Chapter 275: Trouble
The Marquis of Cheng’an has been arrested and thrown into prison.
He pounded on the prison door, shouting loudly. Even when the officials handling the case came forward, he did not restrain himself.
“I am the Marquis of Cheng’an. The current Consort Chen is my wife’s younger sister, and the Great General Who Protects the Nation is our in-law. Do you dare lock me up?”
The Minister of the Supreme Court said indifferently, “Marquis, many nobles have come to our Supreme Court, even quite a few imperial relatives, but this is the first time we’ve met someone as arrogant as you, Marquis. Marquis, you are not here as a guest, but to accept our examination.”
“What crime have I committed?” The Marquis of Cheng’an’s gaze was sharp as a knife.
“Doesn’t the Marquis know?” The Minister of the Supreme Court said as he took out a handkerchief with a blood letter written on it in blood. “Someone says you framed a loyal minister, causing former Minister of War Lord Zhou to die unjustly, and his family to die unnatural deaths on the road to exile. The Marquis’s memory isn’t very good and doesn’t remember who Lord Zhou is, right? Lord Zhou was the maternal family of your original wife Zhang Shi, that is, your father-in-law.”
“Nonsense, this is slander.” The Marquis of Cheng’an’s face changed drastically. “Where did this blood letter come from? If there really was a wrongful case, it’s impossible for it to take so many years to produce just this one blood letter.”
“This blood letter was provided by your biological son, that is, Zhou Wangshu Lord Zhou.” The Minister of the Supreme Court said, “The former subordinates of old Lord Zhou the former Minister of War found Zhou Wangshu Lord Zhou and reported the injustices of that year in full detail. Little Lord Zhou personally brought the blood letter into the palace. The Emperor has ordered a thorough investigation of the events of that year to restore the truth. Marquis, if you don’t want to suffer, it’s best to cooperate.”
After hearing that this evidence was provided by Zhou Wangshu, the Marquis of Cheng’an was completely stunned. He squatted there in a daze, staring blankly ahead.
“No, something’s wrong. This shouldn’t be like this. Wangshu has been used by someone. He lost his memory, and someone with ulterior motives exploited this to deliberately stir up our relationship. I want to see my son. Go tell him to come see me.” The Marquis of Cheng’an said loudly.
“We will pass the message to little Lord Zhou, but whether he will come see you, this official does not know. Before that, let’s talk about old Lord Zhou’s matter!” The Minister of the Supreme Court said. “The Emperor is also waiting for the result. Marquis, you’d better not delay time and cooperate.”
Zhou Wangshu was in the courtyard accompanying Su Yaoguang picking flowers. He inserted the picked flowers into Su Yaoguang’s hair and kissed her forehead.
“This flower looks even better because of my wife.”
Su Yaoguang picked one and also pinned it on Zhou Wangshu.
What Zhou Wangshu said wasn’t right; it was the flowers in this garden that became dazzling because of him.
Actually, sometimes liking beauty is also a kind of good fortune. For example, her—she likes beauty, so she found such a handsome man as Zhou Wangshu to be her husband.
The husband and wife were here being affectionate and loving, but someone tactless came to disturb their sweet time.
“Su Yaoguang, Zhou Wangshu, get out here…” Tang Shi rushed in.
Zhou Wangshu said to Su Yaoguang, “You go back to the room first; I’ll handle it.”
Su Yaoguang nodded and went inside with two girls.
When Tang Shi rushed in, she only saw Zhou Wangshu standing not far away. Zhou Wangshu just stood there, his cold eyes looking at her icily.
At that moment, Tang Shi felt a bit scared.
However, she thought of her favored consort younger sister in the palace, mustered her courage again, and strode over.
“Zhou Wangshu, your father has been arrested and taken to the Supreme Court. As his son, you don’t think of ways to save him and instead linger here amid flowers and moon. If your father has any mishap, the title of Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion will be gone too, and you will get nothing.” Tang Shi roared.
“Is the title of Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion some rare thing?” Zhou Wangshu said indifferently. “Do you think everyone covets this title?”
“Zhou Wangshu, what do you mean by that?” Tang Shi glared at him coldly. “You returned to Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion just to inherit the title, right?”
“I am the eldest legitimate son of Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion. Even if I inherit the title, it is only right. However, I really don’t covet this title. I came back this time to settle accounts with you for those departed souls who died unjustly, to calculate the old debts of that year one by one, and see how many lives you husband and wife have on your hands.”
