Chapter 128: Miao's Gate

  Welcome to Jiupin Literature Network, you can quickly enter this site by searching "Jiupin Literature Network" in any search engine. We provide free download services for high-quality and txt format! I have to admire Zhou Muyan's personal charm, after all, the emperor's selection of his wife is a grand occasion, with many beautiful women participating, most of whom are daughters of meritorious officials or noble families, and are talented and beautiful.

  Zhou Muyan, a woman who had already been married before, was chosen in that feudal and backward era, which was already a rare thing. As soon as she entered the palace, she was granted the title of Zhaoyuan, and was favored to an extreme degree, unaware of how much jealousy and resentment she had received.

  After learning that Zhou Muyan was selected, the entire Zhou Mansion was busy and chaotic. The men were busy drinking wine to celebrate, while the women were busy crying and wailing. I lived across from Zhou Muyan, and just sitting in my courtyard, I could see the commotion at her place.

  A group of women suddenly appeared, carrying large and small packages and gift boxes to congratulate Zhou Muyan. Before long, the sound of sobbing came from the courtyard. Alas, these women who popped up out of nowhere were indeed from a wealthy family, their ability to curry favor and flatter was quite impressive, and their acting skills were top-notch. Little sister is impressed.

  Compared to Zhou Muyan's bustling courtyard, mine can be said to be deserted, except for Zhou Mulang that kid who still has the mood to chat with me about business matters, almost no one is seen, it's true, after all, Zhou Muyan is the emperor's concubine, and I'm just a servant girl, those with brains know which way to run, although I understand this reason, but there's still an inexplicable sense of desolation in my heart.

  The days without Yu'er by my side are really hard to bear. After Yu'er left, everyone in the mansion knew about it, but they all pretended not to know, and I didn't bother to bring it up either. That old scoundrel Zhou Renzhi dares to bully someone close to me; he'll be sorry later on.

  The day of entering the palace was chaotic.

  Early in the morning, I had to get up early and prepare. Although I'm not the main character, as one of the members who will enter the palace today, I still need to dress up properly. Fortunately, I haven't been here for long, so I don't have much feelings for those things, and it's easy to pack them up. A set of my favorite clothes, a few exquisite accessories, plus the white silver ticket given by Lord Zhou, lightly armed, thinking that the imperial palace has everything, including food and accommodation, and also gives beautiful clothes. The only thing that's not lacking in the palace is treasure, so I can just put on one piece and it will be enough for me to spend the rest of my life. The things here don't belong to me anyway, except for this body, let's leave everything else here. Maybe some things are meant to be here, and they should stay here.

  Zhou Mu Yan's place was still bustling with activity, the house was probably packed with people, some were squeezed out of the room and could only linger in the courtyard. On such a hot day, it was really hard for them. If I were to sell fans, fruit, tea, etc. to them at this time, I would definitely make a profit. However, if word got out, wouldn't that be too embarrassing?

  Money and dignity, one cannot have both. If I give up my dignity, being laughed at by others is not what I fear, after all, I am not familiar with them anyway. But will it damage the image of Umanya herself? As a lodger, do I have the qualifications to tarnish her character? If I give up money, that would go against my principles as a person. What principles do I have? Not making money when there is an opportunity is what would be an insult to my character! What to do? What to do? It seems like I've heard the call of money.

  Just as I was struggling with my personality, Zhou Muling arrived. Today's him looked especially happy.

  He came and sat on the stone table in my yard without hesitation, eating the apple that could have been exchanged for silver. I pointed to the stone bench next to him and said, "Young Master Zhou, you're a person of status after all, mind your image?"

  He glanced at the stone bench with disdain, still sitting on the stone table motionless, and said, "What image, I'm so handsome and elegant, even if I lean on the table, I'm the most handsome one sitting on the table. You don't have to worry about my image!"

  "Look at him like this, I sarcastically said, 'Zhou Da Shao, your face is really thick to the point where no one can match it.'"

  "It's not that I have a thick face, it's just that you're inexperienced, little girl. I don't even know what 'thick face' means." He smiled and replied.

