Do You Know?: Rule the World.

Chapter 115 The Yu Family's Plan, the Death of Zhao Zongquan and His Son

As the incense sticks burned out, the crisp sound of gongs resounded throughout the court, announcing the end of this game.

At the edge of the court, Zhao Han dismounted. A maid came forward respectfully, holding a tray and whispered, "Congratulations, Your Highness, and congratulations to Miss Sheng Liu."

Zhao Han picked up the gold hairpin on the tray, took a look at it, and put it directly into Minglan's palm.

Minglan smiled gently, her eyes curved, and turned around to hand the golden hairpin to Yanran beside her.

Looking at the lost and recovered belongings of her deceased mother, Yanran burst into tears of joy.

"Now that the item has been returned to its original owner, Miss Yu, please keep it safe and don't lose it again."

Yanran wiped away her tears, nodded repeatedly, and choked up, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your great kindness. I am deeply grateful."

"You are too kind, young lady."

After leaving these words, Zhao Han and Gu Tingye went up to the viewing platform to rest.

Yu Yanhong's face was gloomy, and she was so angry that she threw the golf club to the ground.

Yu Erlang quickly consoled her, "It's just a hairpin. I'll buy you a more expensive and beautiful one when I get back."

"I don't want that broken hairpin at all. I just don't want her to get what she wants!"

After Yu Yanhong finished speaking, she sat aside angrily, while Yu Erlang looked like he had survived a disaster.

"Zhong Huai, your title of Quan Guan is completely gone now." Sheng Changbai picked up the cup and looked at them with a smile.

Gu Tingye said nonchalantly, "I am convinced of my defeat to Your Highness."

After saying this, he turned and bowed to Zhao Han, who was removing his wrist guard, and said, "I only hope that if Your Highness has time in the future, you can give Zhong Huai some guidance."

Zhao Han narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Zhong Huai, why are you being so modest? Your skills are already among the best!"

On the polo field, gongs and drums sounded again.

Zheng Xiao, the second son of the Zheng family, and Zhang Yang, the fourth son born out of wedlock to the Duke of Yingguo, started a new game.

Zhang Guifen stood on tiptoe and shouted towards the arena, "Fourth brother, you must do your best! If you lose this match, you must take me to the racecourse tomorrow!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang reined in his horse, turned around, and gave his sister a helpless smile.

It was not until dusk fell and the lights came on that the carriages of each family slowly drove away from the shore of Jinming Lake.
At Gu Tingye's invitation, Zhao Han and Sheng Changbai went straight to Fanlou.

Inside the carriage of the Earl of Yongchang's Mansion.

Madam Wu looked at Liang Liulang and said with a smile, "The Sixth Miss of the Sheng family looks really good."

"Hard, round, clean and smooth, a star-like stream, the moon staff fights to strike without stopping, I'm talking about her!"

"Mother..." Liang Liulang frowned, a little impatient.

He has always liked to associate with the elegant and refined, but today he was so captivated by Molan's sour poems that he didn't even glance at Minglan.

"I know you've taken a liking to his family's fourth daughter. Tell me, what are her strengths?"

Madam Wu never cared much about the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, otherwise there would be no place for the eldest son of the Liang family to succeed. She also knew the character of her own sixth son.

If the Liang family could really marry into the Sheng family, it would be a good thing, as they would be able to get some support in the future.

Faced with this question, Liang Liulang immediately perked up and said in one breath, "The fourth young lady is quiet and polite, and is proficient in playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, reciting poems and composing couplets. She is a rare good girl in Bianjing City."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wu became furious and pinched his arm hard, causing Liang Liulang to grimace in pain.

"You used the wrong word for the first one. If she were really polite, she wouldn't have been chatting and laughing with you with such a frown for so long!"

"That Chun Ke in your backyard is getting bigger and bigger. Think carefully about it!"

"If something scandalous happens, it won't matter if your reputation is ruined, but our Earl's Mansion will also be implicated!"

After looking at him with disappointment, Mrs. Wu turned her head away.

I cursed myself in my heart for giving birth to such a useless thing.

Liang Liulang lowered his head, frowned and thought carefully, and found that he couldn't even see what the Sixth Girl looked like.

In short, whenever he closed his eyes, he would see the figure of the Fourth Girl.

Jiying Lane, Sheng Family, Linqi Pavilion.

As soon as Molan came back, Lin Qinshuang couldn't wait to pull her over to sit next to her, "How is it?"

"Have you spoken to the young master? Although he has temporarily failed the exam, what kind of family is the Qi family?"

"All you have to do is go to the palace and ask for favor from the emperor and the queen, and you can easily get a respectable official position."

"It was the princess who, for the sake of her reputation, insisted that the young master study so hard and take the imperial examinations."

Seeing that Molan was silent and looked unhappy, she urged, "Speak!"

"Have you told the young master everything your mother taught you?"

"Oh!" Molan was a little distressed and threw the round fan in her hand to the ground.

"The young master looked very unhappy and didn't even look at me."

"However, Liang Liulang from the Yongchang Earl's Mansion was quite attentive. Not only did he invite me to discuss poetry with him, he also went out of his way to explain the ins and outs of polo to me."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qinshuang's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. After weighing the pros and cons, she spoke, "Although the Earl of Yongchang's Mansion is not as prestigious as the Duke of Qi's Mansion, it is still one of the richest and most prestigious."

