A Time-Traveling Mishap: I Became an Ancient Nobleman

Chapter 7 How could you be so heartless?

Granny Zhou led Zhou Kezhen inside, while Zheng Qianyi, still struggling, cried out, "Zhenzhen, how could you be so heartless?!"

Looking at his face, Zhou Kezhen felt like vomiting. "I admired your talent before, but I didn't expect you to be this kind of person, slandering my reputation in public. If I can't clear my name today, even drowning me in a pig cage won't be enough to clear my name."

She paused, then continued, "Don't talk to me about feelings. I can't stand someone like you. I was just thinking that even if this filth can't be washed away, I'd rather die than marry you!"

After saying that, he turned around and helped Granny Zhang into the room.

After Zhang Mama and Zhou Kezhen entered the Zhou residence, Zhou Hanzhang looked at Zheng Qianyi in front of him and said, "Are you still going to say that my sister had an affair with you?"

Zheng Qianyi's mind raced. "Zhenzhen has been with me these past few days, as everyone knows. She did say she would marry me a few days ago, but I don't know why she changed her mind today! You all look down on people. A woman like that is better off without!"

After saying that, he turned and tried to leave.

How could Zhou Hanzhang let him leave so easily?

"You come barking in front of my Zhou family's door, and you think you can leave without getting anything in return?"

Zhou Hanzhang's expression turned serious as he looked at Zheng Qianyi, who was preparing to flee. "Catch him and send him to the authorities!"

Upon seeing this, Zheng Qianyi, who had been captured by several old women, immediately shouted, "The Zhou family is bullying us! Miss Zhou is ungrateful! She's a slut who doesn't even look at me. I'd like to see who else would marry her but me!"

Zhou Hanzhang's eyes darkened, and he ordered the surrounding old women, "Slap him!"

The old women who had captured him were already itching to do something. Now that their master had given the order, they didn't need to say anything more and immediately slapped him a few times.

The old woman didn't know how she slapped him, and it didn't look like she used a lot of force, but it made Zheng Qianyi's face, which was already red from being slapped by Granny Zhang, visibly swollen.

Zhou Hanzhang looked at his swollen face and clicked his tongue in amazement.

Zheng Qianyi was still unwilling to give up and opened his mouth to shout something, but no one could hear what he was saying this time.

To prevent this farce from spreading further, Zhou Hanzhang looked at the people around him and said, "This man is spewing nonsense. He took a pair of women's underpants from somewhere and claimed they were my sister's. Luckily, we found a doctor and Granny Zhou to witness it, otherwise, given my sister's personality, she really wouldn't want to live anymore."

Now everyone should see this man's true colors. He's just looking at our Zhou family's wealth and wants to extort money from us.

"Thanks to the many witnesses present today, otherwise our Zhou family would likely be in deep trouble."

After speaking, he bowed deeply to the crowd below.

Seeing how approachable the eldest son of the Zhou family, who was a minor prince, was, the crowd felt embarrassed, since they had only wanted to come and watch the excitement.

Moreover, they had all initially believed Zheng Qianyi's nonsense, almost ruining a woman's reputation. Now that Zhou Hanzhang was treating them this way, everyone lowered their heads.

Someone took the lead and said, "Young Prince, there's no need to be polite. This kind of person must be sent to the government for severe punishment, otherwise who knows how many women will be slandered by him in the future."

Upon hearing someone speak, everyone nodded in agreement. "I knew it! The second young lady of the Zhou family is lively, lovely, and full of talent. How could she possibly be interested in this poor scholar?"

"Exactly. Even if they were interested, they wouldn't have engaged in such an unconventional affair. The Zhou family is of royal lineage, and there's a little prince in the family. Madam Zhou seems to be a kind mother; she couldn't possibly have raised such a shameless daughter."

Seeing that the wind had completely changed, Zhou Hanzhang smiled genuinely and looked at Qiuyue beside him, "In this hot weather, we've made a fool of ourselves. Qiuyue, go and give them some money to have some tea."

Qiu Yue had already taken out some copper coins, and at Zhou Hanzhang's instruction, she stepped forward and distributed them to everyone.

The crowd, holding the money in their hands, blushed slightly and kept thanking them. They looked at Zheng Qianyi, who was being held captive by the old woman, and said, "Look at the Zhou family's style. How can they tolerate a petty person like you making baseless accusations? Bah!"

As they spoke, they all spat at him.

"This matter has been spread in all sorts of wild rumors by people outside who don't know the full story. If any of you hear any rumors that slander my sister, I would appreciate it if you could clarify them," Zhou Hanzhang added, looking at the people below.

"Of course, of course." Everyone nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Zheng Qianyi collapsed in despair.

Zhou Hanzhang wasn't about to let them off easily, so he ordered Qiuyue to take the old woman and escort him directly to the government office.

After most of the people at the gate had left, Zhou Hanzhang led Qiuyue into the mansion.

As soon as Zhou Hanzhang entered the hall, he saw Zhou Kezhen standing to the side looking dejected, with Aunt Fang looking at her with disgust.

Madam Zhou was talking to Granny Zhou on the side.

Upon seeing Zhou Hanzhang return, the group immediately approached him. Madam Zhou asked first, "Zhang'er, how did things go?"

Aunt Fang also looked at him expectantly.

Zhou Hanzhang smiled and said, "It's alright. That person asked me to take him to the authorities. I had Qiuyue go with him. I think the authorities will handle it seriously."

Aunt Fang finally breathed a sigh of relief, and looking at Zhou Kezhen, she felt even more that she was useless. "Look at you, you're not much older than your brother, how come you don't have a brain at all! All you do is cause trouble for the family every day!"

“Aunt, please don’t say anything more about her. This wasn’t her choice. Why don’t you take her back and comfort her?”

Looking at Aunt Fang, Zhou Hanzhang knew that she was just being stubborn but soft-hearted. If Zhou Kezhen were to get into trouble, she would be more anxious than anyone else.

Madam Zhou chimed in, "That's right. How can Kezhen be blamed for this? She was just being used."

As Aunt Fang pulled Zhou Kezhen to bid farewell to Madam Zhou and Zhou Hanzhang, she muttered, "I don't see the eldest young master being like her. To put it bluntly, he's brainless."

Everyone: ...

After the two women left, Granny Zhang said with a smile, "Judging from this Concubine Fang's temperament, I know that you, Madam, are still as virtuous as ever."

Madam Zhou smiled modestly and replied, "Lanxin is a docile person, and she has sacrificed a lot for us, mother and son, over the years..."

She paused for a moment and continued, "Over the years, I've come to regard her like a younger sister. When I was pregnant, it was fortunate that she stepped forward to take care of my husband, otherwise..."

Thinking of Zhou's father, Zhang Mama couldn't help but twitch her lips. "Indeed, it's rare that someone would be willing to jump into a fire pit even knowing it's one. If it weren't for her, you would probably have to deal with a lot more people."

After saying that, the two of them sighed in unison.

Seeing this, Zhou Hanzhang was extremely curious. She didn't have a deep impression of her father, only a vague image of him, and she didn't know why everyone sighed when they talked about him.

She had originally thought of asking Madam Zhou, but then realized that Madam Zhou wouldn't tell her directly, so she decided against it.

I'll figure it out myself slowly in the future; it doesn't seem like I'll be able to leave anytime soon.