The daily life of a concubine's daughter

Chapter 399: Inviting Mr. Xiao Tang to a Wedding Banquet

Shi Mingwu and Shi Mingmo both felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.

They cannot be caught by the prince's men, otherwise they will not be able to explain themselves even if they have a lot of mouths. Even if they don't collude with the fifth prince to rebel, they will be accused of suspected treason.

Of course, it is also possible that Tang Zhan deceived them.

But the Shi family can't afford the gamble.

What's more, if Tang Zhan in front of them really wanted to harm them, he could expose their identities now and catch them in the act.

Do you want to give up Zhuzhu? Shi Mingwu felt as if his heart was cut by a knife, bleeding and trembling. His face was calm and he clasped his fists and said:

"In that case, thank you Brother Tang for reminding us. We will leave early tomorrow morning."

Tang Zhan clasped his fists in return, and said with a hint of meaning: "The Shi family has done a great favor to our Tang family. This is just a trivial matter and is not worth mentioning."

Shi Mingmo clenched his fists and almost broke the hypocrisy on Tang Zhan's face with one punch.

The Tang family betrayed the Shi family, and they still dared to say that they had done a great favor. It was simply ironic!

The two brothers sent Tang Zhan to the door, but before he went out, they returned.

Shi Mingwu slumped in the chair, rubbing his brows in annoyance.

Shi Mingmo hesitated for three times and said angrily, "Brother, the Tang family is so shameless! They are clearly repaying kindness with enmity. How dare Tang Zhan mention the kindness our family has shown us in the past? Without the support of my grandfather, Tang Zhan would not even be worthy of carrying my shoes!"

Shi Mingwu scolded, "Don't be so presumptuous! Grandfather supported the Tang family because General Tang deserves support. If the Tang family really wanted to repay kindness with enmity, we would be in prison now.

Tang Zhan was kind enough to conceal our whereabouts and come to remind us..."

"If you are really kind, you should let us take Zhuzhu away instead of mocking our Shi family's darling and becoming Prince Duan's maid!" Shi Mingmo was almost bald. "Brother, what should we do? The court will soon send people to take the fifth prince away. What should Zhuzhu do?"

What's even more terrifying is that the Fourth Prince will arrive soon. If he searches Prince Duan's Mansion, won't he catch Shi Mingzhu red-handed?

Shi Mingzhu jumps between the two princes and plays with their feelings. Can the emperor let her live?

Moreover, Shi Mingzhu represents the Shi family to a certain extent. She has an affair with Zhou Xu. Even if the emperor does not doubt the loyalty of the Shi family, the ministers will suspect that the Shi family has secretly colluded with the fifth prince!

Shi Mingwu's hands were shaking, and he finally slapped the armrest of the chair: "Let's go, let's go tonight! We have chased to Prince Duan's mansion, and we have taken all the risks for Zhuzhu, but we still can't save her. We can only say that you can survive the misfortunes sent by heaven, but you can't survive the misfortunes you bring upon yourself. This is Zhuzhu's own choice."

The Shi family could not afford to be charged with colluding with the prince and plotting treason, but the Tang family was not willing to share the risk with them either.

Shi Mingwu understood Tang Zhan's feelings of standing idly by, but he still felt disappointed.

If he was truly loyal to the Shi family, Tang Zhan should have told Zhuzhu the truth long ago, picked Zhuzhu out, hid her, and handed her over to them, but he didn't.

But he didn't do anything extreme and took the risk of letting them go.

Of course, whether they can really leave depends on what Tang Zhan does next. Maybe Tang Zhan is lying to them.

Shi Mingwu no longer dared to trust the Tang family.

Shi Mingmo was shocked: "Brother! That's Zhuzhu!"

He was also angry at Shi Mingzhu's willfulness, but she was their beloved sister whom they had doted on for more than ten years!

Shi Mingwu looked at Shi Lingyun, who was standing at the door in a panic, ignored his words, stood up, went out and told his men to pack their luggage and clean up all the traces.

Half an hour later, Shi Mingwu, Shi Mingmo and Shi Lingyun led their men out of the city.

Tang Zhan let them pass, claiming that he had received news that the Fourth Prince was approaching, and ordered his subordinates to go out of the city to welcome him.

