Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

Meanwhile, the second aunt and her son also discovered that Zhou Sanniang had run away. The second aunt had sent someone to summon Zhou Sanniang to attend to her (torture her), but the person who went said that Zhou Sanniang was missing. Naturally, this was to let her know that Zhou Sanniang had left.

She paralyzed her and then ran away. How could the second aunt bear it? She was furious and immediately ordered her son to bring Zhou San Niang back immediately, because she wanted to continue torturing her.

But just as Zhou Sanniang had thought, she fled back to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. How could the son of her second aunt possibly bring her back?

Sure enough, when Madam Zhou and Master Zhou saw the son of the second aunt coming to demand Zhou Sanniang, they immediately gave him a good scolding.

"After you scolded Third Sister, she gave in, but your mother took advantage of the situation and, relying on your support, not only refused to back down but also intensified her troubles for my daughter. My daughter couldn't take it anymore, so she pushed her, but unexpectedly, she paralyzed her. It was just an accident, but you and your son have been tormenting her. It's not surprising that she couldn't take it and ran back."

"As for your wish for Third Sister to return, I'm sorry, but Third Sister told us that after you brought her into your household, you didn't register her at the yamen. She's not your concubine at all; she's still a free woman. So it's perfectly normal for her to come back from your house. Therefore, it's impossible for her to go with you. If you keep pestering us, we'll report you to the authorities and say that you're trying to forcibly take our daughter as a concubine. Even if you're a member of the imperial family, you can't forcibly take the eldest daughter of a duke as a concubine. If word gets out, I don't think anyone will dare to associate with you."

Madam Zhou and Master Zhou didn't understand that if the Second Aunt's son really did such a thing, and word got out, not only would no one dare to associate with him—after all, everyone was afraid that he would take any girl he fancied as a concubine—but he would also be impeached by the censor. When the emperor found out that he dared to take even the legitimate daughter of a duke as a concubine, he would definitely be furious. In that case, the Second Aunt's son would be in deep trouble.

Although Madam Zhou and Master Zhou didn't say it like that, the second aunt's son, having grown up in the capital, was not as ignorant as Madam Zhou and Master Zhou. He knew that if he tried to forcibly take a girl from a Duke's mansion into his own home, he would definitely be impeached by the censors. So when the second aunt's son heard Madam Zhou and Master Zhou say this, he immediately panicked and knew that he couldn't take Zhou San Niang back.

His dream of having a duke's daughter in his backyard, something to be envied, was about to fall through, and his mother's desire to torment Zhou Sanniang was now thwarted.

Thinking of this, the second aunt's son left dejectedly.

Before leaving, the second aunt's son still made a harsh statement, saying, "Although you don't acknowledge that Zhou Sanniang is my concubine, everyone in the capital knows this. Let's see who Zhou Sanniang can marry in the future!"

What the second aunt's son said was true. However, after this period of torment, although Zhou Sanniang still longed for wealth and honor, she was even more afraid of this kind of torment. So, compared to continuing to suffer in the Yonghe Prince's Mansion, it seemed that not being able to marry into a good family after returning home was no longer important to Zhou Sanniang. She could just take it slow. At worst, she could go to the Ying Prince's Mansion again after the three-year mourning period and see whose concubine she could become.

But Madam Zhou and Master Zhou didn't think so. They felt that the second aunt's son was right. Although their daughter had returned, it would be difficult for her to marry into a good family. So they were quite worried about this matter and had been helping Zhou San Niang find a suitable match.

However, none of the marriages they sought were to their satisfaction with Zhou Sanniang, and over time, they lost patience with her.

“You want someone with good conditions, but those with good conditions don’t even look at you. What can we do? Hurry up and get married while you’re still young. If you keep putting it off, it won’t just be a matter of not having good conditions, it will be a matter of becoming a stepmother! You don’t want to marry a widower, do you?”

Zhou Sanniang said, "I'm thinking of waiting until the mourning period at the Prince of Ying's residence, and then I'll see if I can marry someone from the Prince of Ying's residence. Isn't my sister in the Prince of Ying's residence? It wouldn't be difficult for me to ask her to help me." She didn't tell Madam Zhou and Master Zhou that her relationship with Linlang had long since soured; she only used Linlang as an excuse to bring up this matter.

Madam Zhou and Master Zhou didn't care whether it was inappropriate for one daughter to marry into the Prince's mansion as a wife and the other as a concubine. They only knew that the Prince's mansion was a good place. So when they heard what Zhou San Niang said, they hesitated for a while and then said, "Let's look at the candidates first. If you still haven't found a suitable person by the time the Prince's mansion is out of mourning, then it's not too late to talk about it."

Zhou Sanniang thought that none of the ugly and inferior people introduced by the matchmaker would be to her liking.

However, she didn't dare to argue with her parents, so she remained silent.

After the second aunt's son returned home in a huff, he told his second aunt about the incident.

When the second aunt heard her son recount what the Zhou family had said, she realized she could no longer deal with the culprit who had paralyzed her. Enraged, she declared, "Since they say Zhou Sanniang isn't registered as a concubine and is a free woman who can come and go as she pleases, fine. But since she's a free woman and not your concubine, then her paralysis isn't something that can be easily forgiven. Go tell the Zhou family that if they think their daughter has nothing to do with us, and that she paralyzed me, I'll sue her in court. Zhou Sanniang will definitely go to jail for harming the Prince's concubine. If they don't want us to sue their daughter, and their daughter to go to jail, then they'd better obediently send Zhou Sanniang back!"

The second aunt's son's eyes lit up when he heard his mother's words, and he thought that made sense.

His concubine injured his mother-in-law, and the mother-in-law could let it go. But if it weren't for his concubine injuring his mother, he wouldn't have let it go so easily.

With such intimidation, the Zhou family would certainly not dare not hand over Zhou Sanniang.

Sure enough, when the second aunt's son came to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion again and told him what his mother had told him, Madam Zhou and Master Zhou were obviously stunned. They forced a smile and said that they would discuss it first.

The second aunt's son felt that everything was foolproof and that they had no way to escape, so he generously let them discuss it.

Madam Zhou and Master Zhou were not the type to think about such a problem and couldn't come up with a solution. They could only ask Old Master Zhou and Madam Zhou. When the two heard about the matter, they also felt it was a bit tricky and couldn't think of a good solution. So they told them to ask Linlang to see if she had a solution.

After hearing their predicament, Linlang said, "Why don't you have someone ask Second Aunt if she really wants to sue her family?"

Although the Zhou family and Second Aunt are not related by blood, the current Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is indeed Second Aunt's maternal family, and in this era, ordinary people would not sue their maternal family. (End of Chapter)