divorce

After Zhong Lou left Zhong Yuxi's yard, he happened to run into Madam Zhou returning home. He was about to talk to Madam Zhou about Zhong Yuxi and let her register Zhong Yuxi under her name, so he asked her to follow him to the study.

Seeing Zhong Ningning following, Zhong Lou said sternly: "What are you doing following me, a child? Your mother and I want to discuss something important."

But Zhong Ningning insisted on following, and Zhong Lou had no choice but to allow her to follow him into the study.

"I want to..." Before Zhong Lou could tell her the purpose, Zhou said, "I want a divorce."

Zhong Lou never expected that Zhou would actually propose a divorce, and his face instantly darkened: "What did you say?"

Zhou was now confident and not afraid of the bell tower. She repeated, "I want a divorce."

"I don't agree, have you forgotten..." Zhong Lou threatened.

"Whether you agree or not, I will divorce you. I'll see you at the government office in three days." After saying that, Zhou took Zhong Ningning out of the study.

Zhou took the people she brought with her when she got married and carried away the dowry. As for the money she paid for the Zhong family, she did not want back a single cent as she thought it was unlucky.

A few hours later, Zhou and Zhong Ningning's yard was empty, with nothing left.

As for where to live, Lin Yan originally wanted to invite them to stay at the Lin Mansion, but Zhou refused. She was not short of money, so she turned around and bought a mansion next to the Lin Mansion.

Zhong Lou heard the noise in the mansion all morning and sneered. He felt that Zhou was bluffing just to get him to drive Zhong Yuxi away. It was impossible for Zhong Yuxi to leave now, and divorce was also impossible.

Thinking of this, the bell tower sent a message to the Empress Dowager in the palace, saying, "Don't even think about getting a divorce."

Three days later, Dali Temple

In the court, the Dali Temple official sat at the head of the table and shouted, "Call the plaintiff, the defendant, and the witnesses!"

Zhou, Zhong Ningning and Zhong Lou were summoned to the court. Zhong Lou frowned when he saw Lin Yi sitting beside them. He remembered that Zhong Ningning and Lin Yi had a close relationship.

There was no fear in Zhong Ningning's eyes. It was the first time she saw Lin Yi in official uniform, and she felt a little curious.

But when he saw the Grand Court Minister in the hall, he calmed down again, thinking that the Empress Dowager would help him.

The Chief Justice of the Dali Temple was also helpless. He knew that Miss Zhong and Lin Yi had some connections, and Lin Yi and the Regent were on the same side. However, the Empress Dowager secretly issued an order not to allow Zhou to divorce Zhong Lou, so he was caught between two sides.

In the end, he could only gamble that Lin Yi would not move out the Regent for Miss Zhong Er. Besides, the Empress Dowager was the one who raised His Majesty. Even if Lin Yi moved out the Regent, His Royal Highness the Regent should not make things difficult for the Empress Dowager.

"Zhonglou, Mrs. Zhou accused you of committing adultery with her sister, Mrs. Mei, and raising the child born out of adultery. Will you plead guilty?"

Zhong Lou knelt down and said, "This is nonsense, I am not guilty."

"Witness Dr. Ma, do you have anything to say?"

Doctor Ma: "When Mei came to see me, she was already two months pregnant, but she had only been married for less than a month. These medical records are evidence."

"Bell Tower, do you have anything to say?"

Zhonglou: "How do you prove that the child is mine?"

Madam Zhou knelt down and said, "I have evidence. There was a maid named Axia by Mei's side back then. She knew that Mei had... "

Axia was Mei's second-class maid. When Zhou discovered that there was something fishy going on between Mei and Zhonglou, Madam Zhou rescued her, sold her out of the house, and has kept her until today.

Zhonglou didn't expect that Zhou actually had this trick up her sleeve, and hurriedly looked at the Dali Temple Minister.

A maid from so many years ago cannot be used as evidence.

