In fact, she had only seen this person once, but Chu Lian felt that she would never forget him.

When they first returned to Ning, Chu Lian only offered him tea in the reception hall with He Changdi. At that time, his attitude was cold, and he took the tea and gave it to Hong Feng, looking completely professional.

Later, she was taken away by her sisters and didn't have time to listen to his teachings. She didn't know if the biological father of this body of hers had met her husband He Changdi happily and developed some feelings between father and son-in-law.

Chu Qizheng was wearing an exquisite gray brocade robe, and he was standing guard in front of a house with his attendants.

He paced back and forth, as if he was extremely anxious.

In fact, the Second Master of the Duke of England was not very old. He was not more than thirty-five years old. He did not have a beard and wore a jade crown on his head. In addition, he was tall and thin. He looked six or seven years younger than his actual age.

Chu Lian's almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked up at the plaque on the house — "Pan House."

Chu Lian saw a manservant guarding the door of the Pan Residence quickly run in. Very quickly, two strong and sturdy servants with sabers followed the manservant out. The manservant pointed at Chu Qizheng and his servant.

The two servants quickly walked in front of Chu Qizheng, and one of them pushed Chu Qizheng hard. If it wasn't for Chang Sui, who was next to him, holding him up, Chu Qizheng would have been pushed to the ground, losing all face.

Then, Chu Qizheng began to quarrel with the servants, and Chang Sui, who was with him, seemed to know some martial arts. He stood in front of Chu Qizheng to protect him.

The two servants seemed to be annoyed by Chu Qizheng's scolding, and they could no longer suppress the anger on their faces. Their hands were on the hilts of the sabers at their waists, as if they were going to make a move the next moment.

Chu Lian knocked on the wall of the carriage, and ordered the coachman outside to drive the carriage slower. She slightly opened the curtain and looked at the door of the Pan House, but she didn't give any other orders.

After all, she wasn't the original Chu Lian. When she returned to Ning County and received the cold treatment, she already knew that her father didn't like her. To Chu Lian, this was nothing. She was a person who would respect others tenfold. Since the father of this body didn't care about her, she naturally couldn't be bothered to get involved today.

Wouldn't it be great to sit in the carriage and watch the show?

Wenqing listened to Third Madam's instructions and curiously leaned over to look out the window. When she saw the signboard in front of the mansion, she whispered, "Pan Mansion!"

Wenlan looked at Chu Lian's attentive expression and secretly pulled Wenqing from the other side. Wenqing hurriedly covered her mouth and blinked her big eyes apologetically.

Chu Lian was not in the mood to pay attention to why Wenqing had cried out. Her eyes were fixed on the situation in front of the Pan Residence.

Just as the two servants were about to use force, a horse carriage came from the side street in front of the Pan Residence. The horse carriage quickly stopped in front of the Pan Residence. The manservant who was guarding the Pan Residence's entrance personally trotted to the side of the horse carriage. He attentively lifted the curtain of the horse carriage and helped a man in his fifties or sixties out of the carriage.

They were a bit far away, so Chu Lian couldn't hear what they were saying.

The man with the white beard was about to enter the residence, but he seemed to hear Chu Qizheng, who was being held back by the two servants, say something loudly. He suddenly turned his head and looked at Chu Qizheng with a shocked and dangerous gaze. The man's hands were behind his back, and he stopped in front of the Pan Residence's mahogany door. He looked at Chu Qizheng as if he wanted to use his gaze to see through Chu Qizheng.

Time seemed to slow down under the man's gaze. Finally, the man waved his hand at the two servants. Chu Qizheng's originally nervous expression immediately relaxed. It even had a hint of smugness and viciousness.

Chu Qizheng forcefully pushed away the two strong servants who had just stopped him. As if that wasn't enough, he kicked them a few more times.

After venting his anger, Chu Qizheng patted his clothes that had been messed up during the struggle. With his hands behind his back, he walked with Chang Sui into the Pan Residence.

It wasn't until Chu Qizheng's figure disappeared behind the Pan Residence's screen wall that Chu Lian lowered the curtain. Her expression changed again and again. Her interest in touring the capital had been completely wiped out by this coincidental encounter.

Chu Lian lowered her head in thought for a moment. Wenqing and Wenlan didn't dare disturb her, so they sat silently to the side.

After a while, Chu Lian finally raised her head and looked at Wenqing. "Wenqing, which official's residence in the capital does the Pan Residence belong to?"

She remembered Wenqing's cry of surprise just now, so the owner of the Pan Residence must have a high status in the court.

Wenqing answered truthfully, "Third Madam, the Pan Residence in Pingkang Lane belongs to Minister Pan."

There were a total of five officials in the imperial cabinet, and among them, there was a hierarchy of importance. Minister Pan was one of the people with the highest status in the imperial cabinet, and he was only one step away from the position of Lord Bingbi.

He was a genuine first-ranked official in the court!

Chu Lian didn't care about the Great Wu Dynasty's officialdom, and the part of the original book she had read didn't mention this high-ranking official, so she naturally didn't know about him.

Chu Lian nodded. "I understand."

Although Wenqing was curious about the identity of the middle-aged man that Third Madam was staring at, she saw that Third Madam didn't have any desire to talk about it, so she held back.

