Farmer girl swaps husbands: buys a sickly villain and pampers him

Chapter 258 Farce
Xia Zhen was trembling all over.

His mind went completely blank, despite his usual arrogance and domineering attitude.

"Your Majesty..."

Xia Zhen stared with bloodshot eyes, searching for Zhou Wangshu's figure in the crowd.

Zhou Wangshu stood in the crowd, arms crossed, grinning, with a defiant expression.

Xia Zhen got up, but tripped over the blanket and fell backward.

The blanket was pulled back, revealing his disheveled body.

Fresh blood splattered out.

"Ah..." Xia Zhen screamed in agony.

The people around looked on with disbelief.

Xia Zhen screamed, "Get out! All of you, get out!"

"You unfilial son, what have you done?" Marquis Cheng'an rushed over and almost couldn't catch his breath when he saw the mess on the scene.

The wedding ceremony between the bride and groom has ended, and guests who were unable to arrive immediately are gradually arriving.

"Prime Minister, please have the crowd disperse," Marquis Cheng'an said weakly.

At this moment, Prime Minister Wang also felt an urge to curse. His daughter was getting married, and first, his son-in-law's former lover came to cause trouble. Now, his good nephew had taken advantage of the Marquis of Cheng'an's heir on the wedding banquet day. If this were a woman, no matter which family's daughter she was from, she could at least turn a big problem into a small one and let it go. But in this situation, it was probably going to be difficult to handle.

"Disperse, disperse," Prime Minister Wang said to the crowd.

Having already seen the show, the crowd realized there was no point in staying any longer; it would only offend Marquis Cheng'an and Prime Minister Wang. So they dispersed.

Su Rende scoffed: "Some young people, even if they are born as men, may not have the heart of a man."

"Dad, shall we eat?" Su Yaoguang asked.

"Eat, of course we have to eat! Not only do we have to eat, we have to eat a lot, after all, we received a pair of jade ruyi as a gift!"

Although the jade ruyi was not only of poor quality and had many flaws, intended to humiliate Prime Minister Wang, he had still presented it as a gift.

After escorting the bride into the bridal chamber, Xiao Yanci came out to offer toasts.

Having just experienced what happened with the Wen family, Wang Ruyan hasn't reacted yet. He knows they're in the same boat now; even if she's furious, he can coax her into forgiving him eventually. Otherwise, how could she divorce him so soon after marrying him? He doesn't care, but he's worried that this eldest daughter of the Wang family won't be able to bear the humiliation. Therefore, regarding what just happened, not only can Miss Wang not cause him trouble, but she also has to find a way to cover it up for him, ideally making sure it's perfectly concealed.

He returned to the banquet and found the atmosphere strange. He thought it was because of the appearance of Ms. Wen and the child earlier, so he forced a smile and moved through the crowd, warmly greeting the guests, making sure he looked completely unaffected so that the 'rumors' would be dispelled.

Strange! Where is Prime Minister Wang? Shouldn't he be helping him greet the guests and introducing the officials to him on this occasion?

He saw the Grand General Su Rende and his son-in-law Zhou Wangshu. When he saw Su Rende helping Zhou Wangshu build connections at the dinner table, a look of jealousy flashed in his eyes.

Both were fathers-in-law, but Prime Minister Wang always looked down on people, unlike Su Rende who was so casual, as if Zhou Wangshu were his own son.

"Where is the Prime Minister?" Xiao Yanci asked the servant.

The servant replied, "The Prime Minister is in the backyard."

Xiao Yanci's expression turned even uglier.

It's time for the toasting ceremony, so what's with Prime Minister Wang hiding in the backyard? Could he be doing this on purpose to express his dissatisfaction with what just happened?
Wen was just an insignificant woman; he could easily deal with her. But that child…

This child was his first. He could handle Wen Shi, but he couldn't handle this child. This reminded him that in his previous life, he also had a child at this time, but the mother wasn't Wen Shi, but that woman, Jiang Yihuan.

Jiang Yihuan...

They had made love in the theater last time. Could that woman be pregnant with his child again? If she were to conceive his child, and that child inherited the title of Marquis, it would be as if he had allowed his own descendant to inherit someone else's title without lifting a finger. Just thinking about it made him excited.

He spotted Jiang Yihuan among the women. The woman was truly glamorous now; after dressing up carefully, she looked quite like a noblewoman, and most importantly, she was still as alluring as ever.

As expected of a woman who has been with many men, she has a knack for serving men, making him somewhat unable to resist.

