good season

Chapter 96: Praise from Niece
Xiao Zhen asked in a deep voice: "Is that a nanny?"

Zhao Shiqing nodded: "She is just a respectable nanny from a wealthy family. How should I put it? Even though she is on an equal footing with the Second Madam, she still gives me the feeling of a nanny. This has nothing to do with her clothes and appearance. I can tell from her little movements and expressions."

Xiao Zhen could understand. Just like Nanny Bai who was beside the eldest princess, her demeanor was good enough to be a master of the noble ladies in the capital. She usually ordered servants around and lived a life of luxury. However, people like Xiao Zhen and Zhao Shiqing, who were used to seeing wealth and luxury, could still tell her identity at a glance.

Some things are engraved in our bones and will be revealed inadvertently.

What's more, the woman Zhao Shiqing saw was dressed like a nanny from a wealthy family and did not try to conceal it.

Zhao Shiqing tilted her head and looked at Xiao Zhen: "Based on your understanding of the Zhong family, which nanny can be on par with the Second Madam?"

You know, this second lady has an imperial decree.

Zhao Shiqing also thought of the Nanny Bai she had met in the Star Observation Tower: "Is the Nanny Bai in your mansion qualified?"

Xiao Zhen: "First of all, Nanny Bai may be arrogant and her words may be sharp, but she will never be on the same level as the imperial concubine. If a Nanny from the palace doesn't even understand this, she wouldn't be alive today."

Zhao Shiqing thought about it and it made sense. For example, Nanny Zheng who was beside Nie was very well behaved.

What Xiao Zhen couldn't understand, Zhao Shiqing certainly couldn't understand either. She grew up in Liangdi and knew very little about the princes and nobles outside of Liangdi.

Xiao Zhen asked: "Have you ever learned Danqing?"

Zhao Shiqing: “I’ve learned a little.”

Xiao Zhen pointed at the table. The Zhong family was a scholarly family, and even the guest rooms were equipped with the four treasures of the study.

This means asking Zhao Shiqing to draw the picture of that nanny.

Zhao Shiqing was very happy. She hadn't painted for a long time and her hands were itching to paint.

So she immediately picked up her brush and painted the nanny she had just seen.

Xiao Zhen leaned over to take a look, and finally understood that Zhao Shiqing was not being modest when he said he had learned a little.

She really only learned a little.

Zhao Shiqing: I really like painting, but later I developed other hobbies and didn’t continue learning it.

Xiao Zhen shook his head, spread out another piece of paper, and said to Zhao Shiqing: "Describe the man's appearance in detail."

Half an hour later, a face that was 70% similar to that person appeared on the paper.

Zhao Shiqing has always been a person who is not stingy with compliments for others.

"Ah, your painting is so lifelike, it's simply divine. If the painters in the government office had half your skills, those bandits would have been arrested long ago. From today on, you are the person I admire the most! Uncle Zhen!"

Xiao Zhen: I was already feeling ecstatic, but when I heard the three words "Uncle Zhen", I fell straight down from the sky. It hurt so much!
"We are brother and sister." Xiao Zhen had no expression on his face.

Zhao Shiqing quickly covered her mouth exaggeratedly, her words slipped and she forgot that this was the Zhong family.

Zhao Shiqing pointed at the portrait and asked, "Have you seen it before?"

Xiao Zhen shook his head. He had always had a good memory. If he had seen someone before, he would feel that he looked familiar even if he couldn't call out the name. However, he had never seen the person in the portrait in his past or present life.

Xiao Zhen put the portrait away and said to Zhao Shiqing, "I'll have someone investigate this matter. You should go back to sleep to avoid being discovered by the night watchman."

Zhao Shiqing pointed out the window and said, "Xiaoguai is on guard, don't worry."

The little demon in his arms yawned, and Zhao Shiqing followed suit: "I'm sleepy, I'm going back to sleep, see you tomorrow."

They are brother and sister, so the guest rooms arranged for them by the Zhong family are connected rooms separated only by a wall.

Zhao Shiqing left as soon as he said he would, jumped out of the window, and went back to his room to sleep.

The next day, the brother and sister said goodbye and left Baifeng City with the Cheng Yi given by the Zhong family.

However, the two of them walked around outside the city. Xiao Zhen changed into a human skin mask, and Zhao Shiqing washed off the disguise on his face. Then the two of them went back into the city and returned to the inn where they had stayed before.

Xiao Zhen returned to his room, but Zhao Shiqing started chatting with the female waitress in the inn.

Baifeng City is an upper city. In order to entertain female guests more conveniently, the inns in the city followed the example of the capital and hired female waiters. The female waiters were all in their thirties, with cheerful personalities and good at speaking.

It was not busy at the moment and the waitress was just sitting around doing nothing, so Zhao Shiqing gave her a piece of change. The waitress was very happy and started chatting with Zhao Shiqing.

