From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 579

It was still dusk, and the summer sun was about to end, leaving only a piece of residual red.

The last heat wave lingered in this ancient city, and several carriages stopped at the door of the mansion.

Zhao Cheng walked down holding his wife's hand, and happened to meet Bai Jingtang and others who got off the carriage together.

When the two sides met, Bai Jingtang and others, who were in tattered clothes, were a little embarrassed, but still lowered their heads.

Zhao Cheng smiled and said, "Master Bai, nice to meet you. Have you been having a hard time recently?"

Bai Jingtang looked at his family, then shook his head and sighed, "Master Zhao, you are joking. The Bai family is now a prisoner. How can we talk about good or bad things? If we can survive, it is already a blessing."

"If Master Zhao is willing, please say a few good words in front of Duke Weiguo. We will be grateful."

Zhao Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly, but smiled faintly, "You seem to be the most dangerous, but in fact you are the safest."

"Master Bai, the twin sisters played this chess very well, and my Ziyi fell for it."

"Of course, my wife is very dissatisfied with you."

Chen glared at Zhao Cheng fiercely, too lazy to talk to him, and walked in directly.

In the yard, Zhou Yuan, Li Yu'an, Guan Caixi and Zhuang Xuansu, the original four people, sat together, with different expressions.

There was also a pair of twin sisters standing on the side, wearing the same thin skirt, one with a sweet smile on her face, and the other with a cold face, but she looked very uncomfortable.

Zhao Cheng looked at them twice, and then he sighed at the grandeur.

Zhou Yuan had already stood up and saluted, saying: "Meet the father-in-law and mother-in-law."

Chen smiled, took Zhou Yuan's hand, and said with a smile: "Ziyi, you are busy with official duties every day, and you don't know to come to see your mother-in-law."

Zhou Yuan whispered: "After this case is over, I must accompany my mother-in-law to visit Yangzhou City."

Chen still smiled, looking at the other five women, and said: "Ziyi, there are really a lot of women around you!"

Zhou Yuan was sweating profusely.

He immediately introduced: "This is the head of the manor of the inner court, who is responsible for assisting me in salt inspection. This is Miss Guan, and His Majesty asked me to take her south."

"These two girls from the Bai family are purely the means of Bai Jingtang. People in the officialdom are helpless. Please understand, mother-in-law."

Chen snorted: "Really? What about this beautiful girl!"

She looked at Li Yu'an.

Li Yu'an has also seen the world, but being stared at like this, she was inexplicably a little flustered. She quickly lowered her head and looked at Zhou Yuan quietly.

Zhou Yuan coughed twice before saying: "Mother-in-law, this is Miss Li. She has been with me through thick and thin since Lin'an Prefecture. Ziyi dare not hide it. She is Ziyi's sweetheart and fiancée."

Hearing this, Li Yu'an's figure trembled slightly and lowered her head even tighter.

My heart was in a knot, I was nervous, secretly happy, and there was a kind of sweetness that could not be described in words.

Chen poked Zhou Yuan's forehead and said, "You are quite straightforward, but it's a pity that my Jianjia is still waiting in the capital."

Zhou Yuan hurriedly said, "Go back after the case is done and accompany Jianjia well."

Chen didn't argue with him, just smiled and said, "You are a pillar of the country, it's normal to be busy. Jianjia is a sensible person, and she will definitely understand you where she should understand you."

"You should also be more considerate of her. Between husband and wife, you should care about each other."

Zhou Yuan immediately nodded in agreement.

Zhao Cheng said, "Okay, okay, Ziyi is of such status now, you are still scolding him in front of so many people, it's not appropriate."

Chen raised her eyebrows and said, "Am I scolding him? I am obviously concerned about him. You are the top scholar in the imperial examination, but you are so unreasonable."

The two entered the habitual bickering mode again.

In the end, Zhao Cheng couldn't win the argument and begged for mercy, "I'm wrong, I'm wrong, you are magnanimous, please forgive me this time."

Chen was satisfied and smiled, "Ziyi, mother-in-law will go to the kitchen and make you a bowl of soup, so that you can also taste my cooking skills."

Zhou Yuan said in panic, "How can this be appropriate..."

Chen interrupted, "What are you talking about? I am your mother-in-law, half a mother, what's wrong with cooking for you."

She muttered and walked slowly towards the backyard.

Zhao Cheng then sat down, patted Zhou Yuan on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Are you sweating all over? Your mother-in-law has many tricks, otherwise how could she have such an advantage over me?"

"Over the years, I have not even dared to take a concubine. You are much better than me."