Jiang Yihuan sensed something, turned around, and saw Xiao Yanci dressed in wedding attire.

Jiang Yihuan no longer felt anything for Xiao Yanci. The image of witnessing him kill Zhong Lanhua kept replaying in her mind, and she wanted to distance herself from this man.

However, this man was a devil who was unwilling to give up his cash cow and tried every means to extort money from her.

"Find out what happened. Why do you all look so strange?" Xiao Yanci instructed his attendants.

Su Yaoguang and Zhang Zhaodi sat on the women's side. The mother and daughter elegantly ate various delicacies, while the other women, even though they lowered their voices, still laughed as they talked about the two big gossips that had just happened.

"Do you think Miss Wang can accept that child?"

"Didn't Prime Minister Wang just say that they need to investigate whether that woman is a fraud and whether that child belongs to Lord Xiao? Ultimately, it's up to them to decide whether the child is Lord Xiao. If they say no, then no. That woman is pitiful, having been stuck with such a vain man. If I were her, I wouldn't have shown up here. I should have just taken the child and gone somewhere no one knows me. Now look what's happened. She's made the Prime Minister's residence lose so much face. I doubt either mother or child will live much longer."

"He's a person with a tragic fate, really!"

Prime Minister Wang arrived late. At that moment, Xiao Yanci's attendants had just received the news and were reporting it to him. Upon learning what had happened, the latter's expression turned strange.

Compared to what he had just done, the young master of the Cheng'an Marquis's mansion was truly outrageous. However, while he could do whatever he wanted normally, it was infuriating that he would come to his wedding banquet to do so.

"The one who used force on him was the young master of the Prime Minister's family, who is the son of the Prime Minister's only sister. This young master Zhang has been living in the Prime Minister's residence for several years and is equivalent to Prime Minister Wang's son-in-law."

If Wang Ruyan hadn't taken in a son-in-law, half of everything in the Prime Minister's mansion would probably have been inherited by this nephew. Now that Wang Ruyan has taken in a son-in-law, the young master surnamed Zhang, seeing his fortune slip away, was in a bad mood, drank too much, and ended up like this.

However, this is how it appears to outsiders; in reality...

Only a few people know the truth, one of whom is Xia Zhen, the victim and the instigator, and the other is Zhou Wangshu, who almost fell victim to the scheme.

Zhou Wangshu stood beside the carriage, waiting for Su Yaoguang and Zhang Zhaodi to come out. His good father-in-law had drunk too much and was resting inside the carriage.

Marquis Cheng'an walked out, supported by his attendants.

Having suffered a heavy blow, he was unsteady on his feet. As he passed by Zhou Wangshu, he slipped and fell in his direction.

Zhou Wangshu moved aside, ignoring the fact that Marquis Cheng'an had fallen to the ground. Marquis Cheng'an's attendants looked at Zhou Wangshu with strange expressions.

Marquis Cheng'an looked at Zhou Wangshu in front of him, his eyes darting around: "You look a lot like someone... my first wife. If my eldest son hadn't died, he would be about your age by now."

A sarcastic look flashed in Zhou Wangshu's eyes.

"Really? Marquis Cheng'an actually has an eldest son by his principal wife? How come I've never heard of him?"

“That child was short-lived; he died at the age of ten.” Marquis Cheng’an stood up unsteadily.

His attendants helped him up.

Looking at Zhou Wangshu, the more he looked, the more familiar the face seemed.

Actually, when Zhou Wangshu passed the imperial examination with top honors, he had some doubts in his heart, always feeling that this child looked like his eldest son who had died young. That eldest son was born to his first wife and drowned when he was ten years old.

He collected his body and buried him in the ancestral hall.

If that eldest son were still alive, he would never have let him be so humiliated as he is today.

Xia Zhen, that bastard, is completely hopeless.

He has never been so humiliated in his life.

No! He's still young and can have another son. He should take more concubines, especially the fertile ones, so that he can have another son to take over the title of Marquis of Cheng'an as soon as possible.

"Return to the manor, return to the manor immediately."

Zhou Wangshu looked at Cheng Anhou's figure and sneered.

What kind of loving father is he pretending to be?
Since his second wife entered the household, he had never inquired about his status as the eldest son, leaving him, at a young age, completely controlled by her. He had once been a noble young master, the heir apparent to a marquisate, but was reduced to fighting with dogs for food and working like a servant. That vicious woman poured boiling water on him and deliberately pricked him with needles. Afterward, she couldn't tolerate him any longer and tried to kill him. Fortunately, he discovered her plot in time and found a young boy's corpse, whose size was not much different from his own, to replace him.

