In the evening, after returning to the earl’s residence, Lanling searched through the numerous portraits of Suo Lun’s lovers but could not find any of Mentor Niya.
Given Niya’s status and position, Suo Lun would definitely have kept a portrait of her. The fact that these portraits were missing must mean they had been deliberately destroyed. Clearly, there was a story behind this.
However, a few hours later, Ye Jingyu handed Lanling a thick dossier containing all the information about Mentor Niya.
Niya was thirty-two years old this year. She came from a prestigious family and was the legitimate daughter of an earl’s household. From a young age, she had displayed outstanding artistic talent. Under the guidance of renowned teachers, she had already become famous throughout the royal capital by her early teens.
A woman of extraordinary talent, she entered Wangcheng Academy for advanced studies at the age of eleven and became the direct disciple of Principal Jian Yong. She graduated at seventeen, became an assistant lecturer at nineteen, and by twenty-seven had become the youngest mentor in the history of Wangcheng Academy in decades.
Not only did she possess exceptional talent, she was also stunningly beautiful with an alluring figure. She was truly the dream lover of every student and male teacher throughout Wangcheng Academy.
Nowadays, Niya was a renowned musician and literary figure in the Nu Lang Kingdom. Her mastery of the harpsichord was so exceptional that even King Zhi Bian praised it endlessly. Moreover, she possessed remarkable medical skills and had once served as an assistant lecturer in the medical department at the Royal Saint Benevolence Hospital.
At the age of twenty-one, she married Jian Ning, the son of Principal Jian Yong, breaking the hearts of countless admirers.
Her husband, Jian Ning, was one of the most outstanding young talents in the Nu Lang Kingdom. Whether in literary ability or martial prowess, he was peerless. Now approaching thirty-three, he was already the youngest Ten-Thousand Cavalry Commander in the kingdom and the future heir to a marquisate.
Jian Ning was not only accomplished in both civil and martial arts, but also born of noble blood and widely regarded as one of the most handsome men in the royal capital. From the age of sixteen, he had been the secret dream lover of countless young women.
Ten years ago, when this perfect couple married, they shattered the hearts of many young men and women. Yet no one felt jealousy or resentment, only admiration, because the two were truly a match made in heaven.
From every angle, this husband and wife should have been deeply in love, growing old together in unbreakable devotion.
Moreover, from childhood Niya had received extremely strict upbringing and was conservative and dignified in manner. Though beautiful as a flower, she rarely smiled and, when facing students, could even be described as stern and difficult to approach.
A person like this did not seem at all the type to commit adultery.
Yet two years ago, Niya did commit adultery, and with none other than the notorious, good-for-nothing Suo Lun.
At the time, she was Suo Lun’s mentor in both arts and literature. Suo Lun had used the pretext of learning the harpsichord to seduce her.
In terms of appearance, temperament, prospects, and talent, Suo Lun fell far short of her husband Jian Ning. He was not even worthy of polishing Jian Ning’s boots. For Niya to abandon such an outstanding husband and commit adultery with a scoundrel like Suo Lun was utterly incomprehensible.
However, after reading through the thick dossier, Lanling could completely understand her psychology.
She studied the arts, and her excellence lay especially in music. Women who excelled in the arts usually had romantic and unrestrained inner natures. Yet her strict upbringing had suppressed her true temperament, forcing her to maintain a stern face and strictly adhere to the so-called etiquette of a noble lady.
Although her husband was accomplished in both civil and martial arts and was an incomparably handsome man, he was completely obsessed with martial cultivation and his career prospects. He not only had no understanding of the arts but even disdained them.
In Niya’s eyes, her husband Jian Ning was an unromantic, rigid, and cold philistine. Having just escaped the oppression of her parents at home, she now faced the constraints of an equally rigid husband. Her inner desire for freedom remained forever unfulfilled.
Suo Lun, on the other hand, was completely different. Although he was almost entirely worthless, he was naturally dissolute and unrestrained, doing whatever he pleased, with a mouth as sweet as honey.
“Bad boys make girls fall in love.” Through day after day of seduction and harassment, Suo Lun finally caused this outwardly chaste and stern woman, whose heart was filled with romance, to fall.
For a literary and artistic woman like her, no words could compare to one simple sentence: “In this world, only I truly understand you.”
Suo Lun had no merits elsewhere, but when it came to reading women’s hearts, he was an absolute master. That was why he had been so successful with women, only failing against cold and intelligent women like Princess Zhi Ning, which ultimately cost him his life.
Nevertheless, Lanling still had one thing he could not understand.
Although Niya’s marriage was far from the perfect bliss one might imagine, she possessed a very high moral standard, even a kind of moral purity. Even if she was dissatisfied with her husband, she should not have actually committed physical adultery. Or to put it bluntly, she might have mentally strayed, but she would never have physically done so.
