Chapter 32
Face-Slapping the Son of a Concubine and a Transmigrating Girl (6)
Editor: ghost
The cane was made out of top quality wood. Once it struck Zhou Zong Han, he could only shout in pain, not daring to stand up and say anything. He must suppress the rumors, otherwise Qi Lan and him really could only leave the capital. And if so, his future path would be utterly ruined.
Prime Minister Qi’s cane came down again. Zhou Zong Han gritted his teeth and endured. Qi Lan was sobbing, her mother also wept like a peach blossom in the rain. The whole family was gloomy.
In the end Prime Minister Qi hit until he was tired. Looking at his granddaughter who had cried until she was half-dead and her husband who was already coughing blood, he again heaved a long sigh, “Ai, fine. I will help you this once, but this will be the last time. Lan Er ah, you need to know in the future that you are of the Zhou family and they are the ones you embarrass.”
Qi Lan kowtowed with tears in her eyes as she replied, “I understand; I won’t make a mistake again.”
“Also you, Zhou Zong Han, you originally didn’t match up to Lan Er. But because the two of you made a mistake before marriage, for the sake of Lan Er, we agreed to marry her
to you. If in the future you treat Lan Er unfairly, then my Qi family will never let you off.”
“Yes Prime Minister.”
On the second day, the crown prince returned to court. In the audience hall, the second prince turned hostile on the spot. When the crown prince opened his robes, the entire court was left speechless; his wounds were hideous and terrifying. It was obviously the ruthless work of someone.
In truth, when the crown prince opened his robes, he himself was startled. Originally those wounds were not that serious, but who knew what medicine Zhou Xu had applied for him, the skin around the wounds were completely swollen and purple. In short, the injuries were made to look much worse by Zhou Xu.
The crown prince watched everyone’s reaction and was naturally very satisfied.
In fact, Zhou Xu’s ointment was personally mixed by himself. He knew the crown prince’s plan, hence he used the method of curing ills with poison. In other words, the minute amounts of poison in the ointment would show its effects for a short time. The poison gathered at the wounds, discolouring the skin and making it swell. However after a day, the crown prince would realise that the wounds would quickly stop bleeding and scab over, even scars would not be left behind.
In the royal court, the second prince wanted to argue but the crown prince directly waged a war of words, detailing how the second prince had formed a faction to pursue his own interests and fight for power in recent years. At the same time he naturally said how he had suppressed the crown prince.
The second prince powerlessly tried to defend himself for half a day in court, but in the end the crown prince straightforwardly called for people to bring in the evidence. It was enough to cover the entire long table.
After the emperor looked through them, he was greatly infuriated. He sent the second prince to jail and at the same time regretted his neglect of the crown prince, to the extent that he regretted even thinking of deposing him from his position.
The crown prince’s faction began to rise afterwards. The ministers who originally remained neutral knew that the situation had changed, hence they began to side with the crown prince. Of course the third prince’s power could not be looked down upon, but compared to the second prince’s, the third prince really could not be counted as much.
Later the crown prince began to launch his counteroffensive for real. The second prince’s power was completely eliminated by him from the start. The emperor began to further appreciate the crown prince. However the one point that the emperor and empress, even the entire court of ministers, were unsatisfied with was that the crown prince refused to marry.
Unexpectedly, in the end no one mentioned the crown prince’s wedding matters ever again. But because the crown prince was unmarried, many who originally stood on the crown prince’s side began to waver. They took an interest in the third prince who was amassing power, especially since the third prince’s legitimate wife was the daughter of a high ranking official in court and the couple already had two sons.
The crown prince seemed to pay no heed to these people changing sides, continuing to write memorials, taking care of public affairs, and when free, calling Zhou Xu over to accompany him in training the sword. At the moment, General Zhou stood firmly in the crown prince’s faction.
Two years later.
Zhou Xu was playing chess with Zhou Yang in the latter’s courtyard. The last chess piece was placed. Zhou Xu smiled faintly, “Older Brother, I’ve won.”
“Yes yes yes, you’ve won again,” Zhou Yang stood up, rubbing his sore shoulders while saying, “What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.”
“Older brother, I want to eat the pigeon you prepared yesterday.”
“I really can’t hide anything from you. I know you like it, that’s why I made sweet and sour roasted pigeon. I seasoned it yesterday and it has been marinated for 12 to 14 hours already.”
“Then quickly go roast it, I’m hungry.”
Zhou Yang shook his head, helplessly walking into the kitchen.
After he left, Zhou Xu’s eyes darkened slightly. His older brother was always kind-hearted and never conflicted with anyone. Who would put a poison needle on his seat?
If it was not for sitting down himself, then wouldn’t his older brother die just like that?
Carefully keeping the poison needle, Zhou Xu began to search the room. Zhou Xu confirmed that the room did not have any other hidden weapons after ransacking everything. He then sat down properly again.
In truth, when Zhou Xu had entered the room earlier, he had felt a bit uncomfortable. This kind of danger prediction made him somewhat nervous. However after experiencing so many worlds, he was very clear that whenever this feeling arose, there was definitely danger facing him no matter what kind.
Hence Zhou Xu was very careful. He did not sense any other person’s breath, so he concluded that the danger did not come from a person.
