Mu Yurou's eyes were red, she looked like she was about to cry, but she couldn't say a word.
Her maid, Xiaoqing, seeing her mistress so distressed, hurriedly said, "Young Master Zhou, do you not know what our young lady has encountered?"
Zhou Jun shook his head blankly; he had been too busy lately. Back in Yancheng, he hadn't kept a close eye on the Han family members, which led to their kidnapping. Although the Emperor hadn't punished him, he knew he had failed in his duty.
I've been away from home for a while now, probably trying to make amends for my past mistakes.
He really didn't know what was happening in the capital.
Seeing that Zhou Jun knew nothing, Xiaoqing felt even more aggrieved for her young lady: "My young lady has been forced into marriage! The master was angry and found her a man who is even older than him!"
Zhou Jun coughed, remembering that he had also investigated Mu Yurou when he was in Yancheng.
It wasn't that he had any feelings for Mu Yurou; he just wanted to find out everything about everyone around Han Luoxue.
After all, protecting Han Luoxue was his responsibility, and he had to keep track of everyone who got close to her.
"This... surely not?" If he remembered correctly, the patriarch of the Mu family valued this daughter highly. He hoped she would bring honor to the family and expand their business. How could he suddenly marry her off to an old man? Could something have happened to the Mu family's business?
"How is it impossible? My young lady is going to marry an old man, the wedding date has been set, and she cries every day. Young Master Zhou, please, please save my young lady!"
As Xiaoqing was about to kneel down, Zhou Jun quickly helped her up: "This... I have no relation to your young lady, how can I save her?"
This little girl is really something, isn't she just making things difficult for people?
Zhou Jun suddenly felt a pang of regret. If he had known the little girl would be so reckless, he shouldn't have brought them to the teahouse. Wouldn't it have been better to just say something and leave immediately? He was just asking for trouble.
"Wasn't the Mu family's business doing quite well? How could this suddenly..."
The words "selling his daughter" sounded a bit unpleasant, so Zhou Jun didn't say them.
Hearing this, the little girl became even more dissatisfied: "Young Master Zhou, don't you know that all of this is because of the Empress?"
Upon hearing the word "Empress," Zhou Jun immediately sat up straight.
How is Mu Yurou, who was married off to an old man, still related to Han Luoxue? Could it be that this was Han Luoxue's idea?
How could that be? Han Luoxue probably hasn't even forgotten who Mu Yuru is by now. After all, to her, she's just an insignificant nobody.
"Is this related to the Empress?" Zhou Jun asked tentatively.
"Of course! The Emperor was selecting concubines a while ago, and he asked women who wanted to participate to donate money and grain. Wasn't it the Empress who brought this up?"
Zhou Jun nodded. He had heard about this incident, but it had been a long time.
"Young Master Zhou, you have no idea how cunning Her Majesty the Empress is. At the beginning, she didn't donate much, always at the bottom. Everyone thought she had no money or supplies to donate, and they were all confident of victory. Many people were competing with each other, just to get a good ranking so that they might be favored by the Emperor after entering the palace! But who could have imagined that Her Majesty the Empress was scheming against everyone from the very beginning? She clearly had so much money and supplies, but she pretended to have nothing... Young Master Zhou, don't you think what Her Majesty did was outrageous?"
"Why is she pretending to be poor when she clearly has so much food?"
"Xiaoqing, shut up!" Mu Yurou's face turned cold. Although she was quite familiar with Young Master Zhou, this was, after all, the capital city. This maid of hers was too bold.
How dare they talk about the Empress!
"Young Master Zhou, please don't mind her. My girl comes from a small town and has never seen much of the world. She also has no manners!"
Mu Yurou spoke apologetically, while Zhou Jun looked embarrassed. The two of them weren't very familiar with each other. Was it appropriate for you to have a girl speak ill of the Empress in front of me?
Moreover, what Mu Yurou just said didn't seem wrong, but he still felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
“Miss, am I wrong? If it weren’t for Her Majesty the Empress, how could our Mu family have emptied our entire fortune and even incurred a huge debt!”
The little girl complained unhappily, making Zhou Jun even more embarrassed.
“Young Master Zhou, actually I didn’t want to go to the palace at the time. You know my family’s situation. My father forced me to…”
Mu Yurou wiped away the tears that hadn't actually fallen from the corners of her eyes. She couldn't let Zhou Jun think she was a vain person.
Although she was very excited at the time, if she could become the emperor's woman, why would she need Young Master Zhou!
"Ahem, well..." Zhou Jun, who was usually very tactful in public, suddenly didn't know what to say.
He was an extremely dull person by nature and had no feelings for women, especially this Mu Yurou. Although he had met her a few times before, he didn't like girls with that kind of personality.
Zhou Jun actually wanted to ask another question: whether you enter the palace or not, whether your father forced you to or not, has nothing to do with me.
“Young Master Zhou, I really didn’t want to go to the palace back then, but my father…”
Mu Yurou was about to explain when Zhou Jun said nonchalantly, "It's okay, I know, I understand!"
"Young Master Zhou, do you really know?" Mu Yurou was overjoyed. Could it be that Zhou Jun had always liked her? Yes, what was so good about Wang Yan? She was usually so carefree and had no femininity at all. How could she compare to her gentle, charming, and considerate nature?
"I really..."
"That's wonderful, Young Master Zhou, you have no idea how outrageous my master can be!"
Xiaoqing was also very happy. Young Master Zhou was a member of the Zhou family. Regardless of whether he was related to the Zhou family in the capital, it was clear that his family was well-off. As long as he was interested in Miss, the two of them should get married as soon as possible, and then the master would have no choice!
The young lady is already married, does the master really intend to come and break them up?
Besides, after the two get married, why not just have Young Master Zhou help the Mu family? After all, Young Master Zhou's family background is quite good.
Zhou Jun was bewildered; what good could he possibly do?
"Master is marrying Miss to an old man who is older than her. Young Master Zhou, I knew you were the best. You certainly wouldn't refuse to marry my young lady, would you?"
Zhou Jun... Is this girl out of her mind?
Look at what she's saying! It's like she's being ungrateful and heartless if she doesn't marry Mu Yurou.
Are he and Mu Yurou very close?
Besides, the two of them had no prior relationship. Even if they did have one, Mu Yurou was going to be selected as a concubine in the palace later, so why would he think he would still wait for her?
"Wait! What did you just say? I have a fiancée, how could I possibly marry your young lady?"
Zhou Jun hurriedly spoke up.
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