Chapter 10: A Man's Reputation

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While Lady Bai was worried there, Lin Wanyue was in a good mood and said, “The lotus flowers in our residence bloom the most beautifully. Every year, my father has a few picked and placed in the water tank in my courtyard for me to admire!”
“Well, it’s clear the Marquis dotes on his daughter.”
“Of course! Miss Wanyue is the Marquis’s firstborn daughter, the most celebrated talented lady in the capital. Naturally, she is showered with endless affection.”
“It's just that in the future, no one knows which young man will benefit from this.”
Madam Han smiled and said, “Wanyue is my dear heart, unlike those wild girls from the countryside. Naturally, she should stay in the residence a few more years.”
Lin Wanyue felt shy, but as she walked past the bridge, she suddenly heard some unusual sounds.
Not far away, the study door and windows of the Qingyuan Marquis’s residence were wide open, and from inside came a series of intense noises:
“Ah~ Marquis, Marquis, don’t!”
“Marquis, please stop~~!”
“This concubine... this concubine~~~ can’t take it!”
“……”
That voice, could it be...
The ladies present blushed deeply, stunned. In broad daylight, the Qingyuan Marquis was indulging in such affairs! And what about the strict rule in the Qingyuan Marquis’s household that no one inheriting the title was allowed to take concubines?
Turns out it was all just empty talk!
Everyone then turned their sympathetic eyes toward Lady Bai, whose face was pale, and gently advised,
“Well... Sister Bai, men are naturally flirtatious! Don’t take it too hard.”
“Which man doesn’t have three or four wives? At least you enjoyed the Marquis’s favor from eighteen to thirty-eight years of age all to yourself!”
“But in the future...”
The truth was, no man who had succeeded to a title remained without concubines. When the Qingyuan Marquis ten years ago married Lady Bai with great fanfare, he promised never to take concubines, which left many women hoping to marry into the Marquis’s household in tears.
Everyone envied Lady Bai’s fortune while secretly wishing she wouldn’t have it too easy.
Now, as the dream came true, many felt secretly pleased.
But since the other party was a Marquis, no one dared to rush into the study to see for themselves or linger too long, lest they miss out on savoring this spectacle.
Lin Wanyue, fearing people might leave, feigned innocence and broke the silence, “Mother, I think I heard Cousin Shuangshuang’s voice. Why is she calling Father’s name? What are they doing in the study? Should I call them out for dinner?”

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Lady Bai’s lips moved slightly but no full sentence came out.
Lin Zhaozhao sneered, “What’s wrong, you reincarnated glutton? Always eating all day, as if you’re about to burst!”
[Stop pretending to be innocent! You’re nearly ten years old, I don’t believe you haven’t read Little Phoenix’s stories!]
“Eating is secondary. Fourth Miss, if nothing unexpected happens, you’ll soon be attending your father’s wedding feast!” Lady Li’s husband was never on good terms with the Qingyuan Marquis, and such a commotion, once confirmed to involve the Marquis, would surely prompt him to report to the court the very next morning!
Lin Zhaozhao didn’t like hearing this, “Lady Li, that’s not right. You didn’t see it with your own eyes, how can you know it was my father in that room?”
“How could it not be Father? You were raised in the countryside and don’t know, but I was pampered by Father. Even through the window, just seeing that hand, I knew it had to be Father!” Lin Wanyue spoke with conviction.
“Besides, this is the study of the Qingyuan Marquis’s residence, such a private and important place. I suppose no one else would be there except the Marquis. What do you think, Madam Han?”
Madam Han frowned slightly when addressed. As a member of a noble family, such a scandal happening during a banquet was a family disgrace, a lack of proper upbringing to be laughed at!
It would also affect her son’s official career!
That Zhao Shuangshuang! She had to cause trouble right when her eldest brother was helping their uncle! Otherwise...
Though Madam Han was displeased, for the sake of her useless brother, she still covered up, saying, “Those two children have been childhood sweethearts and pledged their lives to each other. Perhaps they got drunk today... Since everyone is here, it would be good to witness and pick an auspicious day for their wedding!”
“Oh, that really is a good thing! But I wonder if Sister Bai agrees?”
“What is there to disagree with,” Madam Han straightened her back, “Since ancient times, a wife should be virtuous and a concubine beautiful. A woman’s world revolves around her husband’s family. Shuangshuang is not here to break up the family but to share the burden. Sister Bai should be grateful to Shuangshuang!”
Lady Bai’s face turned deathly pale.
“Seeing this, the Marquis truly dotes on Cousin Shuangshuang—”
“What do you mean?”
Before Lady Li could finish, a low, magnetic voice interrupted.
Everyone turned to see a man standing nearby with his hands behind his back. Wasn’t he the very Marquis they were talking about, Lin Yuanzhi?
Lin Wanyue looked as if she had seen a ghost, “Father, you’re not—!”
“What am I not?” Seeing her hurriedly cover her mouth, Lin Yuanzhi’s eyes grew colder.
At first, he was unsure whether Wanyue was truly involved until this moment!

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Her expression said it all!
“Marquis, wasn’t that you in the room...” Lady Bai’s tears fell one after another, her fragile and helpless expression warming Lin Yuanzhi’s heart. Instinctively, he stepped forward, took her hand, nodded, and said,
“Lady Li, you can eat carelessly, but you must not speak recklessly! Our men’s honor is very important; it’s best you don’t slander us!”
Lin Yuanzhi flicked his sleeve, his resolute gaze paired with his commanding presence made Lin Zhaozhao’s eyes sparkle!
[Wow! My father is so handsome and manly!]
[That look carries three parts coldness, three parts indifference, and four parts nonchalance—a perfect fan-shaped chart! It’s a shame he’s not the protagonist!]
Lin Yuanzhi: “……”
I’m trying to be serious here, and this brat praises me so sincerely!
Though he always felt he was extraordinary, like the protagonist in a mortal cultivation tale destined to achieve great deeds worthy of a chapter in the family genealogy, he thought such blatant praise was a bit immodest.
So Lin Yuanzhi cleared his throat, forcing down a creeping smile.
Lady Li, however, was slightly shaken by the Marquis and instinctively explained,
“Marquis, I am not fabricating rumors. It’s just that your daughter said the person in the study was you. We don’t spend time with you daily, so how could we know...”
“Exactly. Speaking of which, the Fourth Miss in your Qingyuan Marquis’s residence has such sharp eyes. Even from a distance, she could tell if a hand belonged to her own father!” a woman friendly with Lady Li chimed in.
Lin Wanyue immediately became the center of criticism.
Flustered and anxious, she hurriedly explained, “No, I... I only heard the woman inside calling Father’s name, so I...”
“So you made a mistake, causing me to be accused of spreading rumors!”
Lady Li then shifted tone, “But if it wasn’t the Marquis inside, then who else could it be?”
Indeed!
“In this Marquis’s residence, isn’t the Qingyuan Marquis the only Marquis?”
“Could Cousin Shuangshuang have been deceived by some wild outsider?”
Madam Han frowned, feeling an unshakable sense of foreboding.