That morning, everyone knew that Lord Yan was no longer welcome in his own household.

As the head of the family, managing to end up like this was truly one of a kind. Emperor Xuande looked at this minister of his and didn’t even know what to say.

As an official, the man was decent—not particularly outstanding, but still a competent official. But as a husband and father? Not so much. His heart was a bit too narrow.

Lin Mo glanced at the pale-faced Lord Yan and curiously asked Bai Xiao: 【Why does his face look so terrible? Did he not sleep well these past two days?】

Bai Xiao replied: 【No idea. Who knows why he looks like that.】

Lin Mo sighed and stopped paying attention. Focusing on a man like him was simply a waste of time.

She was only here every day to slack off anyway. If she could, she wouldn’t even attend morning court, but the emperor wouldn’t allow it.

The Censor (Yushi) was still in a mess internally. He’d argued with his wife yesterday—what if she drugged him again today?!

But he didn’t feel any stomach trouble this morning, which meant his wife hadn’t acted yet. After court, he should be able to coax her properly.

The more he thought, the guiltier he felt. After all, husband and wife arguing wasn’t a big deal. It all started with their daughter’s marriage.

The Censor wanted their daughter to marry the son of a close friend—he felt the young man was decent.

But his wife disagreed. She had dealt with that friend’s wife before and said their son worked fine but behaved poorly.

He already had three concubines despite being unmarried. With so many concubines before even a proper wife entered the door, one could already imagine the chaos of his future household.

And the friend’s wife was a piece of work as well. After giving birth to three sons, she held her head so high it practically touched the heavens—like she’d given birth to three protective talismans.

She ruled the household with an iron fist. The wives of the eldest and second sons were all her maternal relatives. The third son, the most capable one, refused to marry early, so she stuffed her own clan’s illegitimate daughter into his room as a concubine, and the other two concubines were his personal maids.

The entire family situation was a chaotic mess.

It was obvious that woman wanted full control over her sons and the entire inner courtyard.

Her controlling nature was frightening—sending their own daughter into that household was basically pushing her into a fire pit.

But the Censor thought differently. He felt the third son was a good match—capable, promising, with good character… aside from being fond of beautiful women.

But which man didn’t like beauty? And even if he was fond of beauty, he wouldn’t disregard his legitimate wife.

He felt the key was ability. A couple’s relationship depended on effort; once they married, they could slowly cultivate affection.

His wife valued marital harmony and a peaceful household. He valued a son-in-law’s capability and believed in their daughter’s ability to manage.

He himself had two concubines, but everything was orderly.

Though he favored one concubine slightly, he had never disrespected the official wife. He had always treated his main wife with great respect.

And since his own household was run efficiently, he assumed others’ households were the same…

Midway through, Lin Mo completely zoned out. Her mind went blank; she wasn’t even eating melons (gossips) anymore.

Bai Xiao, being sensible, went to collect big gossips on his own.

And there were quite a lot recently. Spring, summer, and autumn were all seasons when young ladies and gentlemen went out to play.

And now, at the tail end of summer, nearly autumn, the weather wasn’t too hot.

Many wealthy families in the capital were exchanging engagement contracts; romances tended to happen more frequently.

Bai Xiao was genuinely shocked by what he found.

Sisters fighting, brothers fighting—those were the small gossips.

The dirty secrets of the wealthy families’ inner courtyards were endless. Lin Mo couldn’t help thinking—why live so miserably? What were these people thinking?

When it was almost time for court to end, Bai Xiao sensibly woke Lin Mo up.

【Momo! Big gossip! BIG one! The second young master of the Ministry of Justice’s Vice Minister has been locked up by his own drinking buddies! Those so-called friends of his have no gender boundaries—they planned to get him drunk and then take advantage of him!】

【After court, let’s go see! This second young master is a decent man, just terrible at choosing friends. One of them invited him for drinks today but actually planned to drug him. Once he’s drunk, even if they do something, they can cover for each other.】

Lin Mo instantly sobered up. This was a stimulating melon!

Meanwhile, the Vice Minister of Justice, who was comforting Lord Yan: !!!

What?! Something happened to his family?!

Even Emperor Xuande’s face twisted. How could such a thing happen? What were the young people of the capital even doing?!

Lin Mo grew anxious: 【This man’s taste in friends is truly terrible. Are those friends from official families?】

Bai Xiao: 【Most are merchants’ sons, plus some distant relatives living at his home right now. Those distant relatives often take the second young master out to play.】

Lin Mo: 【Tsk tsk tsk, I knew it—relatives often harm relatives. How dare they? Living in someone else’s home and still scheming against their host’s son. Aren’t they his cousins? Those people are just awful.】

【This is basically the real-life version of “Bro, you smell good.”】

If she could get there in time, she would stop it. If too late, nothing could be done.

The Vice Minister of Justice was furious, eyes burning with rage. So this was why his son was always out fooling around?

Everyone else was preparing for the imperial exam, and his son was wasting time with riff-raff.

And those distant relatives—if not for blood ties, he’d never have let them stay in his home to prepare for exams.

And now they were plotting against his son?!

As soon as court ended, Lin Mo shoved her official hat into her father’s arms and sprinted away.

Running, she shouted: “Dad! I have something important to do! I won’t come home for lunch!”

Lin Chancellor: “…”

Forget it, forget it—she was going to save someone. Eat a melon and save a life.

The Vice Minister of Justice also dashed off. Another minister wanted to follow, but their official robes were too conspicuous.

He’d better go home and change first. He sent shadow guards to follow the little ancestor.

LOT – Chapter 215 Bro, You Smell Good

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