Chapter 718: Taking the blame

Ning Guogong said, "I have wanted to meet you two young men for a long time, but I have been recovering from my illness. Thank you both for what happened that day."

Chang Lian was a little surprised. He didn't expect the Duke to say thank you in person. He said hurriedly, "Anyone who passed by would have offered their hand. My brother and I were just lucky. Besides, the Duke's Mansion has already sent a thank-you gift. I feel ashamed for you to say thank you again."

Rongchuan also hurriedly said: "This is what we should do."

Duke Ning had a better impression of Zhou Shuren. It was no wonder that Zhou Shuren was able to teach his son so well that he was valued by the emperor. Of course, the most important thing was that the Zhou family raised Rongchuan. "Look, you guys stood up again while talking. Sit down and don't be so reserved."

Ning Zhixiang lowered his head and drank his tea. He was a little confused. His grandfather behaved very normally, his father was even calmer, and his third uncle was not excited either. He was really confused.

In Jinzhou, Zhulan came out before Tao. After waiting for a while, Changyi and his wife came back. Zhulan noticed that Zhao's eyes were red. "I need to wait a little longer. You guys go down the mountain and wait first."

Zhao knew that her husband had something to say to her mother-in-law, so she said, "Mother, my wife and I will go down the mountain first, and your husband will stay with you."

Zhulan looked at Changyi and said, "Okay, let the servant go down with us."

After Zhao left, Zhou Laoer said, "Mother, Mingrui talked to my son last night."

Zhulan hummed, "What do you want to say?"

Zhou Laoer leaned on the stone sculpture and looked at the mountains in the distance. "My son feels a little ashamed. Mingrui dared to say that he could rely on himself at such a young age, but my son always had all kinds of thoughts."

When his son stood before him with his chest puffed out and said without backing down that he could rely on himself, he was shocked and proud at the same time. His son was not very strong-willed at his age!

Finally, the son said, "Dad, you should trust your son. I inherited your intelligence. My starting point is already very high. I will work hard and I can do it."

He thought about it over and over all night last night. In his mind, he thought about his elder brother's efforts, Chang Lian's tenacity, and Chang Zhi's changes. Only he had not changed much. In the end, he thought about his son's bright eyes.

Zhulan sat on a stone bench. "It's normal for people to be selfish. I am selfish too. I also do a lot of things wrong."

When she first came, she had never been a mother, so she did a lot of things through trial and error. When she first arrived at the Zhou family, she always used her own standards to measure the Zhou family's children. As time went by, she slowly integrated into the Zhou family, and she realized that the problems were slowly adjusted. It was not until she became a mother herself that she understood what a mother was.

Zhou Lao Er turned his body and said with a smile: "Mom, in our hearts, you and Dad are the most important and the best."

He knew better than anyone else how his fingers were long and how other officials' children were doing. His parents were very fair to them.

Zhulan smiled and said, "Look outside more often. It's actually very exciting outside."

Zhou Laoer looked at the mountains in the distance and said, "They are indeed as beautiful as a painting."

With a different mindset, he can now see the scenery. Before, he didn't have the mindset he has now to see the mountains and ridges.

Zhulan thought the scenery was beautiful. When she heard Tao's voice, she turned around and asked, "Is it over?"

Tao smiled and said, "Ah, it's over. It's getting late. Let's go down too."

"good."

In the capital, at the Ningguo Mansion, after Chang Lian and Rong Chuan left the Mansion, the Ningguo Duke brought his two sons into the house.

As soon as Ning Hui entered the room, he covered his chest, as if he had difficulty breathing, and spoke much more slowly, "Dad, I've been sitting outside for too long, and my chest is uncomfortable. I want to go back first."

Duke Ning watched his second son perform. "He is old and his hearing is not very good. What did you just say? Please repeat it again."

Ning Hui, ".......my son didn't say anything."

Duke Ning hummed, and the chairs in the room were already placed. "Everyone, be more aware of yourself."

Ning Hui was very upset. Why did he have to be beaten too?

Ning Xu blushed, "Dad, my son is already half buried in the earth, let's change to the spanking board!"

Duke Ning is in good spirits. I haven't played for many years and I miss it a lot. "Ha."

There were people guarding outside the house, and the housekeeper was blocking the door. The housekeeper thought that now the old man had given face to the marquis and the prince, at least there were no outsiders in the house. When the marquis and the prince were young, ah, they were also beaten when they were young, and it was embarrassing at that time.

