Chapter 586: Seeking Help

Qi narrowed her eyes and said, "I am content now."

It was the first time she thanked her father for choosing a husband for her. After living for most of her life, she realized that her husband was the most clear-headed. Now that her son and daughter were living a good life, she no longer expected the daughter to bring more benefits. She had really seen too much intrigue and was too tired.

Two days later, Zhulan found out the name of Ran Yan's daughter. The emperor had given her the name during her third birthday celebration: Zhang Zhenyue.

Zhulan estimated that some princes must be feeling unbalanced because the emperor personally named the daughter born to the crown prince's concubine, and some princes must be jealous.

The Crown Prince's Mansion. The Crown Prince did not enter the palace today. Seeing his four younger brothers coming in unison, the Crown Prince knew what was going on. Seeing their jealous eyes, he felt relieved. "If I remember correctly, each of you has an errand, right? You actually have time to come to the Crown Prince's Mansion. Although I am touched, you are not doing your job well. I think I should talk to my father and ask him to change your errands, okay?"

The second prince, "......."

He shouldn't have come to the Prince's Mansion out of jealousy to see the lethal power of the first word!

When the third prince saw that his second brother didn't say anything, he felt that he shouldn't be the first to take the lead, so he looked at the fourth brother out of the corner of his eye.

The fourth prince cursed in his heart, "You two brothers should shut up. He will only dream of speaking." He reached out and pulled the fifth prince's sleeve.

The fifth prince Zhang Jinghong felt his sleeves move, but he remained as still as a mountain. He was not that stupid.

The prince raised his eyebrows, "Oh, you guys come here and don't say anything, so I'll say it myself."

As soon as he finished speaking, the prince called out his name, "Jingyang, you are in charge of the investigation. It has been a few days, how come there is no news at all? I am here to ask the emperor for you. Since you are so free, I am superfluous in helping you. I will definitely mention the investigation to the emperor tomorrow."

The second prince stood up quickly and said, "Look at my memory. I have something else to do. Please stay, Crown Prince."

Having said that, he left quickly. Bah, I'm still pleading for him. It's good enough that he's not being killed.

The Third Prince saw that the Crown Prince was about to speak, "Second Brother, wait for me."

The fourth prince said, "Third brother, you are holding my fan, give it back to me."

The fifth prince Zhang Jinghong stared blankly at his brothers who had run away. They had all slipped away without him noticing. It was clearly their third brother who had brought him here, but in the end he was left behind. "Brother, I'm going home too."

The prince sighed quietly. He wanted to praise the third brother, but why did the third brother run away?

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye it is mid-June. Zhou Shuren's birthday is approaching, and the Zhou mansion's preparations are almost complete. Zhulan handed over the entire banquet menu and other preparations to Xue Han and Wu Ning.

She took Su Xuan to check the invitation. Su Xuan had a more thorough understanding of the grudges among the various prefectures in Jinzhou. She was the one who arranged who sat at each table.

Xue Han handed the final menu to her mother, "Mom, do you have any questions?"

Zhulan took a quick look and said, "No problem."

Xue Han took the menu and asked curiously, "Mom, this is Dad's first big birthday party, what gift have you prepared?"

Zhulan, "Secret, what gift have you prepared?"

Xue Han didn't have any secrets, "My daughter made a set of clothes for my father."

Zhulan smiled and said, "That's thoughtful."

Zhulan waited until Xuehan left before she took out the gift she had prepared. She had prepared this gift the year before. It was a painting she had done, seven in total, one for each year in ancient times. The first painting was the scene of Zhou Shuren returning from Jiangnan, and the second one was the scene of him passing the imperial examination. Each one was carefully selected by her.

The last picture is of their family of three.

Zhulan touched the paintings with her fingertips. She wanted to preserve these paintings well, as she would bury them with her when she died. Her fingertips lingered on the blank space that was intentionally left for Zhou Shuren to add a poem to.

Mrs. Song was standing behind them. She was moved by the feelings between the mistress and the master of the house.

Zhulan carefully rolled it up again and put it away meticulously.

Steward Ding came in, with a bead of sweat on his forehead. "Madam, the steward from Lord Jiang's residence in the capital has arrived. He said he needs help with an emergency."

Zhu Lan felt that the dust had settled. It was better for the incident to happen sooner rather than later. The later it happened, the bigger the incident would be, and the more likely it would involve the Zhou family. "Please ask someone to come in."

Butler Ding left quickly. After a while, the butler of the Jiang residence came in and knelt down, "Mrs. Zhou, my wife sent me here. Please help save our master."

Zhulan asked, "What happened to your grandfather?"

The housekeeper of the Jiang Mansion was choked and stammered, but the Zhou Mansion was the only hope. If the Jiang Mansion was finished, all of them servants would be finished too. "Our master was framed for accepting bribes and was arrested this morning."

Zhulan was silent, not even having the courage to reply, which showed that it was the truth. "Is everything going on at your house?"

The housekeeper of the Jiang Mansion felt depressed. The wife of Lord Zhou was not anxious at all. She shuddered. What if Lord Zhou didn't save the old man? This thought was spinning in his mind. He had no strength to kneel down. He stammered, "There is a mess in the mansion."

Zhulan said to Steward Ding, "Take him down first."

The housekeeper of the Jiang Mansion said, "The Jiang Mansion cannot wait any longer. Please ask Madam to help the Jiang Mansion."

Steward Ding dragged the people out desperately, lowering his voice, "Stop shouting, it's no use shouting, the mistress has to talk to the master of the family too."

The housekeeper of the Jiang residence shut up, feeling panic in his heart, and kept muttering, "The Zhou and Jiang residences are related, they will definitely help."

Butler Ding curled his lips. This relative was connected through the Third Madam, and Lord Jiang was not the aunt of the Zhou family. This relative was not reliable. Moreover, he remembered that the mansion refused to see the person recommended by Lord Jiang some time ago!

Zhulan called the servant and asked him to go to the yamen and tell Zhou Shuren about Jiang Ming. Zhulan felt that even if she didn't say it, Zhou Shuren would know it. She was even more convinced that Zhou Shuren was most likely a factor in Jiang Ming's case.

The servant left, and Mrs. Dong came over in a panic after hearing the news, "Mother, is there really something wrong with the Jiang Mansion?"

Zhulan saw that Dong's face was pale, "Don't panic, the Jiang Mansion was not closed, and only Jiang Ming was arrested, which is not the worst."

Dong's legs and feet were a little weak, so she sat on the chair to relax. Seeing her mother-in-law's calm look, she felt inexplicably relieved. She couldn't help thinking that as long as her brother-in-law didn't lose his life, it would be fine if he lost his official position, which was at least better than having his family confiscated in the future and implicate her sister and children.

Mrs. Dong was stunned. She actually thought that it was better for something to happen sooner rather than later.

In the government office, Zhou Shuren got the news yesterday. He was waiting for today's result. After listening to the servant, Zhou Shuren said, "Go back and tell the mistress. I know what's going on."

The servant said, "Yes."

At the Zhou residence, Zhulan heard the servant's reply and realized that it was indeed Zhou Shuren's doing behind the scenes. She motioned the servant to leave and said to Dong: "Your father knows what's going on, so don't worry about it."

Mrs. Dong felt relieved. Her father-in-law was so influential in the Zhou family that her tone became lighter. "Thank you, mother."

Zhulan, "The child should be looking for you, go back."

"Um."

(End of this chapter)