Chapter 66 Repent

Guan Suyi led a large group of people back to the West Mansion.

There was only a small section of the courtyard wall that had been built, and many bricks were piled on the ground in a mess. The craftsmen sprinkled a line with white lime to distinguish the east and west mansion. The servants of the East Mansion used to think that Madam was heartless, but only now did they realize how she planned with incredible foresight. If there were no division of the mansion, the lives of all the people in the Zhao family could not be saved today.

General Zhou had a grudge against the Marquis. If he insisted that the Zhao and Ye families conspired to seize the treasures of the previous dynasty, who would they turn to? No matter how big the emperor’s tolerance was, no matter how broad-minded he was, could he spare a group of traitors? After experiencing a life and death catastrophe, everyone was sweating on their backs, their knees were shaking, and felt both admiration and gratitude towards Madam, after crossing the white line, they all looked solemn and did not dare to make trouble.

Zhao Wangshu followed behind his stepmother, and when he saw her walking fast, he also walked fast, and when he saw her walking slowly, he also walked slowly, then secretly tugged at Zhao Chunxi’s sleeve with one hand, and asked in a low voice, “Sister, just now our family was almost destroyed?”

Zhao Chunxi’s heart throbbed violently, she lowered her eyes to look at her brother. Seeing that although his face was full of fear, his eyes were especially bright and energetic, it didn’t look like he was scared witless, so she was able to breath a sigh of relief, “No, with mother here, nothing will happen to our family.”

Previously, she hated the Guan family’s vicious methods and how they harmed her grandfather. When she learned that her father was dragged down by the Ye family to this point, and witnessed with her own eyes how her aunt was going to bury the entire Zhao family together with her, her thoughts were overturned. It was said just as distance determines a horse’s stamina, so does time reveal a person’s true heart, and that true sentiment would be seen in hard times, those words were indeed true.

How affectionate were maternal grandfather and grandmother to them on weekdays? Whenever they have good food and drink, never forget to gave them a share, every New Years festivals they also brought thick gifts, as if they value them very much, even more than their direct line grandsons and granddaughters. However, as soon as the catastrophe was approaching, they did not hesitate to give them up, which was worse than treating them like a piece of grass.

Is this a relative or an enemy?

On the other hand, their stepmother, although since she got married they never heard a good word from her, nor receive valuable gifts, and she seemed very cold and ruthless, but when it came to a critical moment, she was able to carry the entire Zhao Mansion and save hundreds of lives, and keep them from being bullied and trampled on.

Only then did she understand a truth – If others treat you well, they are not necessarily good people; if others treat you badly, they are not necessarily bad people. To truly see a person, you have to use your heart to understand.

She quietly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and choked, “Wangshu, I always told you that mother is not good, but it’s actually just nonsense. Don’t look at her as a strict person, but she is not bad at heart. Grandfather’s affair is not her fault, it’s his own sin, and daddy’s matter also cannot be blamed on her, it’s because he was implicated by the Ye family. You will be filial to mother in the future, listen to her obediently, and stop being naughty, you know?”

Zhao Wangshu was very obedient this time. He lowered his head and thought about it, then said, “Sister, I’m not stupid, I just don’t want to use my brain. Just now I also understand that if mother didn’t find the real treasure map, then General Zhou will attack our Zhao family, right? At that time, even if we say that the wet nurse ran away with little nephew secretly, he will not believe it, and the emperor will not believe it, and our family will be the same as our grandfather’s family, to be accused with the conspiracy to rebel, the whole family will be executed and all the property will be confiscated. On the contrary, the little nephew who ran away is safe alone, and when he grows up, he can rebuild the Ye family.”

Zhao Chunxi listened silently, with chills in her bones, and said in astringent voice, “Yes, you can see it clearly. Our family lend a hand when the Ye family was in trouble, but their family wanted to use our family as a stepping stone to send brother Hao to escape and ascend to heaven. So our family doesn’t owe anything to the Ye family, not a single thing. Don’t think about this in the future, and when Daddy comes back, our family of four will live a good life.”

“Yeah.” The haze in Zhao Wangshu’s heart dissipated little by little. He looked at his stepmother with eager and admiring eyes, and whispered, “Mother is so amazing, I will obey her in the future. I will do whatever she asks me to do, I won’t be naughty anymore!”

“Good, Wangshu has grown up.” Zhao Chunxi was very relieved, thinking that she had been bewitched by her mom before, and had done a lot of outrageous things, now she was secretly regretting it.

While they were talking, everyone arrived at the main courtyard. The old madam and Ruan shi hurriedly ran out of the room, their faces very anxious.

“Are you alright? Let me take a look.” The old madam looked her daughter-in-law up and down, and then dragged her grandson to check all over, for fear they were knocked over by those officials who didn’t have long eyes. The person leading the team this time was Zhou Tian, and he had a great feud with the Zhao family, so how could he miss this great opportunity?

“Grandmother, I’m fine.” Zhao Wangshu slipped into the old madam’s arms, secretly looked at his stepmother with a red face, and whispered, “It was mom who saved us.”

Mom? Guan Suyi felt that the top of her head had been struck by lightning, and she was a little dizzy. Zhao Wangshu actually called her mom? In her last life, she treated him like that and never got such an honor. What incredible thing had she done in this life to be able to warmed up this stubborn stone?

The old madam was not surprised. Guan shi was both capable and sincere, and had never mistreated the Zhao family. Not to mention a pair of children with no blood relation, even the grass and trees in the mansion, she could protect every inch of it and never let outsiders trample on it. Such a strong character, such a noble virtue, even if there was some friction and misunderstanding at the beginning, as time goes by, she could gradually touch people’s hearts and gain the sincere admiration from the children.