So when Zhao Shiqing came to ask Xiao Zhen to go out for dinner, she already knew a lot of interesting things in Baifeng City.

"Do you know? Everyone in Baifeng City knows that you are dead. The girls in Hongxiu Tower even raised money to hold a ritual to pray for your soul."

Xiao Zhen: "Hongxiu Tower? I don't know it, I've never been there."

The name doesn't sound like a serious place.

Zhao Shiqing's eyes widened: "Ah? How can you be so heartless? The girls in Hongxiu Tower have cried so much for you that they have wet their handkerchiefs so many times."

Xiao Zhen: “I don’t care.”

Zhao Shiqing sighed: "Those girls are so stupid. Just because they heard that the prince consort is a handsome man, they think you are handsome too. They haven't even seen you, but they are sad for you. But they won't do that in the future."

Xiao Zhen was curious: "Why not?"

Zhao Shiqing: "I told the female waitress that you have all the flaws on your parents' faces. You look three parts human and seven parts ghost. People in Beijing call you the ghost-seeing one."

萧真
Zhao Shiqing had talked nonsense enough and finally got back to the point: "Zhong Ziyang has a mistress who lives in the alley behind this inn. This is no secret in the Zhong family. Zhong Ziyang's wife didn't come to catch him cheating, but she didn't bring the mistress into the house either. The mistress has lived here for more than half a year. The female waiter saw her a few days ago. She was pregnant and looked to be six or seven months pregnant."

Xiao Zhen was shocked. He didn't know that Zhong Ziyang had a mistress.

Calculating the time, when he met Zhong Ziyang in his previous life, the child of his concubine was at least two years old.

Where were the mother and son when Zhong Ziyang left Baifeng City?

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Zhao Shiqing continued, "Zhong Ziyang's wife is his cousin, that is, the niece of the Third Old Lady. Her surname is Gong, and her family name is Gong. Gong gave birth to Zhong Zhanbo, but Zhong Zhanbo was not born full-term. Do you know about this?"

Xiao Zhen shook his head. The Zhong family was a mess. Even the fact that Zhong Zhanbo was not a full-term baby had spread outside.

Zhao Shiqing lowered her voice and said, "Gong married Zhong Ziyang and gave birth to Zhong Zhanbo seven months after the marriage. She announced to the public that Zhong Zhanbo was a seven-star child, but the midwife who delivered the baby said that Zhong Zhanbo was white and fat when he was born, and was stronger than many full-term babies.

Originally, no one knew about this, but more than 20 years later, last year, the midwife somehow told people about this, and then everyone in Baifeng City knew about it."

Xiao Zhen asked, "Is the midwife still alive?"

Zhao Shiqing: "After hearing about this, the Zhong family went to look for the midwife to settle the score, but they came up empty-handed. No one knew where the midwife's family had moved to, and the house was empty."

Xiao Zhen: "It sounds like this midwife is being instructed by someone."

Zhao Shiqing continued: "After this incident, Zhong Zhanbo didn't go out for a long time. By the way, Zhong Zhanbo has been married for many years, but he has no children. You know this, right?" Xiao Zhen: "Yes, the Zhong family has a rule that a man can take a concubine only if he is 40 years old and has no children. Therefore, Zhong Zhanbo doesn't even have a concubine."

Zhao Shiqing: "Generally, in this kind of situation, everyone would think that the wife is infertile, but when it comes to Zhong Zhanbo, it's different.

Zhong Zhanbo's wife's surname is Shen. The women of the Shen family are well-known in Baifeng City for their good fertility. There is no woman in the Shen family who cannot give birth to a child, so the people of Baifeng City believe that Zhong Zhanbo is not good in that aspect. "

Xiao Zhen touched his ear, thinking there must be something wrong with it. Zhao Shiqing was a simple and lovely girl, and she would definitely not say something like "I'm not good at that".

Xiao Zhen asked: "Why do you only hear about this kind of things?"

What kind of thing?
Of course it's something to do with having children.

Zhao Shiqing said three things.

Zhong Ziyang's mistress is about to give birth;

Zhong Zhanbo was the full-term child born seven months after Gong's marriage;

Zhong Zhanbo can't let a woman give birth to a child.

Zhao Shiqing blinked her eyes. "Gossiping about other people's affairs, what do you think they are talking about? They are all about this kind of things."

Xiao Zhen: I understand. I am just ignorant.

However, Xiao Zhen had a new opinion of Zhong Ziyang.

He held back and said nothing, but looked at Zhao Shiqing: "What do you think is going on?"

Zhao Shiqing's eyes sparkled: "Zhong Ziyang is not the Third Old Lady's biological son, he was most likely brought back from outside by the Third Old Master and raised by the Third Old Lady.

The third old lady has three sons, but she let Zhong Ziyang, a man of unknown origin, take the position of the eldest son. How could she not be angry?

She endured it silently and finally waited for the time to get engaged to Zhong Ziyang.

