Chapter 106 - Husband and Wife
When Jiang Che left, the door of the room next door opened and two young men walked out. One was refined and the other was noble, both of their faces were filled with contemplation.
“I never thought that even Jiang Che would dare to scheme against Lu Zheng.” The well-dressed and graceful man said with a smile.
The other elegant youth who wore a blue robe was Cao Zongguan. He frowned slightly, and asked with uncertainty: “Did Vice Minister Jiang fancy Third Master of the Zuo Family?”
“The matter of Jiang Che being manly is not a secret. Every year, there are many officials who send gifts to him.” The corner of the well-dressed man's mouth slightly rose, changed the topic, and asked: “I heard that you once had an engagement with the great miss of Zuo Family, why did you break it? But at that time, they felt that their family had no official name?”
Cao Zongguan's eyebrows flashed with hostility, he lowered his head and replied: “Prince, you must be joking, how could I possibly be this kind of person? Zuo Family resents students being unworthy of their first young miss!”
The former Fourth Prince, now Prince Ruiqing raised his eyebrows, “Oh? There was such a thing? Haha… Compared to Duke Zhen, your State of Zhi Zun, a fifth stage Cao Family, is not worth mentioning.”
Cao Zongguan lowered his head, his eyes filled with gloom. “I believe that Zuo Family's final plan is a wasted effort!”
“This King also hopes to see Lu Zheng marry a man. Duke Zhen's title is passed down throughout the generations. My good second brother probably doesn't want this title to be passed on.”
“Then wouldn't Vice Minister Jiang's scheme be in violation of the emperor's sacred will?” After following Prince Ruiqing for the past few days, Cao Zongguan had more or less understood some of the factions within the imperial court.
Prince Ruiqing shook his head, “I'm afraid no one wants to see Master Lu fail more than my second brother. What's the big deal about sacrificing male pet?”
Cao Zongguan felt that the title “male pet” did not suit Zuo Shaoqing. He explained for him: “Zuo Shaoqing and I are familiar with each other, he is not a frivolous person!”
In the entire Zuo Family, after what happened, only Zuo Shaoqing believed him. Only Zuo Shaoqing could smile from the bottom of his heart when he saw him.
He wanted to deal with Zuo Family, but didn't consider Zuo Shaoqing.
If the truth was as he had heard, he could even help Zuo Shaoqing. As long as Zuo Shuhui couldn't marry Duke Zhen, half of his goal would be achieved.
If it wasn't for the rumors about Master Lu seeing the big miss of Zuo Family a few days ago, he wouldn't have jumped onto Prince Ruiqing's boat.
Coincidentally, he met Prince Ruiqing once. Originally, the two of them only saw the same painting at the same time, but after chatting for a while, they were convinced by each other's talents.
At that time, Cao Zongguan didn't know that this young man was the famous painter Prince Ruiqing. When he found out the young man's identity, he realized that Prince Ruiqing did not match up with the rumors.
It was rumored that the Fourth Prince was obsessed with painting and was not in the mood to participate in the battle for the throne. It was said that the Fourth Prince was obsessed with painting and was not in the battle for the throne.
Since he didn't want to be a feudal lord, he was more at ease with the new emperor. Thus, waves after waves of rewards flowed into Prince Ruiqing Manor.
When Cao Zongguan first found out his identity, he was very surprised. This Prince Ruiqing was smart, tolerant, and had schemes and tricks up his sleeves. He didn't seem like a Carefree King at all.
Prince Ruiqing raised his almond-shaped eyes slightly, “Regardless of whether it is or not, once the news spreads out, Zuo Family, the concubine, will definitely be named after male pet.”
Cao Zongguan sighed. If he knew the truth, he wouldn't have approached Prince Ruiqing after knowing his identity.
By now, it would be difficult for him to back down on the back of a tiger.
When Zuo Shaoyan returned home, he first called the butler into the study room and inquired about Zuo Shaoqing's movements in detail. The answer he got was that San Ye hadn't left the house for a long time, so he stayed up late into the night or even early in the morning to read books before waking up in the afternoon.
“When was the last time I went out?”
“It was the second day after I went to the Wu Steel Manor for the banquet. San Ye said that he was going to the bookstore to buy books, but Second Master dragged him to the Hong Wishing Temple outside the city and he came back very late.”
Zuo Shaoyan also remembered this incident. If what Jiang Che said was true, then Zuo Shaoqing was actually with Lu Zheng that day and went to the military camp in the suburbs of Beijing. Then, when did Second Uncle meet Zuo Shaoqing?
From start to finish, he never doubted Zuo Yunyang, so it was impossible for him to imagine that the two of them were already together.
He waved his hand to let the butler leave. When the butler turned around, he whispered to the butler, “Send someone to keep an eye on him. No matter what he did, report it to me immediately.”
Although the steward didn't understand why the lord had to be on guard against San Ye, he was the real owner of the mansion, so he didn't dare to disobey.
