Although only a few hundred copies were sold, the news reached far more than just a few hundred people.

In just one morning, the story of Lu Yuan and Zhao Qiao’er’s affair had spread throughout basically the whole of Taiping City.

「The Zhao Family Home」

「The East Wing」

Zhao Qiao’er’s face was beet red as she stared at the newspaper in her hands. She looked over at Lu Yuan, who was sipping tea beside her, and complained coquettishly,

"What is this?!

How could you put our business in there for everyone to see!

It’s so embarrassing!!

Just look at this! What is all this garbage? Who wrote this?!"

’This is absolutely mortifying.’

’All this talk about "noises in the night," and how "Madam Zhao usually gazes at her young nephew with limpid, flirtatious eyes, her face a picture of passion."’

’What is all this nonsense...?’

’It’s so scandalous...’

But Lu Yuan just sat there leisurely sipping his tea, one leg crossed over the other. With an unconcerned look, he said,

"What’s the matter? You’re my woman. People were going to find out sooner or later anyway.

I just wanted everyone to know that I had the guts to marry my own aunt!"

In truth, Zhao Qiao’er was rather embarrassed about their relationship.

’After all, she was so much older.’

’And she was a widow, remarrying.’

’But her sweetheart was only in his early twenties.’

’Something like this was best kept quiet, so why make such a huge fuss about it?’

’But now he’d gone and caused a huge stir, making it the talk of the town...’

And yet, hearing Lu Yuan speak as if marrying her was some glorious achievement worth flaunting...

...it made Zhao Qiao’er feel an unusual sense of joy in her heart.

For a moment, she grew shy like a young girl and said, pouting slightly,

"Do you really cherish your aunt that much~"

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Whether I cherish my aunt or not... haven’t you found out for yourself?"

Hearing this, Zhao Qiao’er couldn’t help but give Lu Yuan an incredibly coquettish eye-roll.

"You’re terrible~

But still, did they really have to write it like that...?

Look at all this stuff they wrote..."

But Lu Yuan waved his hand dismissively and said with a serious expression,

"Aunt, this is where you don’t understand.

People were going to find out about us eventually, and when they did, they’d just start whispering behind our backs.

The more you try to hide it, the more outrageous the rumors become.

But if you’re open and upfront about it, then it’s not a big deal!"

People have a rebellious streak.

The more you tell them not to talk about something, the more they’ll insist on doing it.

It’s a concept known as "leaning into the skid," or self-deprecation.

If you do something wrong, the more you deny it, the more people will bring it up.

But if you own it and joke about it yourself, heh, people will actually drop it.

There are countless examples of this.

Of course, there are also plenty of cautionary tales.

Take the whole phenomenon of those bizarre, repetitive parody videos, for example.

If the all-powerful netizens took one of your viral memes and turned it into one of those remix videos...

...and the original subject of the meme just laughed along and used it themselves, or said something like, "I’m just glad everyone’s having a good time,"...

...then the whole thing would pretty much die down.

But there are always those who try to forbid it. And not only do they forbid it, they even send out cease and desist letters from their lawyers.

And everyone knows what happens next.

BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK...

It’s still not over, even to this day. And it’s been years.

"Don’t worry, Aunt. This isn’t over yet.

Just give me three days. You just watch, I’ll completely turn your ’Black Widow’ reputation around!"

Lu Yuan looked over at Zhao Qiao’er and declared in all seriousness.

Zhao Qiao’er blinked.

’How could he possibly turn that around?’

’After all, all those years ago, she really had killed her husband’s entire family on their wedding night...’

But Lu Yuan didn’t explain further. She would just have to wait and see!

Just as Lu Yuan was speaking with Zhao Qiao’er, the old butler arrived.

He brought some very bad news.

The people from Dou Shi Temple weren’t coming.