Chapter 323
Chapter 323
Old Madam Zhou looked in Zhu Jingchen's direction, her lips trembling uncontrollably.
She wanted to say a few words pleading for mercy, but found herself unable to speak.
"Why aren't you kneeling?"
Zhou Zhonghe said in dissatisfaction, looking at Old Madam Zhou who was standing off to the side in a daze.
"This subject's wife... pays her respects to His Majesty!" Old Madam Zhou's heart turned to ashes.
She had completely offended the Emperor.
"Just now, someone said that I am not worthy to sit in this chair. How is it that now, you suddenly know how to bow?" Zhu Jingchen said sarcastically.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. It's all his fault. He knew your identity but didn't tell me. I didn't mean to offend you." At this moment, how could Old Madam Zhou have even half the arrogance she had just shown?
But even if Old Madam Zhou admitted her guilt, she still wanted to pin the blame on Xu Heming.
After all, she didn't believe that Xu Heming was unaware of the Emperor's identity.
"It was clearly you who looked down on others. You even mistook me for Qingshi and scolded me for having no upbringing," Zhu Hanyu added with dissatisfaction.
"Your Majesty, please forgive us! Third Prince, please forgive us!" Zhou Zhonghe never expected that his foolish wife would speak to the Third Prince like that and even insult the Emperor.
Their Zhou family was probably finished.
At this time, Zhou Zhonghe looked at Prince An, who was standing to the side, and quickly said, "Your Highness Prince An, I beg you to plead for the Zhou family. After all, the Zhou family is still Qingshi's maternal grandfather's family. Even if it's just for the child's sake..."
"Lord Zhou, you probably don't know, do you? Qingshi is gone. He was burned alive right here in your Zhou family!" Although Xu Heming knew Xu Qingshi was fine, he deliberately said that something had happened to him at this moment.
He wanted to see what face Zhou Zhonghe still had to ask him to plead for that wife of his.
"What? How... how did this happen?" Zhou Zhonghe was shocked. He didn't expect Xu Qingshi to actually be gone. After all, the servant had just told him that Xu Qingshi's whereabouts were unknown. Zhou Zhonghe felt that as long as the person hadn't been found, there was still hope.
Xu Qingshi must have escaped.
After all, how could there be such a coincidence? The courtyard caught fire right after Xu Qingshi arrived at the Zhou family.
And it just so happened to burn Xu Qingshi to death?
Thinking of this, Zhou Zhonghe felt even more uncertain. If that were the case, let alone pleading for the Zhou family, it would be a blessing if Xu Heming didn't kick them while they were down.
"My lord, this has nothing to do with me. It was Lady Qin who arranged for him to stay in the Tingyun Courtyard. As for why it caught fire, I have no idea!" Old Madam Zhou sold out her daughter-in-law without a second thought.
After all, in such a situation, between protecting others and protecting herself, she would naturally only choose the latter.
"Nonsense! Where is Lady Qin?" At this moment, Zhou Zhonghe thought of pushing Lady Qin out to take the blame.
To protect the Zhou family.
"Lord Zhou, your wife said that my son has no upbringing, and even falsely accused the Third Prince of burning down your courtyard." Zhu Jingchen's voice was neither cold nor warm, making it impossible to discern his emotions, but Zhou Zhonghe was very clear that the Emperor was extremely displeased.
After all, why did this old thing Madam Wu scold the Emperor and the Third Prince for no reason?
If this wasn't a death wish, what was?
"Your Majesty, please forgive her. My wife is suffering from hysteria. She didn't do it on purpose."
As Zhou Zhonghe spoke, he even winked at Old Madam Zhou.
Unfortunately, at this moment, Old Madam Zhou was immersed in her own thoughts and did not look at Zhou Zhonghe.
Fang Deyou, who was standing to the side, was also somewhat shocked upon hearing this.
Zhou Zhonghe's wife was truly audacious. The Emperor was obviously dissatisfied with this.