After a pause, the steward asked carefully, “Uncle, steward Lady Yue has been doing a lot of things in the house recently.”
Zuo Shaoyan frowned and a trace of disgust flashed across his eyes, “What did she do this time?”
“The maidservant beside Young Madame came to find this old servant this morning. She said that it was Lady Yueke who kidnapped Young Madame's bird nest.”
Zuo Shaoyan slammed the table, “Impudent, who gave her the guts?”
Previously, Zuo Shaoyan always stayed in the study room to read, so he didn't want to bother with this family's matters. He didn't expect that that lowly woman would dare to bully him.
The butler also couldn't offend the master's most favored concubine, so he could only answer ambiguously, “The kitchen said that the bird's nest that was bought recently is all inferior. Lady Yue is even going with the excuse of having a baby.”
Zuo Shaoyan sneered, “Go and tell her, he is not the only one in this house who is pregnant, the one in her stomach is just a bastard, do you dare to snatch things from the eldest son of Zuo Family?”
“Yes, this old servant will go say it now.” With Zuo Shaoyan's words, the steward felt reassured.
Even though the old master was the head of the family, he rarely changed the decisions the old master made. In this family, the old master's words were more effective than the old master's.
Outside Mrs. Hoe's room, she was leaning against the beauty bed, basking in the sun. One hand gently caressed her protruding stomach.
A maidservant in a green dress came in with a stew cup. She was beaming with joy as she reported, “Miss, the kitchen has just made a bird's nest for you. I heard that it was specially ordered by the lord. Lady Yue was just reprimanded by the lord.”
Mrs. Hoe opened her eyes and looked at the bird's nest for a moment before sighing, “I really didn't expect that I, Young Madame, would be unable to even preserve a bowl of bird's nest.”
“Miss, don't say that. It's all because of that Lady Yue. She took advantage of the Madam's absence. Master doted on her and acted recklessly. Hmph, she'll have something good to eat once Madam returns!”
Mrs. Hoe cast her gaze towards the sky. There were a few white clouds floating in the azure sky. It was a rare good weather, but her mood wasn't clear. On the contrary, it was very dark.
These days, she was very nervous day and night, afraid that she would never see the sun of the next day. She even dreamt that her baby wouldn't survive and her husband would divorce her.
She knew that once she was released from the Zuo's Mansion, her future wouldn't be that much better than death.
Taking the bird's nest from the maid, Mrs. Hoe asked weakly, “Is this grandpa still in the study room?”
“Yes.” Those foxy girls don't dare to do anything rash recently. Madam told me before she left that if anyone dares to mess with me at this time, I will definitely skin them alive if I do not study properly! The servant girl said in a low voice.
Not only was there no happiness on Mrs. Hoe's face, there was instead a trace of sorrow on it. Whenever Mrs. Xue was mentioned, she would always feel resentment and hatred, not even a hint of intimacy.
“The day after tomorrow will be the Conference Test…” Mrs. Hoe mumbled to herself, “Rui Lan, do you think we won't survive if we go all the way to high school?”
The servant girl quickly covered Mrs. Hoe's mouth and looked around. After confirming that no one was around, she released her. “Miss… This… Maybe it's just a random rumor spread by an outsider.”
“There are no waves without wind, there are no wind in the cave. If there is no wind, then why would there be such rumors outside? Even Third Brother heard about it, Granny has always despised me as someone who comes from a small clan, someone who doesn't deserve Zuo Family…”
“Perhaps you wouldn't think that way, husband and wife for one night, graciousness for a hundred days.”
Mrs. Hoe waved her hand. She knew about his relationship with Zuo Shaoyan. At most, the two of them treated each other as equals. It was impossible to say how deep their relationship was.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but make a decision. She couldn't continue like this, she couldn't sit still and wait for death. She didn't want to become a lower class woman, and even more so, she didn't want the child in her stomach to have a proper identity.
Instead of watching her husband rise to the top and start a case with another girl, why not… After shattering his future, she would rather the two of them still live in the old house in Youuxi Town, and live a life that was neither salt nor light.
Rui Lan helped her young mistress into the room, carefully closing the doors and windows before whispering to her, “What do you want to do?”
Mrs. Hoe's eyes gradually filled with viciousness. “I want him to be unable to take the exam.”
“This… If we do that, we'll die.” Who in the Zuo Family didn't know how much Sir yearned for the title of the Golden Rankings?
“Naturally, we cannot let others know that we did it.”
“Miss, have you thought of a countermeasure?”
Mrs. Hoe nodded. “Don't we have a noisy aunt at home right now? It would be perfect to borrow her hand.”
Rui Lan thought for a while, her eyes brightening up as she nodded, “That's true. Even if it were to happen, everyone would only suspect that Lady Yue disrespected the lord and didn't want the lord's high school.”
“Yeah, this uncle and I are on the same level of glory, so naturally, I hope for his good fortune.” Mrs. Hoe gave a weird laugh and covered her wet eyes as she sobbed silently.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