Chapter 697: Injured Vital

Zou Minglei's mind was on the "banned book" stuffed under the mattress, and he was not at all interested in what Zou Pingping said about the young lady who looked like him.

He said perfunctorily: "I know, I know, get out now!"

Zou Minglei felt a little hot all over when reading the "banned book". He was having a lot of fun and felt that his third sister was very boring.

Zou Pingping had no idea of ​​her elder brother's little thoughts. Seeing that her elder brother was not interested, she left angrily.

When Zou Minglei saw Zou Pingping leave, he let out a sigh of relief and shouted angrily at the servants outside: "I'm studying inside, whoever comes here must stop me! Don't disturb me!"

Currently, the servants serving the Zou family were all "distant relatives" who stayed behind. Zou Minglei had two servants in his yard. Upon hearing this, they looked at each other and curled their lips.

Of course, he still had to say respectfully, "I understand, Master."

The more Zou Pingping thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. She tugged at her handkerchief and tried to think of another solution.

But she never expected that in the evening, Mr. Zou, Zou Wan, happily called Zou Pingping over and said that he had introduced a good family to Zou Pingping.

Zou Pingping's handkerchief was almost torn. She had only been in Beijing for a few days, and now someone was looking for a good family to sell her out? !

What about a "good family"? She doesn't believe a word of it!

Zou Wan was delighted: "He is still an official, although only of the eighth rank, and is the deputy director of the Ministry of Works, a proper official in Beijing! Pingping, don't say your parents don't love you, when you marry him, you will be an official's wife! Later, your husband will accumulate experience and move up a level, and maybe he will be able to bring you an imperial decree!"

Zou Pingping forced a smile: "No, Dad, Mom, we just arrived in Beijing a few days ago, how did you two know each other, and how did you talk about marriage..."

Mr. Zou was quite proud: "It was fate. I shared a table with the deputy director of the camp and drank. As we chatted, I learned that the deputy director had lost his wife five years ago. So we hit it off right away. The deputy director saw that I was very good-looking and said that he knew my daughter would not be ugly, so we decided on it!"

Zou Pingping almost fainted!

Her marriage was arranged in such a frivolous way, over a dinner table?!

The other party hasn't reconnected for five years, who knows if there's something wrong with him!

How could Zou Pingping be willing to do that?

But Mr. Zou and Mrs. Zou Wan obviously thought this marriage was a good one.

When Old Lady Zou heard that Zou Pingping could marry an eighth-rank official, she was very much in favor of it. But when she saw that Zou Pingping was still reluctant, she immediately frowned and said, "You little bitch, you are so ignorant! Look at who your eldest sister married, and then look at who your second sister married. Now that I want you to be a proper official wife, you better do it!"

Madam Zou was furious: "If you really don't want to, I will let your parents find someone to marry you off! It will be too late for you to regret it then! You have been chosen as an eighth-rank official in Beijing, do you really think you are some rich lady?"

When Zou Pingping heard this, she was so scared that her eyes turned red: "...Grandma, it's not that I don't want to, but I don't know the other party's background or the situation, so I'm a little scared..."

Mr. Zou said in a humiliating voice: "The matchmaker will come to your house tomorrow, and you just need to listen to what she says then! Okay, it's settled!"

Master Zou made the final decision, and said to Zou Wan-shi with some joy: "When Miss Ping is married, we can focus on finding a partner for Brother Lei."

Zou Wanshi also nodded repeatedly, with tiny stars twinkling in her eyes, full of longing: "...by then, maybe our Lei brother will have even greater luck!"

Her brother Lei'er's elder sister is the Fourth Prince's wife. With such conditions, what noble lady can he not marry?

Zou Pingping listened at the side and felt extremely sad.

Zou Pingping went back to her room and did not sleep all night. Early the next morning, Zou Wan came to her room and pulled her up. When she saw the dark circles under her eyes, she immediately became angry and annoyed. She personally covered them with rouge and powder and complained, "You are such a naive girl! Can your father and I harm you?"

Zou Pingping thought to herself, it’s hard to say.

That’s what they told my eldest and second sisters at that time.

What's the result?

One of them married the county magistrate and became his eighth concubine, and was bullied by his wife every day. The other one married a man who was almost as old as their grandfather and became his second wife. Her step-sons and step-daughters were all older than her second sister, and they took turns to annoy her second sister every day.

