The guard took the letter with him. Before leaving, the prince repeatedly asked: "This letter is extremely confidential and must not fall into the hands of outsiders. If you are in danger, destroy the letter yourself..."
Before the prince could say anything, the guard immediately said: "I would rather die than reveal any of His Highness's secrets."
The prince nodded with satisfaction and watched the guards leave.
Zhou Mansion, front yard.
There were too many people in the hall, and Zhou Yiming and Lin Ajiao didn't want to go in, so they kept talking and laughing in the yard.
Zhou Yiming suddenly sneezed: "Who is talking about me? He must have no good intentions."
At this moment, Lin Ajiao suddenly thought of a question: "Ms. sir, if the current prince doesn't plan to help us, will we be... quite dangerous?"
Zhou Yiming rubbed his nose and said with a smile: "Don't worry, no one at the top of power is a fool.
If the prince allows Yan Qiu to get rid of me without any effort, his own life will not be easy.
First of all, his own people will lose confidence in him, and they may even turn around and join the hands of the strict and demanding old thief.
What's more, now the people in Huijing City regard me as a great hero, and even started to praise me.
Now the only person in the court who can resist Yan Qiu is the prince. The people are all hoping that he can save me. At this time, he has disappointed the people and lost the people's support. Even if he can ascend to the great treasure in the future, he will only become a puppet. "
Lin Ajiao nodded thoughtfully, but in the end she was still worried: "Then if the prince just doesn't save us, is there anything we can do?"
"Yes!" Zhou Yiming hugged Lin Ajiao's shoulders and said with a smile: "Your husband-in-law and I are not in vain. Even if the prince doesn't want to save us, then we will become weights in the struggle for power between him and Yan Qiu. When the time comes, I will have the confidence to deal with the two factions, after all, your husband and I are the best at surviving in the cracks!"
Hearing this, Lin Ajiao blushed slightly and spat: "Bah, people talk to you about serious things, but you always say that they are not there."
After saying this, Lin Ajiao turned around and walked towards the main room.
Zhou Yiming was stunned on the spot. He carefully recalled what he had just said. He suddenly woke up and chased after him with wide eyes: "Gillian, you misunderstood. I didn't mean that. Can we still have a good chat?"
The two of them were chasing each other, joking and laughing. When they were about to reach the main room, they heard sneaking footsteps at the same time.
The two of them held their breath and watched secretly in the dark.
Only a figure was seen sneaking out of the accounting room and sneaking towards the door.
Zhou Yiming and Lin Ajiao looked at each other, feeling funny in their hearts.
The person who was preparing to escape secretly was none other than the old housekeeper of the Zhou family - Laifu.
Ever since he heard in the hall that his young master had caused a big trouble, he had been planning to escape secretly to save his own life. At the same time, he also planned to steal some valuable things from his master's house before leaving. After returning to the countryside, he also planned to Be a rich man and enjoy happiness.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he fell asleep, someone gave him a pillow. Master Zhou sent him to pack the young master's luggage, and then sent him to the accounting office to bring all the money to the young master. This undoubtedly made his plan a lot easier.
He first went to the warehouse to pack a good set of luggage and took a few pieces of silk cloth. When he returned to the countryside to make clothes for himself, he went to the accounting office to take out all the silver and put it in his bag.
Because he had been busy stealing things, he didn't know at all when Xiao Huai Wang came just now.
At this time, he heard everyone talking in the main room, and there was no sound of Zhou Ming and Lin Ajiao talking in the yard. He thought it was the best time to escape, so he picked up his things and ran to the yard quietly.
When he approached the gate and was about to run away, a stone suddenly flew behind him and shattered a flowerpot next to him.
"Laifu, you are in a hurry. Where are you going with so many things?"
Zhou Ming held back his laughter and said loudly.
Seeing Laifu's behavior, Lin Ajiao was very angry at the first time.
The Zhou family is about to face a crisis. Although it is understandable that Laifu, as a servant, should consider himself, he can't run away in such a hurry, right? It's a bit too much to take all the remaining financial resources of the Zhou family with him.
But seeing Zhou Yiming's relaxed expression, Lin Ajiao was instantly relieved.
When a disaster approaches, even his parents have to cut off their relationship with him, let alone the servants in his family?
Laifu was so shocked that he almost suffered a heart attack and died on the spot.
"Ah, Master and Master, why did you come out so early? I haven't packed your luggage yet."
Zhou Yiming walked forward slowly and said with a smile: "You haven't packed it yet? Then what is it you are carrying on your back?"
Laifu's face was full of embarrassment, but fortunately he reacted very quickly: "This is...this is the half of the young master's mistress. I haven't had time to get yours, young master. Why don't you and the young mistress go back to the room to sit for a while, and I'll call after you finish it." you."
Zhou Yiming picked up another stone from the ground. While weighing the stone in his hand, he approached Laifu with a malicious smile on his face: "Laifu, do you think it's your head that's hard, or the flowerpot just now?" ah?"