“You… what do you mean?” Tang Shi looked at Zhou Wangshu in horror.
“Haven’t you guessed it?” Zhou Wangshu looked at Tang Shi. “I… did not lose my memory.”
“No… impossible… you didn’t lose your memory? How could you not have lost your memory? If you didn’t lose your memory, why didn’t you come back for so many years?” Tang Shi screamed.
“Why I didn’t come back, others may not know, but shouldn’t you know? If I had come back early, I’m afraid I would have died an unnatural death long ago. I barely survived from death, and without sufficient strength, of course I couldn’t alert the enemy. These years, though I didn’t return to the capital city, I didn’t forget you two wicked people, so I kept looking for evidence and investigating the events of that year.”
“Zhen’er became like this because you deliberately schemed?” Tang Shi finally reacted.
“Yes, I did it on purpose.” Zhou Wangshu said, “Your incompetent son is easy to deal with; ruining him is simple. You went to great lengths, all for glory and wealth, right? The more you want something, the more I want to destroy it for you. The title—you and your son won’t get it. Now the Marquis of Cheng’an has been taken away by the Supreme Court for examination. Once his framing of loyal ministers is confirmed, light punishment is beheading, heavy is exile. But don’t worry, given my father-in-law’s face, the Emperor definitely won’t confiscate the family assets.”
“These years I collected quite a bit of criminal evidence. You should thank me; after all, I cared so much about you that even from thousands of miles away, my hand reached into the capital city. And your good younger sister, your great backer Consort Chen, should have been thrown into the cold palace by now! After all, these years she killed quite a few princes.”
“I heard you were selecting an heir candidate among the imperial clan; now no need to worry, because it’s useless. I won’t kill you mother and son, because letting you die like this would leave my mother and maternal grandfather unable to rest in peace. I will lock you mother and son together, giving you one portion of meal each day, only enough for one person to eat, the other starves. I want to see how deep your mother-son affection is.”
“No, no… I won’t lose, I can’t lose. You this illegitimate child, back then we really should have killed you.” Tang Shi wailed loudly and was unwillingly dragged away.
Zhou Wangshu took a deep breath, sorted out the bad emotions in his heart, and strode toward the dormitory room opposite.
Su Yaoguang came out and hugged his waist.
“Want to go to the General Who Protects the Nation’s Mansion tonight?” Su Yaoguang said. “I don’t want to stay in Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion today.”
Zhou Wangshu had never talked about his life in Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion before, nor that his mother and maternal grandfather’s family were harmed to death by his own biological father. He bore so much alone silently, never letting her worry about these matters, which made her both angry and heartbroken.
However, she couldn’t bear to be angry at him, so she’d just feel heartbroken!
“Sure, I miss mother and father too.” Zhou Wangshu hugged Su Yaoguang tightly. “This place is too disgusting; we won’t come back tonight.”
“Your father… is the Marquis of Cheng’an really locked up? With your experience, do you think he has any chance of being released innocent?”
“No. I’ve collected for several years, gathered much evidence of his crimes, not just framing my maternal grandfather’s family. They relied on the favored consort Consort Chen in the palace and did many bad things these years without any restraint. And Xia Zhen, he harmed many women. Before, no one dared offend him; now that I’m investigating Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion’s crimes and contacting those victims, they are all willing to testify. Since I’m tearing off the mask, I’ve made full preparations.”
“You carried all this alone and never told me; do you not consider me your wife at all?”
“I just didn’t want you to know these upsetting things.” Zhou Wangshu held her and wouldn’t let go. “You are my only wife, the wife I can’t shake off in this lifetime.”
Zhou Wangshu and Su Yaoguang returned to the General Who Protects the Nation’s Mansion.
As soon as the two entered the mansion, a servant went in to report, and soon Zhang Zhaodi came out to greet them.
“You two little heartless ones finally know to come back and see us.” Zhang Zhaodi said, “I’ll have the kitchen make a few more dishes right away.”
“Where’s father?” Su Yaoguang asked.
“He’s in the study discussing matters with his subordinates.” Zhang Zhaodi said. “I happened to overhear; it seems the enemy country is harassing our people at the border again.”
“Then we won’t disturb him.” Su Yaoguang said.
“I’ll go take a look.” Zhou Wangshu said.
“Okay.”
After Zhou Wangshu left, Zhang Zhaodi pulled Su Yaoguang and said, “I heard the Marquis of Cheng’an was arrested. Even if you didn’t come, I was planning to send someone to find you.”
