Tianliangyuan

Chapter 169 You really aren't a waste!

On the other side, Qi Yunze and Xie Zheng walked side by side, looking at the brother and sister about seven or eight steps ahead, and felt a pang of envy.

"Sigh, you really should go back and kneel in the ancestral hall to thank your ancestors for allowing you to marry such a wonderful wife."

Xie Zheng nudged him with his elbow: "What nonsense are you talking about? This marriage was arranged by my father. Why would I thank my ancestors?"

"Thank your ancestors for eight generations!"

Enraged, Xie Zheng raised his foot and kicked!

However, Qi Yunze reacted quickly, clearly indicating that this wasn't the first or second time he had been so sarcastic.

Xie Zheng also thought Zhao Zhao was indeed very good.

He knew how difficult Cheng Yuan could be, sometimes domineering and sometimes pitiful.

Unexpectedly, Xu Zhaozhao resolved everything with just a few words.

Thinking about it now, Xu Zhaozhao was just stating the truth. It's just that Cheng Yuan herself might not be able to let go of her former status as a young lady of the Duke's mansion, and she always felt that one day she could return to that glorious time.

But is this really the case?

Xie Zheng sighed. He and Qi Yunze had been investigating for so long, but they still had no news. What exactly did Cheng Yuan have that made the other party want to kill her? So far, they had no clue what was going on.

Cheng Yuan herself was completely confused.

In fact, this is normal.

When the Cheng family was exiled, Cheng Yuan spent all the money she had saved up along the way, and she also gave away all her jewelry to the yamen runners in order to make herself a little more comfortable.

Along the way, there were things she pawned and things she used to curry favor with others. So much time has passed, how can she find them now?

Xie Zheng even went to great lengths to find the officers who had escorted Cheng Yuan, but unfortunately, two of them were dead, one was lame and had long been retired, and the others were just low-level henchmen who could do nothing even if they were paid, so it was useless to look for them.

"Qi Yunze, I have to remind you of something. Zhao Zhao is absolutely right. You have a fiancée. You should settle down with those affairs outside. Don't get too emotionally involved. Otherwise, it's not fair to the girl."

"Don't worry, I understand. But right now I have a task assigned by the palace, so I have to finish this task first."

Once the palace was mentioned, Xie Zheng never asked any more questions.

Some things are better left unknown.

If one cherishes life, then one should know not to have too much curiosity.

After Xu Zhaozhao returned home, she had someone bring Zhuzi over.

"Master, what are your orders?"

"Send someone to Jizhou. No, you go yourself. I don't trust anyone else to go. Take a few skilled guards with you."

"Yes, when shall I depart?"

Zhu Zi is much more composed now. If his master doesn't mention it, he won't ask. He just does whatever his master tells him to do. Being obedient makes him a good follower!

"Set off immediately. You can leave openly and honestly. Take some medicinal wine and food with you and send them to General Xie first. Then do as I instructed in my letter."

"Yes, master."

"Read the letter now, and then burn it immediately."

"Yes."

Zhu Zi didn't understand why his master didn't just give him instructions directly. After reading the letter, he felt his heart pounding. Was he really being entrusted with such a big task?

Zhu Zi felt a surge of emotion in his heart. He wasn't well-educated and couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was the pride of being trusted by his master!

"This journey may be dangerous, or it may go smoothly. In any case, your lives are the most important thing. You can give up the goods if you can't get them, but you must return safely!"

"Yes, Master, I will not fail you!"

Xu Zhaozhao then asked, "Did you remember the coded message written in the letter?"

"I remember them all."

"That's good, let's go."

Not long after Zhu Zi led more than twenty men and escorted the carriage out of the city, another caravan set off, heading in the same direction as Jizhou.

After confirming that everything was going smoothly, Zisu stayed in the same spot for another hour to make sure that no more large-scale caravans were leaving the city before turning back.

"Master, besides Zhu Zi's carriages and horses, there is also a caravan arranged by our own people. In addition, we also found four or five wandering knights riding out of the city, heading towards Jizhou."

"Hmm, riding out of the city, a chivalrous knight-errant? Heh, interesting! Cheng Yuan, you're definitely not a good-for-nothing."

Zisu took a step back. She hadn't expected that Cheng Yuan, who seemed as stupid as a pig, would actually be a cunning and scheming master.

Having stayed in Jizhou for so long, the young general had not found anything amiss, which shows how cunning Cheng Yuan was!

Zisu reminded him, "Master, could you send someone to keep an eye on Cheng Yuan?"

"There's no need. If we really send someone to keep an eye on her, it will only make Cheng Yuan suspicious, and she might even think that she's qualified to compete with me!"

Cheng Yuan is indeed very smart, but not enough for Xu Zhaozhao to consider her a rival.

"Her disguise wasn't particularly clever, but Sanlang and Prince Qi are both men. To put it bluntly, how many times a month could they possibly meet with her? It's not difficult to put on an act for a short time, and two grown men shouldn't always be too close to her. So, this isn't entirely their fault. On the contrary, it shows that they acted like gentlemen."

Zisu agreed with this, but Shaoyao felt that it was too much of a compliment to the two young masters. They were clearly too careless and too presumptuous.

They chose to believe Cheng Yuan simply because she was the daughter of Master Cheng. Such gullibility will surely bring them great misfortune in the future!

Xu Zhaozhao wasn't just looking to see the two of them make a fool of themselves.

However, since things are done in secret, it's better to avoid trouble for now.

Putting Cheng Yuan aside, Xu Zhaozhao once again focused her attention on the Jiang family.

The Deng family is completely finished. Xu Zhaozhao felt that she couldn't directly interfere in official matters, but she could make some progress in matters concerning the inner quarters.

Jiang Yanhui was exiled, but his wife, Song, is now living a good life in the Jiang family mansion.

Although she was no longer an official's wife, she was still an official's family member and the daughter-in-law of Grand Tutor Jiang!

Moreover, Jiang Yanhui was the second son of the Grand Tutor, so his wife's background was naturally not low.

Xu Zhaozhao glanced at the Jiang family's family tree again and felt that she could stir up trouble a little.

Deng's greatest reliance now is her two daughters, one being the wife of the heir of the Duke of Su's mansion and the other a concubine of the Prince of Zhong. Her eldest son, Jiang Wenhe, is clearly useless for the time being, but Deng will not give up on him.

In any case, the mere fact that he is the eldest grandson of the legitimate wife means that Jiang Wenhe is destined to inherit the family business in the future.

Therefore, in Deng's eyes, this eldest son was still the most important.

"Wenhe, you are still young. Your mother has already learned that the gentleman from the Kong family will be arriving in the capital soon. If you have the opportunity to receive his guidance, it will only be a matter of time before you return to the court!"