Mrs. Zhou poked Zhou Sisi’s forehead and said, “It’s all your fault. How could you agree to exchanging clothes with your cousin?”
Zhou Sisi pouted pitifully and said, “Ouch. Sisi only wanted to help Sister defeat the bad woman.”
Seeing her daughter crying in pain, Mrs. Zhou couldn’t bear to blame her anymore. She saw the blood marks on Zhou Sisi’s hand and frowned. “Your hand?”
Zhou Sisi held an extremely ugly cotton ball in her other hand, which was also stained with blood, and said, “Sisi embroidered a little tiger for Imperial Cousin.”
Lu Chen didn’t take the “little tiger” Zhou Sisi handed him.
Mrs. Zhou said, “Your Royal Highness, this is Sisi’s apology. She has been feeling guilty for destroying your little tiger.”
Old Madam Zhou glanced at Lu Chen’s displeased face and said to Zhou Sisi,
“Sisi, don’t make a scene. You have to be punished for today’s matter. Your maid, Xiao Ju, can’t handle her work. Cane her a hundred times and send her to a manor.”
Mrs. Zhou interceded for Xiao Ju: “Mother, I’m afraid Xiao Ju will lose her life if she is caned a hundred times!”
Old Madam Zhou said, “This is a warning to other servants. Sisi’s mind is not clear, so the maid by her side is particularly important. Xiao Ju didn’t stop Sisi from doing improper things. Now she just gets what she deserves!”
Zhou Sisi forcibly stuffed the blood-stained cotton ball into Lu Chen’s arms.
“Imperial Cousin, Sisi embroidered this little tiger. Sisi’s hand hurt so badly. This is what Sisi compensates you for.”
Lu Chen looked at Old Madam Zhou and didn’t refuse in the end, for fear that he would cause his grandmother to worry again.
However, when he walked out of Old Madam Zhou’s courtyard, he threw the cotton ball on the ground and walked over it.
Mrs. Zhou took Zhou Sisi back to her room, looked at Zhou Sisi’s hand that was scarred from embroidering the little tiger doll, and said with teary eyes. “Sisi, you… do you like your imperial cousin so much?”
Zhou Sisi nodded hard. “Yes! Sisi wants to play with Imperial Cousin all the time.”
“But your cousin has grown up and can’t play with Sisi anymore.”
Zhou Sisi said, “Sisi just wants to be with Imperial Cousin forever. Sisi likes Imperial Cousin, and Sisi wants to give birth to a baby for Imperial Cousin!”
Mrs. Zhou stroked Zhou Sisi’s head. Her silly daughter probably didn’t even know what giving birth to a baby meant.
“Don’t worry. Mother will help you.”
Although the Zhou family didn’t want their daughters to marry into the imperial palace, Mrs. Zhou would be worried no matter which man Zhou Sisi married, for fear that her daughter would be bullied.
Since she liked the Crown Prince, why not let her marry him?
If Sisi married into the East Palace, with the Queen’s protection, Qiao Jinniang would not dare to bully Zhou Sisi openly.
In the evening, Mrs. Zhou told Duke Wu what happened today.
Duke Wu frowned and said, “Auntie’s last words were that the Zhou family’s daughters must not marry into the East Palace again. Did you forget it?”
Mrs. Zhou said, “But didn’t your sister marry into the imperial palace and become the Queen? Why can’t Sisi?
“Why did Sisi get sick? It was because of the Crown Prince!”
“She is just a child. She just wants to play with the crown prince.
“Did you see her hands that were full of scars because she embroidered a doll for the Crown Prince? I really can’t bear to see her disappointed!”
Duke Wu frowned and said, “Even if I agree, the Queen will not!”
“If you ask the Queen to agree, how can she possibly refuse you?”
Mrs. Zhou said, “Do you have the heart to see your daughter disappointed?
“She just stayed at the age of seven forever. It’s not that she doesn’t understand anything. She will also be happy and sad! How can you bear to let her be sad all the time?”
Duke Wu sighed. “Sisi doesn’t understand anything, and if she marries into the East Palace, I’m afraid she will be bullied by the Crown Princess!”
Mrs. Zhou said, “The Queen will protect Sisi.
“Besides, today I found that His Royal Highness still had some brotherly affections for Sisi.