He dressed the boy in his clothes, put his jade pendant on him, and left him in the water for several days until he was unrecognizable before letting him float to the surface.

He tried to escape that hellish place with the silver notes he had secretly taken from the manor, but at such a young age, he was like a lamb to the slaughter. He had just escaped one tiger's den when he soon encountered another wolf's lair. He was targeted by human traffickers, and his disastrous life began.

Before leaving the capital, he discovered a secret: his maternal grandfather's family had been wiped out because his good father had provided some kind of evidence. He was too young to do anything then, but he never forgot those grudges and lives.

"Wangshu...Wangshu..." Su Yaoguang waved her hand in front of Zhou Wangshu. "What are you looking at?"

Zhou Wangshu came to her senses and said with a smile, "I drank a bit too much and I feel a little dizzy."

"Then let's get in the carriage quickly, we're going home." Su Yaoguang helped Zhou Wangshu into the carriage behind.

The carriage in front was left for Su Rende and Zhang Zhaodi.

It's not that she doesn't conserve resources, but Su Rende and Zhang Zhaodi are now even more inseparable than young people, and they don't allow this young couple to bother their old couple.

After getting into the carriage, Zhou Wangshu leaned over and hugged her tightly.

"Are you feeling unwell?" Su Yaoguang asked. "Does your head hurt? Or do you feel nauseous?"

"I feel a little weak, I just want to hold you. Yaoguang, let's stay like this forever, okay?"

"Why are you suddenly so sentimental after drinking? It seems like we've never been apart all these years!" Su Yaoguang touched the back of his hand.

Zhou Wangshu rested her head on his shoulder and rubbed against his neck.

Su Yaoguang stroked his hair, just like petting a puppy.

"Yaoguang, if one day I become very scary, will you hate me?"

"How scary? You'll bully me?"

"will not."

"Would you bully my parents?"

"will not."

"Then you'll bully..."

“I won’t bully the people we both care about,” Zhou Wangshu said.

“What’s so scary about that? Whatever you do, I believe you have your reasons. If you bully someone, it must be someone else’s fault. Otherwise, why don’t you bully others, but only that person? That means that person has a problem.” Su Yaoguang said, “As long as you don’t go against your conscience, I will support you.”

Zhou Wangshu kissed her forehead: "My Yaoguang is so good."

"If you're not feeling well, just rest your head on the pillow for a bit. I'll wake you up when we get to the General's Mansion."

"Yaoguang..." Zhou Wangshu said coquettishly, "Let's have a baby!"

Su Yaoguang: "..."

Zhou Wangshu took her hand and kissed it: "With the child, I will have a blood relative."

“Lord Zhou Wangshu…” Su Yaoguang cupped his cheeks, “This isn’t up to me, okay? No matter how hard I try, I can’t have a child. It’s up to you. If you like children, of course I have no problem with it. You can have as many as you want.”

Zhou Wangshu chuckled to himself.

"Don't laugh." Su Yaoguang nudged him. "You're acting really strange today. What happened?"

"Actually, I'm hiding something from you," Zhou Wangshu said, hugging her. "That Xia Zhen today... it was me who did it."

Su Yaoguang was stunned for a moment, but then she remembered what Xia Zhen had done to her and thought about that person's domineering behavior.

"That kind of person deserved it. You've done a service to the people, what's there to be happy about?"

“Besides the grudge from last time, there’s something else,” Zhou Wangshu said. “That Xia Zhen is my half-brother.”

"What did you say?" Su Yaoguang exclaimed in astonishment. "Then you are Marquis Cheng'an..."

"Yes, I am the eldest son of the Marquis of Cheng'an. My mother was originally the Marquis's first wife, but after her family suffered misfortune, she couldn't bear the blow and fell ill, passing away soon after. After my mother's death, the Marquis of Cheng'an quickly married a new woman. That woman appeared kind and gentle to me, but secretly she tried every means to torment me. She discovered that the Marquis of Cheng'an didn't care about my life or death, so she became increasingly ruthless towards me. In those years, although I was the eldest son of the Marquis of Cheng'an, I actually lived a life worse than a dog. Later, she wanted to kill me, but I discovered it in advance and managed to fake my death to escape. In that family's eyes, I was already dead. However, for so many years, I have never stopped thinking about revenge."