The third old lady's niece, Gong, lost her virginity before marriage and became pregnant, so the third old lady decided to make Zhong Ziyang wear this green hat.

Of course, she must have set a trap to make Zhong Ziyang jump in on his own, and maybe he even thought that the child in Gong's belly was his.

But Zhong Ziyang was not stupid. After a long time, he gradually figured it out.

When Zhong Zhanbo grew up, he was the best among the grandchildren of the Zhong family and passed the imperial examination when he was less than twenty years old.

It would be fine if Zhong Zhanbo was a waste, but he is so outstanding. How could Zhong Ziyang not be angry?
I guess he must have done something to Zhong Zhanbo, otherwise Zhong Zhanbo would have passed the imperial examination before he was twenty, but he only went to Beijing to take the examination once and then lost interest in the imperial examination. Although he is polite, he is listless and has no vitality. He must have suffered a blow, and a very heavy blow.

As for Zhong Ziyang, he openly kept a mistress, but Gong Shi didn't make a fuss. I think it has something to do with Zhong Zhanbo. Zhong Zhanbo can't have children, and Gong Shi only gave birth to Zhong Zhanbo as a son. If other women are not allowed to have children, then Zhong Ziyang will be extinct, and the Third Old Master will definitely not agree."

Xiao Zhen was silent. It could be said that Zhao Shiqing's guess was very reliable.

Xiao Zhen suspected that the reason why Zhong Zhanbo couldn't have children was because of Zhong Ziyang's conspiracy.

If this is the case, then the kidnapping of Zhong Zhanbo in the previous life.
Since Zhong Ziyang knew that Zhong Zhanbo was not his son, would he still risk his life to redeem Zhong Zhanbo when he already had a son from another family?

No wonder the ransom couldn’t be found at that time.

The story about the robbers stealing the ransom by scaring the horse was probably a fabrication. It was all a scam set up by Zhong Ziyang.

In that scam, Zhong Zhanbo became a disabled person.

And if Xiao Zhen and Xiao Yue had not happened to pass by, believed it to be true, wiped out the group of bandits and rescued Zhong Zhanbo, then according to Zhong Ziyang's original plan, Zhong Zhanbo would have been killed.

Zhong Ziyang not only wants money, but also Zhong Zhanbo's life.

The twenty thousand taels of silver were obtained by the Zhong family by selling the calligraphy, paintings and books left by their ancestors.

After going around in a circle, the money went into Zhong Ziyang's own pocket.

Xiao Zhen thought of the persistence and sincerity shown by Zhong Ziyang in his previous life, and couldn't help but laugh at himself.

If there wasn't this little girl who was like the sun in front of him, if it was just him, even if he was reborn, he wouldn't ask anyone about having children.

That’s right, although both men and women are trying to gather information, they get different information from different perspectives.

If he were to inquire, he would only inquire about the Zhong family's friends and enemies. But Zhao Shiqing was different. What she inquired about were all the private matters in the backyard.

Moreover, she would not only inquire, she would also imagine. Just like the three things about childbirth that the female waitress told her, she imagined a story of love, hatred and vengeance spanning more than forty years.

Xiao Zhen regretted again. If he had brought Zhao Shiqing back to the capital, the Princess's Mansion would have been filled with laughter and joy.

After they had their meal, they returned to the inn.

Three days later, Zhong Zhanbo woke up in the middle of the night and found himself lying in Hongxiu Tower. The two Hua Niangs were both angry and amused. They poked his forehead with their slender jade fingers and said, "You bastard, no wonder even the wife of the Shen family couldn't give birth to a child for you. It turns out that you are a eunuch."

Zhong Zhanbo was so ashamed and angry that he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.

"Nonsense, I'm not a eunuch, I was harmed by someone, by someone!"

Hua Niang covered her mouth and giggled, obviously not believing it.

This sudden humiliation made Zhong Zhanbo unable to think about why he was in Hongxiu Tower. He saw the shadow of his wife in Hua Niang's face. His wife's ridicule and abuse had long become his nightmare.

After ten years of marriage, his wife has been mocking and scolding him for ten years.

But what could he do? He couldn't even argue with his wife. Whenever his wife called him a dead eunuch, he would close the doors and windows for fear that someone would hear him.

He lived like this for ten whole years and endured it for ten whole years.

Back then, he was young and successful, and in his prime.

Zhong Zhanbo covered his face and cried like a child.

Suddenly, a hand fell on his shoulder, and the strength of the hand made him intuitively know that it was a man.

Zhong Zhanbo looked up in surprise and saw a strange face.

"You said you were murdered?"

The man was very young, with a very ordinary appearance, the kind that you would forget once you see him.

The man took out two silver ingots weighing ten taels each and threw them to Hua Niang. Hua Niang smiled happily and walked out with the silver ingots.

The room was decorated with flowers. The man sat down on the stool in front of the bed and looked at Zhong Zhanbo gently.

For some reason, facing a stranger, Zhong Zhanbo suddenly wanted to talk.