Duke Ning didn't have much strength, and after being beaten with a few boards, he broke out in a sweat, and his uncomfortable mood improved a lot.

Ning Xu and Ning Hui, while wearing their belts, looked at each other and felt very embarrassed.

Duke Ning snorted, "Now let's talk business. Zhixiang has seen Rongchuan and is suspicious of Rongchuan's identity. Now the emperor cannot recognize Rongchuan, but Rongchuan will be discovered sooner or later. It is better to be proactive than passive. Rongchuan needs an identity."

Ning Xi saw the old man looking at him, "You want me to recognize Rong Chuan?"

Duke Ning lowered his eyes, "This is not just my opinion, this is the emperor's opinion."

Ning Xu was silent. It was true. When the emperor asked him to investigate, the emperor was prepared. Now that the old man had met Rongchuan, everything fell into place. "Then how do we arrange Rongchuan's life experience?"

He did not object to Rong Chuan being his son, but felt lucky. Just imagine Rong Chuan, who was like an elder brother, calling him dad, and the emperor could only watch and listen. What a great feeling!

Duke Ning, "Are you stupid?"

Ning Xu, "Hmm? Dad, you can't scold your son until you vent your anger enough!"

Duke Ning was too lazy to pay attention to his youngest son. The boy was just happy and didn't want to use his brain.

Ning Xu waited until the old man left before she realized that there was really no need for the Ning Mansion to arrange for Rongchuan. The emperor would worry about it. The emperor is the real father!

At Zhou's house, Chang Lian and Rong Chuan arrived home. Chang Lian was in a hurry to go to the bathroom, "I'll be back soon."

Rongchuan didn't want to go at first, as he didn't drink as much tea as his third brother. But seeing his third brother's look, he also wanted to go to the bathroom. Seeing his third brother running, Rongchuan burst out laughing. He had been holding it in for a long time. It was really hard for his third brother to hold it in.

By the time Rongchuan and Changlian sat down to chat, a cup of tea had already passed.

Rong Chuan didn't want to mention the Duke's Mansion, it wasn't disturbing enough, "Third brother, do you think my luck has been bad recently?"

Chang Lian was speechless. Rong Chuan's luck was not good? Then there were no good people. "Why do you say that?"

Rong Chuan said gloomily, "It's about me buying a house. Mr. Deng found the house with great difficulty. I just sold the house I thought was good before I even bought it!"

It makes me angry just talking about it. I have looked for three houses, but they were all snatched away by others!

Chang Lian was silent, "I don't think it's a coincidence."

The first time was a coincidence, the second time was tolerable, but the third time was too much. No matter how you look at it, it seems that someone doesn’t want Rongchuan to buy the house!

Rong Chuan was silent too. He also had the same feeling, but he was unwilling to guess. He was very impatient, "What does the Ningguo Mansion mean?"

On the way back to the courtyard, Duke Ning sneezed, which made the housekeeper extremely nervous. Duke Ning didn't know he was being blamed, and he sighed, "I am weak and need to take good care of myself."

Inside the palace, the Crown Prince also sneezed. Eunuch Liu was extremely nervous. "Crown Prince, do you need to call a doctor?"

Zhang Jingchen didn't look up. "No need."

Eunuch Liu retreated, and then he began to worry about the emperor. The emperor went to the garden, and it has been a while, why hasn't he come back yet?

The prince moved his neck and looked at his father's desk, gazing at the house deed he had handed to his father in the morning. He had bought it with his own money. When would his father return the money to him?

The prince was speechless again. Why was I in such a hurry to buy a house? Didn't they say we should wait two years before getting married?

My goodness, in just a few days, you have already picked out three houses that you like. Now that I have money, I am very generous and have high standards. None of the houses that he has chosen are cheap.

When the Emperor came in, he saw the Prince staring at the table. "What are you looking at?"

The prince touched his purse. There were three houses, two of which had three courtyards and were in particularly good locations. "Ah, my son was wondering if Rong Chuan would go and look at the houses again since he has a day off today."

But don't look at it!

The emperor smiled, his son was really stubborn, "After a while, we won't need him to buy a house anymore."

The prince touched his purse again, "Three houses are not cheap."

Dad, you should pay your son back the money. He has a lot of women and children to support!