As the force around her neck increased, Zhong Lingyuan finally understood what Lin Yangquan's previous words, "I have decided not to leave you," meant.

Zhong Lingyuan struggled fiercely, but she was no match for Lin Yangquan who had made up his mind and could not break away at all.

Although Lin Yangquan was a civil servant and was not good at martial arts, he was not completely incompetent in martial arts. He might not be able to deal with martial arts masters, but he could easily strangle Zhong Lingyuan to death with his own hands.

Zhong Lingyuan struggled to escape, her face turned purple and her mouth wide open, but she couldn't scream because her throat was strangled, so she could only turn her attention to Lin Zheyuan and Zhong Shufeng for help.

And Zhong Shufeng, who used to respect her aunt very much, was looking at her coldly...

Her son... Although Lin Zheyuan was lying on the ground crying in grief, he had no intention of getting up and coming to save her.

What's this?

Why...is this happening?

Lin Yangquan is killing her right now, why are you just watching and not stopping him?

Compared to Lin Yangquan, she is obviously closer to them!

Lin Yang can give you everything, she can give you too! She can even give you more!

Feng'er, aunt is here!

Yuan'er, mother is here!

How could you just watch Lin Yangquan be treated like this...

Lin Yangquan's hands became harder and harder, and Zhong Lingyuan gradually stopped struggling, her eyes bulging, and she refused to close her eyes.

The next day, the Lin Mansion and the Zhong Mansion held funerals at the same time. Many noble families in the New Imperial City were in an uproar upon receiving the news, and many people came to the Lin Mansion and the Zhong Mansion to express their condolences.

In the next few days, the Lin family once again became the topic of chat among the families in the New Imperial City after dinner.

Yanyun Teahouse, the largest in the New Imperial City, has always been a quiet place that literati loved to visit.

At this moment, Sui Bianhong was sitting lazily at the window seat on the second floor of Yanyun Teahouse, sipping tea, looking at the people coming and going on the street downstairs, admiring the beautiful scenery of thick snow covering the eaves of many roofs, and listening attentively.

Conversations from other tables.

"Hey, have you heard? The head of the fourth-grade Zhong family was assassinated yesterday! The murderer has not been caught yet!"

"Who hasn't heard of this? My family said that I was related to the Zhong family by marriage. My parents went to the Zhong Mansion today to express their condolences."

"What? Your family is still related to the Zhong family, so do you know what happened specifically?" Hearing that someone was related to the Zhong family, the scribes, who were about thirty years old, stood up and asked.

Obviously, gossip is human nature. After a while, in the tea hall on the second floor, except for a few people including Sui Bianhong, most people gathered around the gossip table where the head of the Zhong family was stabbed to death.

Seeing that he was surrounded by so many people, the scribe who said he was related to the Zhong family felt a little bit vain about being focused on by others, so he spoke up about everything he knew.

"The head of the Zhong family went to the Lin family temple to visit Mrs. Zhong who was meditating there. A gangster broke into the house and assassinated her. She died on the spot. Mrs. Zhong was kidnapped. That night, the Lin family rescued Mrs. Zhong from the gangsters."

"Since Mrs. Zhong was rescued, why did she die later? Could it be that she was too seriously injured?"

"I heard..." At this time, a young scribe among the crowd gathered said mysteriously.

"What did you hear? Stop being so pretentious!"

Seeing everyone's expressions of eagerness to know the inside story, the young scribe waved to the people gathered around him. Seeing people getting closer, he whispered softly: "I heard that the gangsters tortured Mrs. Zhong after they kidnapped her.

!”

"Torture?" There was an uproar around him.

The speaker nodded firmly, as if what he was saying now was something he had witnessed with his own eyes: "The gangsters kidnapped Mrs. Zhong, it seems they wanted to pry some secret out of Mrs. Zhong's mouth..."

"Anyway, after Mrs. Zhong was rescued, a lot of her teeth and nails were pulled out..."

"hiss......"

"How can a pampered lady tolerate this!"

Everyone around me felt their teeth hurt and their hands hurt when they heard this, and they hissed.

"Yes, Mrs. Zhong couldn't bear the humiliation. In addition, the head of the Zhong family was killed by her, so she was determined to die. On the night after she was rescued, she hung herself from the beam in the room without anyone noticing."

"Suicide by hanging from a beam?" people around him lamented.

"The endurance of these ladies from aristocratic families is really weak. They have all been rescued. They have a lot of good lives ahead of them. Why can't they think about it?"

"What exactly do the villains want to know from Mrs. Zhong?"

People around were talking about this matter.

"Don't forget that in addition to being the mistress of the Lin family, Mrs. Zhong also has a daughter who is married to Lu Xiangguo's brother, and her grandson is also the Lu family's eldest grandson. She has a close relationship with the Lu family...

..."

"You mean, what the gangsters are really dealing with is..."

The people around him gasped after talking about this, but they did not dare to say Lu Xiangguo's name easily.

Prime Minister Lu is now extremely powerful in the court. Who dares to gossip about him easily?

"In short, Mrs. Zhong might have revealed a lot of secrets about that adult to the criminals who kidnapped and tortured her. I guess..."

"She may have gone to extremes because she was afraid that the adult would blame her."

"Go! Go! Don't talk nonsense. The Lin family and the Zhong family have been very powerful in recent years, and they are not ordinary aristocratic families. How could Mrs. Zhong hang herself from a beam for fear of being settled by the Queen?"

"I'm just guessing, why are you so serious?"

"You have to have some control over your guessing!"

Hong was admiring the snowy scenery outside the window, listening to the discussions of the tea drinkers around him, and sipping tea leisurely.

At this moment, an aristocratic man wearing a snow-colored mink fur cloak, whose face could not be seen clearly, came uninvited and sat down across from Suibianhong's tea table.

Mei Luo, who was waiting behind Sui Bianhong, stepped forward and reminded the visitor coldly: "Mr. Sir, my master doesn't want to share the table. Please sit somewhere else."

Then Bian Hong waved to Mei Luo to retreat, and said in a careless voice: "Senior brother, things are different now. If you come out like this, you won't be afraid of being attacked."

The visitor raised his head, revealing a handsome face with graceful features and majesty, and said warmly: "Junior brother has been in the new imperial city for many days, but he has not come to visit the Prime Minister's Mansion. Senior brother had to go out of the house to look for him.

.”

As soon as the person raised his head, his face hidden in the hood could be clearly seen by those who were opposite him. Mei Luo stood beside Sui Bianhong and could see the person's face clearly in an instant.

Mei Luo recognized that the person in front of her was the master's senior brother who had always been very close to him, so she stopped talking and took a step back, then moved back behind Sui Bianhong.

Then Bian Hong raised his hand and lifted the teapot, heated a new tea cup, and filled a pot of hot tea for Lu Yundan, who was sitting opposite.

"Back then, Bian Hong cut off his robe and cut off his righteousness and put down his cruel words, but now he really can't lose his face and takes the initiative to come to see his senior brother, so he can only wander around the new imperial city." Then Bian Hong frowned his delicate sword-shaped eyebrows.

.

Lu Yundan chuckled softly: "In the past, when we had disputes between brothers and sisters, I would always take a step back first. This time, I am not surprised."
Chapter completed!