When Princess Yongping hurried up to the third floor, she saw Ge Yong dragging Zhang Shou in the corner to act like a strict teacher, Chu Kuan standing alone in front of the window watching the eight-legged essay battle below, and Chang Ning chatting with Concubine Yu.
She suppressed her suspicion and walked quickly to her mother. Although she wanted to ask what they had just said upstairs, the only thing that came out of her mouth was the faint address: "Mother."
"Yes." Concubine Yu nodded. Seeing Zhu Ying supporting the lady coming up from behind, she glanced at Princess Yongping and smiled at the two of them. "It's rare for you to come out and join in the fun. I don't understand eight-part essays, so listening to them is boring. Mingyue can't get away from the Yuehua Tower literary gathering. Yingying, can you accompany me to Zhaoming Temple? I haven't seen Jiuniang for a long time."
Zhang Shou, who was distracted, noticed at a glance that Zhu Ying's face immediately showed joy, while in comparison, Princess Yongping's expression looked quite ugly.
Thinking back to when Concubine Yu told him about her life story just now, she mentioned that her biological mother, Widow Zhang, was deceased, and when she referred to Zhu Ying's biological mother, she used the word Jiu Niang but did not mention her current whereabouts, he suddenly realized.
What Concubine Yu said now, doesn't it mean that Zhu Ying's mother is not in Duke Zhao's Mansion, but in Zhaoming Temple
"Okay, I've been wanting to take Shou to see mom for a long time. Every time I went to see her before, she would just touch my head gently, not saying anything, not smiling, always treating me like a child, and even more refusing to go back. This time I'll let Shou go and beg her together, she won't refuse! Didn't he just have a fight with dad? At most, mom can just give him a beating, why is she ignoring me like this!"
Zhang Shou couldn't help but wipe his sweat at the eldest lady's fierce speech. Especially when he saw the lady shaking her head helplessly, he finally couldn't help coughing. But this time he didn't have a chance to speak, because Concubine Yu had made the final decision first.
"Yingying, don't talk nonsense. Your mother would never hit your father! Ah Shou and Master Ge have to stay here to make a judgment. After all, he offended a selector today, and he can't offend all the scholars here. Just the two of us will go, and your grandmother won't go. Your mother is stubborn, and it will be worse if more people go. I don't bring many followers with me, so I rely on you to protect me!"
Seeing that Zhu Ying couldn't persuade Concubine Yu and finally agreed reluctantly, Zhang Shou hurriedly called Yingying and pointed to an empty corner. Seeing her coming quickly, he left Ge Yong and ran over.
"Don't worry about me, the teacher will take care of everything. Besides, your grandmother is here too."
"Humph, I'm not afraid of those useless guys, I'm afraid that Princess Yongping will say something sarcastic to hurt you." Zhu Ying snorted unhappily, and finally said unwillingly, "I really want to take you to see mother. She is very kind to me. Every time I go there, she gives me new clothes she made by herself... Ah Shou, it's a deal, I'll take you next time!"
"Okay, okay." Zhang Shou quickly nodded in agreement. Seeing that Zhu Yingfu was in high spirits again, he asked, "By the way, where are Mr. Qi and Xiao Qi, Xiao Dai, and Ah Liu?"
"Grandpa Qi is testing them!" Zhu Ying chuckled, revealing a gloating expression, "Xiao Qi and Xiao Dai are okay, but Liu's expression of "I didn't hear you say anything" is so funny, he's pretending to be deaf and dumb!"