Zhong Lou heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this, but the Dali Temple Chief Justice could actually say such a ridiculous thing. Lin Yi was speechless. This old man really didn't disappoint him.

Zhou, do you have any evidence?

When Madam Zhou heard the Dali Temple official say this, she knew that the other party was from the bell tower and said nothing more, "I don't have any..."

In that case, please leave.

Zhou looked at her daughter, her eyes indicating what to do.

Zhong Ningning: “Don’t worry.”

At this time, the official outside the door shouted loudly: "The Regent is here."

The Dali Temple Minister was so frightened that his official hat almost fell off. He hurriedly walked down the platform and bowed to Song Yizhou, "What wind brings you here, Your Highness?"

Song Yizhou sat up and said casually: "I have nothing to do, so I came to see where the investigation is going so far."

Lin Yi, who was sitting below, twitched his lips, feeling that Song Yizhou was a little out of tune at the moment.

Who does she look like? Yes, she looks like my elder sister.

The Dali Temple Minister wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead and said, "Your Highness, the trial is over."

"Oh~ Is the trial really over?" Song Yizhou glanced at the Dali Temple Minister.

The Dali Temple Minister suddenly said, "No, no, I'm just waiting for you to come and try me."

"In that case, how far have we come?"

Zhong Ningning: "Your Highness, we have a witness, Axia, who proves that my father committed adultery with Mei."

"pass"

A-Xia came to the court, knelt down and said, "That year, I saw with my own eyes Master Zhong and Mei in bed, on the bed..."

Song Yizhou: "Zhonglou, do you have anything else to say?"

"Lies" When Zhong Lou saw Song Yizhou coming, he still held out a glimmer of hope, hoping that the other party was not here for Zhong Ningning.

Unfortunately, the result was not what he wanted. Song Yizhou smiled and said, "Are you talking about me?"

"Come here, insult your superior in public and be beaten with twenty sticks."

Zhong Lou said in panic, "No, I didn't, that's not what I meant."

But how could he stop Song Yizhou's decision, and was beaten with the stick twenty times.

After Zhonglou was dragged up, he was dying. Seeing that he was almost dead, Song Yizhou said, "Zhonglou committed adultery with his sister, which is unacceptable to the world. I hereby order his wife Zhou to divorce him and divorce him."

He simply convicted the bell tower of a crime, which was even more perfunctory than the judgment of the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple.

After saying that, Song Yizhou took Zhong Ningning and his group away, leaving the Dali Temple Minister standing there sweating profusely. He asked Lin Yi, who had not left yet: "Old...can I still keep my official position?"

This Dali Temple Minister is originally an incompetent person who only curry favor with the powerful. If there had not been so much controversy about Lin Yi in the court back then, it would be Lin Yi who is sitting in the position of Dali Temple Minister now.

"May you have good luck." Lin Yi also looked down on the Dali Temple Minister. After saying that, he left, leaving behind a chaotic scene and a group of people who were gossiping and talking about it.

In less than half a day, everyone in the capital knew that Prime Minister Zhong Lou had committed adultery with his sister and gave birth to a daughter, Zhong Yuxi.

"Have you heard that the Minister of Rites, Zhong Lou, committed adultery with his own sister? Even though they were not biological, it was still a great crime of treason."

"Ms. Zhou is truly pitiful. Her family has been practicing medicine for generations. Her father was a top-rank physician at the Imperial Hospital. How could Zhong Lou be worthy of Zhou? It was because of her status that Zhong Lou did such a ridiculous thing."

"Mrs. Zhou is truly wronged. She heard that after her daughter went missing, Mrs. Zhong brought the illegitimate child into the house and even wanted to register that child under her name, making her a legitimate daughter."

"So then Zhong Yuxi isn't a good person either. I initially heard that the second Miss Zhong was both talented and beautiful, gentle and intelligent, but that must have been fake. A while ago, I even wanted to ask for her hand in marriage on behalf of my son."