  Three lines appeared silently in her heart, and she sighed, "Little sister is impressive."

  He still had that same insolent look on his face, saying, "Admire me, this is just right. I'm telling you, why don't you go and pack up? In a little while, you'll be the one entering the palace. What are you doing sitting here, looking like you're deep in thought? How can you bear to part with your brother?"

  As he spoke, he suddenly leaned in very close to me.

  I naturally dodged to one side, keeping a distance from him, and said, "Tsk, I say Zhou Dashi, this behavior of yours is not good, outsiders will see it and affect my reputation."

  He didn't seem to mind, staying in his original position, and smiled, "Hey, Miss Ya is shy? If you yourself don't think so, why would you care about others' rumors? It seems you do have feelings for me!"

  As he spoke, he actually got closer and closer to me, his face getting bigger and bigger in front of my eyes.

  Good heavens, what's going on? What am I supposed to do?

  "Hum, who was it that hummed a deep note."

  I looked up and, oh dear, it seemed a bit familiar, but I didn't seem to know this person. Oh no, Yu'er wasn't here, how should I deal with this person? Why didn't Du Niang appear a thousand years ago? Omnipotent Du Niang, come out and save me!

  I really didn't know what to call this woman, so I secretly pulled on Zhou Muerlang beside me, thinking that he must know her and could chat with her.

  Who knew this bastard would pretend to be ignorant of what I was doing at this time, and even turned his head away, refusing to turn back. I got anxious, and fiercely pinched him on the waist, but he endured it without making a sound.

  It was the woman who spoke up and ended the awkward atmosphere.

  "Slowly, a sentence came out, 'Husband, what are you doing?'"

  Uh, this woman is his wife, yeah, how could I forget, Zhou Muerlang has been a married man for a long time and even has three wives. Which one is she? What did our previous interaction look like in her eyes?

  What kind of identity am I now? Although I didn't have much to do with Zhou Muerlang, but now it feels like a mistress being caught by the wife. According to normal melodrama plot, shouldn't she come up and slap us both, then furiously point at my nose, scold me loudly, and finally drag that cheating husband back home by his ear in front of everyone? I'm quite interested in seeing Zhou Muerlang being dragged away by his ear, but can we skip the part where I get slapped first?

  I lifted my eyes to look at the woman who was staring fiercely at me, and quickly lowered my head, feeling very afraid in my heart, silently chanting don't hit me, don't hit me, don't hit me.

  With a loud "hiss", I glanced sideways, damn it, Zhou Mulang actually had the nerve to smile, and seemed to have been holding back for a long time, his face was even red with laughter. What kind of brain does he have? He can still laugh like that. Wait till your wife drags you away, let's see if you'll still be laughing then.

  Zhou Mu Lang's cold voice said, "Xiu Er, how is Xiao Yan doing on that side? Are things all packed up?"

  This guy actually dares to pretend nothing's wrong, calmly asking questions like that. If I were his wife, I'd definitely give him a slap first before saying anything, no way would I let him ask questions.

  I thought to myself, humph, Zhou Mulang, this time you're going to lose face. Let's see how you'll brag and act wildly in front of me from now on.

  "Ah, everything has been taken care of and the words have been passed on. Husband, don't worry about it." The speaker surprisingly replied in a gentle tone.

  "Alright then, you can go back earlier. By the way, I'll come to your place for dinner tonight, so get ready." Zhou Mochen said casually.

  "Really?" The voice was somewhat excited.

  Zhou Murang smiled brightly and nodded in agreement.

  "Alright, alright, I'll go and cook it right away. Husband likes to eat fish, I'll cook a big fish. Husband, you have to remember to come, I'm leaving."

  After finishing speaking, with a light and gentle pace, that big wife floated away right in front of me.

  What a freak, absolutely two freaks, one calm and collected, the other overjoyed, should this be the scene after being caught in the act?

  I couldn't help but sigh and look at Zhou Muerang with a puzzled expression.

  He smiled and said, "What's wrong, starting to regret entering the palace? Being attracted by this young master, can't help yourself?"

