Chapter 102 Reunion of Husband and Wife: The Story of the Zhuang Family
In the dark room, only the rustling of pages could be heard.
'Squeak—' The window flap lifted slightly, but when I looked, it was completely still, as if the sound just now was just an illusion.
"They're here." A voice came from the shadows.
“Master,” Xuan Ying scratched his head, “the brother in charge of the Bai Family Restaurant just sent word that Miss Li has recognized her relatives and has now moved back to the Prime Minister’s residence.”
The sound of turning pages abruptly stopped. After a moment, the person huddled in the shadows chuckled softly, "It's faster than I expected."
Immediately, there was a soft clinking of tables and chairs. The man stood up and walked forward. The light coming in from the window shone on his clothes, making the five-clawed python pattern on his apricot-yellow court robe lifelike. "You go and keep an eye on the Prime Minister's residence yourself. My fourth brother is not a patient person."
Xuan Ying accepted the order, paused for a moment, and then asked, "Master, what about Lang Ge?"
A silence followed.
Xuan Ying lowered his head and left silently.
“Brother Lang,” Fei Ye’s face was half-lit and half-shadowed by the light, “wait a few more days for me.”
As expected.
The Zhuang family has welcomed a distinguished guest today.
Upon hearing the report, Zhuang Xiang frowned and ordered the person to be invited into his study. He then spoke a few words to his daughter and granddaughter before heading to the courtyard.
"Mother, the Fourth Prince has come to visit, but why does Grandfather seem unwelcoming?" Although Zhuang Shiyang didn't say anything, anyone could see the dissatisfaction in his eyes.
Zhuang Shutong scoffed, “Your maternal grandfather holds a high position, and now both the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince are vying for his support. The Emperor is in his prime, but the two princes are already eager to make their move.”
Li Yang remembered that Fei Ye once mentioned that the world is now divided into two, and the Second Prince and his maternal clan, the Gao family, are now irreconcilable enemies with the Fourth Prince and his maternal clan, the Ji family.
Those two each formed their own faction, and the world is actually divided into three factions. The royalist faction led by Zhuang Xiang is the most stable neutral faction at present.
Whether it's the second prince or the fourth prince, they all want to gain influence over the Prime Minister's mansion.
For many years, Prime Minister Zhuang has carefully maintained neutrality and supported his protégés, who have now formed their own pro-royalist faction in the court and are Emperor Qing's most trusted men. For Prime Minister Zhuang, the only person he is truly loyal to is the current emperor.
"Back then, the reason why your maternal grandfather disagreed with my marriage to your father was related to this matter."
Zhuang Xiang was open-minded and did not solely seek a marriage with a high-ranking family for his daughter.
However, the person chosen by the daughter is actually a guard of the Second Prince. If the two marry, Zhuang Xiang will be unable to sever ties with the Second Prince's faction.
For the public good, he would never make any deal with the Second Prince without His Majesty's permission.
For his own sake, it was truly shameless for the Second Prince's guards to seduce his daughter at such a time, and he did not want his daughter to fall into a trap.
Therefore, in desperation, Prime Minister Zhuang had no choice but to find another suitable husband for the Second Prince. Unexpectedly, the Second Prince's guard ran away with his daughter. As a result, for many years afterward, a subtle rift developed between Prime Minister Zhuang and the Second Prince.
Perhaps this situation gave the Fourth Prince confidence; the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and he was determined to seize the power of the Zhuang faction.
The two whispered to each other, but the atmosphere in the study was tense and confrontational.
"Your Highness, be careful what you say."
Zhuang Ziyang slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and shouted angrily.
Li Zhao, however, did not care at all. He sat in the armchair with his hands on the armrests, casually picking at his nails.
"Why is Prime Minister Zhuang so angry?" He smiled and said, "I was just stating the facts. Prime Minister Zhuang is a smart man; why didn't you make preparations earlier?"
Li Zhao came today to discuss cooperation with Zhuang Ziyang.
This old man has repeatedly rejected his good intentions over the years. If it weren't for the fact that his second brother was still eyeing him covetously, he would have had someone deal with this old man long ago.
Today, we've only just started, and this old man is already scolding him because of his age.
Heh, when he ascends the throne in the future, he might still have to grovel on the ground, but he'll have to live to see that day.
Zhuang Ziyang: "Your Highness, His Majesty is in good health and enjoys great blessings. I'm afraid Your Highness's plans will fall through."
He knew that the court was now basically divided into the Goryeo and Ryeo factions. However, he was unwilling to take sides. He believed that one should be loyal to the emperor because he was paid by the emperor. Since his master was the current emperor, he would only be loyal to the current emperor.
Moreover, the Fourth Prince's actions over the years have hardly been those of a benevolent ruler.
No matter what, he could never support the Fourth Prince.
Seeing that Zhuang Ziyang was unmoved, Li Zhao composed himself, stood up, smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes, and slowly raised his head, saying, "Lord Zhuang, until we meet again."
After saying that, he strode away.
Watching his departing figure, Zhuang Ziyang felt uneasy. Li Zhao was a man of deep thoughts, yet today he only said so much.
Zhuang Shutong received the letter and entered the study. "Father?"
Zhuang Ziyang shook his head slightly, "The Fourth Prince did not reveal his chips."
Zhuang Shutong suddenly laughed and said, "Maybe they're just trying to bluff us. They don't have any leverage at all."
Seeing his daughter so amusing, Zhuang Ziyang felt a great deal of relief from the gloom in his heart. This daughter, whom he had forced to flee the capital years ago, was still well taken care of by that boy Li Lang, and she still looked as innocent as ever.
