After the replacement marriage, I was forced to fight at home

"Do you need me to go with you?" Meng Wan looked at Zhou Yu's frown and said softly.

"No need. There are some things I want to talk to him alone. And I also want to know what his expression will be like after he knows the truth. I think he definitely doesn't want more people to see his embarrassment at that time."

Meng Wan nodded and stepped forward to straighten Zhou Yu's cloak. "Those people have been arranged. Let's use this opportunity to talk about everything at once."

Zhou Yu hummed, held Meng Wan's cheeks with both hands, and kissed her forehead gently, "Don't worry, I know you are worried about me, I won't quarrel with him. After so many things happened, he is a cold-hearted person. He could watch Hu drug my mother. He also watched Yan Fu and that concubine Yu die with his flesh and blood. He could also watch Hu end up like this and remain indifferent. Oh, even when his most beloved son passed away, he could recover quickly. So, I won't waste a single tear on him, I'm just stating a fact to him. As for what he will do after knowing it, that's his business. Just like Prince Rui said, he just needs to not make trouble."

Meng Wan nodded, "I'm just worried that if the prince knows the truth about the past, he might think that he was fooled by the prince and do something impulsive, which would ruin our plan."

Zhou Yu smiled coldly, "Don't worry, he won't. He will only beat his chest and complain about everything. Maybe he will feel guilty and run to his mother's grave to drink a few sips. But he will never dare to confront the prince, or even tell Xie Qingzhong. Do you know why Grandmother can't tolerate Third Uncle so much?"

Meng Wan was stunned. Why was this brought up now?

"That's because Grandfather had long seen through the two sons Grandmother gave birth to who were not fit to run the family, and Third Uncle was better than them in every way, but the word 'bastard' made Third Uncle useless."

"Could it be that my grandfather had revealed his thoughts before?"

Zhou Yu nodded, then shook his head, "I don't know, this is what cousin Jun told me last time. Oh, let's not talk about it anymore, it's all in the past. If we chat too late, you don't have to wait for me, I'll sleep in the outer courtyard directly."

Meng Wan watched Zhou Yu leave the yard, thinking about the incident some time ago when the students reported King Jing, and Zhou Yu and Zhou Jun drank until very late before coming back.

It was also on that day that Meng Wan found out that it was Zhou Jun who instigated the students to submit a joint memorial. The two of them had decided on this matter long before she learned from Lin the truth about why Wang did not please Zhou Yiheng.

As the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, Zhou Jun was able to do a great job and protect the students.

Zhou Jun's words just now were probably the truth after drinking. Yes, if the old prince had married Zhou Jun's grandmother as he wished, then his father would have been the next prince. If that were the case, would everything be different?

This also indirectly proves that the old princess' genes are not good.

------

Outer courtyard, Zhou Yiheng’s study.

Ever since Mrs. Hu was imprisoned in the small courtyard in the northwest corner, Zhou Yiheng seldom returned to the inner house. The only time he went back was to visit the young lady born to Concubine Huan.

Early in the morning, Zhou Yu came to find me and said very seriously that he hoped to have a good chat with me in the evening and asked me to come back early no matter what.

Zhou Yiheng now has complicated feelings towards Zhou Yu. So many things have happened, especially the matter of the mother and son of the Hu family. Although the main reason was that King Jing was implicated, Zhou Yiheng did not believe that Zhou Yu was innocent of Zhou Zheng's death. But he could not ask more questions or even investigate in detail. After all, Zhou Zheng wanted to kill Zhou Yu in Laodao Cave, and he just lightly revealed it.

Sometimes he would feel like a failure, as his imagination was always so different from reality. He even regretted that he should have decided on Zhou Zheng's position earlier, so that Zhou Yu and her brother wouldn't have had such fantasies, leading to the things that happened later.

Now he could only maintain the status quo. He did not give a clear answer to what Xie Qingzhong said during the day. He would not think about it unless it was absolutely necessary. There was a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. Even if that day really came, he would never be able to make Li his legitimate wife.

Zhou Yiheng walked to the window and looked at the courtyard, where the servants slowly lit up the lanterns around the veranda. Zhou Yu walked towards the upper room step by step, facing the red light.

