Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 164 Canglan Ferry (34)

She cried as she complained, "I can't even eat a vegetarian diet every day, I'm so hungry, my heart is burning."

"You all always say I'm fat and ugly, and that I need to lose weight, otherwise my husband won't like me... Getting married is so difficult, can't I just not get married at all!"

"I don't want to get married!"

Her crying startled the maids and servants, who quickly said, "Miss, you can't say such things."

"Yes, if word gets out, people will think you have some kind of grudge against Xu Erlang."

Xu Erlang is the son of the Crown Prince's tutor and Zhang Shulan's fiancé.

Perhaps her emotions had reached a breaking point, because Zhang Shulan, who was usually generous and understanding, threw a tantrum like a child today. No matter how the maids and servants tried to comfort and console her, she wouldn't listen and just kept crying to herself.

Yan Zhen watched her cry silently without saying a word.

After crying for a full quarter of an hour, Zhang Shulan finally stopped crying and said to Yan Zhen somewhat embarrassedly, "Miss Jiang, I'm sorry you had to see this."

Yan Zhen waved his hand, signaling the maid to remove the already cold food from the table, and asked Zhang Shulan, "Are you feeling better?"

Zhang Shulan nodded: "Much better."

Yan Zhen poured her a cup of tea: "Since you are unwilling to be a vegetarian, why don't you explain it to your mother? There are thousands of women in the world, each with their own beauty. It's not only the slender and fair-skinned who are beautiful."

“My mother doesn’t listen to any of that,” Zhang Shulan complained softly. “Women in the capital consider fair skin and a slender figure to be beautiful, and so does she. If I argue with her, she’ll just say I’m lazy and greedy, and she’ll say that I…”

She hesitated.

"Hmm?" Yan Zhen had a feeling that there was something hidden in her words.

Zhang Shulan bit her lower lip, embarrassed, and said, "I have an unsightly birthmark on my shoulder that I've tried many medications to remove, but they haven't worked. My mother has been bothered by it for many years. From a young age, she reminded me that I need to be more talented, gentle, and virtuous than other women in order to offset the impact of that birthmark, so that when I get married, my husband won't dislike me because of it..."

Yan Zhen: "..."

Although she knew that Mrs. Zhang's original intention was for her daughter's sake, she had never seen anyone use a birthmark to manipulate their daughter like this before.

"Excuse me for being so bold, but may I see your birthmark?" Yan Zhen asked.

Zhang Shulan hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Come with me."

Yan Zhen followed her into the inner room, lowered the curtain, and Zhang Shulan turned her back, pulling her clothes down to her shoulders. A palm-sized black birthmark was imprinted on her shoulder, and the skin there was much rougher than the area without the birthmark.

Yan Zhen raised his hand to touch the birthmark, his fingertips gently tracing its surface, causing Zhang Shulan to shudder.

“It’s a birthmark,” Yan Zhen said, pulling his hand back.

After dressing, Zhang Shulan turned her head and asked, "What's that?"

"You could say it's a birthmark, but..."

Yan Zhen couldn't explain more to her. This thing is a surface tumor, most of which are benign, but there is a certain probability that it will become malignant.

"Do you want to get rid of it?" Yan Zhen asked.

Zhang Shulan's eyes lit up: "Can it be removed?"

“Yes, but the process will be very painful.” Yan Zhen gently gestured with his fingers over the location of her birthmark through her clothes. “It will require surgery to cut off that piece of skin.”

Zhang Shulan's expression changed drastically: "Then... won't it hurt a lot?"

"Of course it will."

Zhang Shulan's round little face scrunched up, both frightened and desperately wanting to get rid of it.

Yan Zhen said, "No rush, take your time to think it over. It's best to discuss it with your parents and tell me when you've made up your mind."

Yan Zhen thought Zhang Shulan would take some time to consider it, but the next day, Madam Zhang brought Zhang Shulan to visit in person.

When the wife of the Grand Secretary arrived, Madam Xu was quite flattered and warmly welcomed her inside.

Upon learning that the Zhang family mother and daughter had come to see Yan Zhen, Madam Xu immediately sent her nanny to the Bamboo Garden to fetch them.

