Zheng Xiao Mistake: The Mistake of Rebirth Provoked the Cold Master

As soon as she entered the main hall, a wave of hot air hit her in the face, mixed with the warm fragrance of agarwood, making Zhu Zheng a little breathless.

My grandmother was sitting upright on a throne in the hall, fanning herself with a gold-embroidered round fan and drinking tea. When she heard the noise, she didn't even lift her eyelids.

Zhu Zheng greeted and bowed politely.

My grandmother snorted a little as a response.

"The third girl was looking for you at the poetry meeting," the grandmother said, her voice lazily revealing the pampered life. "Tell me, what trouble has happened again?"

The wine was personally delivered by Nanny Guixiang, a close confidant of my grandmother. I believe she also reported who drank it.

"Grandma, I drank too much at the banquet and made you worried." Zhu Zheng didn't look up, and said half-truthfully, "After getting drunk, I was feeling uncomfortable. Aunt Gui came to take me to the guest room. Zheng'er knew that it was grandma's special instruction. Before coming, she was telling Mingcui that grandma was too considerate to us younger generations..."

Before she could finish her words, Madam Zhu suddenly placed her hand on the table, and her jade ring hit the surface with a clicking sound.

"I don't have time to listen to your eloquence." Her tone was neither high nor low, but always domineering.

"Zheng'er doesn't dare." Zhu Zheng still answered calmly, "Zheng'er knows that grandma is doing her best, but she just wants to share the worries of the Zhu family."

There was a moment of silence in the hall. The smoke from the burning agarwood was so thick that it seemed suffocating.

Madam Zhu sneered, "What worries can you share?"

"Of course, it's like what grandma wants, to find a good son-in-law."

Old Madam Zhu made a "huh" sound in her throat and blew the tea leaves without raising her head, with undisguised mockery in her expression.

Zhu Zheng knew that her grandmother had always placed her hopes on her third sister. After all, no good family would have the courage to marry a "bad luck star" like her.

"You have no one in your family, and you have such a temper. Even if you are destined to marry into a wealthy family, won't you be bullied if you make a mistake?"

He didn't scold her for her wild ideas, but even listened to her words and considered her, which made Zhu Zheng feel some sympathy for her for the first time.

Madam Zhu was not tall. She always liked to wear colorful clothes, comb her hair meticulously, and wear her hair full of luxurious pearls and jade. She seldom smiled and seldom spoke loudly. Her every move and gesture was that of a master.

In her childhood memory, that face only had a kind smile when it was directed at Zhu Long.

When facing her, he always looks at her coldly.

In good times, her grandmother would usually ignore her, but in bad times, even if she did nothing, she would be suddenly dragged out of the room and made to kneel in the ancestral hall.

Little Zhu Zheng spent almost her entire childhood kneeling in the ancestral hall. She often looked up at the unfamiliar names on the spirit tablets and secretly made up stories for her ancestors about how they had done things as ghosts.

When she was older, she overheard the servants talking about how the fourth young lady looked more like her biological mother than the third young lady and was too beautiful to be conspicuous.

Perhaps because of this, when her grandmother looked at her, the hatred in her eyes was almost unconcealable.

At that moment, Zhu Zheng suddenly realized that being obedient and weak would never earn her a kind word. She would have to kneel in the ancestral hall anyway, so she might as well say a few words of resistance, which would at least make her feel better.

Soon she became eloquent, saying things like "Stay away from me, or I might kill you", "So what if I'm your grandson? Do you still want to go to Jinxianglou to collect the body?", "If you kill me, you'll be unlucky"...she kept saying them.

I often made my grandmother so angry that she covered her chest and threw things at her.

Now her grandmother was sitting here drinking tea in good health. Zhu Zheng took a closer look at her rosy face, which showed that she looked much younger than she remembered.

Perhaps it was because she saw her relatives again, even her grandmother who had always been distant from her, she suddenly felt a little guilty. Perhaps her grandmother's serious illness in her previous life was related to her being angry with her all day long.

"Don't we still have my third sister and grandmother? How can you say that there is no one?" Zhu Zheng tried to make her words as pleasant as possible. "Zheng'er is young and energetic, not as worried as grandma. Recently, she has suddenly become sensible and knows the hard work of managing household affairs."

Grandma laughed coldly, "So it was born with a head."

Zhu Zheng choked and subconsciously wanted to retort, but then calmed down.

The purpose of her coming here today was not to compete with her grandmother or show off her verbal skills.

