Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

"It's useless, don't think about it!" Zhou Antai said this while gritting his teeth.

Zhou Lin, who was standing aside, had a puzzled look on his face and looked straight at Zhou Antai, as if trying to find a clue from his expression and words.

"Originally, my grandfather was planning to use his power to lead troops to war in exchange for His Majesty granting you a marriage." Zhou Antai said as he sighed softly.

When Zhou Lin heard this, his heart was shocked. He widened his eyes and looked at his grandfather in disbelief.

He never thought that his grandfather would be willing to spend so much time and effort on his marriage, and even be willing to use such a thing as an exchange.

"Grandfather, I've said before that I will fight for my own future, and I will also fight for the person I like." Zhou Lin clenched his fists tightly and said in a firm tone.

However, Zhou Antai just shook his head slightly, then reached out and gently patted Zhou Lin's shoulder.

"But before my grandfather made this request, he met Concubine Qin." Zhou Antai's voice lowered slightly.

"The biological mother of the third prince?" Zhou Lin asked with a frown.

Zhou Antai nodded and continued, "She was in the Imperial Study this time to ask for Miss Shen's hand in marriage on behalf of the Third Prince, and she kept saying that she wanted to strengthen the relationship."

After hearing these words, Zhou Lin felt as if his heart was suddenly hit by a heavy hammer and stopped beating instantly.

His throat felt dry and he swallowed hard, his face becoming extremely stiff.

After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a few words from between his teeth: "Your Majesty... Did Your Majesty agree?"

The voice was trembling violently, as if she was about to cry at any second.

"Not yet agreed." Zhou Antai answered concisely.

Hearing these four words, Zhou Lin let out a long sigh as if relieved.

At this moment, he felt like a person who had just drowned and almost died, and finally surfaced again and was reborn.

Zhou Antai then said, "Although His Majesty has not yet agreed, he has not directly refused. He simply said that the Third Prince had just been to Changye and it was not appropriate for him to return to the capital to get married at this time."

Hearing this, Zhou Lin's heart began to beat violently.

However, he quickly calmed down and said thankfully, "That's great. As long as His Majesty hasn't agreed to this marriage, that's enough."

Zhou Antai frowned, his face showing worry. He sighed and said, "What a pity. I am no longer in a position to mention this matter to Your Majesty."

Zhou Lin nodded, "Grandson understands. Since His Majesty has rejected Concubine Qin's request, he will definitely not agree to anyone else's request at this time. Asking His Majesty for a marriage is no longer feasible."

After saying this, he pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Grandfather, you just mentioned that very few civil servants can be promoted to the first or second rank at such a young age."

Zhou Antai was quite surprised by Zhou Lin's sudden question, but he still stroked his beard and slowly replied, "Indeed, civil servant promotions are based on seniority. Even if someone has outstanding abilities, if they rashly surpass their predecessors and are promoted, it will inevitably make others feel unconvinced."

Zhou Lin nodded slightly in agreement, a faint smile on his face, and said, "Grandson thinks the same. Grandfather, I have some urgent matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."

After he finished speaking, he bowed to Zhou Antai and turned to walk out.

Seeing this, Zhou Antai hurriedly asked, "Wait a minute! You haven't told me yet whether you plan to stay in the capital or be sent elsewhere? His Majesty is still waiting for a reply!"

"Don't bother grandfather. I will go to the palace in person to report to His Majesty." Zhou Lin said with a firm face.

Zhou Antai, who was standing by, quickly warned, "Remember, never mention the arranged marriage!"

"Grandson understands the limits, please rest assured, grandfather." Zhou Lin replied respectfully.

……

When Zhou Lin reached the gate of the mansion, he happened to bump into Zhou Lan who was also about to go out.

"Where are you going?" Zhou Lin asked.

Zhou Lan proudly shook the piece of letter paper he was holding tightly in his hand and replied with a smile, "An Ning wrote to me, saying she wanted to eat the cloud cake from Babaozhai. I just happened to write her a letter in reply. I'm going to buy some cloud cake first and then send the letter over."

When Zhou Lin heard the name "Aning", an indescribable feeling of bitterness suddenly surged in his heart.

However, he quickly concealed his inner emotional fluctuations and pretended to be nonchalant and asked casually, "So what did you write in your reply?"

Zhou Lan's face was filled with joy, and he answered without hesitation, "Of course I'm going to tell her the good news! My second brother has been ranked third in the imperial examination. How could I not tell Yu Aning about such important news? It's a pity that Babaozhai closed down two days ago, otherwise this reply letter would have been sent out on the day the results were announced."

At this moment, Zhou Lin suddenly caught a glimpse of the carriage with an exquisitely decorated pink carriage behind Zhou Lan, and a plan came to his mind.

He said, "My carriage is broken. Can you lend me yours?"

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on the pink carriage.

His personal servant, Qingzhu, stood to one side, gazing at him suspiciously, thinking to himself, "My young master just said he wanted to ride a horse into the palace, saying it would get him there faster. The groom had already gone to get the horse, but how come he suddenly changed his mind and said he wanted a carriage?"

Zhou Lan pouted, her face showing displeasure as she grumbled, "Mom and Grandmother's carriages are clearly idle at home, yet Second Brother insisted on fighting with me for them. That's really too much! I have things to do myself."

At this moment, Zhou Lin cast his gaze towards the letter tightly clasped in her hand and said, "It just so happens that I also have a letter that needs to be delivered to Lord Shen in Shandong. How about this? I'll borrow your carriage first, buy some cloud cakes on the way, and then deliver our letters together. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"

However, Zhou Lan refused without even thinking: "No!"

Hearing this, he teased her with a half-smile: "I heard that you made a new calfskin whip, but your mother confiscated it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lan immediately turned around, staring at Zhou Lin with wide eyes, and asked angrily, "How did you know? Did you secretly tell mother?"

Zhou Lin couldn't help but burst out laughing at this, shaking his head in denial, "Why would you need someone else to tell me? Once your whip is finished, you'll be showing it off even if you see an ant on the side of the road. How could Mother not know about it? If you're willing to lend your carriage to my second brother, I promise to make you a better whip."

Zhou Lan still shook her head gently. "Mother took away my whip for my own good. After all, I'm a girl. I'm also old enough to get married now. I really should learn some needlework."

Seeing this, Zhou Lin, who was standing aside, sighed helplessly and said softly, "Tell me, this time mother asked you to embroider a few more handkerchiefs. Second brother will find someone to embroider them according to your needlework."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Lan's slightly sad expression disappeared instantly, replaced by a face full of joy and excitement.

Her big watery eyes suddenly lit up.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Lan couldn't wait to reach out his hand, grabbed Zhou Lin's sleeve, and led him towards the carriage.

He kept muttering, "Brother, please come this way and walk slowly! I have a lot of malt sugar in my carriage, please help yourself to it."

As she spoke, she had already brought Zhou Lin to the front of the carriage and enthusiastically lifted the curtain.

Afterwards, Zhou Lan hurriedly pulled out a piece of letter from his bosom and carefully handed it to Zhou Lin, adding, "Second brother, please find someone to deliver this letter along with the cloud cake! Oh, and my mother asked me to embroider ten handkerchiefs."

After saying that, she winked at Zhou Lin playfully.