  I rolled my eyes and said with a smirk, "Are you kidding me? You're shameless! How did you do it? And who is she? Do you have three wives? Which number is she? Shouldn't she be slapping you instead of going back to cook fish for you? Do you have the face to eat?"

  He didn't find it strange that I didn't know his wife and patiently told me about the women in his family.

  This is Xiu Er, his concubine, who was originally a maid serving his first wife. His first wife was the daughter of Lord Zhou's wife, and also the distant niece of the late Lady Zhou, Fang Er. Although she wasn't from a high-ranking official family, she came from a wealthy merchant background, and with her connection to Lady Zhou, she often acted haughtily. This marriage was arranged by Lord and Lady Zhou, and although Young Master Zhou was unwilling, he had no choice but to go along with it since he lived under their roof.

  Zhou Dashao had always disliked Zhou Poniang, so he naturally couldn't like Fang'er either. Moreover, she was arrogant and overbearing, which added to his dislike for her. To spite her, he married her maid as a concubine. Fang'er had never suffered such humiliation before, and in anger, she returned to her mother's home, forcing Zhou Moulang to write a divorce letter, thus severing their relationship. However, Zhou Moulang was born with a rebellious streak, and the more he was told to do something, the more he refused to do it, so things dragged on like this.

  As for his third wife, she was the beautiful woman in purple clothes, named Zi Qian. She was a girl he got to know in a brothel and they had similar temperaments, so he bought her out of there and kept her in the mansion.

  I really didn't expect that Zhou Mochen would be such a person, I couldn't say what kind of feeling it is, but after understanding this, his image became more and more profound.

  As I listened to his story, the sky gradually darkened, and we sat in the courtyard, chatting for a long time. It seemed like there were many things to say, but I couldn't remember what exactly was said. A series of footsteps came from outside the courtyard, and the sound seemed very loud. As I leaned my ear to listen, a sharp voice entered my ears.

  "We, the Emperor, have respectfully followed the teachings of the ancestral temple and have taken nine steps to accept the imperial seal. In harmony with the virtues of yin and yang, we respond to the four stars and create a supporting role. The daughter of Zhou Renzhi, Zhou Muyan, from the Honglu Temple, is virtuous and cautious by nature, diligent and gentle, harmonious and pure, with a warm and kind character. She has been raised in a noble family, has strictly followed the rules of propriety, and her virtues are renowned. We hereby confer upon her the title of Zhaoyuan, may her honor bring prosperity to our country."

  "Thanks for your kindness!!" everyone responded in unison.

  It turned out that the imperial edict had arrived and it was already dark, time to enter the palace.

  I looked at the speechless Zhou Moulang and spoke first, "Zhou Da Zongguan, you must take good care of the business. I'm handing over the power to you now. If you dare to ruin my profitable business, I won't forgive you. By the way, after I enter the palace, how will I supervise your work?"

  He laughed and said, "Haha, now that you're gone, I'll be the boss. Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to ruin my own business. If you have any orders, just let someone come find me at the Luoyue Building, I'll be waiting there."

  "Luoyuetang, where is it? Some building in your house?" I asked.

  He gave me a white eye, sighed and said, "That's the name of our brothel."

  The beautiful lady has gone, flowers have fallen, and a whole cluster of misty dew is illuminated by the moonlight on the tower.

  "Is it because of this name, is it because there's my name inside?" I asked.

  He naturally shook his head and replied, "Of course not. Inside there are also Xia Qian and Xiao Yan's names. The two of them are great beauties. I hope that in the future our girls will be as beautiful and lovely as they are."

  "Hmph, such a disappointing answer, what else can I say? I got up and walked out."

  "Xiao Ya..." Zhou Mu Lang's voice sounded from behind me, although it was very soft, I heard it clearly.

  I didn't turn around, raised my hand and waved goodbye to him, then walked away without looking back to Zhou Muyan's place, and Zhou Mu Lang didn't follow either.

  Half a time later, under the gaze of the farewell, accompanied by the eunuch, we left Zhou's mansion and set foot on the road to the imperial palace, also walking into an unknown fate.

  Farewell, Zhou Manor, farewell, Zhou Moulang.