Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 1422: Monarch and Minister

Chapter 1422: Chapter 1422: Monarch and Minister

No matter how they discussed it, the assassin appeared in Huizhou, and the Prefect of Huizhou had to investigate the assassin’s origins to redeem his mistakes; it was an unfortunate situation for him.

After the morning court session, all the ministers in the court knew about the disappearance of the two young masters from the Shangguan and Zhou families. It was inconvenient to relay messages, and locating Ming Rui and Shangguan Liu might allow for the news to reach the capital by tomorrow at the earliest.

Now, everyone looked at Sir Shangguan and Zhou Shuren with sympathy, but there were also those who gloated over the misfortune, especially those who were envious of the Shangguan family for providing the Crown Princess Consort, and jealous of the smooth sailing of the Zhou family.

Sir Shangguan seemed to have aged ten years. He knew about the attack on the Crown Prince very early on and held onto the hope that his grandson would be safe. But today, the document from the Prefect of Huizhou shattered those hopes; his grandson, who had no martial skills, how could he have escaped?

Sir Shangguan didn’t want to deal with anyone and left first.

Zhou Shuren also walked away with his head down. Old Master Wong signaled Wong Ju to go over, and Wong Ju blinked; when did his father get the impression that he could comfort Zhou Shuren?

While Wong Ju thought this to himself, he still approached and said, "Ming Rui is blessed, the fortunate are watched over by heaven, he will definitely be safe."

Zhou Shuren replied, "Ming Rui’s martial arts skills are not bad."

Wong Ju was startled, seeing Zhou Shuren’s lack of confidence for the first time. Despite the Zhou family having many children, every grandson was important to Zhou Shuren. Following his lead, he said, "Right, Ming Rui’s martial arts are not bad, weren’t you bragging that Ming Rui takes after your second son? This child will definitely be alright."

Zhou Shuren just needed someone’s affirmation, "Right, Chang Yi is indeed in his blood, this child will definitely be fine."

Li Zhao stood to the side listening and opened his mouth; the other military generals handled it well, as it was common for descendants of military generals to die on the battlefield, but the civil officials couldn’t bear it as much.

In the Ministry of Rites, Chang Yi heard the news, knocked over his inkstone, and his official robe was covered in ink. He stood there stunned for a long time without moving.

Sir Liu, concerned, asked, "Are you, are you alright?"

Chang Yi closed his eyes for a while before opening them and bowed his head to tidy the desk, "I’m fine."

Sir Liu didn’t believe it. As he got to know the two families better, he realized that Chang Yi liked to boast about his son. Zhou Mingrui was the eldest son of Zhou’s second wife, the entire heart and soul of the second wife.

Chang Yi, with his head down, said, "It’s just a disappearance, not finding the person means there’s still safety; I’m fine."

He didn’t believe his son was in trouble. They say there’s a connection between mother and child; his wife has not shown any signs of distress these past days and has been happily preparing for their daughter’s engagement. His son must be fine.

Sir Liu felt that Chang Yi was avoiding the reality, as in that situation, disappearance meant likely death, but he didn’t know how to persuade otherwise.

Alas, it seems his son’s engagement will have to be postponed.

In the Zhou family, Zhulan had not received the news; recently no one from the several households had left home, not a single invitation was accepted, all because they wanted to quell the rumors of being overly fortunate.

Zhou Shuren again instructed the steward and others, and with everyone currently having the sense not to come calling, the news was indeed kept hidden.

It was different for the Lin family; the old lady of the Lin family was immediately furious. If Zhou Mingrui was in trouble, her granddaughter would be tarnished with the reputation of causing her husband’s death.

Lin Qing didn’t believe it; she believed Zhou Mingrui would definitely be fine, but the old lady could only sigh.

That evening, Zhou Shuren knew he had kept the news hidden and he breathed a sigh of relief, enduring the pain of the blister in his mouth, he forced himself to eat nearly half a bowl of wontons.

Today, Zhou Shuren brought his second son back home, both keeping the news from the family because being anxious and upset was enough for them alone.