It seemed that the Zhou family was going to be out of luck this time.
"She did it on purpose." Zhu Hanyu was unwilling to suffer this unprovoked grievance.
Since this old woman dared to scold him and Xu Qingshi, how could he let her off?
Besides, he understood what Uncle An had just said. Qingshi was killed by the old woman in front of him.
Thinking of this, the look Zhu Hanyu gave Old Madam Zhou became even more furious.
"Imperial Father, not only did she scold you, but she also scolded me for having no upbringing. Isn't she just saying that you and Imperial Mother didn't teach me well? Moreover, she killed Qingshi. You can't let her off," Zhu Hanyu said angrily.
"Are you crazy?" Zhou Zhonghe couldn't believe that she could actually say such words.
"I... I didn't know he was the Third Prince. I thought he was that brat Xu Qingshi," Old Madam Zhou said with a wronged expression.
"Even if it were Qingshi, it's not your place to reprimand him!" Zhou Zhonghe cursed her as an idiot in his heart.
But because the Emperor and Xu Heming were both present, even if Zhou Zhonghe wanted to rebuke Old Madam Zhou, he didn't dare to do so in front of the Emperor.
Old Madam Zhou lowered her head and didn't dare to say anything more.
The main thing was that Old Madam Zhou truly did not know the identity of the person in front of her.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. It is this subject's failure in discipline!" Aside from this sentence, Zhou Zhonghe really couldn't find anything else to say.
"It is indeed a failure in discipline. I wonder if Lord Zhou is as careless when handling other matters as he is when disciplining the female members of his household?" Zhu Jingchen's words were neither light nor heavy, but they still made Zhou Zhonghe break out in a cold sweat.
"Prince An, do you have any good suggestions?" Zhu Jingchen looked at Xu Heming, who had been silent on the side.
After all, this was the maternal family of his former Princess Consort.
"Your Majesty, this subject believes that Lord Zhou's abilities are insufficient for him to hold a post in the Ministry of War." Xu Heming's words stunned Zhou Zhonghe.
Zhou Zhonghe originally thought that Xu Heming would at least have some reservations about him.
He didn't expect that Xu Heming would actually want to strip him of his position.
His sons were all mediocre, one more so than the next. None of them could even achieve anything in the officialdom.
If he stepped down, their Zhou family would truly be finished.
Zhu Jingchen also didn't expect Xu Heming to show the Zhou family so little mercy.
However, Zhu Jingchen also felt that Zhou Zhonghe's abilities needed to be re-evaluated.
His Lannuo Kingdom did not support idlers. For someone with insufficient abilities like Zhou Zhonghe, Zhu Jingchen originally thought that if Xu Heming pleaded for him, he could reluctantly keep the man.
Now, Xu Heming's intention was actually to have Zhou Zhonghe dismissed from office.
Zhu Jingchen was very satisfied with this seriousness.
"Your Majesty, this subject is guilty." Zhou Zhonghe didn't dare to say a single word pleading for mercy.
However, his heart was also dead as ashes.
The Zhou family was finished.
The Li Family
"Grandfather, if you go in like this, definitely no one will be able to discover you," Xu Qingshi said with a satisfied look, looking at Li Tianyou, who was disguised as a vegetable-selling uncle.
"Qingshi, if you are short on silver, I can give it to you. Doing it this way is really inappropriate, isn't it?" Li Tianyou fiddled with the turban on his head, really quite unaccustomed to it.
The problem was, he didn't think that going to the Prince An Estate like this would go undiscovered, especially since he still had to sneak into the Liangqi Courtyard to look for something.
"No, there are still things in there that are very important to me." Xu Qingshi looked at Li Tianyou with anticipation, feeling a bit guilty in his heart. Inside there, actually, was all the silver he had saved up.
He didn't want that silver to benefit that scumbag father of his, Xu Heming!