Zhou Yiheng frowned. At this moment, Zhou Yu looked too much like Wang. It had been fifteen or sixteen years, and Zhou Yiheng thought he had long forgotten what Wang looked like. But now, looking at Zhou Yu, that graceful Wang with her charming smile, curved eyebrows and a demure look suddenly appeared in his mind.

Zhou Yiheng narrowed his eyes and shook his head vigorously. He was thinking about the feasibility of what Xie Qingzhong said. It was not feasible to register Zhou Ming under the name of Wang's. Not to mention that Zhou Yingrong would definitely make trouble with him, even Wang Boyuan would not agree. Then there was only Hu's. If that was the case, he could not just leave Hu's side alone. He had to go through the process.

"Things in the court have changed a lot recently. You'd better go to Prince Rui less often if you don't have anything to do." Zhou Yiheng said while scraping the teacup gently.

Zhou Yu smiled softly, "It's time to exert your strength. Normally, even a little effort is invisible, but now, Prince Rui will remember it. If you don't move forward at this time, you'd be a fool."

Zhou Yiheng snapped the lid off the teacup and said, "Didn't you understand what I meant? I told you to stay still and don't run around. Also, tell your brother-in-law when you see him later, so that he doesn't bring trouble to our family."

"I don't understand what father is saying. What have I done and what has my brother-in-law done to bring trouble to our family? In the past, when I was hanging out with Gao Yang and his gang, you whipped me with a whip. Now, Li He is buried in the ground to be eaten by insects, and Gao Yang is now sweeping snow in Ningguta. I also know that I should do my job properly, but you told me to stay at home honestly. What's the logic?"

Zhou Yiheng looked at Zhou Yu's disdainful expression, especially when he stiffened his neck, he was exactly like Wang Shi, which was annoying.

"You know what I mean. You have never been close to me. No matter how much I say, it will be useless. I just want to tell you that if you have any problems in the future, don't blame me for not informing you in advance. And I'm putting it this way. It's not your turn to make the decision in the Prince Shen's Mansion."

"Don't worry, even if you take me to Caishikou one day, I will hang a sign saying, 'I don't know Zhou Yiheng'."

"You..." Zhou Yiheng raised his eyebrows and was about to stand up by slapping the table.

Zhou Yu waved his hands, "Don't be angry, don't be angry, your whip is not in this room. I just want to chat with you calmly today."

Zhou Yiheng snorted and sat back, taking a deep breath. "Tell me what you want to tell me. Is there anything else we can talk about?"

After hearing this, the indifferent smile on Zhou Yu's face suddenly disappeared. Haha, yes, the relationship between father and son has become like this, what is there to talk about.

"Yeah, we don't have much to talk about, but someone wants to talk to you."

"Who?" Zhou Yiheng frowned.

"It's outside. This is your territory. I dare not bring it in without your permission."

"Don't say those useless things, let someone in quickly, and finish your talk quickly, I still have things to do."

"It's so late, and my father is still busy. He is really worried about our Shen County Prince's Mansion. It seems that I can only let my eldest brother wait a little longer."

Zhou Yi was surprised, "How did you know?"

"How come I don't know? In fact, we all misunderstood. Your favorite son is not Zhou Zheng, but Zhou Ming, right?"

Seeing Zhou Yiheng about to speak, Zhou Yu smiled and said, "Let's not talk about this. It doesn't matter which son you like. You won't like me anyway. Then I'll call them in."

After saying that, he got up and left without waiting for Zhou Yiheng to say anything.

After a while, Zhou Yiheng saw four women coming in from the outer courtyard, including an old woman, two women of the same age as Hu, and a little girl of five or six years old.

Seeing the four people coming into the room, Zhou Yiheng frowned, "Zhou Yu, what are you singing about?"

Zhou Yu didn't respond, but waved his hand at two of them, "You two go wait outside first, and I'll tell you one thing at a time."

At this time, only the old man and the middle-aged woman were left in the room.

Seeing Zhou Yu nodded, the middle-aged woman stepped forward and bowed to Zhou Yiheng, "My Lord, it's been more than ten years since we last met. Your Majesty is still as energetic as ever."

Zhou Yiheng frowned and looked the woman up and down, "Who are you? Do we know each other?"

The woman raised her head and smiled bitterly, "I have changed so much over the years that the prince can hardly recognize me. I am the bride."