Yan Zhen met Madam Zhang in the reception hall. In front of Madam Xu, she explained her purpose: she wanted Yan Zhen to remove the birthmark from Zhang Shulan.

“Lan’er’s birthmark is a source of great distress for me. When a woman has something like that on her shoulder, I have to carefully select the servants to attend to her, for fear that those gossipy servants will spread the word and no one will dare to come to our door to propose marriage in the future… If Miss Jiang can remove Lan’er’s birthmark, I will be eternally grateful for this great kindness! If the Duke of Dingguo’s mansion or Miss Jiang ever need anything from the Zhang family, please don’t hesitate to ask!”

This promise was more valuable than any gift of thanks, and Xu's eyes lit up when she heard it.

Yan Zhen's reaction was quite calm: "Madam, you flatter me. I am on good terms with Lan'er, and it is only my duty to help her."

After some polite exchanges, Yan Zhen explained the potential risks and pain of the surgery. Both mother and daughter were clearly mentally prepared and indicated that they could endure it.

Yan Zhen wrote out a prescription and instructed Zhang Shulan to boil it and apply it to the birthmark every day. She would come to the Zhang residence three days later to perform surgery on her.

Soon, news of Yan Zhen's connection with the Zhang family and his friendship with Zhang Shulan spread throughout the Duke's mansion.

Fairview Court.

Yan Jinhe's half-month confinement order has been lifted, but she has hardly stepped out of Jinxiu Garden these days.

Firstly, the Duke's mansion no longer needed her to manage the household, and she had nothing to do outside anyway.

Secondly, everyone in the manor now sees her as a monstrous threat. At this critical juncture, if any young master were to stumble and fall, it would likely be blamed on her.

Under all kinds of pressure, staying in Jinxiuyuan and not going out was the wise choice for her.

When news of Zhang Shulan and her daughter's visit reached Jinxiu Garden, Yan Jinhe remained calm, but she didn't turn the page of the book she was reading.

Yin Xin brought over a cup of cooling lotus seed soup, and as soon as she placed it on the small table, Yan Jinhe gave her a cold glance.

"What, even you think I need to calm down?"

Yin Xin was startled and quickly knelt down to apologize. She then hurriedly removed the lotus seed soup from the table.

Yan Jinhe closed the book and rubbed her temples: "While I stay away from Jinxiu Garden, that bitch Jiang Li is living a more and more comfortable life."

Even the Grand Secretary's family is currying favor with him. Given time, how could he not enter the palace and climb the social ladder?

Thinking further ahead, if she were to get the chance to bring the Duke's entire family to prominence, I would have to consider whether I could bear the consequences if I wanted to touch her again.

No, I have to kill her before she gains any power.

However, the specifics of how to proceed require careful consideration.

-

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Yan Zhen, with Jian Xue as his assistant, went to the Zhang residence to perform surgery on Zhang Shulan.

When she arrived at the Zhang residence, the Grand Secretary Zhang, who was not on leave, took a special leave to personally greet her.

After some polite greetings, Lord Zhang cupped his hands in thanks to her and said, "Miss Jiang, I'll have to trouble you with my daughter."

"Rest assured, Lord Zhang, I will do my best."

Yan Zhen had previously instructed that all the necessary surgical tools had been prepared by the Zhang family. Anesthesia was applied to Zhang Shulan, and the surgery began once the anesthesia took effect.

The surgery lasted an hour and successfully removed the birthmark.

When Yan Zhen opened the door and came out, Lord Zhang and Madam Zhang hurriedly came to greet him: "How did it go?"

Yan Zhen smiled and said, "It's a success. I gave Lan'er a sleeping pill before the operation. She hasn't woken up yet. When she wakes up later, she will be in pain for a while after the anesthesia wears off. You guys need to comfort her."

She also gave additional instructions that Zhang Shulan should not eat any foods that might trigger allergies or inflammation in the coming days, and that the wound should not get wet. She would come over every day to change Zhang Shulan's dressings, and so on.

Seeing her dedication, Lord Zhang gratefully escorted her to the gate of the mansion, only to find a young man dressed in black waiting outside.

Upon seeing them, the man first bowed to Zhang Baichen and addressed him as "Lord Zhang," before turning to Yan Zhen and saying, "My wife, I've come to take you home."