Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!-Chapter 526 Living Chess Piece_1

The Palace, within the government hall, the Crown Prince looked at the time—it was quite late already. Today, it was his turn to review the memorials. Although he was very curious about the message his father, the Emperor, was reading, he didn’t dare to make much of a move.

The Crown Prince thought to himself, the Emperor truly values Lord Zhou highly. Then again, with someone like Lord Zhou who maintains such decorum and demonstrates such strong capabilities, it was only right to offer him some protection.

The Emperor set down the message he held. Zhou Shuren had been poisoned. The eunuchs immediately conducted an investigation. Regrettably, the poisoner had taken their own life, but it wasn’t a total loss. A fierce look filled his eyes, "Eunuch Liu."

Eunuch Liu, "Present."

The Emperor, "You shall go to Jinzhou City tonight and bring the old man back."

Eunuch Liu’s hair stood on end. He knew quite a bit—this Prince was a fake! Inside, he felt a turbulent storm, but he calmly replied, "Yes."

The Emperor looked at the Crown Prince who continued to endorse state documents and waited until Eunuch Liu had departed, "Is there nothing you wish to ask?"

The Crown Prince put down his pen and lifted his head, "Jinzhou is in danger, an imperial court official has been openly poisoned, and my fifth brother has just survived an assassination attempt—it’s indeed time to bring him back."

The Emperor stared at the Crown Prince and let out a laugh, "Good, very good."

He understood some of the Emperor’s intentions, not in vain had he been taught personally.

Although the Crown Prince couldn’t completely fathom the Emperor’s plans, he could guess some of them. The Emperor planned to use the fake fifth brother to completely stir the waters. He might not know what the Emperor had discovered, but he wasn’t the Crown Prince for nothing. The Hou Residence had already been drawn in by the Emperor to play a central role, and the fifth brother seemed to be key after all!

A smirk played at the corner of the Crown Prince’s lips. The real fifth brother must be feeling anxious by now, given the Emperor’s unexpected move to bring the fake one back to the capital, with none other than Eunuch Liu personally fetching him. This placed the fake fifth brother back onto the hot seat. Hehe, this chess move was truly interesting. It turned out that this fake fifth brother was a living chess piece in the Emperor’s hand—a lesson he learned once again.

The next day at Zhou Residence in Jinzhou, Zhou Shuren had just woken up when Jingyan stepped in, "Master, last night Eunuch Liu entered the city to bring the fifth Prince back to the capital."

Zhou Shuren was rinsing his mouth and nearly sprayed the water out. He hadn’t had the time to pay attention to the recuperating fifth Prince, but as time passed, he began to notice something amiss. The fifth Prince was wounded severely in an assassination, and it’s been quite some time since he’s been recovering, yet it seemed as though everyone had forgotten about him. That was just not right. Taking advantage of someone’s illness to eliminate them—such a perfect opportunity.

Combined with Yao Zheyu’s reaction, he knew the fifth Prince was probably not genuine. Now they’re bringing him back to the capital?

Oh wow, the Emperor’s move was truly audacious; indeed, he could not conceive of such a play.

Jingyan rarely saw his master so stunned, "Master."

Zhou Shuren spat out the mouthwash and coughed, "You may leave."

Jingyan, "Yes."

Zhulan changed her clothes and came out. She had also heard the news just now. Old Madam Song was preparing breakfast, and Zhulan whispered, "Do you think the Emperor will issue a decree to arrange a marriage for the fifth Prince next?"

Over the years, Zhulan came to understand the Emperor somewhat. Judging by his character of not shying away from controversy, such speculation was indeed possible.

Zhou Shuren stayed expressionless, "It’s actually quite possible."

Zhou Shuren truly sympathized with those who fell out of favor with the Emperor. The Emperor’s methods of tormenting people were simply too numerous.

At the government office, Zhou Shuren had hardly appeared when he received a salute, which left Zhou Shuren speechless, "What, didn’t you have enough of me yesterday?"

All of them had observed him the entire afternoon of the previous day. These people had gone to rest for the night, yet here they were, still eagerly staring at him.

Zhou Shuren touched his face, "Have I gotten younger?"

