Splendid Twins

As soon as Zhou Wan returned to the palace, Prince Li was summoned to the palace by someone sent by the Imperial Concubine. She suddenly felt inexplicably flustered and called the maid to ask:

"Has anything happened in the mansion?"

The maid looked confused and said:

"Reporting to the Concubine, I don't know."

Zhou Wan waved her hand when she saw this:

"Go back."

In her arms was the three thousand taels of silver that Fuling had given her. She had to put it away and save it for future use. She searched for a long time but couldn't find a satisfactory box.

She remembered that there was a beautiful box in the prince's study. The box was made of rare red sandalwood, with intricate dragon and phoenix patterns carved on the surface, which looked lifelike, and the wood grain was as delicate as silk. It was perfect for her to use to store silver bills.

Then he led the maid to the study. The weather was hot and the wild cicadas in the trees were chirping non-stop, disturbing people and making them feel upset.

On both sides of the palace corridor are exquisitely carved window lattices, through which one can see the lush flowers and trees in the courtyard and the pavilions and towers in the distance.

A breeze blew by, gently lifting a corner of her skirt. Zhou Wan was immersed in her thoughts when she suddenly heard a whisper. Although the voice was small, every word pierced her ears.

She stopped and tilted her head slightly, trying to hear what was being said.

I saw two maids hiding in the shade of the pavilion, whispering to each other, with a bit of disdain and sarcasm on their faces.

"I heard that the concubine made my grandmother sick, and the Duke's Mansion is now severing ties with her."

A maidservant whispered, with a hint of gloating in her tone.

Another maid echoed:

"Yes, she thought she was so favored, but now even the Duke's Mansion doesn't recognize her."

"She has always been mean and doesn't treat us as human beings. Now, she is even worse than us."

"Without her background, she is just a lowly country girl. We are still the children of the Taifu Mansion after all."

"If she knew that the Duke's Mansion no longer recognized her, would she be furious?"

"Needless to say, I'm afraid I'll be so angry. I once flew up to the treetops and became a phoenix, and now I've fallen from the clouds again. This is quite a lot to experience..."

When Zhou Wan heard this, her face turned pale instantly. She clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her flesh, but the pain could not hide the anger in her heart.

She turned abruptly and strode towards the two maids, her eyes gleaming with anger.

The maid behind her also heard it, and her face turned pale with fear. She was afraid that she would not live long after hearing something she shouldn't have heard...

"You are so brave!" Zhou Wan shouted, her voice cold and sharp.

"How dare you talk about the master behind his back? Do you want to die?"

The two maids turned around when they heard the noise and saw Zhou Wan coming over aggressively. They knelt down and begged for mercy:

"Please forgive me, Concubine. I deserve to die..."

"Please spare my life, my lady. I will never dare to do that again..."

Zhou Wan stared at the two maids who kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, her eyes were like sharp blades!

"Tell me! Where did the news come from?"

The maids looked at each other tremblingly, and hurriedly lowered their heads and replied:

"It was the butler who came back from shopping and said... that the Duke's Mansion had just issued a notice... and many people outside knew about it..."

"This servant deserves to die, please spare my life, madam..."

Zhou Wan sneered:

"Have you thought of my methods when you gossip behind my back?"

Then he looked at his maid with cold eyes:

"Go call the butler over!"

She didn't believe what these two slaves said, it was simply nonsense!

Why would her father disown her?

She had finally returned to the Duke's Mansion and was now the concubine of Prince Li. Her father was busy trying to curry favor with the prince, so how could he not recognize her?

As for the old lady fainting from anger, that was even more unfounded. The moment she entered the room, the old lady said one sentence and suddenly became breathless. I'm afraid she's old enough to die...

Could it be that that bitch Zhou Ying was deliberately targeting me?

Si Yao is such a stupid, useless guy. If he had succeeded, Zhou Ying would probably be carrying manure in the countryside now, and would not have the chance to jump around!

She had to ask Si Yao how things were going, and whether that bitch Si Yao was living such a comfortable life...

The housekeeper came over quickly, and seeing Zhou Wan's unfriendly expression, he bowed his head and saluted:

"I've met my empress."

Zhou Wan collected her thoughts, looked up at the housekeeper, and said word by word:

"What are the rumors about me outside?"

The butler was stunned for a moment, then reacted and said:

"Please calm down, Madam. The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion has announced to the public that it has severed ties with you. From now on, we will have no contact with each other. Be well and be well."

These words pierced Zhou Wan's heart mercilessly like cold arrows.

It was extremely painful at the moment, and she tried to stay calm, but her expression could hardly hide the anger and humiliation.

"impossible……"

"How could this be?"

"I just left the Duke's Mansion..."

I don’t understand how things have come to this point. Is it because she had a quarrel with Zhou Ying?

A trace of tears flashed in her eyes, but more of it was grievance and unwillingness. She was unwilling to accept this!

"Sell these two slaves to a brothel!"

"My dear, please forgive me..."

"I will never dare to do that again..."

When the housekeeper heard Zhou Wan's order, he hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty, calm down. This, this is probably inappropriate. The maids in the mansion are all assigned by the Imperial Noble Consort. As far as I know, these two are from the Imperial Tutor's Mansion. If something goes wrong, it will be difficult to explain..."

Zhou Wan was holding back her anger. She had more important things to do right now. She glared at the housekeeper and shouted:

"Get them away and don't let me see them again!"

"Yes Yes Yes."

Zhou Wan left the house angrily. She wanted to get things clear. She wanted to ask her father and mother in person whether they treated her as their own daughter!

Suddenly something occurred to her mind, she called the maid next to her and said in a low voice:

"I'll give you a task. If you do it well, I'll reward you handsomely!"

"Your Majesty, please speak."

…………

In the fields at the end of May, the rice has matured, and the golden rice fields are shining in the sun.

The farmers waved their sickles and cut down the plump rice grains. Their movements were skillful and powerful, full of anticipation and joy for a good harvest.

County Magistrate Li came to the countryside to inspect the grain harvest. After all, tax grain will be paid next month, and he has to know the situation well.

After going through several villages, only Sijia Village was left. The village chief had received the news long ago and was waiting at the entrance of the village. The carriage slowly stopped and the village chief knelt down and saluted respectfully:

"Meet the magistrate."

"Si Bingwen, the head of Sijia Village, please stand up and answer the question."

"Yes."

"Let me see the harvest situation in your village."

Seeing that Magistrate Li behaved gently, the village chief's original anxiety gradually subsided and he began to speak freely.

He first reported in detail all the affairs of the village, from the harvest of farmland to the lives of the villagers.

Magistrate Li listened carefully and nodded his approval from time to time, which gave the village chief more confidence.

Walking along the ridge of the field, Magistrate Li saw villagers harvesting rice everywhere. Not far away, there was a group of people gathered. He pointed with his hand:

"What are those people doing?"