She looked at Lin Nancheng. When their eyes met, the atmosphere instantly became a little awkward.
Lan Luoyun quickly lowered her head slightly.
During the past two years, Lin Nancheng had been stationed in the Northern Star Kingdom building an intelligence network. Although he and Lan Luoyun exchanged letters, this was ancient times—travel and communication were slow. They only exchanged a few letters a year.
Moreover, while the emperor never said it outright, all of Lin Nancheng’s correspondence was secretly inspected by the dog emperor before reaching its destination, so neither of them could write anything sensitive.
Besides, they were both slow to warm up to people. Most of their letters consisted of family matters, and their relationship had made little progress.
To break the awkward silence, Lin Nancheng spoke first.
“Luoyun, have you and the children been doing well lately?”
The awkward greeting reminded Lan Luoyun of modern-day small talk.
She really wasn’t in the mood for an awkward conversation right now.
When Lin Nancheng had departed for the Northern Star Kingdom, the original owner of this body had already been several months pregnant—with twins.
Now the children were over two years old.
The elder twin, Dabao, was a boy, while Xiaobao was a girl.
The original owner had raised them well; their chubby little faces were absolutely adorable.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lan Luoyun replied,
“The children have both been doing well recently.”
“What about you? How was your day?”
Lin Nancheng sat down and sighed.
“Everything in the Northern Star Kingdom has been arranged successfully. By all rights, that should be a good thing.”
“But instead of rewarding us, His Majesty complained that we took far too long to return.”
Lin Nancheng couldn’t understand it. Earlier that evening, he had gone to drink with several brothers-in-arms who had returned with him, hoping to ease his frustration.
Hearing this, Lan Luoyun knew immediately that the emperor was deliberately finding fault.
Lin Nancheng had risked his life in the Northern Star Kingdom, yet the emperor had become suspicious of him.
It seemed tomorrow’s confiscation of the family estate was inevitable.
Lan Luoyun suddenly remembered that Lin Nancheng probably hadn’t heard about her fainting spell earlier that day.
So she said,
“Nancheng, earlier today Lin Yaru invited me out to buy fabric with her. Later she said she had something to do and returned home first.”
“After that, I don’t know what happened. The next thing I knew, I woke up in bed.”
“The maids said I collapsed at the entrance of the residence. When I woke up, it felt like I had just come out of a dream.”
“What do you mean?” Lin Nancheng asked.
“It seemed as if a Daoist priest told me that the Prime Minister’s residence was about to be confiscated.”
“What?!”
Lin Nancheng was startled.
“You can’t say things like that carelessly!”
“Nancheng, I don’t know what happened either. Maybe I hit my head when I fell and started hallucinating.”
As she watched Lin Nancheng fall silent, Lan Luoyun thought:
Damn it. My warning failed. What do I do now?
Just as she was desperately trying to think of another approach, Lin Nancheng suddenly asked,
“What else did that Daoist say?”
Caught off guard, Lan Luoyun froze for a moment before recounting everything to him.
Now Lin Nancheng finally understood.
No wonder the emperor had accused them of returning too slowly.
The emperor suspected them of treason.
The pieces immediately fell into place.
Even while Lin Nancheng had still been in the Northern Star Kingdom, Grand Tutor Xue had submitted a memorial accusing Lin Yixiao of colluding with foreign enemies.
At the time, however, the intelligence network was at a critical stage, so the emperor had found an excuse to brush the matter aside.
Apparently, the emperor had never forgotten about it.
The only reason he hadn’t acted sooner was because Lin Nancheng was still useful.
Over the years, Lin Yixiao had inevitably offended many people while serving as an official.
Those enemies had undoubtedly continued plotting against the Lin family.
Now that the intelligence network in the Northern Star Kingdom was essentially complete and replacement personnel had been assigned, the emperor was finally ready to discard them.
Once the millstone had finished grinding grain, it was time to kill the donkey.
Lin Nancheng summoned his shadow guards, Lin Feng and Lin Yun.
“Lin Feng, leave immediately for Gannan. Go find my old friend there. He’s the only person who can help us now.”
As he spoke, he pulled out a stack of banknotes from one of his chests.
Fortunately, when Lan Luoyun had been collecting valuables earlier, she had only taken her own belongings.
She hadn’t touched any of Lin Nancheng’s possessions.
Otherwise, there would have been no way to explain things now.
However, ever since returning, Lin Nancheng had felt that something was off.
The room seemed strangely empty.
Their voices even echoed slightly.
After taking out the banknotes and closing the chest, he casually lifted a neighboring chest while Lan Luoyun wasn’t paying attention.
As expected—it was extremely light.
Empty.
Lan Luoyun, meanwhile, was feeling too guilty to even look in his direction and failed to notice what he had done.
At the moment, Lin Nancheng could only confirm that one chest was empty.
As for the rest, it was merely a suspicion.
Since Lan Luoyun was still in the room, he had no opportunity to inspect further.
For now, he focused on urgent matters.
“Lin Yun, go immediately to the Marquis of Dingbei’s residence.”
“Tell the Marquis to write a formal declaration severing father-daughter ties with Luoyun.”
“Inform him that if exile truly comes, he should have a maid deliver the document to Luoyun during the farewell at the city gates.”
“Afterward, proceed to Gannan and join Lin Feng. Continue with our previous plans.”
Lin Nancheng no longer dared gamble on the emperor’s intentions.
What if the emperor’s anger spread to his father-in-law’s family?
He could bear the consequences if the Lin family fell.
But he could not allow Luoyun’s family to be dragged down with them.
Although Lan Luoyun knew the emperor wouldn’t target her natal family so quickly, and that her father would never agree to write such a document, she was still touched by Lin Nancheng’s concern.
Lin Feng and Lin Yun immediately realized the gravity of the situation.
They wanted to remain by Lin Nancheng’s side and protect him.
But more important tasks awaited them.
The key to clearing the Lin family’s name rested with that old friend in Gannan.
As she watched Lin Nancheng arranging matters for his subordinates, Lan Luoyun suddenly remembered her own maids.
If they didn’t leave soon, they would likely be sold into government labor camps after the family’s downfall.
She left to make arrangements for them.
Meanwhile, Lin Nancheng wasted no time.
He quickly searched the other chests and cabinets in the room.
Every single one was empty.
Even if his stepmother had treated Luoyun poorly, surely she wouldn’t have left her with absolutely nothing.
Could it really be that this foolish wife of his had hidden everything away?
Now he was deeply worried.
If Lan Luoyun had indeed hidden all those valuables beforehand, where had she put them?
After some thought, he decided to test her and see if he could uncover the location of the missing wealth.
After sending away the servants in the courtyard, Lan Luoyun returned to the room.
Now only four people remained:
Lin Nancheng.
Lan Luoyun.
And the sleeping twins, Dabao and Xiaobao.
Looking at the children and then at Lan Luoyun, Lin Nancheng felt a pang in his heart.
He was terrified that something might happen to them.
Even more, he feared that Lan Luoyun might do something reckless and lose her life.
No matter what happened, he would protect the three of them with everything he had.
He would never allow them to suffer the slightest injustice.
With that resolve in mind, Lin Nancheng reached into his robe, pulled out an object, and handed it to Lan Luoyun.