With the cannon fodder script in hand, it is easy for the king to change his fate

Chapter 1017 The Heir Takes the Empire as Dowry 29
Because he had subconsciously glanced outside while in the carriage last night, he could hear sounds coming from the direction behind the carriage, not far from Chunhua Tower.

He didn't know exactly what had happened, but his intuition told him that if it weren't for the two people who brought him back last night, something bad might have happened.

Could the same thing happen to Zhou Huo?

But who wants to harm him?
He had some guesses, but couldn't be sure.

The reason he wrote back to Qingzhou was to ask his family to send some people over. Last night's events finally made him feel a sense of crisis, realizing that it wouldn't be so easy to establish himself in the capital.

He was fond of Princess Ping, but he never thought of using her to do anything for himself. He believed it was best to handle his own affairs, otherwise he would appear too incompetent.

Who was the person who helped him last night?
Could it be Princess Ping?

He quickly shook his head, indicating that it was probably not the case. Princess Ping was simple-minded and clearly not good at these kinds of schemes and tricks.

Then I thought of Zhou Huo, and how he had rejected the Zhou family's attempts to win him over some time ago.

He must have gotten caught up in partisan strife. The Zhou family's reputation is now ruined, and countless people want to bring them down.

His Chen family of Qingzhou has always had a good reputation, and now that they've gotten involved with Princess Ping... they're afraid of becoming a thorn in her side.

Regardless of who made the move last night, they don't seem to be hostile at the moment.

"I heard that the man was brought back to the Zhou residence overnight. The Zhou residence was brightly lit all night, which shows that the situation of Zhou Huo is quite troublesome." Yuan Qi almost laughed out loud. This is what you call reaping what you sow. Zhou Huo is the most outstanding young man of the Zhou family in this generation. Although he was not among the top three in the imperial examination, he was second only to the top three.

I wonder how many people in the Zhou family know about Zhou Huogan's affair.

His Majesty didn't seem very interested in monitoring the Zhou family, and since the Zhou family itself was not simple, he didn't send anyone in to investigate rashly.

"Zhou Hanyi will probably come to the palace later to ask for a royal physician," Azhen said with a smile, but she was dumbfounded. Could a royal physician save him?
The ancient prescriptions left in the underground palace of Ao Kingdom really couldn't save Zhou Huo.

The fact that they could concoct that kind of drug that causes mental impairment doesn't mean that the Zhou family can restore people to normal. Once the brain nerves are damaged, it's not so easy to cure them.

"I'm afraid it's useless," Yuan Qi said.

No sooner had he finished speaking than someone outside announced that Zhou Hanyi had arrived.

When Zhou Hanyi arrived, he first feigned pitifulness with red eyes, then said that Zhou Huo was not usually like this and must have been murdered. Now that Zhou Huo was mentally impaired, it was the best proof. He believed that the only way to know the truth was to cure Zhou Huo.

If Zhou Huo really did something reckless on his own, he would be the first to not forgive him.

She had said both kind and harsh words, and after Azhen comforted her with a few words, she allowed the imperial physician to treat Zhou Huo.

After watching Zhou Hanyi leave, Azhen continued to peruse the memorials.

That old fox was just testing her, probably looking for someone to get involved in this matter. Let him think about it slowly.

"Your Majesty, should we place a concise summary of the 'Strategies for Governing the Country' in the Wen'ao Pavilion at this time?" Yuan Qi asked, clearly showing great interest in completely crushing the Zhou family, and even a bit of urgency.

Azhen shook her head: "Not yet, this is not a good time. Zhou Huo is mentally impaired now. As long as the Zhou family insists that they were framed, they will still gain some sympathy. Their story is already eye-catching enough. Bringing out the 'National Governance Policy' at this time may not be as effective as we imagine."

Most importantly, she had a vague feeling that now was not the right time.

Her intuition was always accurate, and she felt that the summary of "The Strategies for Governing the Country" could play a greater role at the appropriate time later.

She didn't know what effect it would have, but she eagerly awaited that day. After examining Zhou Huo, the imperial physician declared he could do nothing more.

Then Zhou Hanyi shamelessly begged Azhen to have all the imperial physicians treat him, and Azhen agreed, but it was still no use.

In just three days, Zhou Hanyi looked like he had aged twenty years; his hair had turned completely white, and he did look rather pitiful.

Originally, everyone was watching Zhou Shi make a fool of herself. Zhou Shi said that Zhou Huo had gone mad, and that someone must have framed him. Many people actually believed it.

Azhen could actually make Zhou Huo not stupid, but why should such a bad person be given such an easy way out?

Anyway, she'll bring down the Zhou family sooner or later. It won't be so easy for Zhou Huo to bring down the Zhou family.

Some believe Zhou Huo was murdered, while others think it's just Zhou's story, and that Zhou Huo might have injured his head during the fire. Some even think Zhou Huo is faking his stupidity, and that such public opinion is enough for Azhen.

“We were certain at the time that the person delivered to that room was Chen Fangjin, not the young master.”

“Master, you are wise. I really did not lie. It was Chen Fangjin who was sent into that room and given the drug.”

In the dungeon of the Zhou family mansion, two people, their bodies mangled and bloodied, were begging for mercy. They were the same people who had helped Zhou Huo that night.

After the incident, Zhou Hanyi ordered his men to take them into custody and subject them to severe torture.

Unfortunately, no matter how he was interrogated, his story remained the same, which greatly displeased Zhou Hanyi.

After so many days, he still couldn't get any information out of them. He realized that they might be telling the truth, or that the person behind it was too clever and had done something they hadn't noticed, which was why this had happened.

Zhou Hanyi's face turned cold as he walked out of the dungeon with his hands behind his back: "Clean it up."

Since the incident has already occurred, it must remain a secret and absolutely cannot be discovered by anyone.

Since last year, the Zhou family has been experiencing setbacks in every aspect. Thinking about the current reputation of the Zhou family, Zhou Hanyi took a deep breath and pondered how to reverse the Zhou family's reputation.

The only thing left now is the contribution of our ancestor Zhou Wenling's strategies for governing the country.

Previous dynasties benefited from these governance strategies, which is why they held the Zhou family in such high esteem.

Suddenly, Zhou Hanyi thought of something.

I remember on the day I took over as head of the family, there was an ancestral rule that only the head of the family knew: if the Zhou family ever fell into a reputation crisis, and the current head of the family felt that he could not turn the situation around, he could go to the tomb of his ancestor Zhou Wenling to pay his respects.

The outcome wasn't mentioned, but there is indeed such an ancestral precept.

Zhou Hanyi sat in his seat and pondered for a long time before finally deciding to make the trip.

The tomb of Zhou Wenling, the ancestor of the Zhou family, is not in the capital, but in Wenling Mountain. It is said that Wenling Mountain was named by the founding emperor of the Liang Kingdom to thank Zhou Wenling.

From then on, Wenling Mountain became Zhou's territory.

Subsequent dynasties benefited from Zhou Wenling to varying degrees and respected him greatly, thus tacitly acknowledging that Wenling Mountain belonged to the Zhou family. Most importantly, for thousands of years, the Zhou family had never been enthusiastic about the court, let alone interested in becoming emperors, which was what reassured successive monarchs the most.

"Have you left the capital?" Azhen asked.

“Yes, it’s back to Wenling Mountain,” Yuan Qi replied. “I don’t know what that old fox is up to now. Returning to Wenling Mountain at this critical moment clearly means something is up.”