Xi Niang, Zhou Yiheng narrowed his eyes, this name sounded so familiar, but before he could think of it, Xi Niang said softly, "I serve Concubine Hui. From the time she met you in her hometown, to when she entered the Jing'an Palace in Beijing, and then later entered the palace, I have always been serving her."

Zhou Yiheng felt his head buzzing. He turned to look at Zhou Yu. How did he know? What was the purpose of him looking for this matchmaker? Did he know about his relationship with Qin Er? How much did he know?

Zhou Yu just lowered his head and fiddled with the teacup on the table, not even looking at him.

"You, why are you here? You are not..."

"Yes, when Concubine Hui got into trouble, I thought my life was gone. Later, thanks to the help of the noble, I returned to my hometown and lived a stable life. I have been waiting for the day to meet the prince for more than ten years. I just want to tell him the truth of that year so that I can breathe a sigh of relief."

Zhou Yiheng looked puzzled, "What truth? Who asked you to come?"

The bridesmaid smiled slightly and said, "Let me start from the day when Miss Qin and the Prince met."

Zhou Yiheng listened to the bridesmaid slowly recounting the story of how he and Qin'er met. It turned out that every encounter, every interaction, even what to wear and what to say, were all arranged in advance, specifically to suit Zhou Yiheng's preferences. In other words, before meeting Zhou Yiheng by chance, Qin'er's family had already thoroughly understood their ancestors and living habits.

Looking at Zhou Yiheng's half-open mouth in surprise, the bridesmaid smiled bitterly and said, "In order to completely capture the heart of the prince, Miss Qin'er felt it necessary to give you a strong dose of medicine. She asked me to serve you when you drank too much for the first time."

"You're talking nonsense, how could it be you? It was clearly Qin'er." Zhou Yiheng's neck turned red when he heard this.

"It was this servant, because Miss Qin'er knew the difference between her status and yours. She really didn't know if she could enter the Prince's Mansion as she wished, so she didn't dare to bet everything on you. But she had to make you pity her and be devoted to her, so it was this servant who served you."

After that, the bridesmaid told some details of that day, which left Zhou Yiheng stunned.

"Your Highness, there is a red bean-sized mole at the base of your leg. When I kissed that place, I said it was a lovesickness mole. Your Highness is not allowed to forget what happened that day."

Zhou Yiheng sat down with a plop. Zhou Yu looked up at him. Ha, it turned out that he had a mole there, a lovesickness mole. This matchmaker really knows how to seduce people.

Even after drinking, Zhou Yiheng would probably never forget the sweet words the boy and girl said when they first tasted the forbidden fruit.

"Impossible, how is it possible?" Zhou Yiheng shook his head, refusing to believe it.

"Later, Miss Qin waited for you for half a year but got no news from the capital, so she decided to run for the election. As for finding the prince in the capital, it was all her plan, because she had no money and needed to make arrangements. She said that only by holding on to you firmly can she gain a foothold in the Prince Jing's mansion."

The bridesmaid took a deep breath and continued, "And you didn't disappoint Miss Qin, and you met with her again and again. Miss Qin knew your weakness too well. She pretended to be obsessed with you, affectionate, and helpless. She cried in your arms every time, which made you blame yourself and pity her. But she comforted you, telling you not to worry about her, and told you to find a good girl and not to think about her anymore. She kept you hanging like this, but you couldn't let her go, and you were willing to give her enough money to take care of her.

"I can swear here to heaven that Miss Qin'er has no feelings for you at all, and everything is her calculation. Every time I come back from a date with you, I am scared to death, especially after entering Prince Jing's mansion, she still interacts with you and allows you to kiss and touch her. I am very scared, afraid of what to do if something happens. But Miss Qin'er said she is not afraid, and she is unwilling to give up two taels of meat to seduce the prince. She said that the prince is not only her silver treasury, but also when she really enters the palace in the future and gives birth to a son, the prince will be of great use to her. Later, Prince Jing really won, and she also entered the palace, and relied on your support to reach the position of concubine."

Zhou Yiheng's face was as red as a shrimp, thinking about the scenes of his secret meeting with Qin'er, the gentle words, the passionate kiss, and her squatting down to satisfy him... Was all this fake? Was she deceiving herself?

The bridesmaid stopped talking here and looked up at Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu stood up and said, "Go on. Among the four of us, only the prince doesn't know the truth."