Chapter 423: Chapter 423: Helping You Protect Those You Wish to Protect

The Marchioness Xuan Chang chuckled. "It’s not like you don’t know your grandfather. When he gets into one of his stubborn fits, no one can stop him! If you push him too far, he’ll really put a knife to his neck!"

Song Lianhe immediately grew serious. "Grandfather, you can’t do anything foolish! In the end, those are Emperor Cheng Xiao’s men!"

The Marchioness Xuan Chang burst out laughing. "Not at all. He put the knife to his *own* neck. He forced them to open the gates, and then he just strolled out, brandishing his knife. He wandered around the street, bought me a stick of candied haws, and came back, saying his wife loves them."

Marquis Xuan Chang, Lin Yuanzhong, looked immensely proud, as if he had accomplished something incredible.

Song Lianhe pressed her lips together and gave him a thumbs-up.

’The old-timers really are in a league of their own!’

"Insignificant rats dare to block my path? Hmph! They don’t know their own limits!"

The Marchioness Xuan Chang covered her face as she laughed and said, "After that, he started going out for a stroll whenever he felt like it, bringing back either some soft tofu pudding or some snowflake crisps. The soldiers stationed outside the mansion couldn’t do a thing about him, so they reported it to the Holy Emperor. But the Holy Emperor’s official reason for stationing soldiers here was to ’prevent villains from retaliating.’ He couldn’t very well punish your grandfather just for going out to buy a few snacks, could he? On top of that, your grandfather has some good friends at court. These people started submitting memorials for no good reason. One moment, they’d say he owed someone two Silver Coins; the next, they’d claim he was bullying people and stole a few pieces of white cake from a commoner. All sorts of things like that. They annoyed the Holy Emperor so much that he finally ordered your grandfather to just stay home and ’reflect on his misdeeds,’ and the soldiers outside the mansion were quietly withdrawn."

"Brilliant! Truly brilliant!"

Song Lianhe was finally getting it. No matter how powerful someone was, they were still afraid of a persistent pest.

Lin Yuanzhong looked at his granddaughter. "I know all about what happened with you and Zhou Cangyan! You’re truly a child of the Lin family, making it your duty to protect our home and country. Well done!"

He continued, "As for that Zhou Yang, I think he’s lost his mind. To let Zhou Heng take the throne, he’s actually ignoring his dealings with Nanchen! He’s simply..."

"That’s enough. Are the Holy Emperor’s affairs something you can casually criticize?"

The Marchioness Xuan Chang’s tone suddenly shifted as she said coldly, "However, senile as he may be, he pointlessly endangered our Wenxin and almost prevented her from returning! For that, he deserves to die!"

"My lady!"

"Grandmother!"

Lin Yuanzhong and Song Lianhe were so scared they were about to cover her mouth. The Marchioness Xuan Chang sneered, "What are you afraid of? Your grandfather has now earned a reputation for being a disrespectful and unlovable old man. Who would believe any word coming from my Xuan Chang Marquis Mansion?"

Song Lianhe’s mouth hung open. She gave her grandmother another thumbs-up.

’Still brilliant!’

’I’ve learned another thing from her!’

Just then, lunch was ready, and the three of them moved to the flower hall.

"Dear granddaughter, eat more. Look how skinny you are."

"Wenxin, this is your favorite braised pork trotter..."

Song Lianhe looked at the mountain of food piled in front of her. In her grandparents’ eyes, nothing made them happier than seeing the younger generation eat more, but she really couldn’t eat another bite! ’If I’d known, I should have brought Zhou Cangyan, my grandson-in-law, to help me share the burden.’

Just then, Lin Yuanzhong’s guard, Ni Cang, came in and whispered a few words in his ear.

"Oh?"

He put down his chopsticks. "You two eat first. I’ll be right back."

Lin Yuanzhong stood up to leave. His wife also began to rise, but he turned and gestured with his hand. "It’s nothing."

Song Lianhe also made to follow. "Grandfather..."

The Marchioness Xuan Chang walked over and pressed down on her shoulder. "Sit down and eat. If the sky falls, you still have your grandfather to hold it up."

Song Lianhe looked up at her grandmother and reached out to hug her. "Being your granddaughter is Wenxin’s blessing."