The next day, as Zhou Shuren looked in the mirror, he saw several blisters in his mouth; drinking water was painful, yet he still had to bear with it to attend the morning court.

Just as he arrived at the palace gate, he saw Eunuch Zhang. Seeing a smile on Eunuch Zhang’s face, Zhou Shuren felt an indescribable emotion. Upon hearing Eunuch Zhang’s words, he paused for a while then, splitting his mouth into a grin, he laughed loudly, "I always said my grandson has great fortune!"

Eunuch Zhang felt a sigh in his heart, it was more than just great fortune.

Sir Shangguan also regained his senses and quickly came over, "Thank you, if it weren’t for your grandson, my grandson would have certainly been dead."

Zhou Shuren was also invigorated at this time, and the blisters on his mouth no longer hurt, "They are all for the Crown Prince, helping each other."

Shangguan, the senior, also smiled, "Minister Zhou is right, their protection of the Crown Prince is their duty."

Eunuch Zhang, "..."

Tsk tsk, look at how the two ministers are not worried about their grandsons anymore, attributing merits to their grandsons in every statement.

The commotion here is so large, and their standing position is so conspicuous, everyone has heard what’s going on.

Old Master Wong is happy for the Zhou family, Wong Ju silently chants Amitabha in his heart.

Li Zhao and others no longer need sympathy, now they are all envious and jealous.

Elder Minister Wen let out a breath, heaven knows how much he feared the grandsons of both families really getting into trouble, the Wen family is not arrogant enough to face Shangguan and Zhou family as mortal enemies.

As for the other families, he had already sent gifts yesterday, as long as there are sufficient benefits, look, they hated him yesterday, and today there is no hate.

What he fears are the Zhou and Shangguan families; these two families are not the ones to trade their descendants for benefits, having become mortal enemies, they would indeed cling to the Wen family.

Moreover, Elder Minister Wen sighed, this time with the Crown Prince being assassinated, he is even more estranged from the Wen family, this is not good.

Early morning, the Emperor had a rare smile on his face, he must be pleased. The news bearer was a suicide agent, the Emperor had not yet received news about the Crown Prince, and the Emperor wasn’t concerned about the gold mine, but he did not desire the official families and Zhou family to become mortal enemies with the Wen family, this is not what he wanted to see, as they are after all the maternal family of the Crown Prince.

Now it’s just perfect, exactly the situation he wanted to see.

The Emperor’s good mood was palpable, after the morning court, the Emperor kept Shangguan senior and Zhou Shuren.

The Emperor relayed the events, "That’s what happened, both children are fine, and have even made contributions."

Shangguan senior was stunned, "Ah, a gold mine?"

When did his family get rich? It’s not that he despises his descendants, but none of them have brains for managing assets.

Zhou Shuren, however, asked, "How much gold remains in the mine? Oh dear, the royal treasury lacks silver."

Emperor, "..."

Very good, very Zhou Shuren - as soon as his grandson was safe, the first thing he thought about was the silver.

The Emperor also felt a bit guilty; indeed, the royal treasury had been spending quite a lot of silver recently, and the recent transactions added more wrinkles to Zhou Shuren’s face.

The Emperor sighed, "The gold mine has been almost exhausted."

Speaking of which, the Emperor was also depressed; the gold mine belonged to the state, and yet it had been secretly mined by someone for who knows how many years, just thinking about it was infuriating.

Zhou Shuren paused, "As long as there are traces, we can track where the gold has gone, and it’s possible the easy-to-mine parts have been mined, but we can continue digging around the area."

In ancient times without modern detection instruments, even experienced gold miners could make mistakes, what if they struck gold?

The Emperor’s eyes brightened, yes, meticulous excavation must be carried out, and some gold miners must be sent to observe, in case what was mined was just a branch vein.

Zhou Shuren and the Emperor looked at each other, very good, their thoughts aligned, striking gold means profit.

Shangguan senior, "..."

Should he consider retiring?