Chapter 113 - Take the Initiative
In the backyard of Zuo's Mansion, Zuo Shaoyan was leaning against the bed powerlessly. Listening to his trusted aide Liu Tie say that Zuo Shaoqing had gone out to take the exam, he smashed the medicine bowl beside the bed in a foul mood.
Ever since he met Jiang Che that day, Zuo Shaoyan's thoughts towards this little brother of his were very complicated. He originally wanted to wait until after Conference Test before dealing with this matter, but who would have thought that he would be met with such misfortune.
It wasn't that he hadn't tried, but his legs didn't seem like his own at all. He simply couldn't walk normally.
Even if he couldn't walk, he would still need to enter the Academic Institution. Unfortunately, when he picked up a book to read, he discovered that he couldn't concentrate for too long, and was only able to sleep after an hour had passed.
He ordered the young doctor from before to come over. After understanding the situation in detail, he had no choice but to bow his head to fate.
Since he couldn't pass the exam, he naturally couldn't let Zuo Shaoqing have it easy either.
He and Mrs. Xue had different thoughts. Even if Zuo Shaoqing had entered high school, it would still be a good thing to bring glory and glory to their family. However, since Zuo Shaoqing had a future, he couldn't let him have everything.
“Go and invite the Madam over.” Zuo Shaoyan dragged the blanket with him. His fingertip turned white and his eyes were a bit ruthless.
“Yes.” attendant was so scared that he quickly ran out.
Not long after, Mrs. Xue rushed into the room. The moment she entered, she asked with concern, “My son, are you not feeling well?”
Zuo Shaoyan looked at his mother seriously and realized that the once charming Madam Zuo had already turned into an old woman in her forties without him noticing.
He sighed to himself and held Mrs. Xue's hand, saying, “Mother, don't worry, your son is fine. I just have some matters to discuss with mother.”
Zuo Shaoyan thought very clearly, Zuo Family could not lose the support of Liu Steel Manor, but even if Zuo Shaoqing entered Master Lu's eyes, it would not last long.
Even though it was risky, Zuo Shaoyan still wanted to work with Jiang Che.
He did not tell Zuo Shaoqing's story to Mrs. Xue, as far as he was concerned, this was after all, an embarrassment to his family, and he was also well aware of her mother's personality. If she were to know about this, it would not even take a day for the news of his Zuo Family to spread throughout the entire capital.
Doing this would only make Mrs. Xue's heart feel carefree, but also not bring her any benefits.
Zuo Shaoyan was a rational person, and would always act in accordance to his and Zuo Family's interests. This was also the reason why he was always on the surface to be kind to Zuo Shaoqing.
“Mother, go and bring little sister back. It's too troublesome for me to always stay at little aunt's home.” Zuo Shaoyan You said.
“This…” Mrs. Xue was a little hesitant. “Mother was also afraid that Fifth Princess would persecute your sister. Your uncle is quite popular in the imperial court. Fifth Young Master doesn't dare to make a move in public.”
Zuo Shaoyan looked deeply at his mother. Back then, he didn't stop them when they avoided the Cheng family, but from the bottom of his heart, he didn't think that the Cheng family could stop Fifth Princess's footsteps.
“Rather than continuing to hide like this, I might as well take the initiative.”
“What do you mean?” Mrs. Xue excitedly held her son's hand. She already knew that her eldest son was the smartest and most scheming person in this family.
“Your son is going to invite people to the Duke Zhen Manor to find out what the old lady has to say. If the old lady wants to be married off, it would be good for you to settle this matter as soon as possible.”
Zuo Shaoyan actually intended to invite Jiang Che to come over and tell his about the marriage for his sister while the madame still didn't know about Zuo Shaoqing.
According to the madame's attitude towards Zuo Family and all the rumors in the capital, she should have also misunderstood something like everyone else.
Zuo Shaoyan didn't expect Lu Zheng to tell the truth to the madame at all. If he knew that Zuo Shaoqing had already taken care of this old lady, he definitely wouldn't have held onto this sliver of hope.
It was not as if there were no precedents where a woman came to propose marriage, it was just that these things usually happened when the daughter of the family married off. After all, being rejected was not a glorious matter.
“Then who do you want to invite?” Mrs. Xue was also very anxious. Rumors were flying everywhere, but Duke Zhen's residence never gave a positive response and never invited her daughter to their house again.
Right now, her daughter was a thorn in Fifth Princess's side. If this continued, nothing good would come out of it.
“Ministry of Personnel and son have a relationship, and Jiang Family and Wu Steel Manor have a few lifetimes of friendship, even if we can't succeed we won't spread the news.”
Zuo Shaoyan believed that since Jiang Che dared to offer to cooperate with him, they would benefit each other, so he must have an idea in his heart.
Rather than making Zuo Family wait foolishly, it would be better to let Jiang Che attack. If he failed, there would be no loss at all.
