Jiang Lin: “Pfft, let me be blunt. Are you two going to achieve great things or something? What’s there to hold back?”
“You two won’t even be responsible for carrying on the family line. What’s there to hold back? Holding back from ruining other families’ daughters?”
Zhou Chengwang, the fool, even nodded foolishly. “Yeah, huh.”
Jiang Lin: “...So what were you two arguing about earlier?”
Zhou Chengwang explained, “Oh, I told him we should come clean, but I’m afraid my dad will break my legs.”
“He doesn’t want to come clean?” Jiang Lin pointed at Du Yuling, already preparing to scold him for being a scumbag.
“No, he suggested that our dads take turns beating us. He said since we’re not their biological sons, they might not hit us too hard, so we could keep our legs. I don’t think it’ll work. I’m afraid his dad will kill me. His dad even dares to hit the Crown Prince. He definitely won’t go easy on me.”
Jiang Lin: “...”
He apologized to Du Yuling. “I’m sorry, I really didn’t expect you to be such a talent.”
Du Yuling modestly denied it. “It’s just experience from getting beaten a lot.” He even asked Jiang Lin if his suggestion was feasible.
Jiang Lin thought that if it were him, he’d just beat both of them to death. To argue over such a stupid idea was too foolish and beyond saving.
What’s the point of keeping them around? To embarrass themselves?
Jiang Lin recalled what Du Yuling’s father had said when he left the study. He said, “Have you two considered that your families might already have an inkling of what’s going on?”
Jiang Lin even pointed at Zhou Chengwang. “Especially you. Your parents haven’t even brought up finding you a wife. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
“Isn’t it because I’ve always refused to marry?” Zhou Chengwang retorted. He didn’t think there was anything strange about it.
Jiang Lin took a deep breath. “With a brain like yours, marrying would only ruin some poor girl’s life.”
He took Zhou Chengwang and Du Yuling’s hands and clasped them together. “Just stay like this. I think you two are perfect for each other. I approve of this match.”
Zhou Chengwang looked at Jiang Lin suspiciously. “Do you want to be our dad?”
Jiang Lin shook his head, feeling exhausted. “No, I’ll be your mother hen. My opinion is that if you’ve made up your minds, you should come clean to your families sooner rather than later. This hurdle has to be crossed eventually. It’s better to be open than to sneak around.”
“The worst that can happen is your legs get broken. But don’t worry, if that happens, I’ll take care of your wheelchairs. I’ll get you the same model as Wei Yunzhao’s.”
Zhou Chengwang thought Jiang Lin was even more unreliable than Du Yuling. Tears welled up in his eyes as he pointed at the door. “You can leave now. I don’t want to see you for a while.”
Jiang Lin obediently got up and walked out, not forgetting to remind them, “We’re all good brothers. If you need wheelchairs, just call me. I’ll be there anytime.”
After Jiang Lin left, Zhou Chengwang blinked at Du Yuling. “Should we try your idea? Maybe, possibly, our legs won’t get broken?”
Du Yuling nodded. “Alright, let’s give it a try.”
The two, resigned to their fate, thought, “At worst, our legs will be broken. At least Jiang Lin will prepare wheelchairs for us, and we’ll have Wei Yunzhao for company!”
Having made up their minds, they hesitated on another matter. “Who should go first?”
____
The two good friends were now entangled, and in the near future, they would soon become Wei Yunzhao’s wheelchair companions. Jiang Lin felt that such a significant event needed to be shared with Wei Yunzhao, so before heading home, he made a detour to the Ministry of War’s office to pick up Wei Yunzhao.
After hearing Jiang Lin’s account of Zhou Chengwang and Du Yuling’s situation, Wei Yunzhao said, “My dear, I’m afraid you’ll have a hard time making friends in the future.”
Jiang Lin looked puzzled. “How so?”
“You married me, your two good friends got together, making three of you, all with a certain inclination. And none of you plan to marry or have children. Which noble family would allow their children to associate with such nonconformists?”
Not only would they not associate with you, but they would likely ostracize you. Even the ladies who were previously friendly with Jiang Lin would gradually distance themselves.
After listening to Wei Yunzhao’s analysis, Jiang Lin laughed indifferently. “Not just anyone can be friends with me, Jiang Lin. Even if they want to befriend me, it’s up to me whether I want to acknowledge them.”
“Friends are about quality, not quantity. Having two or three good friends in a lifetime is enough. Besides, I still have you.” Jiang Lin leaned forward, resting his hand on Wei Yunzhao’s shoulder, and chuckled softly.
Wei Yunzhao also placed his hand on Jiang Lin’s shoulder, looking into his eyes. “Yes, you have me, and I have you.”
“Oh, right, I haven’t told you the important news yet. Chang’an found out that many refugees have entered Shengjing…” Jiang Lin switched topics almost instantly, telling Wei Yunzhao everything about the refugees.
“I feel like there’s something fishy going on. I plan to have Su Qiao stay at the Wei mansion for a while and send Chu Ba out to gather information. The common folk are less educated and easily deceived. We need to find out who’s behind this as soon as possible to prevent their scheme from succeeding and causing a major incident.”
Wei Yunzhao nodded. “I’ll have Chu Ba investigate carefully. The ones who would do such things are limited to a few people. We’ll see what their true intentions are.”
Jiang Lin looked at Wei Yunzhao warily. “Don’t jinx it. Surely the refugees can’t be connected to us, right?”
That would be too far-fetched!
Wei Yunzhao wasn’t sure either. They would have to wait for the investigation results to see who was behind it before making any judgments.
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