Traveling to Daliang Kingdom starts from falling into the water

Chapter 727: Zhou Mansion in the Capital
Even though Liu had never been to the capital, she had heard about it, especially during her trip she had heard that the capital was divided into the Outer City, the Inner City, the Imperial City, and the Forbidden City.

It is said that the outer city is inhabited by almost ordinary people, the inner city is inhabited by dignitaries or wealthy families, and the imperial city is inhabited by princes and nobles. As for the remaining Forbidden City, it is self-evident that it is naturally inhabited by the current emperor and his family.

The sky gradually darkened. It was still bitterly cold in the capital city in the first month of the year. The curtains of the carriage were difficult to lift. Liu listened to the noise outside and guessed that they were about to enter the inner city.

She thought they would soon arrive at Zhou Mansion, but she was right. The carriage slowly stopped and after passing through another city gate inspection, it entered the inner city, but this was not the end at all.

We passed another city gate.

Could it be that he entered the imperial city?
Liu thought carefully and was sure that she had never heard anyone mention that the Zhou Mansion was in the imperial city. However, before she left, she heard her sixth son mention that the court had returned the Zhou Mansion.

Could it be that I was wrong, and Lord Zhou did not want the hereditary title of Duke of Liang passed down from his ancestors, and the current emperor even rewarded and returned the Duke of Liang's mansion?

"We're almost there, look over there..." Madam Zhou said as she lifted a corner of the curtain and turned to signal Liu to come closer, "From here, Xia'er's house is on the right."

right hand side?
Looking at the house that was within sight because the carriage was not moving very fast, but still without a gate, Liu was startled, "How many courtyards are there?"

"Not big, not even as big as Yuyuan."

"..." How dare you say that? What kind of territory is Yuyuan? Liu asked uncertainly, "Is this considered the imperial city beyond the inner city?"

Madam Zhou couldn't help but nod her head and leaned close to Liu's ear and whispered, "This was originally the mansion that the late Empress Dowager bestowed upon my eldest sister."

Liu said she was frightened.

"The late Empress Dowager was the late Empress Dowager's aunt, and the late Empress Dowager was the eldest sister's aunt. The Zhou family was very powerful at the time, and the late Empress Dowager and the Emperor were innocently implicated.

When something happened in the Zhou Mansion, the Empress Dowager secretly sent someone to find Old Lady Gao to protect my eldest sister. My eldest sister accompanied Old Lady Gao into the Gao Mansion to protect my master. "

No wonder she was a royal girl whose surname was Liang, but she was still able to be named a county princess. In the end, when disaster struck, she was able to protect her maternal cousin, Lord Zhou, as her legitimate son.

It’s a pity that they thought that Lord Zhou was just as their eldest son said and had not yet been included in the family tree, and that he escaped to Yangzhou Prefecture with the help of the loyal servant and Madam Gao.

Since they have connections in the royal family and the Zhou family are royal relatives, it is no wonder that Madam Gao still kept Sanya under control and refused to let her go home until her master passed away.

"What about Madam Gao?"

Madam Zhou heaved a sigh of relief immediately, and understood everything immediately. She was indeed the mother who gave birth to my son-in-law, “Xia’er knows all these past events clearly.

But this child felt sad that if it weren't for the Gao family, she would not have the chance to see her elder sister. She always believed that no matter what the previous reasons were, she owed the Gao family a great favor.

The child is a good child, even though..." Mrs. Zhou pointed to the sky, "When I mentioned the eldest sister to her uncle before, I also praised the child for being as loyal and righteous as the eldest sister.

Xia'er is very much like the eldest sister..."

Is this the golden word of the emperor today?
Liu found that she had been frightened by Madam Zhou for the whole journey and had become numb from the fright. After she finally calmed down and was about to speak, the carriage stopped again.

"arrive."

Liu couldn't help but look at Madam Zhou with resentment. She didn't know how similar her expression this time was to the look of her old daughter-in-law when she was acting coquettishly towards her.

