Chapter 67 Introspection

After hearing Zhou Tian’s provocation, Emperor Sheng Yuan didn’t open his mouth. He only stared at him with cold and deep eyes, until he saw that his face was pale, his lips trembled, and then said, “Zhen doesn’t need to step on subordinates to become a master. If you think your life is too long, you can switch with the Ye family.”

Zhou Tian immediately knelt down and kowtowed, said he didn’t dare over and over again. He waited for a long time in fear before he heard two words that was like the sound of heaven, “Go down.” He thanked the emperor neither humble nor arrogant, and calmly walked out of the Weiyang Palace, until he reached a corner with no one around, and let out a mouthful of turbid air. Beads of sweat rushed out from his forehead and back, soaking his clothes in an instant.

Meanwhile, Guan Suyi was settling down several babies and their wet nurses. Although the children were innocent, they belonged to the Ye family after all, and the crime involved conspiracy and rebellion. After the case was cleared up, the family would be raided, or the clan would be exterminated. The consequences were extremely serious, and she couldn’t control it even if she wanted to. Even if she didn’t think about the Zhao family, she had to consider the Guan family and her maternal grandparent’s family, not to mention that the Ye family has nothing to do with her, and still had a deep grudge.

“You will live here in the future, and when the matter is over, someone will naturally arrange the way for you.” She pointed to a small attic and ordered her servants to carry clean bedding, pillows and other items in. The inside and outside of the building were already full of heavy troops, but on the surface it looked very quiet.

All the wet nurses had received Zhou Tian’s warning, naturally they readily agreed, especially the one holding Brother Hao, it was said that after the event was completed, she would able to save her life, and there was also a heavy reward to take, so she forced her mind to calm down. She stood at the door with a pale face, as if she didn’t dare to go in, until Brother Hao was so hungry that he was crying, and then she unbuttoned her shirt and entered, and locked it.

Guan Suyi was only responsible for sheltering them. When the wet nurse sneaked out of the house according to Ye Quanyong’s previous instructions, she pretended to be anxious to find them, and then went to report to the official, then she would be free.

This one was sorted out, and there were people in the whole mansion who need to be reorganized. She went to the main hall and ordered the housekeeper to call all the servants who were not seriously injured to come over to listen the instructions.

“You all know what the Zhao family’s current situation is like. Lord Marquis is no longer possible, and now all of us supported by the second master. However, the second master stayed in the border all year round, and without imperial decree he cannot return. He has to rush to the battlefield to defend against foreign enemies, the danger is not something ordinary people can imagine. I’m a straightforward person, I will give you the bottom line. This time Zhao family has suffered a huge disaster and is not as good as before, and the current wealth is like a castle in the airimaginary or unrealistic things, hanging and hanging. Among you, there are servants who were born in the mansion, there are those who signed the death contract, the living contract, and the part-time workers. In order not to implicate everyone, I will not force any of you, leave if you want to leave, or stay if you want to stay.”

She slowly took a sip of hot tea and continued, “As the saying goes, a single strand can’t make a thread, and a single tree can’t make a forest. The more people, the easier it is to do things, and the more people are more powerful. However, I think it’s also depend on when and what the situation. Nowadays, Zhao Mansion is in difficult situation, even though there are many people, but if their hearts were scattered, each has their own plan, and each has their own thoughts, it’s easy to do bad things. So it will be better to work together from top to bottom, unite as one, and cross this hurdle together. Now that the Ye family’s womenfolk and children are also involved in the case, afraid they will not be able to return this time, so the expenses of the East Mansion are still calculated as usual. You can think about it yourself, whether to leave or stay depends on your original intention. For those of you who signed a death contract, I don’t need you to redeem your life with silver, as long as you take the deed and go to the yamen to eliminate your contract, just consider it to accumulate virtue for the Zhao family.”