Is this what you call "not harming them"?

Zou Wanshi had no idea what Zou Pingping was thinking. She inserted a silver hairpin into Zou Pingping's hair, looked around, and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, although it can't compare to..."

Zou Wanshi almost said the words "your sister", but fortunately she stopped herself in time, coughed, and changed her words to, "Although she is not as beautiful as I was when I was young, she is still very beautiful."

Zou Wanshi is not exaggerating.

Back then, Zou Wanshi was very beautiful and the Zou family was rich. Mr. Zou spent a lot of money to marry Zou Wanshi.

At first, Old Madam Zou was quite dissatisfied with Zou Wanshi. Later, Zou Wanshi gave birth to children one after another until she became pregnant with the twins, and only then did Old Madam Zou reluctantly start to have a good attitude towards Zou Wanshi.

——Just look at Yu Mingzhu to see how good Zou Wanshi’s face is.

Yu Mingzhu was born very beautiful. Although she had the bonus of all kinds of rare treasures from the Xinguo Mansion, she also had the advantages of good looks from Zou Wanshi and Mr. Zou.

Zou Pingping is not as pretty as Yu Mingzhu, but she is pretty good-looking and deserves to be called a beautiful girl.

Zou Pingping looked at herself in the bronze mirror and felt more and more heartbroken.

The capital city is such a prosperous and wealthy place. She had many opportunities. Maybe she could even climb up the social ladder and become more powerful. But who would have thought that she would be hastily married off by her parents.

Zou Wan pinched Zou Pingping's cheek and said, "Alright, stop being dazed. The matchmaker is coming soon. Let's go to the hall and wait."

Zou Pingping was helpless and could only go to the hall with Zou Wanshi.

The matchmaker arrived on time at about the same time.

The matchmaker was very sharp-eyed. She had come all the way from the second gate and had secretly taken a look at the situation of the Zou family.

You have to know that land in the capital is very expensive. To have such a nice house in such a good location, the matchmaker felt that the Zou family must be very powerful.

The smile on the matchmaker's face became more earnest.

"As for Lord Ge, his family is very simple. His first wife died of illness five years ago, leaving behind a legitimate son, three illegitimate sons, and two illegitimate daughters. Our Third Miss will be the mistress of the house after she gets married, and she won't have a mother-in-law. She just needs to help Lord Ge with household chores and take care of the backyard. That life will be wonderful." The matchmaker said with eloquent words, "It can be seen that the Third Miss has a good body for bearing children. Once she gets married and has a few children of her own, her status will be more stable. The days ahead will be great!"

Old Madam Zou and Mrs. Zou Wan were both very satisfied with what they heard.

Zou Pingping's brows furrowed even more: "...There are so many illegitimate sons and daughters? How old is that Lord Ge this year?"

The matchmaker smiled and said, "Master Ge is not too old. He just turned 40 the year before last. Don't worry, Miss San. Master Ge is an official. He is in his prime and can be promoted to a higher position."

I was forty years old the year before last, which means I’m at least forty-two this year.

Zou Pingping almost fainted after doing the calculation.

But Zou Wanshi and Old Madam Zou obviously had no problem accepting this age.

Old Madam Zou nodded happily: "It's better to have an older child. He will know how to care for others. Our girl Ping will definitely enjoy a happy life after she marries him."

The matchmaker laughed and said, "That's why we say our old lady is very insightful, isn't it?"

Zou Pingping was extremely anxious.

Just as I was about to refuse, a servant came running in hurriedly, shouting "Oh no, oh no."

Zou Wanshi felt a little embarrassed to be in front of the matchmaker sent by the eighth-rank official from Beijing. She frowned and shouted, "What are you doing so rashly!"

The old woman shuddered, but still knelt on the ground and reported: "No, Madam, something happened. A damn girl kicked the young master and injured him..."

Zou Wan frowned. Kicked?

She said nervously, "Why did the servant kick Minglei for no reason?"

But the servant girl stammered and could not utter any words.

When the matchmaker saw me, she smiled and said sensibly, "Since the lady has something going on at home, why don't you come back tomorrow?"

At this moment, Zou Wanshi was preoccupied with her eldest son's injury, so she did not keep the matchmaker. She hurriedly sent the guests away and ran to Zou Minglei's house with Old Madam Zou.