"Didn't anyone notice that when Zhong Lou and Zhou were in court, the Regent was backing Zhou? Zhou is so powerful that he could even invite the Regent."

"I heard that Miss Zhong is involved with the Dali Temple Shaoqing. I think she is the regent invited by the Dali Temple Shaoqing."

"Miss Zhong is so lucky to have met so many powerful people."

The Zhong Mansion became the topic of conversation after dinner for everyone in the capital, but most of them criticized the Zhong Mansion for being unkind. Talk about Zhou and Zhong Ningning was very rare, and this was of course fueled by Lin Yan and others.

With the intimidation of the Regent, Zhong Lou no longer had the courage to divorce Zhou. He was so scared that he did not dare to delay for a moment and went to the government to submit the documents and divorce Zhou.

Zhong Lou racked his brains but never imagined that Zhong Ningning could actually get the support of the Regent.

Gu Shi was also a little surprised by this. Zhong Ningning's presence in his eyes was too low, so he had never paid attention to her.

It was not until his men came to report that he learned that Lin Yan, who was close to Zhong Ningning, had too close a relationship with the Regent, and there must be something he didn't know.

After the divorce was settled, Zhong Ningning's uncle Zhou Qi rushed to the capital. Knowing that his sister had suffered so much injustice, he wanted to kill the bell tower.

Although he couldn't kill Zhong Lou, Zhou Qi spent a lot of money to beat him up, and only then did he get rid of his anger.

However, what shocked many people was that Zhonglou actually married Mei's tablet into his home and told others that Mei was the person he had always wanted to marry, and now he finally got his wish.

Everyone in the capital sighed. Some said Zhong Lou was a lovesick man, while others said he was insincere.

Zhong Yuxi also transformed herself from the second Miss Zhong to the child born out of wedlock, and now to the eldest Miss Zhong.

Zhong Ningning felt disgusted when she knew what Zhong Lou had done, but she was no longer called Zhong Ningning, but Zhou Ningning.

After my uncle went to Beijing, he wanted to take my mother and her back to Wenzhou, where the Zhou family could take good care of them.

Zhou had this idea, but she knew that her daughter was reluctant to leave her good friends in Beijing, so she rejected Zhou Qi's proposal and said, "I'm used to living in Beijing and I won't go to Wenzhou."

Zhou Ningning's eyes lit up when she heard her mother say this.

Of course Zhou Qi knew who his sister was doing this for, and nodded Zhou Ningning's head, "You ungrateful little bastard, you don't want to go back to Wenzhou to be with your uncle. Your cousin misses you."

Zhong Ningning hugged Zhou Qi's arm and acted coquettishly, "Uncle, when I have time, my mother and I will go to Wenzhou to accompany you and my cousin."

Zhou Qi looked helpless as if he couldn't do anything to Zhou Ningning. He then took out the land deed and handed it to Zhou, "These are the Zhou family's pharmacies and medicine shops in the capital. They are enough for you to live a good life in the capital. If anything happens in the future, the Zhou family will always be your backing."

Zhou refused to take it, saying, "These are all the properties that the Zhou family had in the capital in the early years. I can't have them."

Zhou Qi: "You are my sister, and the Zhou family's things are yours. Besides, these can be used as a dowry for Ningning in the future. Don't delay it."

In the end, Zhou accepted the land deeds and looked at Zhou Qi with tears in her eyes. However, what worried her more was whether the Zhou family would be affected by her divorce.

Zhou Qi wondered why his sister asked this. He had been in Wenzhou for many years and didn't know much about the affairs in the capital. He thought that Zhou's divorce was due to the power of Zhonglou and he did not agree to the divorce.

Zhou told the Empress Dowager that there was someone behind the bell tower.

After hearing this, Zhou Qi's face changed. He glanced at Zhou Ningning who was looking puzzled, and calmly changed the subject, "I heard that His Royal Highness the Regent helped you solve such a big problem as divorce. Why would he help you?"

Mrs. Zhou looked at Zhou Ningning, asking her if she could speak, and Zhou Ningning nodded.