If his sister really didn't have the chance to marry into Wu Steel Manor, then it would be better to marry Zuo Shaoqing and Master Lu. For the sake of this relationship, Master Lu was confident that his treatment of Zuo Family wouldn't be too bad.
Just as Zuo Shaoyan was thinking of having two beauties at the same time, a woman suddenly broke in from outside. It was Mrs. Xue's trusted aide, Mrs. Zhu. She anxiously shouted, “Madam, it's bad…”
Zuo Shaoyan was not happy that she broke in without reporting, but he didn't show it. He just asked, “What happened?”
“Just now, the Cheng Family's butler came to our doorstep. He said that our young miss and their young miss went missing together.”
“What?” Mrs. Xue was greatly alarmed and abruptly stood up. “What happened? Explain it clearly!”
Mrs. Zhu didn't know much either, so Mrs. Xue quickly left her eldest son and rushed to the front hall with her.
Since Zuo Shuhui had gone missing at such a critical time, Mrs. Xue was worried that something bad had happened to her.
Zuo Shaoyan didn't stay on the bed and let attendant carry him to the lobby. After hearing the Cheng family's butler's messy words, he frowned.
“When did my sister leave?” It turned out that early in the morning, Zuo Shuhui had left with her cousin, saying that she was going to the temple outside of the city to burn some incense.
Zuo Shuhui still didn't know that Zuo Shaoyan couldn't take the exam, so she wanted to ask Buddha for blessing, to help her brother get into high school.
The two of them were afraid that if there were too many people who knew about it, they would be discovered by Fifth Princess's spies. Thus, they told their trusted maidservants about it and went out in disguise.
The Cheng family's eldest daughter was also a skipping girl. She had long been bored by Little Mrs. Xue. When she heard that her cousin was going to burn incense, she immediately arranged for the servants at home. The two sisters sneaked out of the house together.
“Young Master Cousin, according to the old woman guarding the door, the two ladies came out at the time of the morning. My poor Miss has never been so bold before, I wonder if something will happen to her!”
Everyone could hear the complaints and scoldings in Butler Cheng's tone, and it became quiet for a moment.
Housekeeper Cheng's attitude was like that of a Cheng family member. It was likely that the Cheng family hated Zuo Family to death.
Mrs. Xue rolled her eyes and whispered to Zuo Shaoyan, “Why don't we take this opportunity to go to the Wu Steel Manor and ask for help?”
If it was really Fifth Princess's doing, then this Duke Zhen Manor could not escape from being implicated. After all, it was because of Master Lu's Zuo Family that such a disaster occurred.
Zuo Shaoyan thought about it and shook his head. He still didn't know what Zuo Shuhui's situation was like. What if … It would only end Zuo Shuhui's last chance.
He got attendant to send over pens, ink and paper, and quickly wrote a letter, telling him to quickly deliver it to Jiang's Mansion. “Remember, if Vice Minister Jiang asks, he only says that if my sister misses, Vice Minister Jiang's wish will fail as well.”
As long as Jiang Che still wanted Zuo Shaoqing, he would not leave him alone.
Besides, Jiang Che was Emperor Tianfeng's reading companion. He must be very familiar with Fifth Princess. With him around, he should be able to stop that crazy woman.
When the bell rang within the Academic Institution, the organizer brought along the official and distributed the examination questions. In addition, he loudly announced the rules of the examination hall; anyone who broke those rules would be stripped of their identity as High Scholar, and those who were serious would not be able to take the examination again for the rest of their lives.
Zuo Shaoqing still did not know what happened at Zuo Family, and even more so did not know that someone was scheming against him. He took a rough look at the questions, and finally calmed down.
Glancing at Jiung Hengzhou, who had started writing, Zuo Shaoqing smiled and started grinding his sleeves.
When the morning assembly had just finished, Jiang Che returned to the house and received a letter from Zuo Family along with Zuo Shaoyan. After weighing the pros and cons, he instructed the butler to first bring the men and ride his horse back to the palace.
Lu Zheng and the old lady also received the same news. Lu Zheng didn't care about Zuo Shuhui's life and death, so he only sent people to continue staring at Zuo's Mansion, and didn't have any intention of helping Zuo Shuhui.
On the other hand, he remembered the moment Zuo Family asked for help, and was prepared to open his eyes wide to see what these people wanted to play with.
The madame's expression was much more interesting. She sighed and said to Maid Zhong, “This Fifth Princess is still so willful and reckless. I really don't know how she managed to survive in the palace.”
Maid Zhong massaged the woman's back as she replied, “Of course it's because of the previous Emperor's pampering. Only, the previous Emperor isn't here anymore. I don't know how long he'll be able to tolerate her.”
“That brat Zhan Yuanfeng is quite good. For a princess who's at the same age as you, no matter how you arrange it, you will still earn a lot.” Previously, he had even thought of using this kind of trash to win over Lu Zheng. This was truly wishful thinking.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