Xuanyuan Hao came to Zhang's house to find his wife.
The eldest grandson of the Zhang family and the third son of eldest brother Zhang Ru was a three-year-old child at the time. He did not follow his grandfather, father, brother and uncles to the battlefield. He was the only surviving male in the Zhang family.
However, the twelve sons in the family at that time did not include this three-year-old baby. The Zhang family carried back eleven corpses, and one person was missing, his whereabouts unknown, and his life or death was unknown.
Over the years, Zhang Ru's mother and grandson took care of the Zhang family until her death four years ago. This time, Zhang Ru returned home not only to pay tribute to his mother, but also to ask his nephew Zhang Baiyi if he had a woman he liked.
Zhang Ru hadn't expected Xuanyuan Hao to arrive, so he arrived with a small group. For a moment, Zhang Ru didn't know whether to call everyone out to welcome him or to cover up his whereabouts.
Seeing her hesitation, Emperor Mingzheng knew what she was thinking, so he said, "Just tell Bai Yi. There's no need to come over and pay your respects. See you tomorrow. Go to your courtyard first."
Zhang Ru had met Wang Lingyi during the day and knew that Huang Mengling was having second thoughts. Furthermore, returning to her dwindling family home, all sorts of past events came flooding back to her mind, leaving her feeling aggrieved.
Now seeing Xuanyuan Hao and hearing him say that he was going to his own yard, Zhang Ru got annoyed for some reason. She glared at him and turned away.
Emperor Mingzheng rarely saw Zhang Ru lose her temper. In the palace, she always followed the rules and etiquette. But now, seeing her glare and walk away, he found her cute.
Thinking that he was here to coax his wife, he didn't get angry and just followed him.
After entering the courtyard where Zhang Ru lived during her stay, she washed up and asked someone to go to Bai Yi to get a new set of pajamas. Xuanyuan Hao put them on and put his arm around his wife: "This dress is not as comfortable as the ones you made."
Zhang Ru was stunned, remembering the night before her wedding, when she had tossed and turned in her boudoir. Xuanyuan Hao had been ignoring her for a long time. Although the steps of asking for auspiciousness, accepting the proposal, and paying the betrothal gifts—all went according to plan, and Xuanyuan Hao's betrothal gift was quite substantial—Zhang Ru knew he was waiting for her to admit her mistake and apologize.
But she just felt wronged, very wronged, and didn't want to bow her head.
People say that the emperor and empress were deeply in love and shared the joys and sorrows together. When Xuanyuan Hao took her away from the Duke of Rong's Mansion, many people said that Xuanyuan Hao was so angry that he lost his temper for her.
Only Zhang Ru knew that the two of them rode together, with Ye Zhou, Prince Qing, and Prince Yu following behind with their people, all looking on with great joy. He walked her home, and when they entered the main hall and everyone dispersed, leaving only the two of them, his face turned cold.
"Why go to Rongguo Mansion?"
"The old lady of the Rongguo Mansion is known as Madam Handan because the Rongguo Mansion occupies a huge lotus pond, and all the pavilions, corridors, terraces, and bridges are built along the water. Don't you know this? If you go to the Rongguo Mansion and fall into the water, and there is a man from outside the family, what will you do?"
Zhang Ru felt aggrieved. This was Madam Handan's invitation, and there was no mention of the presence of an outsider. She and her mother were invited, so how could they have known that the eldest prince Xuanyuan Yu would suddenly show up.
"I didn't know there would be..." Her eyes were red.
"Have I ever told you to be careful when you go out? Why on earth would you want to go to a mansion like Rongguo Mansion, built in a lotus pond?"
"If I go late today, and something has happened to you, will you marry me if I ask for your hand in marriage?"
"Have you ever thought that if something goes wrong, whether I marry you or not, it will be a dilemma?"
Zhang Ru felt sad: Perhaps Xuanyuan Hao only cared about the Zhang family's Northern Army and the twelve powerful generals. Whether to marry her or not was a dilemma. If she didn't, she would have to hand over this vast army to Xuanyuan Yu. If she did, she would lose face in him, because she had lost her reputation by falling into the water. But she didn't fall into the water! Nothing happened!
So she gritted her teeth and said nothing, holding back the tears in her eyes.
Xuanyuan Hao was furious, and it seemed that he didn't think he had done anything wrong.
He stopped talking and just looked at her.
Zhang Ru knew that maybe she should just admit her mistake and pull his sleeve and act coquettishly, and maybe everything would be fine. But just now at Rongguo Mansion, he brought people in, in front of so many people, stretched out his hand and said two words to her: "Come here."
Her mother, Madam Handan, the eldest prince Xuanyuan Yu, Duke Rong who chased in from the main gate, as well as Ye Zhou, Prince Qing, Prince Yu, and the Jingzhao Yin inspection team who were tricked into looking in and were still a little confused...
Did she hesitate at all? She knew that taking this step today would mean standing up for the Zhang family army.
Zhang Ru, who was only in her teens, bowed to Madam Handan and the eldest prince, then strode towards Xuanyuan Hao.
Xuanyuan Hao then ordered his brothers to prepare a sedan chair for Zhang Ru's mother and escort her back to the mansion. He then helped Zhang Ru onto the horse and before riding off, he turned his horse's head and bowed slightly to Xuanyuan Yu.
Zhang Ru thought to herself, what else do you want from me? Are you going to bully me? Finally, the tears began to fall.
Xuanyuan Hao looked at her, his eyes becoming increasingly disappointed and cold. He was too tired and had too many things to worry about. She was so ignorant...
Xuanyuan Hao turned and left.
The two sides remained deadlocked.
Xuanyuan Hao went to Rongguo Mansion to snatch someone, and returned on horseback holding Zhang Ru. This incident caused quite a big stir.
Everyone thought Xuanyuan Hao would come to the Zhang family to propose marriage as soon as possible. It was said that even Old Man Xuanyuan had said to Xuanyuan Hao, "You've already been punished, so just marry her as soon as possible."
But Xuanyuan Hao didn't come to propose marriage day after day.
Since Zhang Ru came back from Rongguo Mansion that day, she has not left the house and has stayed at home.
Ye Zhou saw that his eldest brother Xuanyuan Hao always had a sullen face. All of his dozen or so capable men were being scolded for their work. Even the Jingzhao Yin, who had unwittingly chosen a side, was treated politely by Xuanyuan Hao for a few days at first, but then he was scolded just as much.
The Jingzhao Yin was quite happy after being scolded. He came out and said to Ye Zhou with a smile: "I was scolded just like you guys." Ye Zhou looked up at the sky in silence.
It happened that Tie Ren came to Ye Zhou to ask for something. Thinking about how often he was scolded, Ye Zhou said to Tie Ren, "Go in and report directly to Big Brother."
When Tie Ren came out with a gloomy look on his face, he looked at Ye Zhou with a resentful look on his face. Ye Zhou smiled brightly. Tie Ren said, "Think of a way, brothers, what's going on all day long."
Ye Zhou said: "I'm going to find my sister-in-law."
Ye Zhou thought that Zhang Ru's brothers were not easy to deal with, so he climbed over the wall from the backyard.
I had just climbed up and was sitting astride the wall when, before I could see anything clearly, I fell headfirst. Fortunately, there was garden soil below and I fell on the grass.
Just as I was about to get up, I heard a male voice in the yard. I just lay there motionless.
I looked up and saw that four of the twelve men were here.
Several brothers are talking to their sister Zhang Ru.
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