Chapter 176: Husbands Are More Reliable

Second Madam finished her conversation with Zhou Yuanshen and yielded her seat to Cheng Zhao.

Thus, on the way back, it was Cheng Zhao who looked after Zhou Yuanshen.

The two of them talked a great deal, yet they never once touched upon the beauties gifted by the emperor.

"...Helian Xuan has been stirring the pot quite a bit this time," Cheng Zhao said. "He's close with the people at the Court of Judicial Review, which shows he's thick with the Dou family."

The Dou family were now sworn enemies of the Zhou family, because Consort Dou's fifth prince had died within a formation on the very grounds where the Zhou family had held their religious rites.

"The emperor trusts him," Zhou Yuanshen said flatly.

"Is he secretly amassing wealth for the emperor?" Cheng Zhao asked.

Zhou Yuanshen looked at her, a glint of interest in his eyes again. "Did you guess that, or did you hear it from someone?"

"His father, Prince An, spent many years in Fengzhou, dealing with pirates, sea raiders, and maritime merchants. Silver flowed through their hands like water. If the emperor hadn't tacitly approved—or if the master behind it all wasn't the emperor himself—how could they have been allowed to make that money?" Cheng Zhao said.

Zhou Yuanshen listened quietly, then asked her, "Is your maternal family also in Fengzhou?"

"Yes," Cheng Zhao said. "My grandfather and uncles also deal in maritime goods, so I know this business is extremely lucrative. Without powerful backing, it's money you can earn but not live to spend."

"Indeed, it started with Prince An—father and son have been collecting wealth for the emperor ever since," Zhou Yuanshen said.

The inflows and outflows of the national treasury were all watched by court officials; but the emperor also had his private desires, and although his personal coffers had their ways of being filled, who would ever complain of having too much money?

Even an emperor.

"What you did and what he does are different things—why would he target you?" Cheng Zhao asked. "Or is it the post at the Capital Guard that unsettles them? Quite a few powerful clans have aligned themselves with Prince Andong."

The emperor had put the Capital Guard under Zhou Yuanshen's command, and in a short time Zhou Yuanshen had purged dissenting elements, sweeping the influence of the great clans clean.

From now on, should any emergency arise, the entire capital would be under Zhou Yuanshen's control.

And the Zhou family, with its extremely thin numbers and lack of tangled marriage alliances with the aristocratic clans, had the heads of those clans feeling uneasy.

"Do the powerful clans actually believe the dynasty is about to change hands?" Cheng Zhao asked again.

Zhou Yuanshen looked at her calmly. "What do you think?"

"It wouldn't fall to Prince Andong, in any case," Cheng Zhao said.

"Human hearts are too complicated, and the situation is chaos," Zhou Yuanshen said.

The couple talked on about many things.

Cheng Zhao and Zhou Yuanshen always spoke in hushed tones, sitting close together, with Zhou Yuanshen's deputy generals riding guard outside the carriage.

As for what had happened at the hunting grounds, Cheng Zhao also took her own guesses and put them to Zhou Yuanshen.

This time, Zhou Yuanshen answered everything without holding back.

"...Killing someone behind the scenes is fine, but not out in plain sight. When I suggested changing the arrows, the idea was to pin it on the spies," Zhou Yuanshen said.

It was exactly as Cheng Zhao had guessed.

"The emperor was quite angry about that. He's grateful you solved his biggest headache, but also annoyed that you didn't follow his orders and used him instead," Cheng Zhao said. She pointed at his left shoulder. "As for this, you were lucky to run into that white wolf—misfortune turned to fortune."

Zhou Yuanshen gave a soft hum.

"Prince Andong knows this secret of yours," Cheng Zhao said.

Zhou Yuanshen: "He shouldn't have known. That means the man has dealings with the Northern Di royal court as well."

Cheng Zhao: "You tried to tell me several times before, but never did. Was it something you couldn't say?"

"No," he said.

Then he carefully recounted the whole matter to Cheng Zhao.

The story was not complicated.

Years ago, Zhou Yuanshen's maternal grandfather, Old General Fan, wanted to select a group of spies to go to the Northern Di and assassinate their Chanyu. Zhou Yuanshen had been serving in the army under a false name, and no one knew he was the general's grandson.

