Marrying the Crown Prince

Soft white clouds dot the azure sky, fluffy and cozy like a warm quilt.

When the tall, thin old woman saw Zhou Zhou and the others come out, still holding some unidentified object, she immediately jumped up and said, "Girl, you can't bear to part with this."

Before Zhou Zhou could utter a word, the old woman who was drinking with her started to take action and quickly tied her up.

She was pinned to the ground, writhing and screaming, "How dare you! I am a member of the Jingwen Marquis's household, you..."

Before she could finish speaking, she was slapped hard across the face.

She didn't seem to learn her lesson after being slapped, and started cursing: "You little whore, how dare you use torture..."

Before she could finish speaking, the old woman slapped her ten times across the face, one on each side, until she was trembling and dared not utter another word.

She coughed up blood, tears streaming down her face, her previous arrogance completely gone.

Seeing that everyone had quieted down, the head nanny nodded in satisfaction. "Just answer whatever my young lady asks you."

"Are there only the two of you serving in the room? Where are the others?" Zhou Zhou asked coldly.

“Ever since the young mistress offended the madam, the people she brought from the Marquis’s mansion have been gradually transferred away,” the old woman answered indistinctly. “Now, there are only five people left to serve her.”

"Bullshit! Where did these five people come from?" Zhou Heng cursed.

Upon hearing Zhou Heng's voice, the old woman flinched and quickly explained, "Everyone else has gone out to play."

It was really her bad luck; today it was her turn to stay behind and guard the door, watching over Zhou Rong...

Seeing that they were all sycophants who bullied their masters, Zhou Zhou didn't bother to ask any more questions, and left after saying a few words.

"Don't get yourself killed."

"Girl, girl, spare me, girl..." the old woman screamed in terror, but her mouth was covered by the nanny.

Zhou Heng hurried to catch up, and when they reached the courtyard gate, she looked back curiously and saw the old woman being pressed down in the snow and doused with a basin of water.

She quickly looked away, stealing a cautious glance at Zhou Zhou—she had known since childhood that Zhou Zhou was different from her, but couldn't quite put her finger on why. Now she truly understood.

When Zhou Heng was a child, she was scolded by her eldest son, Zhou Laoda, for not liking to study. At that time, Zhang Shi held her and wiped away her tears while arguing with Zhou Laoda, "If you want to continue the family's glory, you need two things: the men in the front hall and the women in the harem."

“The former has Bai’er, and the latter has Zhouzhou, so why make Heng’er suffer this hardship as well?”

Zhou Laoda was speechless after being rebuked and had no choice but to give up.

After this ordeal, Zhou Heng no longer had to study hard in the mornings, and she became even kinder to Zhou Zhou, believing that Zhou Zhou had suffered for her sake.

Of course, not only Zhou Heng thought so, but Zhang also thought so.

Noticing Zhou Heng's complicated gaze, Zhou Zhou suppressed her aura and returned to her original appearance. "Let's go, it's time to go back to find Aunt."

As Zhou Zhou had expected, the front hall was already in an uproar. When Zhou Zhou and his companions appeared, Lady Jingwen finally realized what was happening. "Well done, what a clever move to relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao! I underestimated your Yongjing Marquis's mansion."

"To have such cunning at such a young age, if anyone says that your Yongjing Marquis's mansion has no successor, I will be the first to disagree."

Hearing her incoherent words, Zhang's face turned cold. "In-law, I'm giving you face by calling you in-law, so don't be so shameless!"

"It's your son's business if he likes men and keeps them as mistresses. What? Do you expect us to clean up his mess?"

"Is he perhaps planning to marry into our Yongjing Marquis's household?" Madam Zhang said, hands on her hips. "Although our Yongjing Marquis's household doesn't need him, it's a pity that your son is ugly and probably can't handle the job."

Zhou Heng blinked, it was the first time she had heard Zhang curse.

The other people from the Yongjing Marquis's residence, including the servants who had come along, all covered their mouths and laughed.

"This is outrageous! This is outrageous!" Lady Jingwen screamed. "This is the Jingwen Marquis's residence! Guards! Guards! Where have you all been? Throw them all out!"

"Get them out—"

The servants gathered around, but dared not actually make a move. Just then, Zhang Shi, seeing that the matter was settled, decided not to stay any longer.

She gave a light hum and flicked her sleeve, "Mother-in-law, please stay. There's no need to see me off."

A casual remark disgusted Madam Jingwen.

Zhong Xu, however, was quick-witted and stopped his mother, saying, "Mother, we can't let them leave. Zhou Rong is in their hands."

Lady Jingwen, who had just been momentarily stunned, snapped back to reality after being reminded by Zhong Xu, and shouted, "Stop them!"

Madam Zhang smiled and said, "I am a first-rank imperial consort personally appointed by the Emperor. I'd like to see who dares to stop me."

After saying this, Zhang took a step forward to clear the way, and the servants all stepped back as well.

Seeing their reaction, Zhang turned to look at Lady Jingwen, her eyes full of provocation.

"Fine, fine!" Lady Jingwen laughed angrily. "Is this how it's going to be?"

After saying that, she rolled up her sleeves and rushed over, but was grabbed by the hair by Madam Du.

When it comes to fighting, how can people living in big mansions compare to those who make it in the business world?

"Ah—!" Lady Jingwen screamed in agony, "Are you all dead?"

If word got out that your master was beaten up right under your nose, everyone would laugh at you.

But the servants were all men and dared not move, so only a few old women hurriedly pulled people away.

Seeing that a fight had broken out, the nanny that Zhou Zhou had brought also joined in.

When Zhong Xu saw his mother being bullied, he rushed over as well. The old women had already received orders and were just waiting for him to walk into their trap.

Zhong Xu soon noticed something: his mother wanted to slap Du Shi, but for some reason, someone pushed him and his mother slapped him in the face instead.

Du was about to punch his mother when he tried to stop her, but someone grabbed his sleeve and punched him in the stomach.

While the front hall was in chaos, the two old women who had stayed in Zhou Rong's courtyard quietly returned and stuffed a piece of paper with a charge against Zhou Zhou.

Just as Zhou Zhou was about to take it out, he heard a roar, "Stop!"

What are you doing?

The strong voice made everyone stop what they were doing, but of course, Madam Du and Lady Jingwen were still pulling at their hair.

When Zhou Laoda saw that even his usually well-behaved wife was disheveled, he found it somewhat amusing. He touched his nose to suppress his laughter and waved to Du Shi, "Sister-in-law, let go quickly."

Seeing this, Lord Jingwen was so angry that his nose almost twisted. He scolded his wife, "Why aren't you letting go? What kind of behavior is this?"

The men arrived, and soon the broken teacups and overturned tables in the front hall were all cleaned up. The young ladies and wives also tidied themselves up and reappeared in the main hall.

Zhou Rong also sat in the chair with a pale face. Although she was weak, she did not show any fear. She looked at the people from the Jingwen Marquis's Mansion with determination and calmness.