By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

Zhou Fangguang walked stiffly to Zhou Wangliang and his uncle, forcing himself to remain natural: "Father, Uncle, I'm back."

Zhou Wangliang had served Emperor Shun'an for many years, firmly holding the position of chief eunuch of Linhua Palace, and his ability to read people was naturally exceptional.

He only glanced at Zhou Fangguang's expression before noticing that something was wrong with him.

Zhou Wangliang's heart tightened, and he said sternly, "What are you so nervous about!"

Zhou Fangguang was already in a state of panic, and upon hearing this, he was so frightened that he knelt on the ground.

Zhou Wanggong: "..."

No, why did you kneel down?

Zhou Wangliang realized something, suppressed his anger, and asked, "Tell me, what exactly did you do?"

Zhou Fangguang had always both respected and feared Zhou Wangliang, and dared not hide anything. He said in a trembling voice, "Uncle, I did not mean to offend Lord Wen. I just wanted to do something to make you proud, and that's why I was momentarily blinded by greed..."

Get to the point!

Zhou Wangliang interrupted Zhou Fangguang's rambling explanation.

Zhou Fangguang paused, then had to explain in detail: "I heard that there was a man named Zhou Zhou who became famous overnight because an article he wrote was published in the Beijing Daily. I thought that if my article was also published in the Beijing Daily, then people would stop saying that our Zhou family is worthless."

"In order to ensure that our articles would be published in the Beijing Gazette, my nephew and a few others bribed a minor official in the Gazette office to secretly eliminate the well-written articles and put our articles together with those of even worse writing, in order to increase our chances of being selected by the great Confucian scholars."

Zhou Fangguang hung his head: "Who would have thought that the matter would be exposed after only a few days? Those bribed clerks were expelled from the yamen by the Beijing Gazette Office. I wanted to host a banquet for Lord Wen to apologize, but although he clearly agreed to attend tonight, he said he couldn't come when the time came."

"Uncle, he is deliberately humiliating his nephew and doesn't respect you at all. He..."

Zhou Fangguang couldn't help but try to sabotage Wen Zongji, but before he could finish speaking, Zhou Wangliang, burning with anger, kicked him to the ground.

Zhou Wanggong's expression changed slightly, and he subconsciously got up to help Zhou Fangguang, who was his only son.

But after glancing at Zhou Wangliang's expression, he sat back down.

He knew very well who the Zhou family had relied on to get to where they were today, and Zhou Wangliang was in a fit of anger, so he couldn't go against him at this time.

Thinking that kicking him a couple of times wouldn't kill him, Zhou Wanggong felt relieved.

Zhou Wangliang grew angrier the more he thought about it: "He is the husband of the Princess of Anhe County, and he is in charge of the Capital Gazette Office for the Crown Prince. I have to be careful and serve him in front of him. Who do you think you are? You dare to bribe a minor official in the Capital Gazette Office and try to do things behind the scenes."

"Your scheme has been exposed, and instead of personally apologizing to the Imperial Gazette Bureau, you're thinking of hosting a banquet for Lord Wen to get leniency? How dare you be so audacious? Do you really think you can do whatever you want in the capital? Or do you think my position is too secure and you want me to die sooner?"

Zhou Fangguang knelt on the ground again: "Uncle, please calm down. I was just momentarily blinded by greed. I was wrong."

Zhou Wangliang took a deep breath: "I never expected you to amount to anything. As long as you were honest and didn't cause me any trouble, I would guarantee you a life of wealth and honor. But I never imagined you would be so greedy, nor did I expect you to be so stupid."

Zhou Wangliang's expression turned cold: "Brother, Fang Guang is no longer suitable to stay in the capital. Send him back to his hometown in a few days."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Zhou Wanggong and his son Zhou Fangguang changed.

Zhou Fangguang was so frightened that his face turned pale. He crawled a few steps on his knees to Zhou Wangliang, hugged his leg and pleaded, "Uncle, I really know I was wrong. I will be careful with my words and deeds from now on and never do it again. Please don't send me away."

He had grown accustomed to the wealth and prosperity of the capital city and could hardly bear the dullness of his hometown.

Zhou Wangliang ignored him and looked at Zhou Wanggong instead.

Zhou Wanggong's lips moved, and he hesitated before saying, "Second brother, I only have this one son."

Zhou Wangliang said coldly, "Either you leave with him, or you send him away and take more concubines, and try to have another child."

Zhou Wanggong's lips twitched.

"Second brother, how could I possibly have more children?"

"Why not? Other men in their fifties or sixties can still get their concubines pregnant. My brother is only forty. Are you perhaps ashamed of yourself?"

Zhou Wanggong didn't know how to respond to that.

Zhou Wangliang said, "His Majesty has granted me a day's leave. I will stay at my residence tomorrow. Brother, think it over carefully and give me an answer when you have made up your mind."

After saying that, he kicked Zhou Fangguang away and turned to leave the study.

Even though Zhou Fangguang was his most beloved nephew, now that his stupidity had implicated Zhou Wangliang, he instantly developed a disgust for stupidity and didn't want to look at his nephew anymore.

Zhou Fangguang was terrified and crawled to Zhou Wanggong's side again: "Father, please help me, I don't want to leave the capital."

Zhou Wanggong looked at him, utterly bewildered: "I just don't understand, how dare you do something like bribing a minor official in the Imperial Gazette? Your uncle always warned us to be careful with our words and actions, have you forgotten all of that?"

Zhou Fangguang apologized repeatedly: "My son was bewitched."

To put it bluntly, it's because you got so much flattery from your friends that Zhou Fangguang got carried away and forgot who he was.

Zhou Wanggong sighed, "It's getting late. You should go back and rest. I'll think of something."

Zhou Fangguang's face finally showed some joy: "Thank you, Father. I knew you loved me the most. I will definitely take good care of you in the future."

After saying that, Zhou Fangguang stood up from the ground and went back to his room.

The butler beside him asked in a low voice, "Master, the Second Master always keeps his word. If he wants to send you and the young master back to your hometown, it probably won't do you any good if you plead for him."

Zhou Wangong sighed, "He's my second brother, so I know him better than you do... Tomorrow, pack the young master's luggage and send him off from the capital. Also, to prevent him from causing trouble, drug him so he can sleep all the way back to his hometown."

He had only been trying to appease Zhou Fangguang; he knew very well that he couldn't persuade Zhou Wangliang.

The butler was slightly taken aback: "Sleeping back to your hometown? I'm afraid a little bit of sleeping potion won't work."

Zhou Wangong was a little annoyed: "Then just add more. Do I really need to teach you these little things step by step?"

The butler bowed his head and said, "Yes, I will arrange it immediately."

"In addition, find a few fertile women, not unmarried ones, but widows who have given birth to many children. As long as they can add sons to my Zhou family, I will raise their children."

Zhou Wanggong really went to great lengths to have a child.

The steward was stunned. He instinctively wanted to ask if he had misheard, but seeing Zhou Wanggong's expression, he dared not ask any more questions: "I will do it right away."

The master wanted to have a second son, so the steward could only do his best to follow orders.