After a brief pause, her voice became colder, “But you have to understand that now is an extraordinary period, my Zhao family is involved in a major case of rebellion, you won’t be able to leave for a while after you get the deed, and even have to go to the prison for a while, wait until the case comes to light and prove that you are not Xue the Thief’s spies or that you have not leaked the news, then you can go out freely. From then on, whether you are alive or dead has nothing to do with the Zhao family, and you will be on your own.”

The servants even said that they did not dare, and their expressions were full of awe. After being rescued by Madam, they didn’t plan to leave. Although General Zhengbei was not as famous as the Marquis Zhenbei, but Madam was still there, so the Zhao family would be not much worse. Of course, there were also a few people with treacherous thoughts who wanted to escape. When they hear the first few sentences, their eyes burst with joy, but at the end they withered to the ground, not daring to cause trouble. Although this new madam was young, she was not easy to fool.

Guan Suyi closed her eyes and waited. After a quarter of an hour, when no one came forward to resign, she smiled slowly, “Good, in time of crisis is exactly when we have to help each other, so that we can get through this life and death situation. Minglan, Jinzi, Yinzi, reward the silver to let everyone calm down.”

The three maids answered in unison, and distributed the silver taels that had been prepared before, one person three taels, no more no less, completely impartial. The servants were already convinced by the madam, and they were respect her very much. When they got the silver they were shock and laughed so hard, and the auspicious words were pouring freely, the cheerful atmosphere instantly drove away the dark air that penetrate from the officers’ visit, even the side room on the west side where the sun could not be seen was quite bright.

Zhao Chunxi hid outside the door and secretly looked inside. In the past, no matter what Guan shi said or did, she felt that it was not pleasing to the eye, but now she abandoned her previous hatred, and after carefully pondering her every move, she realized that there were so much knowledge she could learn from, like the trick just now was enough for her to learn for three to five years.

Just a few simple words, but sincere and open-minded, people unconsciously opened up their heart and felt empathy with her. Afterwards she gave reward and gained countless gratitude, so they wanted to stay even more, and those who didn’t want to stay were also such ruthless and unrighteous people, there was no loss to the Zhao family. However, the Zhao family was not a charity hall, even thought she had a virtuous reputation, she would not let the slaves who betray their master had an easy time, she brought out the officers to suppress as a combination of grace and power, so that restless people completely subsided.

If they still wanted to leave at this time, either they had a ghost in their heart or there something wrong in their brain, and she would be done with the matter after handing people over to Zhou Tian. From here, who dares to rebel against the master? Who dares to confuse the public? It’s guarantee from top to bottom, inside and outside the mansion was more orderly than ever.

Where was the image of a ruined family. It was clearly an image of destruction and then standing, from standing to beginning to thrive.

The more Zhao Chunxi thought about it, the more complicated her feelings for Guan shi became. She originally thought that whether a woman strong or not, depend on what kind of man she married. Didn’t her mom climb from a merchant’s daughter to the high position of Jieyu, and even lifted up her maiden family so honorably? If she could be like her mom then her life was not in vain.

However, looking at Guan shi arranged things in front of her, it was like the top of the mountain, which made people look up. She could live freely without relying on her husband’s favor, everyone was convinced, and everyone relied on her. What is considered outstanding? That’s just now what’s really outstanding! If she followed her mom’s example, the fate of the Ye family might be her future.

Relying on others is useless, relying on oneself is more dependable!

After eliminating the last trace of doubt and unwillingness in her heart, Zhao Chunxi’s eyes became extraordinarily bright. She quietly backed away a few steps, walked towards the newly cleaned Penglai Garden, returned to the room, touched the makeup that had been messed up by the officers and was now in place, and sighed, “Hexiang, Daddy is right. If I listen to mother obediently and get her advice, I will definitely benefit endlessly in this life. I should be like her. I can only truly stand up if I stand up by myself. Relying on your husband, relying on your children, or relying on family background is useless.”