Zhu Zheng no longer had the heart to make small talk and went straight to the point, "I wasn't very drunk yesterday. Not long after I arrived at the guest room, I happened to meet a young man coming over. We chatted and it seemed like we had a connection."

"Oh? Who did you meet?"

"The sixth son of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, Wen Boqiu."

The cup of tea that had been blown back and forth but never touched was finally put down. Old Madam Zhu finally raised her head and looked straight at Zhu Zheng.

Zhu Zheng said calmly, "Grandma, it's time for Zheng'er to find a husband."

Madam Zhu narrowed her long eyes and said, "Your sister hasn't even proposed marriage yet, how can it be your turn?

Hearing her grandmother mention her sister, Zhu Zheng calmed herself down. She and her sisters were the Zhu family's last trump card. Their only role since childhood was to recruit a son-in-law who grew up out of nowhere into the Zhu family.

Unfortunately, the Zhu family was not well-known, and not even one person came to propose marriage. As she grew older, her grandmother's behavior at the poetry meeting had the meaning of a desperate attempt to find a cure.

Today, my grandmother did not come up to me and blame Zhu Zheng for ruining her plan. After calming down today, even if it succeeded, she would still feel a little unwilling.

What Zhu Zheng wants to bet on is this unwillingness.

"You only have two chances." She smiled sternly, "Don't you think my sister deserves a better chance?"

"What nonsense!" Madam Zhu seemed to have been poked in a sore spot and threw the fan in her hand fiercely, "You little bastard, it's not your turn to make arrangements for the Zhu family yet."

When Mingcui was waiting anxiously at the door, she finally saw her young lady coming out.

It was the first time she saw the young lady smiling.

Usually, she would either look furious or grit her teeth with red eyes, and she would stubbornly refuse to let the tears fall.

Mingcui came over quickly and asked, "What are you laughing at, young lady?"

Zhu Zheng said casually, "Grandma is in good health, and I am happy as her granddaughter."

Considering Zhu Zheng's usual style, it is hard not to sound sarcastic when saying this.

"Miss." Mingcui's eyes were full of worry. She saw the red forehead at a glance, "Did the old lady hit you again?"

I hope you won’t beat the lady silly.

"I was hit by a fan." Zhu Zheng smiled faintly, "It doesn't hurt."

Mingcui immediately took out a small celadon bottle from her body. Ever since she followed the young lady, she had seen her being beaten or punished, with all kinds of bruises on her body. Mingcui developed the habit of carrying all kinds of ointments with her, for bruises and broken skin. She would apply the ointment as soon as she saw it, so that she would suffer less pain.

Zhu Zheng looked at Ming Cui with gratitude, and suddenly reached out and hugged her.

"Thank you, Mingcui."

Mingcui was completely confused, "Why are you thanking me, young lady?"

"It's good to see you."

People who have died once will be saddened by everything they see.

Mingcui, who was used to seeing the young lady's nonsense, did not ask any more questions. Miss Ren hugged her tightly for a while, and then she suddenly remembered, "Oh, Miss, the report you asked someone to check has come back."

Before going to see her grandmother, Zhu Zheng asked Ming Cui to ask a few servants in the water pavilion whether they had seen the Grand Tutor on the day of the poetry meeting.

According to the reply, although the Taifu was also on the invitation list, he was arranged to stay in the imperial palace and not in Nanyuan where the children of aristocratic families lived.

Moreover, he did not show up during the day, and only suddenly came in the evening.

After that, no one saw the Master Taifu again.

During the poetry contest and drinking party, Zhu Zheng's attention was on Wen Boqiu. Now, when she recalled the situation, she realized that she had indeed not seen the Grand Tutor.

Then why did he show up, and why did he appear in Wen Boqiu's room?

After Zhu Zheng finished listening to this, Fang Fang's heart, which had calmed down, began to flutter again.

From the beginning to the end, there was something wrong. But I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

She asked two trusted servants to stay behind, one to continue investigating the room change at the Waterside Poetry Party, and the other to stay near the Grand Tutor's Mansion and report the Grand Tutor's movements at any time.

When waiting for the team, she specifically reminded them to remember every detail of what happened in the Taifu Mansion.

One reason was that she was afraid that he would suddenly think of her brief romance and come to her house to ask for her one day.

The second is to keep a close eye on his movements to avoid running into him accidentally somewhere.

For the next few days, all the reports sent back were about trivial matters.

It was nothing more than that he left the mansion and entered the palace, which was ordinary and boring. The only difference was that the Crown Prince came the day before and stayed in the Taifu's mansion for a whole day.

When Zhu Zheng read this report, his heart sank and he subconsciously clenched his fists.