Yet she had physically committed adultery. She had been caught in the garden intimately entangled with Suo Lun.
So what exactly had happened to make Niya break her own moral purity and commit physical adultery? Could it be that Jian Ning had cheated first? Or had something even more shocking occurred?
Lanling felt that uncovering this point might be the key to making Marquis Jian Yong retract the expulsion order.
Moreover, after Lanling and Mentor Niya were caught in the act of adultery, Principal Jian Yong had only transferred Niya away and had not imposed any further severe punishment on her or on him.
Once he connected these dots, Lanling began to plan how he should speak and behave when he met Mentor Niya tomorrow.
Next, under his sister Suo Ningbing’s guidance, he threw himself completely into immersing in Suo Lun’s inner world, imitating every word, every action, every expression, and every glance of Suo Lun.
Previously, Lanling had not performed very well in mimicking Suo Lun’s speech and behaviour.
But at this critical moment, Lanling displayed astonishing skill. He became so strikingly similar to Suo Lun that Suo Ningbing’s beautiful eyes sparkled with amazement.
Suo Ningbing even said, “Little Ling, you are only imitating Suo Lun. Please do not become like him. Sister still prefers the way you truly are.”
“I know.” Lanling was overjoyed. He scratched the back of his head and once again revealed the youthful innocence that belonged to Lanling himself.
“Alright, it is getting late. Go and rest,” Suo Ningbing said. “Tomorrow morning you still have a long journey to the Northern Province.”
Lanling replied, “I will go to the quiet chamber to practise the harpsichord for a while. Sister, you go to bed first.”
Lanling walked to the deepest quiet chamber in the earl’s residence and began to play.
Of course, it was not a piano. This world had no pianos. It was a harpsichord, though its layout was almost identical to a piano. The piece he practised was Paul de Senneville’s famous composition, “Adelina by the Water”.
While playing, he contemplated how to deal with Suo Lun’s former lover and mentor, Niya.
…
The next morning, accompanied by Ye Jingyu, Lanling set off for Lingfeng Commandery in the Northern Province.
After three days and three nights of arduous travel, the two finally arrived at Lingfeng Commandery City.
Mentor Niya not only possessed high attainment in the arts but was also an outstanding physician. At present, she was serving in the Northern Legion as a highly respected military doctor.
The Northern Legion guarded the northern border of the Nu Lang Kingdom against the most powerful Yan Empire. Naturally, the military camp was extremely heavily guarded. With only Lanling and Ye Jingyu, it was impossible to force entry.
Fortunately, besides being a military doctor, Mentor Niya was also the honorary president of the Lingfeng Commandery Benevolent Relief Society. Every five days she would go to the Benevolent Relief Society to teach classes for the orphans there. She was truly a person of innate nobility.
When Lanling arrived at the Lingfeng Commandery Benevolent Relief Society with a large bundle of gifts, Mentor Niya was not present.
As expected, Niya held a goddess-like status in the Benevolent Relief Society. From the matrons to the teachers and all the orphans regarded her as their dearest person.
Therefore, when Lanling inquired about Niya, instead of receiving any information, he was met with wary and hostile gazes.
But do not forget that Lanling himself was also an orphan. He shared a strong emotional resonance with the children of the Benevolent Relief Society. He could release his genuine emotions without any barrier and easily win the trust of both the children and the matrons.
An hour later, Lanling was already standing in the children’s classroom, telling them fairy tales from Earth.
The children below listened in rapt fascination. In just half a day, Lanling had captured the hearts of the entire Benevolent Relief Society.
Thus, when Lanling inquired about Niya again, the matrons and children could not wait to tell him everything. They even began enthusiastically matchmaking him with Niya, offering advice on how to pursue her. They did not even know that Niya already had a husband, nor did they know of her exalted status.
Although he had come to find Niya, Lanling found himself reluctant to leave the Benevolent Relief Society. He stayed the entire day and even spent the night there.
That evening, he was surrounded by a crowd of little heads. He told them three stories in a row until the matrons had urged them several times before the children reluctantly climbed into their small beds to sleep.
“Big brother, Auntie Niya will come tomorrow to teach us. You have to work hard!” a little girl whispered to him.
…
Without any surprise, the moment Mentor Niya entered the Benevolent Relief Society, she saw Lanling (Suo Lun).
Her face had originally been filled with a radiant smile. This smile was meant for the children. Having not seen them for five days, she truly missed them dearly.
Yet the face she saw was the one that had once made her love to the depths of her bones and also hate to the depths of her bones.
Instantly, her smile froze. She stood rooted to the spot in stunned silence.