Marrying the Crown Prince

"Bring the man up," Zhou Laoda ordered.

Soon, a servant brought in a man who was bound hand and foot. He was forced to kneel on the cold floor tiles, his head bowed in humiliation.

But Zhong Xu still recognized him. His eyes widened, and overwhelmed with emotion, he quickly knelt beside the man. "Father, it's all my fault. Please forgive him."

She had initially thought he was a heartless person, but he turned out to be so loyal and devoted that Zhou Zhou began to look at him more seriously.

"What a pair of star-crossed lovers pursuing true love," Old Zhou clapped his hands and cheered. "It's just a pity that your affection was exchanged for the daughter of my Yongjing Marquis's mansion."

These words made Jingwenbo blush, and he kicked him in anger, yelling, "This is all your doing!"

Zhong Xu fell to the ground, wincing in pain. Seeing this, Lady Jingwen's heart tightened, and she hurried over to help her up.

“Since he was little, the Duke has disliked Xu’er and couldn’t be bothered to look at him. Now that he’s grown up, you remember he’s your son?” Lady Jingwen held her son and wept.

Lady Jingwen's words only fueled his anger, and he slapped her hard across the face. "It's all because you spoiled her!"

The slap stunned Lady Jingwen. She touched the handprint on her face and roared, "You dare hit me?"

"I've suffered so much for this family, and you, you ungrateful wretch, dare to hit me?"

As she spoke, she lunged at Uncle Jingwen and started fighting. Their children rushed to pull them apart.

At this moment, Lady Jingwen was no longer the imposing figure she had been a few days ago. Her hair was disheveled, her face bore several slap marks, her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked utterly wretched.

Jing Wenbo's face was also scratched with several bloody marks.

Feeling humiliated in front of the people of the Yongjing Marquis's residence, he looked at his wife with increasing disgust, "Madwoman, you madwoman!"

"Huh?" Lady Jingwen sneered. "I'm crazy? I..."

Her eldest daughter-in-law, Xu, fearing something might happen, quickly covered her mouth.

Jing Wenbo nodded in satisfaction and ordered, "Guards, the lady is unwell and needs to rest. No one is to disturb her."

"As for managing the household affairs, leave it all to the eldest son's wife."

Upon hearing this good news, Madam Xu's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly said with concern, "Mother, let me help you back."

Lady Jingwen broke free from her grasp, slapped Xu across the face, and spat fiercely, "Shut up, who do you think you are?"

Madam Xu covered her face, her delicate body trembling slightly, tears streaming down her face like beads, as if in disbelief, "Mother, what have I done wrong?"

When Zhong Laoda learned that his beloved wife had been beaten for no reason, he felt sorry for her and quickly hugged her into his arms. Although he didn't say a word, it was clear that he was also dissatisfied with his mother.

Seeing that Lady Jingwen had gone mad again, Lord Jingwen flew into a rage, shouting, "Quickly, drag her away!"

Seeing that Lady Jingwen had been gagged and dragged away, Madam Xu felt extremely relieved, as if she had vented all the resentment she had accumulated over the past few years.

What followed was much simpler. Zhong Xu was beaten up by Jingwenbo in front of everyone from the Yongjing Marquis's residence. As for Zhou Laosan's debt in the west of the city, Jingwenbo offered to waive it.

Zhou Laosan's eyes lit up, and he was about to agree when Zhou Laoda interrupted him, "Paying back debts is a matter of course."

Upon hearing Zhou Laoda's words, Jing Wenbo's eyes flickered. "We're all family, Brother Zhou, what you're saying is inappropriate."

Old Master Zhou waved his hand, "The Earl's Mansion is a distinguished family, so our Marquis of Yongjing Mansion will not try to climb the social ladder."

Upon hearing his words, Jing Wenbo quickly stood up, saying, "Brother Zhou, your words are an insult to me."

"The younger generation is just playing around, it's nothing like that."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Rong, who had been quiet all along, burst into laughter. As she laughed, tears welled up in her eyes, and her breathing became unsteady. She coughed heavily a few times before she could catch her breath.

Zhou Zhou was a little worried and reached out to pat her back to help her breathe.

She waved her hand to indicate to Zhou Zhou that she was alright, and then rolled up her sleeve.

All that could be seen was a skin-and-bones arm, and what was most shocking was that the scars on the arm were as horrifying as earthworms, spreading crookedly and twistedly across the arm.

Wang covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

Zhou Rong looked intently at Lord Jingwen, her gaze sharp. "Lord Lord, it is my greatest fortune to have married into the Lord Jingwen family and to be loved by you."

“Unfortunately, this marriage is not what Young Master Zhong desires, and Zhou Rong is unwilling to force it any further.” Zhou Rong knelt down with difficulty and bowed deeply, “I beg Your Excellency to grant my request.”

“It’s my Zhong family’s fault for letting you down, alas.” Uncle Jingwen sighed and helped the man up.

Zhou Rong seemed to have used up all her strength, collapsing into a chair and breathing heavily.

After that, things were much simpler. Zhou Rong was first taken back by people from the Yongjing Marquis's residence. After the New Year, the two families signed a divorce agreement. The betrothal gifts would not be returned, and the dowry would be returned to the Zhou family.

Seeing that Jingwenbo was a normal person, Zhou Zhou was willing to give him face and took out the indictment that the nanny had handed over.

The document is filled with instructions from Lady Jingwenbo on how to mistreat Zhou Rong, as well as her handprints.

Jing Wenbo immediately felt his face burning, as if he had been stripped naked and thrown into the street, feeling extremely embarrassed.

Just then, Shulan and Lelan were brought up. Neither of them had a single good spot on their bodies. When they saw Wang Shi, they kowtowed and admitted their mistakes, saying that they had failed to protect the young lady.

Upon seeing this, Jing Wenbo was overcome with anger, clutched his chest, and sat back down in his chair.

The alarm clock finally came to an end. Zhou Rong was taken back to the Yongjing Marquis's residence. As for Zhong Xu's sweetheart...

Zhou Zhou didn't inquire further, but judging from the look in Jing Wenbo's eyes that day, he probably...

In truth, he was a pitiful person in the whole affair; the one who was hateful was Zhong Xu.

It's tragic and lamentable that someone would marry the wrong person!

After that, life returned to normal. The only difference was that Zhou Zhou would visit Zhou Rong every day. Zhou Rong had seen a doctor the day she returned, who said that she was weak and needed to take good care of herself.

As for having children, things will be much more difficult in the future.

Zhou Rong was not surprised, after all, she had not been able to rest properly since the miscarriage.

Wang, however, was afraid that Zhou Rong might do something rash, so she asked Zhou Zhou to spend more time with her.

It was really awkward for the two of them to sit facing each other, so Zhou Zhou simply brought his needlework to do, and Zhou Rong ended up doing it too.

Zhou Rong's skills were better than Zhou Zhou's, so she was able to give Zhou Zhou a few pointers.

Zhou Zhou was clever; in just five days, her embroidery skills were noticeably different from before.

Zhou Rong exclaimed in admiration, "So you didn't practice at all before?"

Zhou Zhou touched his nose—ashamed, it was indeed so.

Time slipped by with each stitch, and soon it was New Year's Eve.

Zhou Rong was also wrapped in layers of clothing by Wang Shi and walked out of the room.