You see, first the son woke up, and then the grandson, the old madam went to see Zhao Chunxi again, and found that she was also looked remorseful, and couldn’t help but feel extremely happy. Well, this is good. As the saying goes, if the family lives in harmony everything will prosper. Even if the title was no longer there, as long as everyone united, watching out for each other, naturally there would be countless good days in the future.

Ruan shi also came forward to express sympathy, saying that she couldn’t help and felt very sorry.

“Sister-in-law in here is the greatest help to us. After all, you are the mistress of the West Mansion.” Guan Suyi waved her hand to let everyone enter the house to talk. This group of old, young, and pregnant, if she stand aside and do nothing, maybe they would be tortured to death by Zhou Tian. Leaving aside the grievances of the previous life, now that the Guan family was a well-known family of benevolence and virtue in the Wei Kingdom, and she was still the wife of the Zhao family, she had to set an example, lest others use her as a raft to slander her grandfather and father. They were now mix in the court hall, and naturally couldn’t make any mistake.

Of course, she did not forget a group of frightened servants, and ordered the steward to take them to be resettled, and then invited a doctor to come to check the pulse and heal the wounds. As she was making arrangements, she saw Zhou Tian leading a group of guards to come in angrily, and they removed their swords, took off their official hat, and respectfully apologized.

Everyone thought they were here to find fault, their faces were pale for a moment, and hid in the room to listened carefully, only to realize that it was Madam’s skill, they had no choice but to bow their heads and compromise. Madam, this strategy was absolutely perfect!

The old madam let out a long sigh and said, “The Ye family has made thousand mistakes, but they did one thing right, that is to force your father to marry your mother. You see, although she has no official position and no power, but she used this,” the old madam tapped her temples and smiled brightly, “to make others listen to her. With your mother in front of you, even if the sky falls, it will be fine. If you have conscience, you will respect her well in the future, do not disobey in the slightest!”

Zhao Wangshu responded quickly, his small eyes were very eager. Although Zhao Chunxi received it slowly, her reflection was more profound. She envied her stepmother who stood upright and unyielding in the bright sky. She didn’t need to use any conspiracy and trickery, just walked freely on the bright road, and everyone had to make way for her.

She also wanted to be like her, magnanimous and calm. But no one taught her what to do, and she had the example of her mom in front of her, so she went further and further, and the more she went wrong, the more outrageous she became.

Is it too late to change now? Feeling sad, she secretly turned her back and wiped the corners of her red eyes.

No matter how arrogant Guan Suyi was, she could not hinder Zhou Tian from doing his job, so she had to quit while she’s ahead, and invited him into the study to discuss the matter of “luring the snake out of the hole”. The people did not dare to disturb, they consoled each other for a while and then dispersed, and rebuilt the dilapidated mansion.

—–

Emperor Sheng Yuan waited for a whole day for his subordinates to return to the palace, but did not ask him how the case was handled, whether the treasure map was found, only opened his mouth to ask, “Have you disturbed Madam?”

Zhou Tian explained everything that happened in the Zhao mansion one by one, did not dare to miss the slightest detail, let alone adding stuff up. The emperor buried some spies in various noble houses, and asking him was just formality. If he flaunts himself or conceals a little, Ye Quanyong’s today was his tomorrow.

“You are so bold that you dare to cross Madam.” Emperor Sheng Yuan glanced at him coldly, and said firmly, “Zhen doesn’t need to take action, she has plenty of ways to fix you.”

“Yes, this subordinate knows his wrong, and will not dare to make the mistake again next time.” Zhou Tian’s heart skipped a beat, secretly thinking that the emperor was really different to Madam Guan, the other words were all hard, but the word “Madam” was particularly soft, it seemed to contain sugar, very sweet, more affectionate compare to when he called his serious wife. If it said that he had no special thought about Madam Guan, who would believe it?

Zhao Luli, Zhao Luli, I can’t kill you right now, but it’s easy to kill people with someone else’ knife! In an instant, he had an idea, but he didn’t act immediately, but focused on the silver bracelet and asked, “Your Majesty, this subordinate can boast one’s own extraordinary vision and resourcefulness, who is innocent and who is guilty can be seen at a glance. But today really have lose to Madam. Don’t know how she found out, and when this subordinate asked, she didn’t say, it really makes people uncomfortable.”

It turned out that Madam was not willing to teach just anyone. Emperor Sheng Yuan felt extremely comfortable. He carefully recalled the secret letter sent by the dark guard, and went through every detail several times, only said, “A person’s mouth can lie, but their body is especially honest. If you want to gain insight into people’s heart, the language is only superficial, the credibility is one point; followed by facial expressions, the credibility is three point; and finally body movements, from their every moves you can capture the secrets they wants to hide, then you will be accurate. You have only learned the basics, but Madam is a master. I can only pointed you until here, if you still don’t understand when you look back, you don’t need to be the General of the Household.”

Although he said it so easily, didn’t he also not recognize Ye Zhen’s true face? He could only blame himself for being too high on himself and underestimating women before; or Ye Zhen’s acting skills were really excellent, and the control of subtle expressions and body movements had been engraved into the bone marrow.

Knowing that the emperor valued his subordinate’s comprehension and loyalty the most, Zhou Tian hurriedly expressed that he was taught, and finally said tactfully, “Madam Guan is really extraordinary, and it’s really a waste to match her with Zhao Luli that stupid goods. If Zhao Luli died, it would be good, she can justifiably remarry. It’s a shame that only his title was stripped, in neither good nor bad situation, it’s unknown if he would drag Madam down in the future.”

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