Zhou Yuan coughed heavily and said: "Father-in-law, let's talk about business first."

Zhao Cheng said: "Just you talk, I'll talk to a few girls."

He looked at Zhuang Xuansu and said solemnly: "ZhuangSizhu, Zhao has been away from Beijing for almost five years. I wonder if His Majesty is well? "

Zhou Yuan winked at the sisters of the Bai family and took them to the courtyard where the Bai family was arranged.

When the family met, they were naturally full of emotion and cried non-stop.

Bai Jingtang couldn't help but redden his eyes when he saw this scene.

He bowed to Zhou Yuan and said, "Thank you, Duke Weiguo, for sparing our lives. The Bai family is really grateful."

Zhou Yuan smiled faintly and said, "Spare your lives? Master Bai, you may not understand that my place is much more dangerous than the prison in Yangzhou government office."

"Whether you can survive depends on luck."

Bai Jingtang seemed to have thought of something and couldn't help looking in the direction outside the gate.

Zhou Yuan said, "I won't say much. Your family will be reunited. Now you can think about how to serve the court in the future. "

"Essentially, it's about how to develop the sea salt in Qiongzhou. If you can do it, it will be a great thing that benefits the country and the people. His Majesty will pardon your Bai family."

Bai Jingtang's body shook violently, and he almost shed tears. After a long period of despair, he finally saw a glimmer of hope.

The main reason for bringing his father-in-law and mother-in-law here is that Zhou Yuan is afraid that they will be in danger. At present, only this mansion in Yangzhou is safe. At least there are people guarding it.

Of course, whether it can withstand the attack at night is another matter.

"Sir, Yue Lingkang is here and waiting in the main hall."

Guan Lu came to report that the security of this courtyard has been taken over by him and Zhang Fei.

Zhou Yuan smiled and said, "What do you think he is here for?"

Guan Lu said, "It is probably to issue an ultimatum. The other party is bold, but he is also afraid of accidents."

"I will take him to go in a while. ”

He strode towards the main hall and saw Yue Lingkang drinking tea leisurely.

Seeing Zhou Yuan, he did not salute, but smiled and said: "This Longjing tea from West Lake is sweet and has a long aftertaste. It is a real good tea."

"What do you think, Duke Weiguo?"

Zhou Yuan said: "I don't care. I can drink well water and tea. It's just to quench my thirst."

Yue Lingkang said: "In my opinion, Duke Weiguo's appetite is not so simple, otherwise he would not have eaten 15 million taels of silver and not left."

"But, I still want to advise the Duke to stop when you are ahead and don't make things too big. In the past few decades, the court has sent at least seven or eight imperial salt inspectors, and you are the one who has gained the most."

Zhou Yuan looked at him and said lightly: "You can be more straightforward."

Yue Lingkang nodded and said: "Of course, after all, Duke Weiguo has seen the world, so I will speak directly. ”

“Duke Wei is your majesty’s favorite minister and the pillar of the Jin Dynasty. We don’t want to do things too extreme. Please ask Duke Wei to hand over all the evidence of the thirteen salt mines and all the people of the Bai family. We can pretend that nothing happened.”

Zhou Yuan said: “What else?”

Yue Lingkang sighed: “Otherwise, we will have to ask Duke Wei to stay in Yangzhou City forever.”

“Of course, we will wipe out the Wusheng Sect and avenge Duke Wei.”

Zhou Yuan couldn’t help laughing, looking at the middle-aged man, and said: “What do you think?”

“When Zhang Bailong’s 300,000 troops surrounded me, I didn’t agree to surrender. The Donglu cavalry gathered at Shanhaiguan, Nurhachi wanted to confer me the title of king and marry the princess to me, but I didn’t surrender.”

“Why do you think I would surrender in Yangzhou?”

Yue Lingkang said coldly: “In that case, then I’ll take my leave. I hope Duke Wei can still be so tough tomorrow! "

He stood up and strode away.

Zhou Yuan looked at his back, stunned for a moment, and then said: "Didn't I let you go?"

Four or five strong men surrounded him and blocked Yue Lingkang's way.

Zhou Yuan laughed and said: "Do you really think that the two armies don't kill the envoys in a battle? You can come and go as you please in my place?"

Yue Lingkang said: "Killing me, will it affect the overall situation?"

"But I feel good killing!"

Zhou Yuan said: "Do you have any objection?"

Yue Lingkang narrowed his eyes and said: "I don't believe that the Duke of Wei is such a boring and stingy person."

"Nonsense!"

Zhou Yuan said coldly: "Since you really want to know whether I can laugh tomorrow, then stay in the mansion and we will witness it together."