Hexiang had already swept away by madam’s chivalrousness, and did not dare to oppose her any more. Seeing that her miss had figured it out, everyone was very happy, and hurriedly said a lot of words of approval. The master and servant discussed how to make amends to Madam. In the future, they would have to stick to her no matter what and learn her skills. They talked until midnight before lying down and rest.

The next day, the old madam got up early in the morning and gathered food, bedding, medicines and other items to visit her son in prison. After all, it was a piece of meat that came out of her stomach, no matter how disappointing she couldn’t not care.

In order to display the reputation of the Guan family’s benevolence, Guan Suyi had no choice to pinch her nose to help.

Except for the pregnant Ruan shi and the young Mu Mu, all the masters of the Zhao family got into the carriage and drove toward the Heavenly Prison. Guan Father had already put things in order to make things easier, and now waiting outside the prison.

In the prison, Zhao Luli meditated cross-legged with a calm expression. If ones ignored the bloody whip marks and the thick and pungent smell on his body, ones would assume that this place was not a prison cell, but a wilderness, very refreshing and comfortable.

The Grand Princess was dressed in a black outfit, carried a large ring saber around her waist, with her arms folded and her back straight, she said with a contemptuous smile, “Zhao Luli, you also have today too? This Palace come back in time to personally see you get your retribution. You probably don’t know, the person who led the team to raid the Zhao family is Zhou Tian, and it’s unknown how many people in your house have been killed.”

Zhao Lu felt slight cold in his heart, but his face did not reveal anything, and after a moment of silence, he said, “Your Highness Grand Princess probably doesn’t know, with my wife in Zhao Mansion, no matter if it’s the master or the servant, everyone will be fine. ”

How could the grand princess not know? She just said it to bluff Zhao Luli, if she could see his frightened and tearful face she would be very happy. However, he seemed to have regained the calm and wisdom he once had, and did not fall for it. Of course, there was also no lack strong trust in Guan shi.

Guan shi was indeed exceptional. Originally the grand princess was still worried that she would be bullied, so she stood guard in front of the gate of Zhao family for a while, intending to protect this strong woman. Unexpectedly, Zhou Tian walked in with his head held high, but came out in a sullen manner, after she ran to the palace to inquire about him, she found out that he was slapped twice by Guan shi, and finally kowtowed and admitted his mistake before he was able to successfully retreat.

Such a woman was first married to that soft egg Zhao Luli, and then she was fancied by that pervert Hunnar, it was indeed a flower that was inserted in the cow dung, or a good cabbage ruined by a pig, really wasted! The grand princess snorted coldly, raised her legs and left. If Hunnar didn’t kill this person, she naturally wouldn’t do anything, and a dignified general of Wei Kingdom unlikely to embarrassed such a waste and a group of innocent womenfolk.

When Zhao Luli saw her like this, his hanging heart finally landed on the ground. It seemed that Madam had safely protected the whole Zhao family, being able to marry Madam was indeed a blessing from his previous life.

As soon as the grand princess turned to the middle gate, she saw Chief of Ceremonies leading a group of old weak women and children, then he politely gave her a fist salute.

She returned the salute and saw Guan Suyi wearing a long dress that dragged to the ground, standing by the side like a pine and a bamboo, delicate like a flower, her body revealed both masculine’s heroic spirit and feminine’s gentleness, she couldn’t help but love it so much, suddenly reached out and held her tender cheeks, and smiled, “Madam, now Zhao Luli is no good. If he can’t protect you, you will come to Grand Princess Mansion, and This Palace will protect you!”

Everyone present was stunned, but Guan Suyi cupped her hands in thanks, with neither anger nor shyness on her face, her attitude was frank and natural.

The grand princess became even happier, smiling and striding away, looking at the tall and straight back, it seemed very impressive.

T/N: I should make a note on previous chapter but I forgot. There are two words that means ‘mother’ in this novel, muqin (母親) and niang (娘), I think both should be translated as ‘mother’, but based on context niang feels closer so I used ‘mom’ to differentiate.

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