I don't want to be the favorite concubine of this palace anymore

The secret guard went to the county town where the Zhou family lived and found some old servants and neighbors of the Zhou family.

It turned out that his maternal grandfather had once been a fifth-rank prefect, and the Zhou family was considered a prominent family at the time, which was why his mother had the opportunity to be selected as a concubine and enter the palace.

Li Rui waved away the other people in the room and looked at the piece of paper in his hand, which recorded the affairs of his grandfather's family.

The more he looked, the more his hands began to tremble slightly, and finally he slammed his fist on the table.

So that's how it is! No wonder his mother rarely talked about her family since he could remember, and only occasionally talked about his brother.

This old hag dared to call herself a grandmother and even wanted to marry her granddaughter into the Rui Palace! Did she think he was as weak and easy to bully as my mother? !

"Jianying! Go and bring those people to me!"

Jianying had also heard the secret guard's report just now, and he sighed in his heart, knowing that the prince must be furious now.

Those people are so shameless that they have the nerve to stay in Prince Rui's mansion and refuse to leave!

After a while, Old Mrs. Zhou, Zhou Gui and Zhou Yurou were brought over.

The old lady thought that Li Rui had thought it through and was ready to accept her proposal to let Zhou Yurou marry into the palace as a concubine, and she was secretly happy.

Zhou Yurou was a little worried when she saw Jianying's cold expression. She always had a bad feeling. What could have happened that required them to come over in the middle of the night to discuss it?

After entering Li Rui's study, the old lady finally discovered something was wrong.

Li Rui sat there with a gloomy face, looking at her with his dark eyes leisurely. His expression did not change at all when he saw her come in.

"Your Majesty!"

Several people stood in the middle, feeling the chill emanating from Li Rui. They were all a little nervous. They didn't expect that Li Rui would ask them to kneel down as soon as he opened his mouth.

The old lady couldn't help but speak: "Rui'er, what are you doing? Your uncle and I are elders. You called us here in the middle of the night and asked us to kneel down. How can this be considered improper!"

Li Rui took a look at Jianying, and Jianying understood what he meant. He went over and kicked Zhou Gui on the calf. Zhou Gui cried out in pain and knelt down.

Then he looked at the old lady and Zhou Yurou. Zhou Yurou was frightened by the terrifying aura of Li Rui and Jianying. She looked at Li Rui with tears in her eyes: "Cousin, I can kneel by myself, but grandma is old, can you please not let her kneel!"

This delicate and tolerant look, as well as her filial piety, will move anyone who sees it.

It’s a pity that Li Rui is so eager to kill that old hag that he doesn’t care about anything else.

"Oh? That's fine. She doesn't have to kneel. Then let her tell me how my grandmother and uncle died!"

After these words were spoken, the room fell silent and Zhou Yurou dared not sob anymore.

Madam Zhou and Zhou Gui turned pale all of a sudden, and Madam Zhou's body became shaky!

Li Rui was not moved at all.

"What? Are you still pretending to be innocent? If you want to live to see the sun tomorrow, you'd better tell me the truth!"

The old lady finally fell to her knees with a plop.

"Your Highness, Prince Rui, have you believed some slander? I don't know what you mean."

Li Rui sneered: "You don't know what it means? Well, I'll help you remember. Jianying cut off one of Zhou Gui's hands to cheer up Madam Zhou!"

The old lady was shocked but still struggling. She really didn't dare to say it. It was all because of the sins she had committed in the past. If she said it, she probably wouldn't see the sun tomorrow.

But if she didn't tell him, Zhou Gui would have his hand chopped off, and she was in a dilemma.

When Zhou Gui saw Jianying walking towards him with a long sword in hand, he was so scared that his voice changed.

"Mom, save me! I don't want to have my arm chopped off!"

Zhou Yurou was terrified, she didn't know what happened back then, but from what Li Rui said, her grandmother was not his biological grandmother, was there some hidden story back then?

But what should she do in this crisis? This time she was really scared and cried.

