Zhou Shuren's carriage was running parallel to the prince's carriage, the curtains were drawn, and the prince showed no intention of stopping.
The prince leaned against the carriage window and asked, "Master Zhou, are you leaving the government office and returning home?"
Zhou Shuren was thinking, he didn't know what the prince was doing today, "Yes, I will go home."
The prince chuckled, "It was common for the ministers of the Ministry of Revenue to live in the Ministry of Revenue in the past. Since Lord Zhou took office, he rarely lives in the Ministry of Revenue. Among the six ministries, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites all leave their offices at a certain time."
Zhou Shuren felt guilty, as if he was the one who took the lead, but he was confident, "The Ministry of Revenue is very efficient."
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince smiled, and then the carriage stopped. The Crown Prince said, "I'm here."
Zhou Shuren was stunned, because after avoiding the carriage, he saw the mansion surrounded by soldiers. This mansion was well-known in the capital. Unlike the ruins of Rong Mansion, although this mansion was deserted, the buildings were intact.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had already got off the carriage. Zhou Shuren stretched his neck to look back. The Crown Prince was talking to the generals of the Beijing Guard Camp. Only after they walked away did Zhou Shuren retract his head.
This house was the ancestral home of the Zhang clan. In those days, all the members of the Zhang clan were executed and the house was occupied. After the founding of the dynasty, the family that occupied the house died in the fall of Beijing. When the emperor ascended the throne, no one dared to take or live in the house, so it has been abandoned ever since.
On the other side, Chang Zhi and his party arrived at the county seat of Shan County. Chang Zhi got off the carriage and rubbed his waist. "I haven't been out for a long time. I'm not used to the fast pace. It's uncomfortable to change my body."
As soon as Su Xuan left the capital, she was thinking about her son and daughter. After traveling for a few days, Su Xuan didn't think about anything else. "Since I married you, I haven't run around. I feel worse than you."
Especially in order to get back quickly, there was not much luggage, and the carriage was moving so fast that the bones were about to fall apart.
Jiang Sheng also got off the carriage, "We have an inn to stay in today, Changzhi, let's go in first."
Chang Zhi looked at the servants and maids who were busy working inside and outside the house, "Don't rush to the guest room. Let's eat downstairs first. We haven't had a hot meal all day."
Su Xuan couldn't stand the smell on her body, and then she thought of the hot soup, so she struggled and said, "Okay, let's eat first."
This inn is the best one in the county. There are many people staying here, and Su Xuan and her group attracted attention as soon as they came in.
Jiang Sheng felt a little uncomfortable. He was not used to being scrutinized by so many people. He looked at Chang Zhi, but Chang Zhi ordered the dishes very naturally and was already heating the cup with hot tea brought by the waiter.
Changzhi noticed his brother-in-law's discomfort, and handed the hot cup of tea to his wife first, and then to his brother-in-law, and whispered: "Brother-in-law, you have to get used to it."
He knew that his sister and brother-in-law had no great ambitions, but he still had to get used to certain occasions. His brother-in-law had been studying since coming to Beijing, and he and his brothers had never taken him out. But this time was different. His brother-in-law was with him, and these scrutinizing eyes would always be with him.
Jiang Sheng took a sip of tea and nodded, "I will adapt."
He is not an ungrateful person.
In the capital, Zhou Shuren came back and saw his wife teasing Yuwen, "Did you win today? Or did Yuwen win?"
Zhulan looked at her granddaughter lying still and smiled, "Of course I won. This girl likes sweets. If she doesn't walk around the yard twice, she won't have any candy."
Zhou Shuren looked at his granddaughter with sympathy. Before, his granddaughter had not fallen into the hands of his daughter-in-law, and his daughter-in-law didn't care. Now she is miserable. Her lifeline is being held, and she can only exercise honestly. He touched his granddaughter's little head and said, "No one in our family can beat your grandmother. You should just accept your fate."
Yu Wen sat up slowly, "Daddy said that grandpa is also afraid of grandma, and the granddaughter listens to grandma."
Zhou Shuren, “… .”
These brats often talk about him in front of the children.
Soon the food was ready. The Zhou family was about to eat when the housekeeper ran over in a panic, "Fire, fire, sir, a huge fire."
Zhou Shuren's heart skipped a beat. "Where is the fire?"
The housekeeper swallowed his saliva and said, "To the west, I wonder whose house it belongs to."
Zhulan heard it and said, "Hurry up and send someone to check it out."
Zhulan then followed Zhou Shuren to the yard. Even standing in her own yard, she could see the flames rising into the sky. Zhulan felt distressed but also relieved. Fortunately, she was far away from Zhou's house. The houses were connected to each other, and she was really afraid that the whole house would burn down.
Zhou Shuren signaled to the boss to move the table over, then stepped onto the table on a chair. After carefully identifying the direction, Zhou Shuren pursed his lips and came down.
Boss Zhou asked hurriedly, "Dad, whose family do you think this is?"
Boss Zhou was terrified as he looked at the fire in the distance. This fire left no chance for anyone to escape. It was too terrifying.
Zhou Shuren said, "It should be the abandoned mansion of the Zhang family."
Did the prince set the fire? No, without the emperor's order, the prince would not dare to burn down the former Zhang Mansion.
Boss Zhou was stunned. He knew the Zhang Mansion. When he passed by it, he wondered who could be so extravagant that such a large house was abandoned. Later, after inquiring around, he didn't dare to even think about it anymore.
Boss Zhou said in a loud voice, "Why did it catch fire?"
When he saw his father looking at him, he quickly closed his mouth. He couldn't catch his breath and kept coughing.
Zhou Shuren didn't want to talk, "Okay, let's go back and eat."
Everyone in the Zhou family was absent-minded while eating. After going through so much, the simple-minded Li knew that things were not simple. Although she was not panicked, she felt depressed.
Halfway through the meal, the housekeeper came back to report, "What's burning is the abandoned Zhang's mansion. There are soldiers guarding outside the mansion, so the servants didn't dare to get close."
Zhou Shuren's mind was spinning rapidly, "Are there many soldiers guarding here?"
The butler replied, "A lot. The servants report that there is an officer every few steps."
Zhou Shuren couldn't understand why the emperor wanted to burn down the Zhang Mansion. If he wanted to burn it, he should have done it long ago. It was obvious that he didn't want to burn it down until now, but now he burned it down again. Zhou Shuren signaled the butler to go down.
After dinner, everyone returned to the courtyard. Zhulan asked, "Did you know from the beginning that there were soldiers?"
Zhou Shuren nodded, "When I came back, I met the prince and saw the soldiers guarding the place. I never thought of what to do, but I didn't expect it to be a fire. No one put out the fire. The huge building complex will burn for a day or two."
Zhulan was terrified of the fire. "Now that I see this fire, I can imagine the fire that wiped out the Rong family."
Zhou Shuren hummed, "I just can't figure out why the emperor suddenly set the fire."
Zhu Lan couldn't figure it out either. "If we're talking about hatred, it should have ended when the entire Zhang family was executed."
Not only Zhou Shuren didn't understand, no one in the entire capital city understood. Ever since the fire started, they had sent people to inquire.
When several princes learned that the crown prince was coming in person, they even went there in person.
The prince was found by the prince in the teahouse. The prince didn't waste any words, "Father's order?"