“His Royal Highness is gracious, and Sisi is his cousin who grew up with him. How can he not treat her kindly?”
Duke Wu said, “We have to think about it carefully. If we let Sisi marry into the East Palace, we’ll have to find a reliable girl to accompany Sisi to marry into the East Palace.
“And when the girl has a child, the child has to be raised by Sisi.
“After all, my sister and we can’t protect Sisi forever.”
Mrs. Zhou chuckled.
…
Qiao Jinniang heard about what happened in the Duke Wu Mansion today, and when Lu Chen came back, she asked him if Old Madam Zhou was all right, and was relieved to learn that Old Madam Zhou was still healthy.
“I didn’t expect that Fulu would have such prestige in the eyes of the common people, and they actually stood up to defend her.”
Lu Chen smiled and said, “That’s because she often spends silver as coins. Which common people don’t like such a royal family member?”
Qiao Jinniang smiled. “It seems that I have to tell my brother to earn more money. Otherwise, he might not be able to raise Fulu.”
Lu Chen said, “That’s not necessary. Princess Shou’an is very rich.”
“Mommy, Mommy!” Little Lu Xi trotted in from outside. “Mommy, little tiger.”
Qiao Jinniang said, “It hasn’t been made yet. I’ll give it to Xi’er to play with when it’s done.”
Little Lu Xi hugged Qiao Jinniang and said, “Mother, Xi’er wants to sleep with you today.”
Lu Chen frowned and said, “No way!”
Qiao Jinniang hugged little Lu Xi in her arms and said, “He’s only three years old, so he shouldn’t sleep alone. Xi’er is sleeping with Mommy tonight.”
Lu Chenti picked up little Lu Xi and said, “He will wet the bed!”
Little Lu Xi blushed and said, “Bad daddy.”
Qiao Jinniang pinched Xi’er’s little red face and said, “Xi’er is only three years old. It’s not a big deal for Xi’er to wet the bed. Your father still wet the bed when he was seventeen!”
“Qiao Jinniang!” Lu Chen frowned and said, “Don’t talk nonsense.”
“I’m not talking nonsense. I saw it with my own eyes.”
Lu Chen picked up Lu Xi and gave him to the maids who were guarding outside, walked back into the hall and asked Qiao Jinniang,
“When did you see me wet the bed when I was seventeen?”
“The day before you agreed to marry into my family. I watched you go to the well to wash your bedding early in the morning. Your posture was so stiff that it looked like you had never washed it before.”
Lu Chen recalled that day, when he heard Qiao Jinniang cry for a long time in front of his room.
At night, he had a dream, and that dream was quite absurd.
It was filled with Qiao Jinniang’s cries, but the cries were extremely seductive…
Lu Chen said, “That was not bedwetting.”
“Why wasn’t it bed-wetting?” Qiao Jinniang asked, “I saw a piece of the quilt that was obviously stained.”
Lu Chen whispered a few words in Qiao Jinniang’s ear.
Qiao Jinniang blushed and said, “So you had ulterior motives for me before marriage!”
Lu Chen said, “Yes, with such beauty in front of me, how could I not be tempted?”
Qiao Jinniang said, “Glib-tongued. No wonder you looked so embarrassed by the well that morning.”
Lu Chen said to Qiao Jinniang, “That was my first time. I didn’t even know what it was. I just knew it was wrong, so I wanted to destroy the evidence. I didn’t know that you had seen it and thought I wet the bed.”
Qiao Jinniang asked Lu Chen, “Was it really the first time you had a wet dream? You had never dreamed of another woman before?”
Lu Chen nodded and said, “I’ve only dreamed of you. If you don’t believe me, you can check the Crown Prince’s Living Notes.”
When Qiao Jinniang heard this, she kissed Lu Chen on the cheek. “You can only have one woman for the rest of your life, me!”
She was just so domineering that she couldn’t tolerate anyone else sharing her husband with her.
Even if she was recorded in the history books as a demonic woman and reviled by later generations for tens of thousands of years, she wouldn’t regret it!
…
Not long after Mrs. Zhou went to visit Zhou Shihui in jail, Mrs. Tong brought Tong Xuan and Tong Yingying to the Duke Wu Mansion.
Mrs. Zhou had been busy with Zhou Shihui recently and had no time to think about Tong Yingying, so she didn’t expect she would take the initiative to come to her.
