Transmigration: The Little Chef Calls The Shots-Chapter 1478 - 297, Painting (14)

Xia Zheng looked down at the portrait on the table, his voice chillingly cold: "Regardless of whether she did it unintentionally or deliberately, she forced Lao Fan to reveal his identity, ultimately leading to his death. I cannot easily forgive her for that."

Looking at Xia Zheng’s grim and somber face, Lin Yuan’s eyes trembled slightly. Although Yao Hanai’s crimes were unforgivable, she did not like Xia Zheng murdering people because of this.

Seeming to sense Lin Yuan’s concern, Xia Zheng offered a faint smile. The gloom on his face was swept away, replaced by his usual radiant handsomeness.

Stretching out his long arms, he wrapped them around Lin Yuan’s waist and pressed his face against her forehead, whispering, "Don’t worry, I won’t kill her. There are many ways to torment someone, and death is the simplest and most satisfying one."

Lin Yuan pursed her lips and suddenly looked up at Xia Zheng, gently asking, "Was it the Second Prince who attempted to assassinate Lao Fan?"

Xia Zheng instinctively glanced over at Yan Ruchun, who was confronting Wei Boyu by the window, and nodded almost imperceptibly: "Indeed. To be precise, it was his mother, Consort Liu."

"Why?"

How much hatred must one hold to not even spare an old man? Could it be that Lao Fan had harmed Consort Liu before, causing her to lose a child? The pain of losing a child could perhaps justify such enduring hatred.

Regarding the past events, Xia Zheng’s face changed, but he continued slowly: "Isn’t it all because of me and Little White Rabbit?"

Lin Yuan was startled, watching Xia Zheng’s somewhat guilty expression, but cleverly held back from interrupting him.

Xia Zheng glanced at her, then related to Lin Yuan everything that Princess Anle had told him.

As it turned out, Consort Shu and Consort Liu entered the palace one after another back then. Since Princess Anle was close friends with Consort Shu, she asked the Emperor to give Consort Shu extra care. Moreover, Consort Shu was exceptionally beautiful and considerate, so the Emperor favored her even more.

Later, when Consort Liu was pregnant with the Second Prince and Consort Shu was also with child, this was the time when both concubines needed the Emperor’s care and affection the most. One had just given birth, and the other was newly pregnant. However, it was clear the Emperor preferred Consort Shu’s company.

Consort Liu, unable to stand it, entertained some crooked ideas, scheming to make Consort Shu miscarriage accidentally. But perhaps it was divine protection that, despite several attempts, Consort Shu’s child remained safe.

Only later did Consort Liu find out that it was all thanks to Lao Fan.

Furthermore, as the Third Prince gradually grew older, Xia Zheng and the Third Prince would always cause trouble for the Second Prince, and Consort Liu harbored an intense loathing for the pair, especially because Lao Fan would help them clean up their messes every time. Thus, she naturally despised Lao Fan even more.

On top of that, there was the incident with Consort Tian. Consort Liu repeated her trick, causing Consort Tian to lose her first prince, and then shifted the blame onto Wang Dahai’s father. At that time, Lao Fan had already uncovered some clues, but alas, Consort Liu was too crafty, and with Yan Xiangkai’s help to clear her name, in the end, it was Wang Dahai’s father who suffered.

Although Consort Liu had not been exposed, her hatred for Lao Fan deepened. She thought that he would leave the palace due to old age and just bided her time.

Little did she know, after Lao Fan left the palace, Princess Anle and Xia Yuan covertly protected him, foiling her plans to find an opportunity to strike. Later, Lao Fan was lured away by Xia Zheng to open a tavern and lived several peaceful years of freedom.

But unexpectedly, upon his recent return to the Capital city, Yao Hanai used a stratagem to force him out of hiding, and immediately after, he faced assassination—who else could it be if not Consort Liu?

After hearing Xia Zheng’s words, Lin Yuan felt unable to calm her heart for a long time. It was clear that although Lao Fan had never married or had children of his own, he treated Xia Zheng and Zhao Hongde as if they were his own grandsons. Not just the two of them, but also the Lin Yuan Sisters, he cherished them similarly.

Thinking back to when she had first met Lao Fan and their noisy bickering, Lin Yuan couldn’t help but feel ashamed. Although Lao Fan had the temperament of a child, when it came to serious matters, he was indeed a steadfast person; otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept the fact that he was being hunted from them.

"Lao Fan’s matter, you..."

Xia Zheng gave a slight smile, interrupting Lin Yuan’s words, and assured her while thumping his chest, "Don’t worry, Lao Fan is my man, of course I have to cover for him! Besides, in this world, only I bully others; there is never a time when anyone dares to bully me!"

Lin Yuan rolled her eyes silently at Xia Zheng’s boastful claim. Although it was quite pretentious, she had to admit, it was also very domineering. Lin Yuan snorted with laughter, her eyes curving into crescents as she chuckled.

Yan Ruchun glanced now and then at the two plump little boys, Xu Muqing and Wei Borong, cooperating silently on their drawing, then over at Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng nestled together, whispering something or other, feeling a stifling irritation in her belly.

"Look at you, all lovey-dovey, go home if you’re going to be like that, show a little awareness!"

Muttering to herself, Yan Ruchun turned to have some tea, only to discover that Wei Boyu across from her was staring blankly at her with wide eyes. She, in turn, glared back, "You dare to glare at me!"

At that moment, Wei Boyu was pondering some thoughts that had been intermittently surfacing in his mind recently. Suddenly, he saw Yan Ruchun scolding him like a cat with its fur on end, and Wei Boyu shook his head in disappointment, murmuring something under his breath.

"Hmph!" Yan Ruchun couldn’t help but snort coldly, "If you’re going to curse, do it boldly, what kind of man mutters under his breath!"

Wei Boyu didn’t give her another thought and rolled his eyes, turning to look out the window.

Rebuffed by Wei Boyu, Yan Ruchun swallowed twice, unable to utter a word.

If Xu Muqing were to witness this scene, she would definitely clap her hands and laugh at her, "Wow, Miss Sharp-tongue finally lost! Ha ha!"

While several people were each occupied with their own thoughts, Xu Muqing suddenly burst into loud laughter that seemed to shake the refined room thrice over.

"Brother Rong, your drawing is so spot on! Ha ha, I’m going to take this portrait and ask Miss Yao if it resembles her Servant Girl Mo Zhu! Ha ha."

Hearing this, Lin Yuan quickly ran over and snatched the portrait from Xu Muqing’s hands, admonishing repeatedly, "Silly, you can’t let Miss Yao know about this drawing, and not just Miss Yao, no one else can know either! Got it?"

Xu Muqing chuckled slyly, pointing at Lin Yuan’s anxious and somewhat pale face, grinning foolishly, "Okay, okay, I won’t tell as long as you make me something delicious to eat. I love mutton, make me some mutton."

Seeing the eagerness and triumphant cunning undisguised in Xu Muqing’s eyes, Lin Yuan really wanted to slap herself on the forehead. Xu Muqing was just greedy for food, not truly oblivious to everything else; how could she fail to recognize the importance of the portrait?

Here she was, foolishly rushing over to grab the painting, seriously warning him, as if all of this was just for a meal of mutton!