“It was husband who did it.” Su Yaoguang told Zhang Zhaodi about the grievances Zhou Wangshu suffered these years. “These years, though he was with us, he never forgot those hatreds. He kept building his own connections, secretly investigating Marquis Cheng’an’s crimes these years, just waiting to net them all after returning to the capital city.”
“I didn’t expect him to be such a hard-luck person too.” Zhang Zhaodi said. “His father doesn’t care for him, but we do; we need to care for him more.”
“Of course.”
“Though the Marquis of Cheng’an’s deeds have nothing to do with him, to outsiders they are one. The Marquis of Cheng’an’s mishap directly affects Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion’s reputation. In the future, Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion is probably completely done for.” Zhang Zhaodi said.
“My husband has ability and doesn’t need to borrow their Marquis Cheng’an’s east wind. Oh, it can’t even be called east wind; it’s just a pile of mud.”
Zhang Zhaodi and Su Yaoguang went to the kitchen to arrange the evening meal.
Now for meals and such, they don’t need to do it themselves; they just need to instruct the cook what dishes to make.
Now Zhang Zhaodi wore brocade, gold and silver jewelry, exuding nobility. Her hands, nurtured these years, had much tenderer skin. And her complexion, as well as her dressing style, showed no sign of being a forty-year-old middle-aged woman. She and Su Rende were like newlyweds after long separation, practically living a newlywed life.
Mealtime arrived; the guests in the study left, and the father-in-law and son-in-law came out.
During the meal, Zhang Zhaodi suddenly dry-heaved.
“Madam, are you alright?” Su Rende asked worriedly. “Someone, call the doctor.”
“I just have a bit of stomach discomfort; maybe I caught a chill. Why call a doctor?” Zhang Zhaodi glared at Su Rende. “Daughter and son-in-law rarely come back; don’t ruin everyone’s mood.”
Especially after hearing about Zhou Wangshu’s matters, Zhang Zhaodi was heartbroken for him and wanted to comfort him properly with Su Rende, not wanting to ruin the hard-won family banquet.
“Mother, have the doctor take a look!” Su Yaoguang said. “Our mansion should have a resident doctor, right?”
The General’s Mansion had so many servants who needed doctors, let alone the many house troops who fought and inevitably got injured, so they definitely had a resident doctor.
“Right, call the resident doctor to check.” Su Rende said again.
Soon, the resident doctor hurried over upon hearing the news.
When the resident doctor heard it was the General’s wife who needed checking, he didn’t even tidy his clothes and rushed over urgently.
He took Zhang Zhaodi’s pulse, and then…
His eyes widened.
He switched to the other hand and took the pulse again.
“Congratulations, General. Madam is pregnant.”
Everyone: “…”
The whole room fell silent.
Seeing the atmosphere off, the resident doctor looked at them and said, “Madam is… pregnant. General, what are your thoughts?”
“How long?” Zhang Zhaodi reacted first.
“Three months.” The resident doctor said. “Has Madam been a bit irritable lately, prone to sleepiness, and most importantly, her taste in food has changed?”
“Yes.” Su Rende grasped Zhang Zhaodi’s hand. “But at Madam’s age, can she still give birth if pregnant?”
He knew that in the countryside there were cases of fifty-year-old women giving birth, but it was very dangerous; he didn’t want his wife to suffer that.
If it were ten years ago, he would definitely be very happy, because thirty-year-old Zhang Zhaodi was still in the best childbearing period. Now at forty, she could already be a grandmother. Giving birth at this time would be like an old clam producing a pearl. They didn’t care about others’ opinions; what mattered was the safety issue.
“Madam’s health is not bad; she can give birth, but definitely more difficult than when younger.” The resident doctor said.
“Madam, about this child…” Su Rende probed.
Zhang Zhaodi looked at Su Yaoguang: “Yaoguang, do you want a younger brother or sister?”
Su Yaoguang hesitated: “Mother, if it were a few years earlier, I’d definitely be happy. But at your age now, I’m worried!”
“You just need to answer my question: if mother gives you a younger brother or sister, would you mind?” Zhang Zhaodi looked at Su Yaoguang. “What mother cares most about is your opinion. If you mind, mother won’t hesitate and definitely won’t give birth. But if you don’t mind, mother wants to give birth to him.”
“Mother…” Su Yaoguang hugged Zhang Zhaodi. “Emotionally, I’d definitely be happy. Rationally, I’m worried about you.”
