Chapter 179 If Zhou Congxian's daughter were to call him "Dad"...
After the incident at Ni Chang Manor, the nobles of the capital gained a deeper understanding of Meng Shilan of the Meng family.
Green Willow glanced back at the courtyard, then strode out.
"Where is Miss Green Willow heading?"
Uncle Qi carried a wooden frame from the covered room, which contained tools such as hammers and saws. He was the one who repaired the tables, chairs, and benches in the mansion when they were broken.
After his legs and feet became less agile than before, he liked to do things like hammering and banging.
As I stepped out of the house filled with wood and tools, I saw Green Willow hurrying along.
Green Willow didn't notice Seventh Uncle. She was startled at first, then her lips twitched slightly.
"I had a jacket made at the tailor's shop in Baima Lane on the front street. I'm going to check it out now."
After bidding farewell to Uncle Qi, he slipped away through the side door.
There was indeed a tailor shop next to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. After Green Willow went into the tailor shop, she left through the back door and arrived at the street next door.
Green Willow glanced around warily, then walked into the crowd and disappeared into the bustling throng.
An inconspicuous horse-drawn carriage was parked by the roadside.
She lowered her head and got into the carriage.
There are people in the carriage.
Green Willow got into the car without saying a word.
Gao Zhian took out a pair of earrings from his sleeve and gave them to her, saying, "These are specially for you."
Green Willow gave a light snort, "This servant is not worthy of such a thing."
"You have put me in danger several times. If I followed you, I would die even faster."
Gao Zhian stood up, took her hand, and put the earring into her hand.
"Aren't you going to take a look at what this is first?"
Green Willow then opened her palm, revealing a pair of red jade earrings.
A smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.
These were earrings she had wanted since she was in the Gao family. The Crown Prince's wife had a pair, but she gave them to a young maid who had just entered the mansion.
These earrings are even prettier than the Crown Prince's wife's.
Gao Zhian looked at her and smiled, "Don't worry, that girl from Ni Chang Manor has been dealt with."
"It was my carelessness. I meant to get her clothes dirty so that she would go to change."
"I didn't expect her to remain calm in the face of danger. That maid was too stupid and useless."
He then looked at Green Willow with concern, "I didn't let you be suspected, did I?"
Green Willow said, "Miss Meng is a poor woman who has suddenly become rich, and now she is only thinking about reorganizing the Meng family's businesses."
Gao Zhian didn't have a deep impression of Meng Shilan.
All that is known is that Zhou Congxian took a concubine before marrying a wife, which was once a laughing stock in the capital.
His mother had even considered marrying his second sister off to him, but she gave up the idea because of this incident.
He went to see it out of curiosity, and all he remembered was that it was beautiful and different from others.
There are many beautiful women in Beijing, but if you were to be placed among them, you might not stand out.
He saw her eyes at a glance, and he didn't know what to feel, only a special feeling.
After Zhou Congxian went to Yanwei Camp, the two had less contact, and the matter was quickly forgotten.
Two years ago, when he overheard that Zhou Congxian's concubine had died, he was momentarily reminded of those eyes.
His face was blurred, but he could still remember those eyes.
That day, I came out of Dexinglou.
He recognized him at a glance.
The face deep in my memory instantly became clear.
He drank a lot of wine, and now he is despised by His Majesty, and even a woman looks at him with those eyes.
After sobering up, he realized that he had been kicked in the internal area by the guards and Zhou Congxian.
None of that matters now; what matters is her current identity.
More importantly, there was the 200,000-strong Northwest Army behind Meng Gong.
The Meng family is known for its loyalty and bravery; all the men are military officers. However, the newly recognized heir is a civil official.
Gao Zhian's eyes darkened. Others might look down on a woman with a child, but he wouldn't.
If Zhou Congxian's daughter were to call him "Dad"...
Thinking of this, the smile in his eyes widened even more.
Gao Zhian glanced at the cheerful Green Willow wearing earrings. "Now is the perfect time to admire the flowers. The peach blossoms at White Horse Temple are about to bloom."
"Just whisper in your ear, and you'll get your share of the benefits later."
Green Willow put on her earrings and glanced at him.
"The Crown Prince wouldn't want to take this new concubine as a concubine, would he?"
"You underestimate Lord Meng. This is just a child. Even if the young lady is plain-looking, he will not let her become a concubine."
Gao Zhian did not respond to her.
He simply leaned down and playfully pinched her nose, saying, "Then think of it another way. This is the most honorable way for you to return to my side."
Green Willow's eyes flickered.
Both of them slowly curled the corners of their lips into smiles.
Green Willow couldn't linger for long and soon got off the carriage.
Zhou Wanqing spotted Green Willow as soon as she came out of the shop diagonally opposite.
Her brows were furrowed.
The maidservant beside her reminded her, "Third Madam, the one driving the carriage is Dongzi from the outer courtyard."
The carriage was ordinary, but the servant driving it was from the Marquis of Xingyang's household.
Zhou Wanqing pursed her lips tightly. "She's already been kicked out of the manor, who would come out to see her?"
She soon found out the answer.
She and Gao Zhian arrived at the mansion one after the other.
The driver for Gao Zhian was Dongzi from the Foreign Languages Department.
"Third Madam, it's the Heir Apparent..." the maid exclaimed.
When Green Willow was driven away, it was such a mess that everyone thought it was done by Third Grandmother.
Actually, it was the straightforward Third Grandmother who caused trouble for the First Grandmother's generation.