Lord Wang twitched the corner of his mouth, truly admiring Zhou Shuren, "Lord Zhou, looking at your complexion, did you rest well yesterday?"

Zhou Shuren did indeed have a good rest the previous night, "Not bad, I slept dreamlessly."

He wasn’t lying; after being poisoned, it felt as though a burden had settled somehow. You see, before the poisoning, he had always been on edge.

Lord Wang and the prefect exchanged a glance. They, who had nothing to worry about, had hardly rested the previous night. Already advanced in years, after a night without sleep, they seemed to have aged several years.

Master Wang said with a deadpan face, "It’s good to see you’re all right, my lord. This humble official shall take his leave to attend to duties."

Zhou Shuren courteously said, "Thank you, Master Wang, for your concern about me."

Master Wang smiled, turned, and left; he did not wish to linger with Master Zhou any longer as it was too disheartening for him.

Zhou Shuren looked at Wong Ju, "Aren’t you leaving?"

Wong Ju chuckled awkwardly, "Starting today, I will be working in the same office as you, my lord."

After yesterday’s incident, he had realized that Master Zhou had many capable people around him, and, after what had happened, it seemed that being close to Master Zhou was the safest place to be. Wong Ju felt chills down his spine; he had not been slack in his investigations and the thought of it was terrifying – the greater the meritorial service, the greater the danger!

Zhou Shuren was silent for a moment, "Move the tables yourself."

"Thank you, my lord."

In the back courtyard of the Zhou residence, because it had snowed yesterday, Eldest Master Zhou and Second Master Zhou hadn’t gone out. Chang Lian and Chang Zhi were both at home too, oblivious to the events outside.

Zhulan gathered her sons and daughters and told them about the poisoning incident, and only then did they realise the gravity of the situation. Zhulan said, "Try not to leave the house if you can in the near future."

Then, Zhulan turned to Xue Han, "Starting now, Granny Song will be in charge of the kitchen."

With personnel from the Emperor in the house, the benefits became apparent. Relatively speaking, the Zhou family’s back courtyard was much safer than the residences of other officials.

The children of the Zhou family came to their senses after hearing this. Eldest Master Zhou’s heart was pounding, "Mother, father is alright, isn’t he?"

Zhulan, "He’s alright. You don’t need to worry about him. For now, just take good care of yourselves."

She paused before continuing, "Oh yes, Rongchuan, Mingyun, and Ming Teng won’t be going to the Academy these days. Chang Lian, I’ll need you and Chang Zhi to take care of teaching these young ones for the time being."

Zhulan thought of the kidnapping and decided it would be best to nip the danger in the bud by eliminating the source directly.

Eldest Master Zhou said, "This is bad, at this hour, those three should have left."

Zhulan said, "I have already instructed Steward Ding to lock the main gate."

Eldest Master Zhou felt relieved. Although his household had many sons, he loved each one dearly. His eldest son was mature and stable, while his second son was lively and active; injuring either would cost him his life.

Chang Lian, who was more privy to the situation, knew that his master had been very busy lately, and it had been days since his master had taught him personally. With a heart full of concern, "Mother, is father truly alright?"

Zhulan, "He really is fine." freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Chang Lian gazed into his mother’s eyes and gradually felt at ease, pursing his lips in frustration at himself. If only he had been a few years older, he thought, he could help his father. The feeling of powerlessness was truly distressing.

Second Master Zhou furrowed his brows, "Mother, it’s best if little sister stays in the residence too. We should turn down some of the social invitations."

In the house, since Mother had been taking care of the younger brother, many of the social invitations were attended by the little sister. If something were to happen, girls could be in even greater danger.

Zhulan, "That’s also what I wanted to mention. Xue Han shouldn’t go out for the time being, and the Zhou residence will be refusing guests from now on."

Xue Han complied, "Understood."

Zhulan then instructed them on a few other matters and waved her children back to their own affairs. As for the daughters-in-law, the sons would explain things to them when they got back.

Before long, Steward Ding arrived, holding an invitation, "The Lin Residence has sent an invitation for the lady and the young miss."

Zhulan took it over. It was an invitation to a tea-tasting. She set it aside. Just yesterday, Zhou Shuren had been poisoned, and immediately the Lin family had sent over an invitation despite the two households barely having any relationship!