"But how can Liang Liulang compare with the young master..." Molan muttered softly, feeling more and more sad the more she thought about it.

Lin Qinshuang pursed her lips, her eyes flashing with a sharp light. "Liang Liulang is, after all, the legitimate son of the Yongchang Earl's Mansion. You should deal with him carefully."

"If there is really no hope for the Qi family, it's better than trying to get nothing."

"Mo'er, if we don't take the initiative to fight for it, and only rely on your father and the eldest lady's kindness, how can we get those good marriages from noble families?"

Molan nodded, looking at her beautiful face in the bronze mirror, "Okay, I'll listen to you in everything."

When night falls, the moon is at its highest point in the sky and the stars are shining brightly.

Hanlin Lane, Yu Mansion.

In the small courtyard of Old Master Yu and Old Madam Yu, candlelight flickered and the place was shrouded in silence.

Yanran held the golden hairpin as if she had found a treasure, resting it on the old lady's lap, and whispered, "If this hairpin falls into the hands of Third Sister, it will be difficult to get it back."

The old lady sighed softly and stroked the loose hair on her forehead with a loving look in her eyes.

"If we had known this would happen, your grandfather and I would never have let you follow me to take up the post and suffer such injustice!"

Soon after Lord Yu remarried Fang, he was exiled to Fuzhou.

When she first entered the Yu Mansion, Fang naturally wanted to show off in front of the old tutor and the old lady and gain a reputation as a loving mother.

She acted like a virtuous woman and earnestly asked to take Yanran with her, saying that she couldn't bear to part with this well-behaved stepdaughter.

At first, Yanran also felt that Fang really loved her, so she happily followed her to Fuzhou.

As a result, Fang's true colors showed soon after she became pregnant in Fuzhou. She became increasingly cold towards Yanran and even ignored her when she was sick.

Lord Yu was busy with external affairs all day, and Fang kept whispering in his ear, so he didn't care much about her.

The servants around him took advantage of the fact that Old Master Yu was not around and became more and more unscrupulous. They tried every means to steal and sell the belongings of Yanran's deceased mother that she had brought with her.

Of course, Fang’s contribution was also indispensable. After all, her dowry was not even half of Yanran’s mother’s.

Yanran has a gentle personality and no means, so she can't find out the reason at all.

She didn't want to trouble her grandparents who were far away in the capital, so she had to accept the loss.

Yanran sat up straight, looked at Old Madam Yu with a smile on her face, and said softly, "It's all in the past. There's no need to mention it again."

"Grandma, today is truly thanks to the help of Minglan and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince? He also comes down to help you play polo?" The old lady was a little surprised and frowned unconsciously.

Yanran nodded repeatedly, "Yes, otherwise who in the whole city of Bianjing can match the ball skills of Gu Jia Erlang?"

"I didn't expect Ming'er to play polo so well. If you saw it today, you would definitely be shocked."

When Old Master Yu, who was sitting at his desk reading a book by candlelight, heard this, he stood up and walked over.

"Grandfather, what's wrong? Is there anything wrong with this?" Yanran blinked.
"It's nothing, I just heard that this prince is both civil and military, and his appearance is also very handsome."

Old Master Yu stroked his gray beard and looked at her meaningfully.

Yanran smiled and said, "Yes!"

"Ming'er told my granddaughter that if it weren't for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, her biological mother, Wei Xiaoniang, would have nearly died in childbirth."

"There is such a connection. It shows that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a kind-hearted person. No wonder he would help us today." The old lady followed up with another sentence.

After Yanran returned to the house with the maid, Old Master Yu whispered, "Have you made any plans for Yanran's marriage?"

The old lady sighed softly, her face full of worry, "Given this girl's temper, I wouldn't trust her no matter which family she lives with."

"If she gets wronged in the future, there's no way she can expect her father and stepmother to take care of her."

The old master weighed the options for a long time and said, "I do have an idea, but I need to think it over carefully."

-

After the marriage between Changbai and the Hai family was finalized, another major event occurred that shocked the court and the public.

Inside the Wenhua Hall.

Zhao Zhen's face was as gloomy as iron, and he looked at the contents of the memorial with anger.

There have been some rebels in the southwest recently, and they even called themselves Emperor Zhaode. A group of them secretly fled to Yuzhou.

When Zhao Zongquan made the memorial, Zhao Zhen did not take it seriously and only ordered him to lead troops to suppress the rebels.

Unexpectedly, although this group of rebels was small in number, each of them was brave and good at fighting.

He kept hunting down Zhao Zongquan and his son Zhao Ceying, wanting to bring their heads back to the southwest and present them to Emperor Zhaode in exchange for fame and honor and a title for his wife.

Now that the heads of Zhao Zongquan and Zhao Ceying have been cut off, the arrogance of these rebels has become more and more arrogant.

Although they were just an inconspicuous and unpopular member of the Taizong clan, they were still members of the royal family after all.

In this way, the rebels cut off his head and used it as a sacrifice.

Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there has never been such a humiliating moment. This is simply a slap in the face of the imperial court.

Zhao Han, Zhang Fu and other generals were in the hall. Zhao Han was not surprised by this.

After all, when Zhao Zongquan was being hunted by rebels and was on the verge of death, it was Gu Tingye who appeared in time to save them.

Now that Gu Tingye is safe and sound in Bian Jing, Zhao Zongquan and his son naturally don't have that kind of luck.

(End of this chapter)