Now everyone in the mansion says that Third Mistress is jealous. She has been married into the family for almost half a year and has no children, yet she still forbids Third Young Master from taking a concubine.
Outsiders are just talking nonsense without knowing the inside story. The affection between the Third Young Master and the Third Mistress is truly the envy of everyone!
Now that Green Willow has left, the young master still goes to see her secretly.
It's amazing that Grandma, despite her illness, still managed to take care of the household affairs!
"Don't speak," Zhou Wanqing reminded the maid.
After returning to the courtyard, she hurried to find her husband, who was painting in the study.
"My husband!"
Zhou Wanqing snatched the paintbrush from his hand. "Do you know what I saw today?!"
Gao Zhilin looked at his wife helplessly, "What did you see?"
Zhou Wanqing lowered her voice, "I saw my older brother go out specifically to see Lvliu."
"Big brother went to see Green Willow?" Gao Zhilin was taken aback at first, then sighed, "He's already left the manor, so we can't control what happens to him now."
"Do you know where Green Willow is working now?"
"where?"
"The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion".
Gao Zhilin: "Then it's even less of our business."
He knew how shocked his wife was when she saw Meng Shilan that day, and then he reached out and pulled her close.
“Qing’er, no matter what Miss Meng’s status was in the past, she is now a young lady of the Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion.”
"We cannot interfere with the people around her."
Zhou Wanqing bit her lip; she wasn't worried about Lvliu or Gao Zhian right now.
It was Jiang... Meng Shilan.
In the past, she failed to see Song Jiyun's true colors and blindly sided with him.
Later, she and her friend reconciled.
Whether it's Jiang Shiyao or Meng Shilan.
She didn't want a hypocrite like Gao Zhian to get close to her.
If Gao Zhian really wanted to protect Lvliu back then, he wouldn't have pretended not to see what she did.
She took the blame, while he got away scot-free.
Now that he's approached Green Willow again, it's hard not to think about the future.
Gao Zhilin is now newly married and has a loving wife in his arms.
He was unhappy that his wife was now preoccupied with other people's affairs.
Gao Zhilin grabbed Zhou Wanqing by the waist and lifted her onto the desk, just about to kiss her.
"Get out of the way, I have important business to attend to!"
Zhou Wanqing pushed her husband's pouting lips away with one hand, "You don't need to wait for me for dinner!"
She jumped off the table and ran outside.
"What could be more important than spending time with your husband?!"
Gao Zhilin was still dissatisfied, but his wife could no longer hear him.
Zhou Wanqing neither went to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion nor sent an invitation.
She went straight to the shop where she had seen her before.
The shop's business is clearly not as good as before, and the employees are also listless.
She walked into the shop, but the shop assistant didn't even glance at her.
The shops here are all connected, with a large backyard behind them.
As soon as she entered, she could faintly hear arguing sounds coming from the backyard.
"I quit!"
"Yes! I quit too!"
The shop assistants immediately huddled together and started talking.
"Xiao Ma and the others are leaving too, are you coming?"
"My mother is still sick, and if she leaves, I'm afraid she won't be able to find work that pays this much..."
"Manager Yuan has a new employer, and he wants me to go there."
The one who wasn't leaving advised, "The wages over there are only half of what you get here, don't be impulsive."
"I'm leaving too. Why should a little girl like me tell us what to do?"
"That's right!"
Zhou Wanqing glanced at the group of men, then walked straight towards the backyard.
"Hey! You can't go into the backyard, Madam!"
The man who had been speaking finally realized what was happening, but it was too late to stop him.
As soon as Zhou Wanqing entered the backyard, she saw five or six men facing a girl.
The floor was littered with ledgers.
“Frost’s Descent,” Zhou Wanqing said.
"You were so imposing the other day, how come you're scared by just a few young men today?"
Everyone looked in her direction.
Zhou Wanqing turned to look at her maid, "Why aren't you going to report to the Duke of Zhenguo?"
"Yes!" The maid glanced at her and quickly walked out.
The men quickly stepped back.
After the head steward left, the shop went downhill day by day. After a while, they realized that Yao Shuang'er was just a paper tiger.
As a result, the shop assistants started causing trouble and became increasingly difficult to manage.
When Shuang'er saw that it was Zhou Wanqing, she held back the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
"Third Miss, are you here to laugh at me?"
Zhou Wanqing has always been straightforward and doesn't mince words.
"Yes! Look at you making a fool of yourself, turning a perfectly good shop into this mess."
The guys who hadn't left yet immediately chuckled to themselves.
Zhou Wanqing immediately glanced at them and said, "Weren't you leaving? What are you still doing standing here?"
She then looked at Shuang'er, "A shop assistant isn't working anymore, and you're not kicking him out? Do you intend to provide for them in their old age?"
Shuang'er angrily picked up the ledger from the ground and threw it at the men.
"Get out! All of you, get out!"
The group quickly covered their heads and ran out.
Shuang'er finally turned her back to him, and tears fell down her face.
Zhou Wanqing stepped forward and handed her a handkerchief.
“I’ve been out of Beijing for two years now. I thought I was used to all sorts of things. I’m not going to cry over something so trivial.”
Shuang'er wiped away her tears. "If you wanted to see a joke, Miss, you've seen it all. You can leave now!"
"I can't be bothered to laugh at you. I'm here to talk to you about something."
"What's up."
"There's something wrong with the green willows."
Shuang'er glanced at Zhou Wanqing, who had come to deliver the news, with red eyes.
She paused for a moment before continuing, "We know."
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