"Ningning was lost in her early years. The sister she recognized, Lin Yan, grew up with the Regent. The Regent was like a half-brother to Ningning."

Zhou Qi didn't expect that Aning would have such a close relationship with the Regent, but this was not a good thing for the Zhou family. The worry in his eyes became even worse.

He didn't notice that his expression changed since Zhou mentioned the Empress Dowager. Zhou Ningning had been staring at him. Later, when Song Yizhou was mentioned, the emotions in Zhou Qi's eyes did not escape Zhou Ningning's eyes at all.

At night Zhou Qi secretly went to Zhou's yard.

When Zhou saw her brother coming suddenly, she said in surprise: "It's so late, do you have anything else to do?"

Zhou Qi said with a serious expression, "Awan, you can't stay in the capital anymore. Tomorrow, I will take you away."

"Why?" Zhou Wan was puzzled. "Didn't you agree to leave during the day? Why did you suddenly say you wanted to leave?"

Zhou Qi knew that if he didn't tell her a reason, Awan would definitely not leave with him, so he had no choice but to tell her the truth.

"Awan, do you know why my father suddenly resigned from his official position and left the capital with his family, not allowing anyone in the Zhou family to hold an official position?"

Facing Zhou's puzzled gaze, Zhou Qi said: "Because the death of the late prince was related to my father."

Zhou's face turned pale instantly, "What do you mean?"

“Back then, the Crown Prince was imprisoned and fell ill. The Empress Dowager threatened my father with the lives of dozens of members of the Zhou family, asking him to poison the late Crown Prince so that he would die suddenly and unnoticeably.

My father is the best doctor in the imperial city, and almost no one can find out the cause of death of the late crown prince. This is why the empress dowager came to him.

At that time, my father had no choice. If he didn't give it to her, the Zhou family would fall. If he gave it to her, it would be discovered in the future and the Zhou family would fall as well. In the end, my father had no choice but to give the poison to the Empress Dowager.

"The Zhou family is wealthy and powerful, why do they believe that the Queen Mother can bring down the Zhou family so easily?" Zhou didn't understand.

Zhou Qi closed his eyes and said, "Because it was the Empress Dowager who raided Concubine Wan's house."

Zhou was speechless for a moment. The late emperor doted on Prince An so much that he even intended to depose the crown prince and make Prince An the crown prince. If Concubine Wan's maternal family fell so easily, wouldn't it be even easier for the Zhou family?

"Father tried to remedy the situation later. After the Crown Prince died and Prince An left the capital, the Empress Dowager was about to take action against the then Crown Prince, now Your Majesty.

My father knew that he had let down the Crown Prince's family, so when the Empress Dowager asked him to repeat the same trick, he took a gamble and added a medicinal herb to the poison he had given the Crown Prince, causing him to vomit it out.

Fortunately, the Regent Prince Song Yizhou suddenly returned to the capital, causing the Empress Dowager to panic and not discover what my father had done. Afterwards, Prince Jing plotted a rebellion, and my father resigned from his official position and returned home with the entire Zhou family. He didn't die of illness, but committed suicide to atone for the sins of the late Crown Prince."

"It's a pity that you were already married at that time. What I didn't expect was that Zhong Lou was actually the person behind the Queen Mother. I think the Queen Mother probably wanted you to hold the Zhou family back so she stopped you from getting a divorce."

"Awan, come back to the Zhou family with me. The Queen Mother could do anything to you at any time. If the truth is revealed, we will all die."

Zhou slumped on the couch and said tiredly: "Let me think about it."

Zhou Qi: “Okay.”

He left Zhou alone in the room to think carefully, opened the door and went back into the room, not noticing that Zhou Ningning was hiding in the dark and heard everything.

Zhou Ningning's mind was in a mess at the moment. She didn't know what to do with such a big thing. "Yes, sister, go find me."

After saying that, Zhou Ningning hurried towards the Lin Mansion.