"Grandma, just tell me what's going on. Otherwise, what will father do?"

The old lady was trembling all over, and she saw Jianying's knife was already raised. She finally said, "I'm telling you, don't cut my son! I did all those things, and they have nothing to do with it!"

Finally, Old Mrs. Zhou recounted the evil things she had done in the past in bits and pieces.

She is not Li Rui's biological grandmother but the cousin of Li Rui's grandmother.

That year, she went to her cousin's house to play and fell in love with her cousin's husband, who was handsome and elegant. At that time, her cousin's son was eight years old and her daughter was six years old.

She was jealous of her cousin and her husband, who were in love and had a son and a daughter. What's more, her cousin's husband was a high-ranking official in the local area, which made her even more eager to have him for herself.

In the end, the old routine happened. She gave her cousin a chronic poison, used the excuse of taking care of her cousin, and finally climbed into her brother-in-law's bed.

The kind cousin agreed to let her marry into the family as a concubine because of her dedication in taking care of herself, but she didn't expect that she was actually inviting a wolf into the house.

One year after she got married, her cousin died of illness. She then poisoned her cousin's son to ensure that her son would inherit the family business in the future.

She treated Li Rui's mother kindly on the surface, but she tortured her in various ways when Mr. Zhou was not around.

Until she was selected and entered the palace, Old Master Zhou had no idea that his daughter was not having a good time at home.

Li Rui knew that his mother was indeed a kind of gentle person. She was not competitive and was considerate. Isn't that why his father liked her?

Later, Mr. Zhou passed away, and Concubine Rong also died of illness. The Zhou family fell into decline from then on. However, Zhou Gui relied on Mr. Zhou's connections to get a position as a county magistrate and has been doing so ever since.

"So, how did you suddenly think of coming to the imperial capital to attend my wedding banquet? Who notified you to come?"

Old Madam Zhou and Zhou Gui looked at each other, and finally realized that they had to tell the truth today.

"The Crown Prince had someone inform us. He said he would let Yu Rou marry into the Rui Palace and try to destroy the relationship between you and the princess. He will promote Zhou Gui to an official position in the imperial capital."

Old Madam Zhou looked at Li Rui's gloomy and dark face and knew that he was extremely angry.

She kowtowed three times in a row: "Please have mercy on us, Your Highness, Prince Rui, and spare us for the sake of our kinship. After the death of Concubine Rong, we really have no intention of coming to the capital to disturb you again. We have lived in peace for so many years..."

She kept on chattering, but Li Rui was fed up with it.

"Go, go back to your hometown, leave tonight, before I regret it. From now on, you are not allowed to set foot in the imperial capital again, and you are not allowed to say that you are related to me!"

"Jianying, go arrange a carriage and send them away now!"

Now Zhou Yurou understood that her grandmother had killed Li Rui's biological grandfather and uncle. How could she still dare to hope to marry into Prince Rui's mansion?

When Li Rui returned to the bridal chamber, An Muxi had already fallen asleep.

Li Rui took off his outer robe, quietly got on the bed and held An Muxi in his arms.

He suddenly felt very tired and could only calm down by hugging An Muxi.

An Muxi felt as if she was being restrained while she was half asleep. Knowing that Li Rui had returned, she found a comfortable position and fell asleep again.

Early the next morning, An Muxi woke up and found herself still in Li Rui's arms. It was strange that Li Rui did not get up early to practice martial arts today.

She took the initiative to kiss Li Rui's lips. Seeing Li Rui slowly opening his eyes, she smiled and said, "Good morning, Your Highness Prince Rui, it's time to get up!"

The heavy mood was swept away at this moment. Fortunately, he still had Xier by his side.

Let the past be the past, but the person who has done evil cannot live comfortably.

Putting aside those unhappy things, Li Rui knew that today was the day An Muxi would return home.

He kissed An Muxi's forehead: "Xi'er, it's great to have you. Let's get up. I'll accompany you back to Ningguo Mansion."