The Marchioness Xuan Chang stroked her hair and said lovingly, "Seeing the change in you now, your grandfather and I don’t know how many times we’ve kowtowed in thanks to our ancestors! A daughter of our Lin family can save the world with medicine and defend the nation with might..."

"N-no, Grandmother, you’re exaggerating. I can barely accept the ’saving the world with medicine’ part, but ’defending the nation’ is a huge overstatement..."

"Hehe, and what about King Qing?"

"If you’re talking about Zhou Cangyan... then it’s not an exaggeration at all! He truly has the talent to bring peace and stability to the nation!" Song Lianhe showed no restraint when praising her husband, her pride evident on her face. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The Marchioness Xuan Chang saw her reaction, and the smile in her eyes deepened.

"I had no idea my wife held me in such high esteem."

Startled by the voice, Song Lianhe jumped. When she saw who it was, she exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "Biwu! What are you doing here?"

Zhou Cangyan walked in with Lin Yuanzhong. He first bowed to the Marchioness Xuan Chang before coming to her side. "Grandfather invited me to a banquet. How could I dare not come?"

Realization dawned on Song Lianhe. "So you had this planned all along! Then why did I have to go through the trouble of drugging someone and putting on that whole act?"

Zhou Cangyan chuckled lightly. "Such methods are not convenient for me to use, so I had to borrow my Princess Consort’s hand to vent some frustration."

’Even though he said that, I didn’t believe him for a second!’

She looked over at her grandfather and saw that Lin Yuanzhong had already picked up his chopsticks to serve his grandson-in-law some food.

"I wouldn’t want to trouble you, Lord. I’ll just have this."

He smoothly moved the plate piled high like a small mountain from in front of her to in front of himself.

Song Lianhe pressed her lips together, trying hard to suppress the upward curve of her mouth. Her heart felt as if it had been smeared with honey.

She propped her head on one hand, tilting it as she watched him with a wide smile.

’He knew at a glance that I couldn’t finish it, so he immediately took it without disrespecting the elders’ good intentions.’

’Tsk tsk, when a man is this considerate, he’s really quite charming.’

Lin Yuanzhong and his wife exchanged a glance, both with satisfied expressions on their faces.

Zhou Cangyan was a Prince, yet he didn’t mind eating his wife’s leftovers in the slightest. This was enough to show just how much he usually doted on their granddaughter. Besides, the sweet intimacy between the couple was clearly not an act.

After the family finished their harmonious meal, Lin Yuanzhong called Zhou Cangyan to the study. Without a word, he handed him a palm-sized brocade box.

Zhou Cangyan seemed to have guessed what was inside. He hesitated for a moment before opening it.

It was a Mystic Armor Talisman.

"With this, the eighty thousand Mystic Armor Masters will be at your command at any time."

Zhou Cangyan looked up, his eyes momentarily filled with emotion.

"My Lord, you have been loyal and true your entire life. Do you know what it means to give this talisman to me? I fear you will be branded a ’traitor’ for this."

"So what? For Wenxin’s sake, I can bear any crime, no matter how great! Shuniang left us too soon, leaving behind only this one daughter. If I can’t even protect a little girl like her, what’s the point of being loyal to some damn emperor?"

Lin Yuanzhong looked at him and said calmly, "These eighty thousand Mystic Armor Masters are the true shield of the nation. The Holy Emperor only trusts me with them because I never form factions, I have no sons, and my family line will die with me. I once thought I would spend my entire life being loyal to the emperor and serving the country, and I never imagined that I would one day hand this talisman to another. But then I learned what happened in Sishui City. I have a grandson-in-law who faces death without fear and would never abandon a single inch of our land. I have a granddaughter who would die to protect the common people. With heirs like you, even when I descend to the underworld, I will be able to face my ancestors with a smile!"

He stepped forward, took the Mystic Armor Talisman out, and placed it in Zhou Cangyan’s hand.

The Mystic Armor Talisman, forged from Mystic Tie, was cool to the touch, yet it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

"Only by holding great power in your hands can you protect those you wish to protect!"

Emperor Cheng Xiao had placed him under house arrest, forbidding him from leaving Ling’an, yet he didn’t dare to truly move against him. And when Lin Yuanzhong dared to "bully others with his power," this was the "power" he was relying on!

It seems that power and influence are truly a good thing to have.

Zhou Cangyan looked at the Mystic Armor Talisman and slowly closed his hand around it.