Chapter 397: Conserving Strength First, It’s Right

She held Dabao's hand. Dabao didn't look panicked on the surface and looked mature for his age, but his palms were full of sweat.

After all, they are still children.

"Don't be afraid, mother is right outside. Erbao, Nanbao, we are all here with you. If anything happens, just call us."

If there is real danger, she will take the cubs away at all costs.

Regardless of whether this is the Six Gates or not, she did not give up her defenses against all environments just because she believed in Liao Jiu.

Dabao hummed, "I'm not afraid."

There's no point in being afraid. Sooner or later, he will have to face this day. When he agreed to return to the capital, he had already prepared everything.

Erbao asked, "Mom, can I go in with Big Brother?"

Jiang Lianzhu shook her head. "No need. I'll only summon your eldest brother and let him go alone for now."

It's safer to keep the two little ones by my side.

Besides, she had heard Liao Jiu say that only Dabao looked the most like Prince Xiang, and Erbao and Nianbao didn't look much alike, so it wasn't confirmed whether they were Prince Xiang's children. If they weren't, could they just not get involved...

Anyway, it’s definitely better to preserve your strength first.

After a while, Xiang Zuo came out and motioned Da Bao to follow him. "Don't be afraid, our Governor is also in here. Just bow to the Emperor first. Tell him whatever he asks. There's no need to hide anything. Our Governor has reported everything we need to say."

Dabao took a deep breath, nodded slightly to Jiang Lianzhu, and went to the front hall.

…

***

Mrs. Zhou walked out of the Six Gates with cold sweat all over her back.

She thought about it over and over again, but could not come up with an idea. She asked the servants to drive the carriage and said, "Go find the old marquis!"

The driver asked, "Are we going to Fangyuan?"

Marquis Qingning and his first wife and family who came from the countryside lived in Fangyuan. Actually, Fangyuan was Madam Zhou's dowry garden. At that time, Marquis Qingning wanted Yao to move into the mansion, but Madam Zhou refused to agree. Marquis Qingning had no choice but to buy a garden outside for them to live in. However, he had no money on hand, and when she refused to give him money, he went around borrowing money from others, which made his reputation very bad. She had no choice but to take out the dowry garden and give it to them to live in.

As a result, Marquis Qingning stayed there and never returned.

Madam Zhou gritted her teeth and said, "Forget it, let's go to the Prime Minister's Mansion."

Don’t look for him anymore, there’s no point in looking for him!

This man only has the family of that country bitch Yao in his heart. If her son gets into trouble and goes to him, not only will he be unable to help, but he will also make Yao laugh at her.

She would never let Yao laugh at her in her life!

The driver replied yes, and the carriage rushed towards the Prime Minister's residence.

The wet nurse was riding in the same carriage with Madam Zhou. She whispered, "Madam, the young marquis will be fine..."

"Shut up, you don't even know how to stop me..."

The wet nurse was in a difficult position to talk to.

The Prime Minister's Mansion was not far away, and they arrived there in a short while. The doorman knew it was Madam Zhou's carriage, so he let her in without asking any questions.

It was already dark, and the lights in the Prime Minister's residence were on. I didn't know whether he was waiting for Madam Zhou or if there was something else going on.

As soon as Mrs. Zhou entered, her brother, the prime minister, and her father, the old prime minister, were both in the study.

"Dad, brother..." As soon as she entered, Mrs. Zhou looked like she was about to cry.

Prime Minister Zhou asked, "What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Madam Zhou told everyone about her encounter with Emperor Xuan at the Six Gates.

Prime Minister Zhou frowned. "Are you always so reckless? You are the wife of a wealthy family, after all. Where is your status and dignity?"

Mrs. Zhou was about to cry, "I'm just eager to see my son, and worried that something might happen to him. They have so many rules in the Six Gates, and it takes half a day to wait for them to pass on a message and go through the procedures. I thought, I'm his mother, and there's no need for all that complicated etiquette, so..." She rushed in and saw Xuan Huang in casual clothes.

In order to act quietly, Emperor Xuan did not even bring a eunuch with him, and was thus caught by Madam Zhou.

Although he didn't say any harsh words, his expression was extremely unhappy at that time.

Mrs. Zhou was frightened, but Liao Jiu spoke for her and told her to go home first, as they had important matters to discuss. She hurriedly left.

Prime Minister Zhou was so disappointed that his son had failed to live up to his expectations. "You are so confused! You are really getting more confused as you get older. No matter how important your son is, you don't even care about etiquette? What happened after you informed him? Liao Jiu is gone? You, how did you become so confused now?"

In fact, they all understood that because Mrs. Zhou couldn't catch her husband and only had this son left, she kept a close eye on him, worried too much, and cared too much about him, which led to this situation.

It is not a good thing to be too controlling and to the point of being suffocating. If you hold too much sand in your hand, it will leak out too quickly.

Prime Minister Zhou tried to persuade her, "Father, my sister didn't mean to do that. Who knew that Emperor Xuan would follow Wuyang back to the Six Gates? Besides, even if they saw us, we wouldn't tell anyone. We are family, and the Emperor should understand. It's not too bad. Look, the Emperor didn't blame her, did he?"

"On the bright side, although Wu Yang made a serious mistake this time, Emperor Xuan didn't imprison him. He even went to the Six Gates with him. By the way, what did they go to the Six Gates for?"

Mrs. Zhou shook her head. "I don't know. I didn't hear a word. But Wuyang seems to be working on a big case and has brought back some witnesses."

She thought of Doctor Jiang and her daughter again, which made her feel uncomfortable.

Prime Minister Zhou pondered for a moment and analyzed, "Then it's possible that Wuyang has left his post to investigate a case. The case is quite serious, which is enough to alarm the emperor and cause him to quietly go to the Six Gates..."

Prime Minister Zhou then asked Madam Zhou, "What kind of witnesses have you seen?"

Madam Zhou recalled, "There was a mother and daughter. The mother looked very young, around eighteen or nineteen, and the little girl was about three or four. The woman said she was a doctor, but I didn't know where she was from... She didn't have a Beijing accent, and at first she wouldn't let me see them. I only saw them by force..."

"Mother and daughter? Doctor?" Prime Minister Zhou was a little confused.

Prime Minister Zhou was more cautious. "Let's not get involved, and don't ask. Until the Six Gates case is fully understood, it's all confidential. Only the Emperor is qualified to know. If we get involved, the Emperor will be unhappy."

After that, he began to lecture Madam Zhou, "Se'er, the emperor didn't pursue it this time because he remembered the old friendship. If you do this again next time, you will not only harm your family Wuyang, but also our Zhou family. The emperor will question our Zhou family's poor parenting. You are just a woman, and it is not your place to interfere in the affairs of the court. It is not your turn to worry about Wuyang's affairs. Just take care of yourself, so as not to shoot yourself in the foot..."