Chapter 279 You Don’t Know Your Sin
When the princess returned to Prince Duan's mansion, Prince Duan was still there, feeling anxious.
"Princess, you are finally back. It is true that I was wrong in this matter, but I was also fooled by that bitch. I thought I was helping Yan'er marry Princess Chaoyang..."
The princess's half-smile expression made Prince Duan confused and he had no idea what she meant.
"Your Highness used this tactic well. He sacrificed his own reputation to not only make Concubine Rong the Consort of the Zhou family, but also made that damned girl from the Zhou family the concubine of the Third Prince. I'm afraid the Zhou family will have no way out. Sometimes, the stupid tricks of stupid people can have unexpected results."
The princess's words were full of sarcasm and not true appreciation.
Prince Duan understood, but did not dare to get angry.
"Princess, I really didn't mean to do that. I was deceived by Zhou... I've observed that the Princess Chaoyang is smart and capable. Not only can she cure Yan'er's illness, but she can also help Yan'er manage the palace. I can rest assured when I hand the palace over to them, and so should your princess."
The princess sneered, her eyes blazing. "Your Highness, are at ease? How can I be at ease? You thrust a woman of unknown origin into Yan'er's arms, and you said it was for the good of the palace? If that's the case, why didn't you discuss it with me first? Do you know where this would put Yan'er? And where would it put me?"
Prince Duan's face turned pale, and he hurriedly defended himself, "Princess, calm down. I really just want to use Zhou Qinzhu as a springboard to let Yan'er marry Gu Ruanci. After all, when Yan'er recovers, he will still have three wives and four concubines. With Zhou Qinzhu in Gu Ruanci's hands, she won't be able to cause any trouble. I have no selfish motives, Princess, please understand!"
"That's enough!" The princess interrupted him, her tone cold. "I appreciate your kindness, Your Highness. But I have my own ideas about Yan'er's marriage, and Your Highness doesn't need to worry about it. Is Concubine Zhou really as good as you say, but she is determined to make her niece Zhou Qinzhu jump into the fire pit? What is she trying to do?"
"In her heart, Ye Hesheng is her only sister-in-law. She's already said that she's always refused to agree to Zhou Qinzhu's marriage to the Third Prince because she doesn't like Ye Lanxin and the child she's carrying. She relied on Ye Hesheng's help to enter the palace, so she's naturally grateful. However, there are some misunderstandings between her and the Princess of Chaoyang County. If she wants to slowly resolve them, she can only resort to this last resort..."
After hearing this, the princess felt even more ironic.
"When Ye Hesheng was in trouble, she, a dignified Concubine Rong, refused to say a word to help him. She even hid herself for fear that Ye Hesheng would come to her for help. Why is she pretending to be grateful now? She just saw that the Zhou family was in decline and didn't want her son to marry Zhou Qinzhu, who had a bad reputation. You actually believed her lies. Your Highness, I hope you can remember that Yan'er is your son, and even more so, my life. I will never give in on his marriage. You have already seen what happened to Zhou. If you have any bad ideas again, don't blame me for being rude."
Prince Duan trembled all over and could only nod repeatedly, secretly thanking himself that the princess had at least given him a little face.
The Zhou family was somewhat unhappy when they received the imperial edict.
Zhou Qinzhu was at least a legitimate daughter, but she was only a concubine.
"Eunuch, is there something wrong with this decree? Concubine Rong is Qin Zhu's aunt, how could you bear to let her be a concubine..."
Ye Lanxin was unlucky enough to get bumped into.
The eunuch who announced the decree said disdainfully, "Rong Fei? There are no Rong Fei in the palace anymore. The Zhou family girl was so audacious that she even interfered with Prince Duan's marriage. She was demoted to Jieyu by the Empress Dowager, and then, by the Emperor's decree, she is now only a Consort. A Consort wants to be the Prince's mistress. I'm afraid she's risking her life."
After the eunuch finished speaking, he stuffed the imperial edict into Zhou Zhili's arms and took his men back.
Zhou Zhili stood there in a daze, not reacting for a long time.
My sister fell directly from the second-rank concubine to the sixth-rank talent?
What did she do?
The eunuch had already gone far away, and he had no way to ask any more questions. He had to pack some things and go directly to the palace to see the emperor under the pretext of apologizing.
The emperor's study was really bustling today. After Prince Duan left, Marquis Jing'an also came to ask for a meeting.
"Let him in."
The emperor was a little impatient. It had been a while since the Zhou family had been embarrassed, and now it had started again.
"Your humble servant pays respect to His Majesty."
The Emperor looked at Zhou Zhili, who was kneeling there, and said, "Since Zhou Qing likes to kneel, then kneel first. After all, a good girl from your Zhou family has the guts to secretly meet with the prince and interfere in the marriage of the prince's son. She inquired about things that I didn't ask about, persuaded people that the Queen Mother couldn't persuade, and thought of a method that the Queen Mother didn't think of. Shouldn't I praise your Zhou family for having such a talented woman in the family and sending her into the palace? For all these years, she has been relegated to the position of concubine, which is really unfair to her."
Zhou Zhili was stunned. After hearing these words, Zhou Zhixia was already guilty of a heinous crime.
She offended the three most noble people in the palace.
"I dare not, I am terrified..."
The Emperor looked at Zhou Zhili below and continued, "You don't dare? Are you afraid? I think your Zhou family is quite bold. Your sister has entered the palace, and your daughter dares to pick and choose among my princes. She is truly well-educated. I had no idea that your daughter, whose background is not good, could have such ambitions. Now that she has entered the palace to be the Third Prince's concubine, it is only because he has not made any mistakes in many years and his mother was demoted, so we can leave him a little respect."
Zhou Zhili was extremely shocked. He didn't expect that this incident would have such a big impact.
He didn't even know why Zhou Zhixia did this.
"I acknowledge my guilt..."
Zhou Zhili knew that any explanation was useless at this point. It must have been Zhou Zhixia who did it, otherwise she wouldn't have been so quiet.
The Emperor and the Empress are both kind-hearted people. They have not touched her in all these years and would definitely not start such a big fight over such a small matter.
When he left the palace, his mind was already restless.
In the end, he still didn't meet Zhou Zhixia, so he had no way to question her in person, let alone slap her.
All the way, he felt irritated while sitting in the carriage.
Yesterday, the eldest son was injured and fell into a coma, and did not wake up until midnight. The daughter-in-law had a dislocated arm and was in pain all the way. Her biological daughter Gu Ruanci turned a blind eye to it. Now she really doesn't want to have anything to do with their Zhou family, thinking it is unlucky. As a result, such a big thing happened in the palace again.
Oh my God, even if the Zhou family really has to pay back the debt, they have already lost two lives. Isn’t that enough to compensate Ye Hesheng once?
After finally getting home, Zhou Zhili didn't know how to explain to the Zhou family's questions.
"Has my aunt really been demoted?" Zhou Yuxiu felt much better after a day of rest.
"Yeah." Zhou Zhili nodded helplessly.
"Then what should we do? Do we really have to make Qinzhu a concubine?" Zhou Yuxiu asked again.
Zhou Zhili was holding his breath, having no place to vent, and was extremely annoyed. "What else? Who do you think she should be the principal wife?"
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