Mrs. Zhou couldn't help but chuckle, thinking that she understood why Zhou Molan mentioned in the letter that her daughter Xia'er not only respected her mother-in-law, but also treated her like a mother and daughter. Such a mother-in-law who knew everything, was neither humble nor arrogant, and said whatever she wanted in any occasion, and was shocked but also sober, was really a wonderful person.

Her daughter Xia'er has good taste and is very good at choosing a husband's family.

Even if Xia'er didn't know the Ninth Prince and didn't enter the Ninth Prince's backyard, if the master really wanted to let Xia'er find a son-in-law as he had planned before, there would be no marriage that would be more beneficial to Xia'er than this one.

Thinking of the Ninth Prince, Madam Zhou's eyes flickered, and she shook her head and smiled, "Don't rush to go down, we can go down after we get in, they are still easy to get along with.

Especially our mother-in-law, after hearing Sister Hui say a lot about how good you are, she has long wanted to meet you and your sister-in-law, so don’t be scared by her later.”

Liu understood what Mrs. Zhou meant. On the way from Zhoujia Village to Beijing, she had heard about the history of the Qi family's rise, including some things that happened after Mrs. Qi San married into the Qi family.

For example, the third room of the Qi Mansion now has two concubines who were the maids who served the third master Qi in the past. After the third master Qi's wife came into the house, she did not drive them away, but she also did not allow the third master Qi to take in another concubine.

For this reason, as the current emperor, who was previously a prince, ascended the throne, Mr. Qi Sanye's value also soared, and there were many people who wanted to force women on Mr. Qi Sanye.

Among them, Madam Qi Da planned for her younger brother-in-law, Master Qi San, to take her cousin from her natal family as a concubine, but ended up getting slapped twice in the face by Madam Qi San.

As the younger sister-in-law, she even dared to slap her eldest sister-in-law twice in front of her mother-in-law. Since then, she has stopped trying to force her in-laws to join.

As expected of a lady from a family of military generals, she is a very tough woman, and she is also very good at choosing the right time to make a big move to scare the monkeys and establish her authority.

The Qi Mansion that was returned to her seemed to be very large. While Liu was lost in thought, she only saw the carriage she was riding in stop for a while, then move forward slowly, stop again, and then get on the sedan chair.

She had been in the sedan chair for so long that she almost thought she had left the imperial city. Finally, the sedan chair stopped and when she got out, it was already dark. Outside, there was a row of red lanterns and palace lanterns.

It's very spectacular.

She finally understood why Zhou Molan felt that Yuyuan was not festive enough during the New Year and approved of her eldest son decorating the place with lanterns and colorful lights.

For a moment, Liu didn't have time to think about how close Mrs. Zhou meant when she said this place was very close to the house Zhou Banxia brought as a dowry.

Mrs. Zhou was very good at making arrangements. Without her, her mother-in-law and Xiao Bai having to ask anything, Mrs. Zhou invited them in to have some hot tea before meeting the guests.

It is said to be drinking tea, but in fact it is just washing up.

This move was exactly what Liu and the others wanted. Even if they took a short break in a teahouse near the capital, their clothes were wrinkled and their hair was messy after working for most of the day.

As it was late, the guests were still waiting in the flower hall in the inner courtyard of the Zhou Mansion. There was no need for Liu to signal, and Li was very fast.

Even faster than them, the outer courtyard male guests also welcomed Mr. Qi San, who had hurried over after finishing his business at the yamen, as well as several gentlemen whose names they had heard of for a long time but had never met.

Among them, Boss Zhao was the last one walking.

Gu Erzhu thought he was pretty smart. Zhou Huan was not in Beijing, and as it involved his child's marriage, it was understandable that his fellow apprentices came to entertain him, but he never expected that this person would also arrive tonight.

It seems that although Boss Zhao, who is still Gu's second brother, has gained a lot of weight, a lot fatter, but has his head shrunk as well?