After seeing off Zhou Laoda and his two companions, the prefect summoned his subordinates and said, "Send a few men to keep watch around the Zhou family to ensure their safety. Also, send them another thousand taels of silver."

"Yes, I will take care of it right away."

Zhou Laoda, holding Xingxing, walked slowly down the street with Zhao Guihua. Both of them seemed a little lost in thought, as if they were pondering something.

"Dad, Xingxing wants to eat that sugar figurine, and she wants to eat that too." Only Xingxing seemed unaffected, her mind and eyes only focused on food.

"Okay, I'll buy it for you right now," Old Zhou said absentmindedly as he took out his money.

A sedan chair approached from a distance, with two guards leading the way. Madam Zhong was resting with her eyes closed inside the sedan chair when she suddenly heard a familiar baby voice outside. After thinking for a moment, she opened her eyes and lifted the curtain to take a look.

Oh, no wonder that voice sounded familiar. It really is someone I know. Isn't that little girl Zhou Xingxing?

"Stop the sedan chair." Madam Zhong had the sedan chair stopped by the roadside, then got out and walked towards Zhou Laoda and the other two.

When Madam Zhong arrived, she was followed by two guards, making her quite conspicuous. Zhao Guihua turned around and saw her immediately. She looked surprised and asked, "Madam Zhong, what are you doing here?"

What a coincidence!

"I just happened to be passing by and saw you, so I came down to say hello. When did you arrive in the prefectural city? Why didn't you come to the Zhong residence to look for me?" Madam Zhong said with a gentle smile.

"I've only been here for two days, and some urgent matters have come up, so I haven't had a chance to pay my respects to you yet," Zhao Guihua replied.

"Hello Grandma Zhong, it's so nice to see you here. Here, have this sugar figurine." Xingxing had just tasted it and found it a bit too sweet, so she didn't want to eat it anymore and wanted to give it away.

"No need, you can have it yourself. Grandma is old and her teeth aren't good, so she can't eat too much sugar." Madam Zhong didn't take the candy.

"Alright then, Xingxing can eat it herself." Let's take it back to Tangguo instead. She likes all sweet candies, she's not picky at all, and she's very easy to feed.

"There's no time like the present, why don't you all come with me to my residence now? This morning I had the kitchen prepare some specialties from Nanyang Prefecture, as well as some exquisite pastries. You can all try them. Come on, come on, you'll be missing out if you don't come and eat!" After saying this, Madam Zhong really pulled Zhou Laoda and the other two to the Zhong residence.

Unable to refuse, and thinking there was nothing else to do back home, Zhou and his two companions went directly to the Zhong residence.

The Zhong family was indeed a prominent and wealthy household. Just by looking at their magnificent gate, one could tell how rich they were. But that wasn't the main point. The main point was that the people from the Zhong family led Zhou Laoda and his two companions through the main gate.

Yes, they entered the Zhong residence through the main gate, which greatly flattered Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua. People of their status would not have needed to enter through the side gate, but they did not expect that Madam Zhong valued them so much that she would let them enter through the main gate.

Zhao Guihua felt even more guilty about her previous suspicions about Madam Zhong. She felt ashamed that Madam Zhong had treated her this way.

"Wow, the Zhong family mansion is so big! What a beautiful garden!" Xingxing exclaimed like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, her eyes shining as she looked around at every plant and tree.

However, while she praised it on the surface, she had a subtle feeling in her heart, as if she had seen a larger garden, lived in a larger courtyard, and seen a higher and more majestic wall.

Sigh, perhaps that was her former home, but she really couldn't remember where her home was. Even when she occasionally remembered that she wasn't Zhou's biological child and that her biological parents were someone else, she didn't feel too sad, nor did she have the intention to search for them, since there was no way to find them anyway.

"If you like it here, you can come visit me anytime. I'll always welcome you," Madam Zhong said with a smile, looking at the stars.

Besides his first wife, Master Zhong also had three concubines, each residing in a separate courtyard. Among them, the second concubine, Ye Yingtao, was the most favored. Ye Yingtao did not bear any children for Master Zhong, while the other two concubines had sons or daughters born out of wedlock. Why was such a childless concubine the most favored?

Naturally, Ye Yingtao was the most beautiful and knew how to sweet-talk people, always managing to win over Master Zhong completely.

At this moment, Ye Yingtao's personal maid came in from outside and whispered, "Madam, that old woman brought a farmer couple from the countryside to the mansion today. They even welcomed them in through the main gate. The country folk also brought a little girl with them."

In private, Ye Yingtao's maids all called her Madam, not Aunt. Ye Yingtao had been in the Zhong family for six years and was determined to crush the original wife and take her place. Therefore, she knew all about Madam Zhong's whereabouts and actions.

However, Ye Yingtao underestimated Madam Zhong's abilities. She had a firm grasp on Madam Zhong's every move, and Madam Zhong also had spies in her courtyard. The inner quarters of the Zhong family were under Madam Zhong's control, and the concubines had no way to stop her from planting spies in any courtyard.

Nowadays, apart from not revealing her true identity and not letting Madam Zhong know the things that her superiors asked her to do, Madam Zhong basically knows everything about Ye Yingtao's life, that is, the internal affairs of the Zhong family.

Because Madam Zhong was above her, Ye Yingtao felt restricted in everything she did, which infuriated her. Over the years, she had been trying to find a way to kill Madam Zhong, but she had never succeeded.

"I understand. You may leave now. I want to rest for a while. Don't disturb me unless I call you." Ye Yingtao waved away the maids beside her and went into the inner room, where she sat motionless on the edge of the bed.

A short while later, a servant jumped in through the window next to him. The servant bowed to Ye Yingtao, lowered his head and said in a low voice, "Madam, our operation failed last time, and the Prince is very angry. He has ordered us to resolve the matter before he arrives."

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