Thinking of this, he instructed, "These days, you and Zhaozhao must be careful. Although we don't know what other tricks the Fourth Prince has up his sleeve, he is shrewd and ruthless, so we must be on guard."
Zhuang Shutong knew her father was telling the truth, and looked at her daughter with mixed feelings. "Zhaozhao, pack your things and go back to the restaurant. Don't let anyone know about our relationship."
"Is Mother worried that the Fourth Prince might harm me if he finds out I am from the Zhuang family?"
Zhuang Shutong nodded gently, a vague guess passing through her mind. She bit her lip and said, "No matter what, it's always better to be careful."
Hopefully, it's all just her speculation.
When the argument in Zhuang's study reached Fei Ye's study, the man merely scoffed, "Trying to draw a tiger but ending up with a dog instead."
Originally, the Zhuang family was preparing to hold a family banquet to welcome back Liyang, but due to the Fourth Prince's sudden rebellion, the Zhuang Prime Minister was worried that his granddaughter's premature appearance in the capital would cause unnecessary trouble, so the family banquet was postponed.
Upon receiving the message at General Zhuang's residence, some dissatisfaction was inevitable.
Zhuang Jielong took her mother's arm and said coquettishly, "Mother, didn't you say that my cousin was just a homeless person in Songshan Town and must have been very uncouth? How come Grandfather still treats her with such kindness?"
Madam Ling smiled and tapped her daughter's forehead. "That's your cousin."
“Mother, don’t spoil her. She’s become increasingly unruly in her speech. As a junior, she dares to speak ill of her elders behind their backs. Who will dare to marry her in the future?” Zhuang Jieling disagreed with her younger sister. “My cousin suffered a lot when she was young. It’s only right that Grandfather would love her more.”
"Tch," Zhuang Jielong disagreed with her sister's point of view, "What's so glorious about that? Aunt eloped with someone and raised a daughter. Sister, if we're talking about something, that's what will affect our marriage."
"you……"
Unable to win an argument with her sister, Zhuang Jieling glared at her angrily.
Madam Ling was extremely troubled. "Alright, alright, your sister is right. You two are at the age where you should be getting married, but now that the elders in the family have had this incident... Sigh, no, no, I still have to find a matchmaker and settle things with you as soon as possible."
Seeing that her mother was helping her, Zhuang Jielong hid behind her mother, made faces at her sister, and then ran away in a flash.
Zhuang Lingshi, also preoccupied, went to the courtyard to find her husband. "Look at her, your sister is a woman of her own mind, but our young lady has yet to find a suitor. I don't care, Zhuang Rong, if you dare to let this matter leak out even a little bit and affect our young lady's marriage, I will divorce you."
Zhuang Rong was holding a red-tasseled spear when his wife rushed over, demanding a divorce. When he finally understood what had happened, he couldn't help but grab his youngest daughter by the ear and give her a good scolding.
-
While the other businesses were bustling about, the Bai Family Restaurant was acting strangely today.
Li Yang skipped back to the restaurant carrying her bundle, only to find everyone's eyes scanning her up and down, but no one uttered a sound.
"Xiaobai, Sister Ziyan, I'm back." She tossed her bundle onto the counter. "What's wrong with you? Aren't you happy to see me?"
Youfeng came forward, glanced at the hall, and then scurried back to a corner.
Li Yang looked up and saw that there were no customers in the hall today, except for a man at the center table with his back to the counter. Beside him, Xiao Lu was clutching the hem of her clothes, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her.
“Chen…” Li Yang only said one word, then seemed to remember something, took two steps, and saw the other person turn around, “Zhao Zhao, I’m here.”
"List……"
The man looked at her with a leisurely smile.
Suddenly, the girl took off running out of the shop.
Chen Junbo was taken aback, glanced around, then flicked his clothes and strode after him.
Li Yang had only run a few steps when someone grabbed his arm. "Why are you running!"
She had to turn around, smiling awkwardly at the other person, "Hehe."
The spring breeze carries catkins, lifting the thin curtain.
"Zhaozhao, are you still going to run?"
Li Yang struggled and said, "Let go of me first, we're on the street."
Are you still running?
"Stop running, let's talk this out."
Chen Junbai stared at the young woman in front of him, who was making a solemn vow, his face displeased, but his grip on her hand remained firm.
In a flash, he suddenly pulled the person back to him and hugged them tightly.
“Chen Junbo…” Li Yang said in a muffled voice, “How did you find me?”
The person holding her seemed to laugh in exasperation, and pulled away to look at her face carefully. "No matter where you run, I will find you."
After a moment, he spoke softly, "Zhaozhao, stop running."
“Ahem, Mr. Chen,” Ziyan said, standing to the side with her arms crossed, “we’re on the street, it’s about time to come back to the shop.” With that, she tossed her handkerchief and walked away.
As soon as they entered the store, a crowd gathered around them.
Xiao Bai: "Miss Li, is this your husband?"
Little Deer: "Young Master, Young Madam, please sit down and talk."
Shopkeeper Chen: "Miss Li is truly blessed with a string of good news. She just reunited with the Zhuang family the other day, and today she is reunited with her husband."
"Recognize the bookmaker?" Chen Junbo asked, frowning. "Which bookmaker?"
The people in the shop filled in the gaps in the story with their own words, and Chen Junbo was stunned when he heard it: "Zhaozhao, you are the Zhuang Xiang's granddaughter?"
Ziyan gloated, "That's right. Prime Minister Zhuang said that if that Chen dares to bully his granddaughter, he'll make him regret it."
Chen Junbo glared at her, impatient to argue with her, and looked at Li Yang instead, "Your mother is the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister, then what about your father?"
Li Yang said sullenly, "Father hasn't been found yet."
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