Laifu was so frightened that he was sweating: "Master, I was wrong. I will never dare to do it again. Please forgive me!"
Zhou Yiming actually had no intention of embarrassing Laifu. After all, he was an old servant of the Zhou family. He had been loyal to the Zhou family for many years and tried his best. It was reasonable for him to want to escape in the face of crisis.
Zhou Yiming just wanted to teach him a lesson and make him remember a little longer. If he dared to have second thoughts about the Zhou family in the future, he would never forgive him.
"Laifu, what are you talking about? I don't understand." Zhou Ming turned his head, looked at Lin Ajiao, and blinked, "Madam, do you understand?"
Lin Ajiao smiled knowingly: "I don't understand either, Laifu, where did you go wrong?"
Only then did Laifu finally understand that his young master was no longer the sick and sick young master who only read the books of sages and had no ears to hear what was going on outside the window. He had really grown up.
He hurriedly knelt on the ground, spread the bundle on the ground, and took out the items one by one.
"Master, Mistress, these are things I secretly took from home. I plan to run back to my hometown and escape with my life.
This is really the first time. Please, Master and Master, please spare me this time. Don’t tell the Master or Madam, otherwise I will lose my dignity. "
Zhou Yiming squatted down, looked through the things on the ground carefully, and said with a smile: "Laifu, you are not just trying to escape, are you? Take these things back to your hometown in the countryside. You can do this without being a pampered man. A high-ranking official who owns a thousand acres of fertile land, right? He’s quite dark.”
Laifu kowtows like a fool: "Young Master and Young Madam, I deserve death. Please spare me this time."
Zhou Yiming suddenly stood up, with a straight face, and said like a young master: "Laifu, my Zhou family has always treated you well. You are a pig to do such a thing when my family is in danger." Not as good as a dog.
However, I want you to take care of my parents with all your heart and be loyal to the Zhou family, so I will spare you this time and write down this account. If there is another time, my parents may be able to tolerate you, but I The stone in the hand does not recognize the person. "
After saying that, Zhou Yiming gently raised the stone in his hand, and another flowerpot on the wall of the courtyard shattered on the spot.
"Young master, don't worry. Even if I die in the future, I will never betray my master's family.
I'm going to help the young master and young grandma pack their luggage. "
Laifu stood up and ran to the backyard.
Lin Ajiao was soft-hearted and felt that Laifu had already learned the lesson, so she stopped him with a smile on her face: "Laifu, it's okay, the young master and I don't have to go anywhere."
Laifu was stunned for a moment, then looked happy, looked at Yiming Ming, and asked, "Master, is our family okay? Don't you and the young mistress need to run for your life?"
"You can say that." Zhou Ming nodded slowly.
"Great!" Laifu was so happy that he jumped up and down. When he landed on the ground, he immediately turned around and ran out of the gate.
Zhou Yiming and Lin Ajiao were both puzzled and called him one after another: "Laifu, you said everything is fine, where are you going?"
As Laifu ran, he turned back and explained: "Young Master and Young Madam, you don't know something. I am not the only servant who wants to escape. Our cook, Lao Liang, has already taken a step ahead. I will chase him back."
After hearing this, Zhou Yiming and Lin Ajiao felt funny and angry. Are all the servants in the family so heartless?
The two smiled bitterly, ignored the servants' affairs, and returned to the main room to chat with the elders of the two families.
With Prince Xiaohuai coming to vouch for it, the Lin family no longer worried about their daughter's safety. Mrs. Lin even believed that Yi Ming would definitely rise to prominence in the officialdom in the future, so her attitude towards him also changed.
The previous complaints, blames and look-downs immediately disappeared from her body.
Lin Ajiao's eldest brother and sister-in-law changed even faster. Not only did they greet Zhou Ming with greetings, but they also called her kindly. One brother-in-law on the left and the other brother-in-law called Zhou Ming a little uncomfortable.
The two families had a reunion dinner together at noon, and it was not until the afternoon that the Lin family left.
In the evening, when the Zhou family was preparing to have dinner, Laifu suddenly shouted at the gate.
"Master and Master, come out and take a look."
The whole Zhou family was shocked. Zhou Yiming ran out first, walked to the gate and took a look, and was stunned.
Outside the gate of Zhou's house, I don't know when it was filled with various things, including eggs, chickens, ducks and geese, various vegetables, millet and white noodles, and even gold, silver and copper coins, which were not in large quantities.
Zhou Ruhai walked to the door and saw this scene, tears filled his eyes. He quickly asked Laifu: "Laifu, have you ever seen who sent these things?"
Laifu shook his head: "I didn't go out after Mr. Lin and the others left. Just now I planned to lock the door before eating. When I came out, I saw the door full of these things. I didn't see who sent them."
"Dad, you don't have to ask, I know who sent these things." Zhou Ming said.
"Who is it? We can't have this obscure thing. If you know who sent it, hurry up and send it back." Zhou Ruhai was afraid that accepting these things would bring greater disaster to the Zhou family.
