After listening to his son's words, the emperor thought about it seriously. Given the status of the Cheng'en Marquisate, he really couldn't easily sentence Zhou Qiongyue to death.

It was just like my son said, copying books and being confined to my room. If the person is still alive and the suffering continues, there is no other way except death.

Moreover, with this kind of person as the main wife, the concubines' survival depends on Zhou Qiongyue's mood. Now it is really difficult for him to trick his son.

"Okay, I'll consider it."

Although the emperor said he would consider it, as soon as the second prince left, he immediately sent secret guards to investigate the matter.

For an emperor, suspicion is considered a good quality.

Fortunately, this hunting ground is a royal hunting ground and the people here are royal, so it is convenient for the emperor to investigate whatever he wants.

So he soon received the news from the secret guard. He knew clearly that the second brother was beaten up, kept at home for several days, and paid a thousand taels in compensation.

The emperor didn't think his son was weak because he was beaten by a woman. He knew the second son's character. But the second son was kinder to his own people, which the emperor thought was affectionate.

Otherwise, if someone else hits the second brother, I guess the second brother will have hundreds of ways to make the other person never see the sun tomorrow.

However, the emperor immediately gave up the idea of putting Zhou Qiongyue into any prince's harem. Who among the emperors wants his son to be a love saint in the future?

As for who to marry Zhou Qiongyue to, the Emperor thought about the children of his trusted confidants and gave up. He couldn't just betray his own people when something happened!

At this point, the emperor had to admit that the man the second son had mentioned was very good. Both his parents were deceased, and he had no clan power. The key point was that he was willing to do it himself. If there was anything later, it was his own request.

The emperor thought that when Fu'an came to propose marriage, he would just agree to it. After thinking it through, the emperor put the matter aside. He had a lot of things to do!

By the time Zhou Qiongyue received the news from the Second Prince via a note, the Emperor had already given up. As for why the Second Prince still wanted to tell Zhou Qiongyue, it was mainly because he wanted his cousin to not hold a black account against him because of his contribution this time.

When Zhou Qiongyue saw the message delivered by the second prince, she went to the front yard to find her father.

When Zhou Wencan heard the news, he was so shocked that he paced around in the study, "Yue'er, do you want to marry into the royal family?"

Zhou Qiongyue quickly shook her head, afraid that her father would misunderstand her, "Dad, I don't want to."

Zhou Wencan patted his daughter's head and said, "Okay, if you don't want us to marry, then we won't."

Zhou Wencan said this, but he had already gone through all the young talents that were suitable for Yuan An in his mind. Then he sadly discovered that no one was worthy of such a good daughter of his.

"What kind of husband do you want to find in the future, Yue'er?" Zhou Wencan would not have been anxious about this matter before, but now the situation is different, so he still has to ask his daughter what she thinks.

When Yuan An returns, he will ask his wife to look for a suitable partner for his daughter and make a decision before the emperor makes his decision.

For a family like theirs, an imperial marriage was both an honor and a shackle. If it were a self-determined marriage, and things didn't work out, they could just divorce and remarry. But if an imperial marriage didn't work out, they'd just have to endure it.

Therefore, Zhou Wencan did not want the imperial decree to grant the marriage. He only had this one daughter, and if she didn't live well with him, he would of course kick her out and find another one.

Zhou Qiongyue was not the original owner, nor was she the shy type. She said directly, "My daughter thinks Prince Fu'an is a good person."

"Why?" Zhou Wencan didn't like being alone, having no one to help him with anything. In this era, clans were the most important thing.

"I don't have to be filial to my mother-in-law. I'll be a princess after I marry her. No one will bother me. I think that's great. When the time comes, I can go back to the Marquis' Mansion to see you. No one will dare to say anything. How wonderful."

At this time, Zhou Qiongyue did not have the idea of prohibiting Yuan Bohua from taking a concubine in the future. After all, in the era of monogamy she lived in before, having a mistress was common. Moreover, in this era where concubines are legal, she did not want to force it.

She just wants to live a good life.

"Father thought you liked Prince Fu'an!" Zhou Wencan said this with some hesitation. He didn't know whether he hoped that his daughter would have someone she liked or not.

"My daughter doesn't want to think about love anymore. She just wants to marry a smart man. As long as my second cousin doesn't fall, my daughter won't have to worry about anything in her life."

What Zhou Qiongyue said was very rational, but to Zhou Wencan, it sounded like his daughter was heartbroken and she dared not think about love anymore.

Zhou Wencan bit his cheek. For a moment, he didn't know how to persuade his daughter, nor did he know whether he should persuade her.

He is a man, and of course he understands that in love, women are the ones who suffer. In fact, deep down he doesn't want to persuade them.

"I don't know whether I should persuade you." Zhou Wencan used to be anxious when he saw his daughter circling around the Second Prince. Now that his daughter seemed to have no faith in love, to be honest, he was also a little anxious.

Zhou Qiongyue knew what her father meant. Ever since she first arrived and cautiously explored this world, she had felt the kindness of her family. With family affection in her world, the presence of other things didn't matter.

Seeing her father so conflicted, she was quite happy and said frankly, "No need to persuade me, my daughter thinks this is good enough."

"Okay, when Fuan comes next time, I'll treat him better." Zhou Wencan said this with great difficulty. No pig was worthy of eating his cabbage.

Zhou Qiongyue nodded gently, thinking that if she had the chance she would still like to talk to Yuan Bohua. She mainly wanted to know if there was any secret behind the death of Yuan Bohua's parents. She didn't want to marry him to help someone get revenge or something like that.

Ever since Zhou Qiongyue knew that the emperor had set his sights on her marriage, she had been staying in the yard, not going out, and certainly not appearing in front of the queen.

She was afraid that she would accidentally run into the emperor, and that he would grant her a marriage on a whim. That would be so unfair to her.

Fortunately, after this incident, the emperor was no longer in the mood for spring hunting. After the matter was fully investigated, he announced his return to Yuan'an.

As for how the investigation was going, Zhou Qiongyue certainly didn't know, but seeing the cautious attitude of the people around her and the emperor's increasingly irritable temper, Zhou Qiongyue guessed that the investigation must have led to the investigation of the prince.

Otherwise, it would be impossible that after so many days and so many people have been killed, there is no gossip outside. Now it depends on what the emperor chooses.

Zhou Qiongyue doesn’t care what the emperor chooses, as long as he is not related to the queen’s lineage.

But it was exactly as Zhou Qiongyue had guessed. This incident was aimed at the second prince and the fifth prince. There was indeed a shadow from the palace, and a group of people were fanning the flames and trying to fish in troubled waters.

I just don’t know what went wrong, things got out of control, and ended up like this.

If the emperor wanted to find out who was responsible for the crime in the palace, he could definitely find out. But he didn't really want to investigate further.