Because of his striking appearance, he could pass as a wealthy merchant's son, traveling with a caravan into Northern Di territory.

He was kept by the royal court, which both tested him with suspicion and tried to turn him, wanting him to become a Northern Di spy, infiltrating the imperial clan in the capital and passing back intelligence.

Spies had to bear a tattoo, so they carved a wolf's head onto Zhou Yuanshen's shoulder.

"...There was an accident when they were dotting the eye, and they planned to finish it later. I made my move that very night—I assassinated the Chanyu," Zhou Yuanshen said.

Cheng Zhao stared at him in shock.

Zhou Yuanshen: "When there's no perfect opportunity, strike at the earliest moment. Catching them off guard is what works best."

After the Chanyu's death, Old General Fan led the army into Northern Di, and Zhou Yuanshen worked from within.

They won a complete victory, shattering the Northern Di so thoroughly that only two tribes managed to flee.

"When the war was over and I remembered to deal with the wolf's head, the skin on my shoulder had already healed over. I took a rough blade to it once, cut it to shreds. But a faint outline still remained," Zhou Yuanshen said.

There was a scar on his shoulder with a vague shape, and he couldn't explain it away.

"So the white wolf practically saved you, sparing you from being caught in a scheme," Cheng Zhao said.

"Fortune and misfortune lean on each other," Zhou Yuanshen said.

Cheng Zhao thought to herself, this wasn't fortune and misfortune leaning on each other—it was that he had no fear of death and gambled with his life to win a sliver of a chance.

Whether as a spy or fighting the white wolf barehanded, he had not shown a trace of cowardice.

When you cast life and death aside, you find new life in return.

By the evening of the second day, the group returned to the village estate where they had first stayed on the outward journey.

They would reach the capital by tomorrow evening, and everyone wore a look of relief.

Back here, the heat was noticeably more intense.

At the hunting grounds, mornings and evenings were cool, and although it was hot under the noon sun, the tents carried a coolness that seeped up from the earth, making one vaguely feel it was early autumn.

The capital, meanwhile, had just passed the Ghost Festival, and the summer heat had yet to dissipate.

Cheng Zhao and Second Madam stayed in the same small courtyard as before, sharing it with several other titled ladies and young misses.

Their attitude toward Second Madam had become noticeably more respectful.

Second Madam found it a bit hard to get used to.

Cheng Zhao said to her quietly, "Mother, you need to put on the proper airs. Once we're back at the Ducal Mansion, you must stand tall as well."

Second Madam: "That's easier said than done. I'll need time to ease into it."

Cheng Zhao smiled.

As the two women were talking, the maid Suyue announced from the doorway: "Young Mistress, Miss Guo is here."

Cheng Zhao lifted the door curtain herself and invited Guo Hanzhang inside to talk.

But Guo Hanzhang shook her head. "Duchess of Chen, why don't we take a stroll?"

Cheng Zhao agreed.

The two of them walked slowly along the field ridges, with maids and guards following behind.

"I do admire you quite a bit," Guo Hanzhang said. "You're very well suited to being the mistress of a household."

"Because of the sing-song girl matter? I didn't lose my composure or give people a show?" Cheng Zhao asked with a smile.

Guo Hanzhang: "That's not all. Your mother-in-law received her title, your husband turned defeat into victory, and your relatives got promotions. You showed no visible hand in any of it. With your abilities, you could have—so clearly, you chose to let others take the credit, not eager to show off yourself. A good mistress of a house puts the family's power above personal gain, focuses on the big picture, and lets small matters go—that's how you keep wealth and status for generations."

Cheng Zhao: "Miss Guo, you flatter me. They earned what they got; I didn't do much at all."

Guo Hanzhang saw that Cheng Zhao wouldn't reveal anything more and didn't press further.

"Miss Guo, if you don't mind my asking—you seem extraordinarily interested in my household. Are you taken with someone in it?" Cheng Zhao asked.

The implication was: are you also sweet on my husband?

Because that would explain why she paid so much attention to Cheng Zhao, even studied her.

"How would you feel about me becoming your fourth sister-in-law?" Guo Hanzhang asked.

Cheng Zhao: "..."