HCB Chapter 109 I had absolutely no idea
Chapter 109 I had absolutely no idea
Zhou Hanzhang knew that Chen Moran was quite accomplished in divination and arithmetic, so his father must have encountered something serious.
She quickly said, "My father has indeed been away recently, he..."
Zhou Hanzhang instinctively wanted to ask how his father was doing, but then he remembered that Chen Moran had just said that he didn't know either.
Chen Moran naturally knew she was anxious. He hadn't originally planned to tell Zhou Hanzhang, for fear of making him worry.
However, he seemed to sense that what Zhou's father had encountered was not a good thing, and if he didn't say anything now, something terrible might happen.
Zhou Hanzhang didn't have time to communicate with Chen Moran any further and quickly said to him, "Senior Brother Chen, thank you. I'll arrange for someone to go find my father right away."
Chen Moran frowned. "I suggest you go there yourself."
Hearing this, Zhou Hanzhang also became more serious. "Is it something very serious?"
"I can't say for sure, but this matter is probably somewhat related to you."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"Yes, I only have trouble seeing things clearly when they involve you. I can usually predict most things."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Hanzhang's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that he really did have to go.
Putting aside the fact that Zhou's father was the father of his own era, he couldn't abandon anyone he was related to if they encountered a problem.
Zhou Hanzhang made a quick decision, "Senior Brother Chen, then I won't keep you company. I'll have someone take you back."
She beckoned to He Shi and called him over, "He Shi, can you help me arrange for Senior Brother Chen to be sent back?"
Chen Moran quickly waved her hand, "I'm not a young lady, why should I let you see me off? You go ahead and do your work, I'll head back now."
He knew the situation was urgent and didn't dare to linger, so he quickly left with the two books.
After he left, Zhou Hanzhang was wondering whether she should tell Madam Zhou about this when Madam Zhou came to find her in a hurry.
Her voice trembled when she arrived, "Zhang'er, I...you..."
Madam Zhou looked at Zhou Hanzhang, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.
Seeing her expression, Zhou Hanzhang figured she must have known something, so he took her hands in his and comforted her, "Mother, don't be nervous, tell me slowly."
She helped Madam Zhou to a stool to sit down, and just as she was about to instruct the maid to bring hot tea, Mei Qing, who had already been observing, brewed a pot of tea and brought it over.
Zhou Hanzhang poured a cup of tea for Madam Zhou and handed it to her, saying, "Mother, please have some tea to calm your nerves."
Madam Zhou took the tea but didn't drink it; she simply placed it on the table.
The tea was a bit too hot, and she spilled some, which burned the back of her hand red without her noticing.
When Zhou Hanzhang saw the burn on Madam Zhou's hand, he was immediately frightened and grabbed her hand, saying, "Mother, your hand is all red from the burn."
Madam Zhou merely glanced at the reddened back of her hand, completely unconcerned.
She looked straight at Zhou Hanzhang and said, "Zhang'er, something may have happened to your father."
Madam Zhou refused to drink, so Zhou Hanzhang picked up the teacup, blew on it first, and then took a small sip. "Where did Mother get this information?"
“I have kept someone by his side. That person just came back and told me that your father is nowhere to be found, and I haven’t received any letters from him for several days.”
After Mr. Zhou left home, he would send a letter to Mrs. Zhou every day without fail, but Mrs. Zhou did not receive any letters from him for several days in a row.
She had been feeling uneasy these past few days, but she hadn't shown it. In front of her child, she maintained her usual calm and decisive demeanor.
Just after she finished speaking with Zhou Hanzhang and arranging Xiao Ba's accommodations, the person she had sent to Zhou's father's side returned.
It brought news that Zhou's father had been missing for several days.
Although she often complained about Zhou's father, she married him out of love. Although he often acted like a carefree person, Mrs. Zhou knew very well what kind of person he really was.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have stayed with him for decades. The women of the Li family are decisive people. If Zhou's father wasn't good, she would have divorced him long ago.
If one were to truly tolerate someone, given Madam Zhou's temperament, she could not have tolerated him for so many years.
She was truly panicked when she learned that her husband had disappeared.
Zhou Hanzhang had been with them since childhood, so he naturally knew that their usual complaints weren't real complaints; in fact, they were very much in love.
At this moment, she didn't know how to comfort Madam Zhou, so she could only hold her hand and say, "Mother, don't worry. Father may have something to do, which is why he hasn't been seen for a while."
“But he has never disappeared from my sight all these years. Even if I don’t know where he is, he will definitely send someone to let me know so that I don’t worry. This has never happened before. Could something really have happened?”
Mrs. Zhou became increasingly frightened as she thought about it, and her eyes turned red.
When Zhou Hanzhang learned of this, his first thought was whether to tell Madam Zhou that he was going back to the academy and then secretly go to see his father.
But given the current situation, it seems she can't do that.
She patted Madam Zhou on the shoulder, "Mother, with so many things going on at home, you must stay calm. Something might have happened to Father, but do you know what he's been up to?"
Zhou Hanzhang knew that his father must have gone to do something dangerous, otherwise, given his beautiful mother's personality, she would not have been in such a hurry.
Clearly, Madam Zhou knew something.
"Mother, do you know where Father went?"
"I..." Madam Zhou was speechless.
“Mother, in this situation, if you know anything, you must tell me. I’m preparing to set off to find Father myself. If you don’t tell me, who knows how long it will be delayed,” Zhou Hanzhang said seriously to Madam Zhou.
"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that I have absolutely no idea what they're doing," Madam Zhou said helplessly.
"What do you mean? Them?"
At this point, Madam Zhou no longer cared about hiding anything and spoke directly to Zhou Hanzhang.
"Your father mentioned to me before he left that he was going to do something for His Majesty. Over the years, your father has secretly done a lot for His Majesty, but they never told me what those things were."
"Did Father travel with His Majesty?"
Zhou Hanzhang hasn't heard of the emperor going out recently. What's going on?
Madam Zhou nodded. "Your father told me that he set off with His Majesty, but he didn't tell me where they were going."
She seemed to be thinking of something, and gripped Zhou Hanzhang's hand tightly in return, "Every time he goes out with His Majesty, he comes back injured. This time, this time..."