Marrying the Crown Prince

Before Zhou Zhou could speak, the rough-looking old woman who had followed immediately stepped forward, pulled the person off Zhou Zhou, and held her down tightly.

Another old woman came forward and slapped the old woman twice across the face, leaving two handprints. "Who do you think you are, daring to pull at our young lady's clothes?"

The old woman tried to open her mouth to curse, but someone next to her stuffed a handkerchief right under her throat.

Zhou Zhou brushed off the sleeve that had just been pulled, his tone still calm, "In the end, you are still a member of the Jingwen Marquis's family, so send you to the Jingwen Marquis's wife's place."

The old woman's eyes widened, but she was dragged away by two nannies.

Zhou Zhou watched their retreating figures, a smile playing on her lips—"The front hall is now in your hands, Auntie."

She regained her composure, turned around and pulled the stunned Zhou Heng to her side, saying affectionately, "Oh dear, I was so scared just now, thankfully Fifth Sister was here with me."

Zhou Heng: "..."

You don't have to.

"Let's go, let's go find Second Sister together." Zhou Zhou led Zhou Heng away.

To be honest, this was Zhou Zhou's first time visiting the Jingwen Earl's Mansion. The reason she knew the way was that she had asked Wang Shi for a map before coming to the mansion.

Of course, I don't recognize other places, but I can roughly guess the location of Zhou Rong's courtyard.

Zhou Rong was, after all, still the wife of the most beloved son of Lady Jingwen, so the place where she lived was not remote, but rather desolate, and the servants avoided it like the plague.

Zhou Zhou gestured for the old woman to knock on the door. After knocking for quite a while, someone finally responded, "Coming, coming, trying to summon the soul!"

The door creaked open, revealing a tall, thin old woman with a somewhat harsh expression. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

Once she saw who it was, the anger on her face disappeared, and she asked suspiciously, "Who are you?"

Zhou Zhou wasn't angry at all, and said very politely, "We are young ladies from the Yongjing Marquis's mansion, and we've come to see our elder sister."

The tall, thin old woman didn't quite believe it, after all, a while ago the Lady of Jingwen had ordered that the young mistress was ill and should rest quietly in the courtyard.

“You see, my aunt only told my sister to rest quietly, she didn’t say that we weren’t allowed to come and visit her.”

After hearing Zhou Zhou's words, the old woman also felt that he made sense. Besides, without the lady's consent, the two girls would not have been able to find this place.

Thinking this, she stepped aside, saying, "It was this old servant who was blind and didn't recognize your greatness; I deserve to die."

Zhou Zhou smiled and nodded in response, his eyes turning cold: He truly deserved to die.

The old woman seemed to have noticed something, and looked up at Zhou Zhou, but couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.

As Zhou Zhou walked, he struck up a conversation with them, "Where are my sister's Shulan and Lelan?"

"These two maids didn't serve well, so they were sent to the woodshed," the old woman replied.

Upon hearing the answer, Zhou Heng's anger flared instantly, but Zhou Zhou grabbed her wrist, her voice remaining calm.

"If that's the case, then they certainly deserve to be punished."

At this point, they arrived at Zhou Rong's room, which was tightly closed and devoid of any sign of life.

Zhou Zhou's hand twitched slightly, and she said calmly, "Granny, my sister and I would like to have a private talk."

The old woman hesitated for a moment, then the nanny who had come over slipped a silver ingot into her hand, saying, "This little bit of silver is for you to have a drink, sister."

It felt heavy in my hand; it was clearly a whole ten-tael silver coin.

She swallowed hard. "When the girls are speaking, it's only right for a servant like me to step aside. It's only right."

After saying that, the old woman smiled and pushed open the door, then tactfully left. Before leaving, she called to another little girl who was sweeping in the yard to come with her.

Zhou Zhou turned her head to look at the old woman at the head of the group, and she nodded in response.

After Zhou Zhou and Zhou Heng went inside, two of the old women stayed at the door to guard it, while the other two went to chat with the tall, thin old woman, and the rest left the courtyard.

The room was cold and damp, without a single charcoal fire. Zhou Zhou frowned slightly, his eyes growing even colder.

Hearing the noise, Zhou Rong slowly sat up from the bed. Seeing her two younger sisters, she was both surprised and ashamed.

"Cough cough," she began with difficulty, her voice filled with sorrow, "Why are you all here?"

Seeing her sister, who was gentle and considerate just a few years ago, now so heartbroken, Zhou Heng couldn't hold back any longer. She went over and took Zhou Rong's hand, only to find it ice-cold and boneless.

Having roughly guessed the suffering Zhou Rong had been enduring recently, Zhou Heng's eyes welled up with tears, half out of heartache and half out of resentment, "Why couldn't we come?"

Listening to the two of them talking, Zhou Zhou sighed silently. He wanted to pour Zhou Rong a cup of hot water, but the kettle on the table was completely empty.

Finally, Zhou Zhou, who had been holding back all the way, snapped and threw the kettle down, yelling, "This is outrageous!"

The two people standing nearby, holding hands and gazing at each other with tears in their eyes, were startled. Zhou Heng, tears still streaming down her face, sobbed, "Zhouzhou, you...you..."

Having never seen Zhou Zhou like this before, Zhou Heng was speechless for a moment.

Zhou Rong lowered her head in self-consciousness and gave a self-deprecating laugh, "I've made my two younger sisters laugh at me."

Since she had already broken her act, Zhou Zhou simply stopped pretending, raised her head and looked directly at Zhou Rong, her eyes filled with ruthlessness, "Whether it's funny or not is not up to you, sister."

After speaking, Zhou Zhou asked a crucial question, "Does my sister have the indentures for Shulan and Lelan?"

It would be best if we could take both of them away from the Jingwen Marquis's residence today. If that's not possible, we must at least ensure their safety to the greatest extent possible.

“It’s with me,” Zhou Rong replied.

Since that's the case, Zhou Zhou stood up and asked, "Where is it?"

"I put it in the hidden door of the wardrobe."

After hearing this, Zhou Zhou opened the door and said to the old woman guarding the room, "Thank you for your trouble."

"What are you saying, young lady?" the two old women asked with smiles, and then followed them into the house.

One of them opened the wardrobe and pulled out two coats and a cloak, which the other quickly took and wrapped around Zhou Rong.

Zhou Rong instinctively cooperated, but her mind was blank. "What's going on?"

“Of course, I’m here to take my sister home.” Zhou Zhou walked step by step to Zhou Rong’s side, looked at Zhou Rong who was wrapped up so that only her head was visible, and nodded with satisfaction.

"It's a bit cold outside, Second Sister, please bear with it." As she spoke, she placed her hand warmer next to Zhou Rong's hand. The warmth of the hand warmer warmed Zhou Rong's heart.

Just then, the indenture was also found, and Zhou Zhou took it and put it away.

Another nanny pulled out a cloak, smiling as kindly as possible, "Second Miss, you are frail and cannot withstand the wind, please bear with it."

After saying that, she put the cloak over Zhou Rong, covering her entire body, including her head.

Then, Zhou Rong was picked up by her.

Stepping out of the room, a cold wind blew in, making Zhou Zhou tighten his collar and look up at the sky.