishes to find a husband who will marry into the family, not to marry out."

Lu Zhan’s brow furrowed at her words. "What are you worried about, Cousin?"

Zhi Wan shook her head. "I have always respected you as an elder brother, Cousin. I hope you will continue to see me as a younger sister."

Lu Zhan’s dark eyes narrowed. He said suddenly, "I am not as broad-minded as you, Cousin."

Zhi Wan’s eyelid twitched, and she couldn’t help but look at him. "What?"

Lu Zhan didn’t look at her. Instead, he faced Lady Wei and said, "Your cousin and I have already shared skin-to-skin intimacy. In this lifetime, it is impossible for me to marry anyone else."

Those four words, "skin-to-skin intimacy," nearly made Lady Wei faint.

Her hand trembling, she pointed at her son. "Y-You... what did you say?"

Lu Zhan paused, then said, "It’s exactly as you heard, Mother."