The Shi family's men slowly blended into the dark night.

Tang Zhan stood on the tower, looking into the distance. He picked up the wine jar with his right hand and took a sip of the strong liquor. With his left hand, he took out a letter from his bosom and unfolded it. On the letter, he saw the following words:

Even though we are thousands of miles apart, I would still like to invite Lord Xiao Tang to have a drink at the wedding.

There was no signature at the end of the letter, but instead a bright smiling face was drawn with very simple lines, which contained a bit of mischief and naivety.

Tang Zhan put the letter in his arms and smiled slightly.

I hope that Shi Mingzhu’s affair with the fifth prince will not implicate that smart and naughty girl.

The Shi family had made great contributions over the generations, and they shouldn't have ended up with all nine clans wiped out.

He left the Shi family a way out, but not completely.

At least the Shi family's eldest son will not end up well.

He has ambitions, but his father wants to repay a favor, and now is the perfect time.

If Shi Yao had not delivered a letter and a jar of wine in time, Shi Mingwu and Shi Mingmo would definitely not have been able to leave the city tonight.

*

The fourth prince Zhou Shao arrived earlier than expected.

The evening of the next day arrived.

He entered the city and went straight to Prince Duan's palace.

When he met Tang Zhan at the gate of Prince Duan's mansion, he recognized him and was stunned: "It's you? That little Lord Tang?"

He forgot Tang Zhan's name.

Tang Zhan smiled slightly and stepped forward to salute: "I am General Tang Zhan, and I greet His Majesty King Cheng!"

Tang Zhan had saved him, so Zhou Shao relaxed his expression and asked, "Why are you here?"

Tang Zhan then briefly explained the whole story.

Zhou Shao nodded, threw the whip to the eunuch, and said coldly: "I never expected that my fifth brother, who is said to be so poor that even rats don't visit the palace, would secretly join the army. This is simply treasonous and audacious!

I heard that my father was so angry about him that he was depressed for several days. Lord Xiao Tang, I led the Royal Guards to capture a fugitive and chased him all the way here. I was worried that the fugitive would hurt Prince Duan, so I went in to visit Prince Duan. You won't stop me, right?"

Tang Zhan hurriedly bowed and said in panic, "Your Highness is acting on the orders of the Emperor. How dare I stop you?"

Zhou Shao admired his tact, nodded slightly, strode with his head held high, and stepped into the threshold of Prince Duan's Mansion. However, in his heart he disliked the dilapidated state of the Mansion.

Zhou Xu's fiefdom was poor, but the palace was not so dilapidated, so where did Zhou Xu's salary go?

Recruiting troops?

After he returns to the capital, he will definitely explain this matter to his father and have Zhou Xu investigated thoroughly!

Tang Zhan surrounded Prince Duan's mansion, but only from the outside. He never checked the mansion. Without the emperor's decree, how could he, a minor official of the fifth rank, dare to search the Prince's mansion.

As soon as Zhou Shao entered, the palace steward immediately recognized him and hurriedly shouted "His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince has arrived" while stepping forward to salute, trying to tip off the people inside.

Zhou Shao kicked him over, and the eunuchs came forward, covered his mouth, and arrested two servants to ask, "Where is Prince Duan?"

If you don’t tell, you will be punished.

The two servants were stubborn and refused to say anything.

Zhou Shao waved his hand: "Imperial Guards, go in and search!"

The guards immediately split into two groups, one to search the front yard and the other to search the back house, arresting anyone they saw.

Soon, someone reported: "Your Majesty, Prince Duan is in the study."

Zhou Shao walked quickly to the study.

The two doors of the study were wide open and the person inside was pressed to the ground.

Zhou Xu's clothes were in disarray, and Shi Mingzhu's hair was disheveled. She was frantically tidying up her clothes, and she shouted, "This is Prince Duan's mansion. Are you guys going to rebel? Let the prince go!"

Zhou Xu's face was pressed to the ground. Four or five people were holding him down, but they could hardly hold him down. He struggled hard and shouted, "How dare you! You are not allowed to touch her. If you have any problem, come to me!"

No matter how useless I am, I am still a prince of the Daxing Dynasty. Get out of here. If you keep looking at things you shouldn't look at, I will dig out your eyeballs!"