When Zhou Yang had wanted to sit down, a sliver of gleaming light flitted past. Zhou Xu had shouted, “Don’t sit.”
Looking at Zhou Xu, Zhou Yang felt suspicious. His butt did not fall on the poison needle, “What happened?”
“Nothing much,” Zhou Xu sat on Zhou Yang’s seat while smiling widely, replying, “I like your cushion, Older Brother, give it to me.”
Zhou Yang did not know whether to laugh or cry, saying, “I’ve used this pillow for quite a few years already, you’ve only just noticed? If you want it, I’ll give you two new ones. Why would you want the one I’ve worn out.”
“No, I want this one.”
“Fine fine, when you leave, let Cui Xue hold on to it. Let’s play chess.”
Zhou Xu cleverly hid the silver needle in this manner. Surveying his elder brother’s personal relations, it seemed that no one would do this kind of thing.
Zhou Zong Han did not have the guts to do it. Ruan Qin’s mental illness had already taken a turn for the worse. Then who else could have done it?
Because of Zhou Yang’s recovery, General Zhou treated him a little better, sometimes asking about him, but he still did not really like him since this eldest legitimate son’s hobby was being a chef.
He Yan Fei’s treatment of Zhou Yang also improved. However compared to Zhou Xu, her liking towards Zhou Yang was insignificant.
Furrowing his brows slightly, Zhou Xu decided that he should investigate it properly later.
“Young Master, the crown prince invites you to Yuan Yang Restaurant.”
Zhou Xu raised his eyes, replying, “Not going.”
“...”
“Ye Qi, you are a secret guard. Wearing black clothing in broad daylight, do you want people to see you?”
“I want to eat roasted pigeon. Just say this to the crown prince.”
“...Young Master, the crown price said if he could not invite you, he would let me go back to accompany Bai Song to sleep.”
Zhou Xu again raised his eyes, “Oh, very good. You still have someone to warm the bed.”
“Young Master, I don’t like Bai Song.”
“If you are done, then return. Don’t keep using this trick every time.”
“Young Master, please write some words for the crown prince.” Ye Qi’s wooden and dark face was stifled, making people unwell by looking at it.
Heaving a sigh, Zhou Xu stopped making things difficult for the honest and frank secret guard. He took a piece of paper and a brush, making beautiful strokes of cursive script on the paper.
“Done, go ahead.”
“Many thanks to Young Master.”
With a whoosh, Ye Qi left. Zhou Yang entered with furrowed brows, asking, “How come it felt like someone was here just now?”
“Your vision is blurry,” Zhou Xu said, “How fragrant. Come come come, first give me the pigeon leg.”
Zhou Yang shook his head, placing the roasted pigeon on the table, “Go wash your hands, otherwise you’re not allowed to eat.”
At the Yuan Yang Restaurant’s upper floor, the crown prince stared at the two characters in cursive script, feeling a bit depressed and frustrated. According to Zhou Xu’s intentions, the next time they meet would be a few months later.
What Zhou Xu had written was: “If I become the top scholar in the palace exam and must become a high official, my title would read: Crown Prince’s Loyal Minister.”
Zhou Xu had already passed the provincial examination and the general imperial exam; he was only waiting for the palace exam. Having experienced hundreds of worlds, he had nothing to be afraid of. It would only be shocking if he did not become the top scholar.
The previous world’s top scholar was Zhou Zong Han. He achieved this solely because Qi Lan told him many modern world’s matters, and also suggested many changes he could implement. But Zhou Xu knew, a country’s changes were not possible with only a few words. Making inappropriate comments without considering the reality of this world could possibly become the root of troubles.
Sure enough, just as Zhou Xu had anticipated, Zhou Zong Han relied on Qi Lan’s suggestions to write his essay, causing the emperor and the crowd of ministers to applaud in succession. But when they saw Zhou Xu’s essay, everyone went silent. Zhou Zong Han had drawn them a large pancake, but in contrast, Zhou Xu’s essay was focused on resolving the country’s problems; which was good and which was bad could be seen at a glance.
The emperor’s dragon heart was greatly delighted, naming Zhou Xu as the top scholar on the spot. Because of the stark contrast from Zhou Xu’s essay, as well as other considerations, Zhou Zong Han was awarded fourth place. Although it was quite good of a result, it was insignificant compared to Zhou Xu.
As the top scholar, Zhou Xu paraded through the capital with much fanfare, entering many people’s eyes. General Zhou was radiant with joy. Everyone said his education methods were superb: out of three sons, two obtained a high rank in the examination, and out of these two, one was even the top scholar. It was truly worthy of celebration.
Afterwards, the emperor and crown prince discussed whether to instate the third rank of examinees as officials. The crown prince suggested that they first let the top scholar enter court and understand his intentions before making a decision.
Thus Zhou Xu entered the palace, kowtowed, and performed all the formalities. However the emperor did not follow formalities, hastily saying, “Beloved minister Zhou, we have heard your father mention that you have yet to take a wife. It just so happens that the sixth princess is sixteen years old, agreeable and warm. We treasure her dearly. We have the intention of receiving you as a son-in-law, what do you think?”
Translator’s Note:
owo is there a spin-off with Ye Qi and Bai Song bc i need one ><
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