Zou Pingping thought about it and followed behind.

When Zou Wanshi saw Zou Minglei's bed, she understood why the servant was hesitating.

What she said was true, but the servant girl didn't say that the maid had kicked Zou Minglei's vitals!

Zou Minglei’s face turned pale as paper, and he rolled around on the bed, covering his lower body in pain.

Zou Wanshi almost fainted.

Old Madam Zou was old and in poor health. When she heard that her eldest grandson's vitals had been injured, she fainted.

"What's going on!"

Zou Wanshi cried out in despair: "How could I be injured like this out of nowhere?!"

The maidservant was half naked, with disheveled hair, kneeling on the ground and crying: "...I followed Madam's instructions to bring fruit to the young master. Who knew that the young master would put down his book and directly pull me onto the bed, and even tear my clothes... Madam, although I am working in your house, I am from a good family. What's the difference between the young master's behavior and forcing a good woman! I was angry for a moment, so..."

The maid kowtowed while crying, "This servant really didn't mean it."

When Zou Wanshi heard this, she was about to twitch.

At that time, it was said that all the servants in the mansion were left behind by the distant relative mentioned above, and it was also said that they had received their monthly allowance in advance and had left it specifically for the Zou family to use.

Zou Wan thought that this distant relative was quite considerate, so she did not take it to heart when she heard that these servants were all indentured servants.

Now, hearing the maid who hurt her son calling him a good family boy and forcing a good family woman, it means that her son had evil intentions and deserved it!

Zou Wanshi simply wanted to cut the maid in front of her into pieces!

Zou Wan took a deep breath and asked the person next to her: "Have you called a doctor?"

"I've already asked for the doctor. I think he'll be here soon!"

Zou Wanshi's expression looked better. She pointed at the maid kneeling on the ground with gritted teeth and said, "If anything happens to my Minglei, I want you to be buried with him!"

The maid just wiped her tears and didn't argue any further.

When the doctor came and took a look, he found that fortunately the little maid was young and weak, so nothing serious had happened. There was no need to prescribe any medicine, but Zou Minglei would be in pain for a while.

"It's normal for young people to be full of energy," the doctor said politely, "We still need to try to relieve it."

Zou Wan's face turned red!

Madam Zou immediately made the decision: "In that case, the two maids serving in my room are pretty good. I will assign one to Minglei to stay in his room. It's not that I said that when our Zou family was still prominent, every master had four or five pretty maids in his room. It's a good thing that Minglei is old enough and in good health!"

Zou Wanshi blushed and did not respond, looking somewhat worried.

Minglei is too young. He is only fourteen years old. Is it necessary to arrange a maid who knows a lot about human affairs for him?

Zou Wan was hesitant for a long time, but finally gritted her teeth and agreed.

But who would have thought that Old Madam Zou asked the two servants beside her who was willing to serve the eldest young master personally, and even promised that when the eldest young mistress came into the house, she would stop giving them contraceptive soup, and when they got pregnant, she would make them concubines.

In the eyes of Old Lady Zou, this was an extremely good condition. However, the two maids who served her were more timid than the others.

This one said that she had a lover, so she couldn't serve the young master personally.

The one who said that the eldest young master was good, but she had already told someone else about him, and she would get married when the date of the contract was up.

Old Madam Zou was angry again.

Zou Wanshi was really at her wit's end. She finally gritted her teeth and decided to go out and buy her son a maid the next day who could teach him how to deal with human affairs.

When Zou Minglei heard this, he was happy, and the pain in his body seemed to be relieved a little.

He did not forget to say to Zou Wanshi: "Mother, we can't just let the maid who kicked me go!"

Zou Wanshi wanted to beat the maid half to death, but before she could do so, she was persuaded to stop by Nanny Yue who was beside Old Lady Zou.

"You just arrived in the capital, if the maid is determined to report the young master, it will be a scandal." Nanny Yue advised earnestly, "For the young master's future, drive the maid out of the house. Otherwise, if the maid really fights to the death, wouldn't it damage the young master's reputation? If the young master goes to the academy to study, wouldn't that be bad?"

When she heard that it might affect Zou Minglei's study in the academy, Zou Wanshi's original attitude of fighting and killing immediately softened.

In the end, Zou Wanshi angrily slapped the maid and drove her out of the house, thus ending the matter.