Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

“I’m on duty,” Zhan Zheng joked, “of course I’m not going.”

Yu Miaoqi gently tapped him with her round fan: "What exactly happened?"

Zhan Zheng then said, "I have some business to attend to outside the city tomorrow, so I'm leaving early."

Zhan Zheng didn't elaborate, and Yu Miaoqi didn't ask further; she was very tactful in this matter.

Seeing his travel-worn appearance, Yin Yin suggested, "Brother, why don't you go and wash up first?"

Zhan Zheng looked at the dust on his body, got up, and asked someone to lead the way.

After he left, Yu Miaoqi sighed and placed the fan on the small table: "Your elder brother is also like that, acting on a whim. He suddenly ran out like that, leaving Wang Shi alone in the mansion. What kind of behavior is that?"

Seeing that her brows were furrowed again, Yin Yin quickly said, "Then Mother will have to say a few words to Big Brother later."

“Well, he has duties to perform, so it’s understandable,” Yu Miaoqi said, and then personally began to prepare the dishes for tonight’s dinner.

Seeing that she was busy, Yinyin pretended to go and get ready as well, and intercepted Zhanzheng on his way back from washing up.

Zhan Zheng laughed when he saw her posture: "Little sister, you came out to pick me up because you have something to say?"

"Big brother, don't laugh," Yin Yin said, displeased. "I have something very important to tell you."

"Okay, okay," Zhan Zheng readily agreed, looking at her earnestly, "Big brother will definitely listen carefully."

Yinyin gave a soft snort, signaling the servants to stand back before asking in a low voice, "Big brother, what exactly is going on between you and sister-in-law?"

Zhan Zheng was taken aback and avoided her gaze: "What? What happened?"

“You know perfectly well what I mean, brother,” Yin Yin glanced in the direction of Yu Miaoqi’s residence. “I just want to remind you that I can tell your relationship is not normal. Do you think Mother can’t see it?”

"Mother, she..." Zhan Zheng hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

"Mother is a little unhappy, but she still hopes you will get better," Yinyin sighed, deliberately exaggerating the situation. "Mother already suffers from summer heat, and worrying about you has made her lose weight."

“In the past, she could confide in me if she had any grievances. But when it comes to your marriage, she knows that I, as her sister, can't say anything, so she hasn't revealed a single word to me.”

"If I hadn't noticed her often staring blankly at your courtyard, and hadn't subtly asked Sister Hongfu a few questions, I probably wouldn't have guessed it!"

Seeing Zhan Zheng tighten his grip on the folding fan, Yin Yin pressed on, "I know you must have your own considerations, but without affecting your plans, could you perhaps give Mother a hint, so she won't worry so much about your relationship with your sister-in-law and lose her appetite?"

"Please consider this matter carefully, elder brother."

"Thank you for reminding me, sister," Zhan Zheng bowed formally to Yin Yin, his face showing a complex emotion. "This is not a secret. I only cared about my own face and didn't want Mother to worry, so I kept it from her."

Yin Yin's eyes flashed: "Then after we finish eating, I'll go back first. Big brother, you can find some time to talk to Mother properly. Once you've discussed it, just tell me how I'll face my sister-in-law."

Zhan Zheng didn't say anything, so Yin Yin took it as a yes. After finishing dinner and sitting for a while, Yin Yin said she wanted to go back and rest early.

Zhan Zheng glanced at her and said, "Yinyin, stay a little longer. If Mother wants to beat me, I hope you can stop her for me."

Yu Miaoqi looked at her son, then at her daughter who had sat down again: "What are you two siblings talking about?"

Zhan Zheng dismissed all the servants in the room, then lifted his robe and knelt before Yu Miaoqi: "Your son is unfilial and has failed your expectations, mother, in not being able to find you a satisfactory daughter-in-law."

Yu Miaoqi had a bad feeling. She didn't call Zhan Zheng to get up, but said with an ambiguous expression, "The fate between people is predetermined. You and Wang can't be a loving couple like others. There's nothing we can do about it."

Zhan Zheng shook his head with a wry smile: "Mother, I... Wang Yingman and I have never shared a room."

pat.

Yu Miaoqi's fan fell to the ground, and Yinyin suddenly realized that she seemed to have misheard something.

"What did you say?" Yu Miaoqi finally managed to find her voice after a long while.

Zhan Zheng lowered his eyelids and said, "After I went to the capital, I was appreciated by Prime Minister Wang and got engaged to Wang Yingman. Mother knows all of this."

"After the engagement was arranged, on one occasion when my son went to a banquet at the Wang family home, Wang Yingman suddenly came to our door and asked my son to break off the engagement with Prime Minister Wang on the grounds that she had problems. Only then did my son realize that Wang Yingman already had someone she liked."

Yu Miaoqi's expression turned much colder, and Yinyin, feeling a little worried, took her hand.

"When my son first came to the capital, he was able to suppress the Zhan family, thanks in large part to Prime Minister Wang's help. This marriage has already been arranged, so how could my son be a person who breaks his promise? Of course, he refused, only saying that if she could persuade Prime Minister Wang to take the initiative to cancel the engagement, my son would definitely agree."

"But the result... was that Wang Yingman married into the family."

“My son made an agreement with her that she should do what a Madam Zhan should do outside, and when the time is right, my son will…” Zhan Zheng glanced at Yu Miaoqi before saying, “arrange for her to fake her death and leave the capital to find her lover.”

"You!" Yu Miaoqi pointed at Zhan Zheng, her hand trembling with anger, but after catching her breath, she suddenly hugged her son and burst into tears.

Yin Yin was stunned by Zhan Zheng's words.

She forced herself to calm down and asked, "Brother, do you think Wang Xiangzhi knew about this?"

Yu Miaoqi's crying stopped.

“Perhaps, but I’m more inclined to believe that Prime Minister Wang was unaware,” Zhan Zheng said, gently stroking his mother’s back. “Prime Minister Wang has helped me a lot in my career. If he had known, he probably wouldn’t have treated me so well.”

There is some truth to that.

Yin Yin thought to herself that Wang Si's high regard for Zhan Zheng was obvious to all, and he had gone to great lengths to pave the way for him. If he had known that Wang Yingman had someone she liked and had even gone to see Zhan Zheng in private, Wang Si probably would never have let her marry into the Zhan family and make enemies of the Zhan family, or cause Zhan Zheng to harbor resentment towards him.

“Prime Minister Wang may not know, but Madam Wang certainly does,” Yu Miaoqi said coldly. “Wang Mama, who is said to have served Madam Wang for a long time, is her confidante.”

Yin Yin hesitated for a moment: "So who exactly is Wang Yingman's sweetheart, that she can be so captivated that she can't see anyone else?"

Putting everything else aside, Zhan Zheng's ability to become the male lead in a political drama demonstrates that he has no weaknesses in terms of looks, talent, or competence. This is why so many people like him, value him, and support him.

What kind of man could so easily defeat him?

A succubus has descended upon the world?