The group of people accompanying her today were all from Duke Jing 'an's estate, so none of them could tell that Chu Qizheng was her father.

When Chu Lian heard Wenqing's answer, she fell into deep thought again.

Judging from the situation just now, Sir Pan didn't have the heart to see her father at all. It was her father's words that caused him to suddenly change his mind.

At that time, she saw Sir Pan's expression. It was a very complicated expression, with all sorts of emotions mixed together. It made her tremble uncontrollably.

Chu Qizheng wasn't the eldest son of the family, and he wasn't very serious about his studies. He relied on the protection of his family to survive. Up until now, he hadn't even managed to get a low-ranked position in the imperial court. It could be said that he had accomplished nothing at all.

The son of such a noble family would only meet up with a few good friends to kill time. He didn't have much contact with the officials of the imperial court, especially those who held real power.

Just like before, when he stood in front of the Pan Estate and waited, Sir Pan probably wouldn't even look at him. However, unexpectedly, not only did Sir Pan look at him, he even let him in. It was obvious that he wanted to discuss things with him.

Could it be that her father had something on Sir Pan?

When she thought of this, Chu Lian shook her head and snorted coldly.

How could that be?!

How could anyone who could sit in Sir Pan's position be an ordinary person?

He was calculative, crafty, and had a delicate heart. Even if he didn't have all of them, he probably did.

Her father was a wealthy man of leisure who only knew how to eat, drink, and play around all day. How could he bring down the powerful Sir Pan, or how could he have something on him? Even a child wouldn't believe this.

Furthermore, the Ying Estate and the Pan Estate didn't interact at all. The two of them basically had zero contact, so the possibility of this was very small.

Chu Lian furrowed her brows as she thought back to the events in the book. However, she still couldn't find any clues. In the end, she could only give up in disappointment.

Everything would work out in the end. Even if her father was scheming something, it had nothing to do with her anymore. A married daughter was like spilled water. She was now a member of Count Jing 'an's estate and He Sanlang's wife.

Chu Lian finally let out a sigh of relief after consoling herself.

When Wenqing saw that Chu Lian's expression had calmed down, she asked, "Is Third Young Madam still shopping?"

At this moment, they had already left Pingkang Square and arrived at Vermilion Bird Avenue.

After being agitated by this matter, Chu Lian no longer had the mood to look forward to it. She originally wanted to just go home, but when she thought about how it was going to be her mother-in-law's birthday in a few days, she swallowed her words before she could even think of a suitable birthday gift.

"Let's look around a few shops. Mother's birthday is almost here."

Although the birthday gift for her mother-in-law wasn't very expensive and Countess Jing 'an wouldn't mind, everyone in the estate knew that she had used Princess Leyao's golden qilin to exchange for Imperial Consort Wei's benefits. When she was conferred the title of village lord, she was given a hundred taels of gold as a reward.

If she didn't give some money on Countess Jing 'an's birthday, people would probably gossip about her.

Chu Lian sighed inwardly. Her sister-in-law, Madam Zou, didn't like her at all!

How could Madam Zou let her gossip about her?

No matter what she gave her this time, it couldn't be too shabby. In the past, she could confidently say that she had no money, but recently, she couldn't.

Chu Lian pouted. She was a little angry in her heart. It was just two more earnings, but the people around her were all jealous. It was really too annoying. In the future, when she earned money, she had to hide it. Her husband was no longer by her side. She couldn't let the money be taken away by others!

Wenqing lifted the curtain slightly and pointed at the shops on both sides of Vermilion Bird Avenue. She introduced them to Chu Lian one by one, "Third Young Mistress, this is Vermilion Bird Avenue's Everlasting Medicine Cabinet, Luo He Art Workshop, Lan Jiao Clothing Store, and that Jinshi Pavilion over there. They're all famous shops in Shengjing. Many of the madams and young mistresses of wealthy families visit them."

Chu Lian nodded. She hadn't decided what to buy yet, so she decided to casually walk around these shops.

Wenqing had the coachman stop the carriage. She and Wenlan helped Chu Lian down.

Vermilion Bird Avenue was bustling with people. From time to time, men and women in embroidered robes would pass by.

Chu Lian sized them up and had a better impression of the open-mindedness of the Great Wu Dynasty. The restrictions on women in this dynasty were not as strict as those in the ancient Song and Ming Dynasties. This open-minded era was more similar to the early Tang Dynasty.

Many daughters of wealthy families didn't even need to wear a hood when they went out. The Directorate of Shengjing even had specialized advanced classes for women.

It was normal for daughters of noble families to go out shopping.

Chu Lian first entered Everlasting Medicine Cabinet. For her secret investigation today, she specially dressed up plainly. The dress she wore was also made of ordinary materials. With the addition of Wenqing and Wenlan, the two young maidservants by her side, she looked like a newly married wife of a minor official.

When she entered the medicine cabinet, there was no shop assistant to greet her. Chu Lian didn't mind. She just brought Wenqing and Wenlan to slowly look around the medicine store.

(Thanks to ENDOR 376209608, lilyyu 2221221, Su 984248848, Poison Perfume (Merlin Packaging), Rabbit Candy 670823152, Zhengzhou West Impression North America Ming Ming, and a few other book friends. Awooo ~)