Chapter 1036: The Zhou Sisters Enter the Palace
Yang Shiquan, Zhou Gong and five other families were implicated by Lin Zhennan and were arrested by the Imperial Guard.

The sisters Zhou Miaoxuan and Zhou Miaotong, along with their father's second wife and several concubines, were all imprisoned in the same cell.

After those concubines entered the cell, they kept crying, frightening the thirteen-year-old Zhou Miaotong so much that her face turned pale. She hugged her sister's slender waist tightly and kept murmuring:
"Sister, I don't want to go to the Jiaofangsi, I don't want to go to the Jiaofangsi..."

"Don't worry, we won't go!"

Zhou Miaoxuan was only fifteen years old. She was also panicked and wanted to find someone to comfort herself.

However, looking at the dark and damp cell, the two sisters can only snuggle up to each other at this moment.

On the contrary, Zhou Gong's second wife was dizzy from the noise and couldn't help but yell:
"Shut up! You'll just die, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

This Madam Zhou was only in her twenties, ten years older than Zhou Miaoxuan. She was at the prime of her life, but at this moment she turned into a tigress and suppressed several concubines.

Without the crying of the concubines, the frightened Zhou Miaotong fell into a sleepy sleep soon.

I don’t know how long it took.

"dinner time!"

The sturdy female prison boss brought in a bucket of porridge that looked like slop, and seven or eight black steamed buns.

Zhou Miaotong, who was awakened, looked over and almost vomited:
"Sister, I don't want to eat these."

"I don't want to eat either!"

Zhou Miaoxuan hugged his sister and retreated towards the wall.

The concubines looked at each other and saw that Madam Zhou and the two young ladies had no intention of taking action. They did not want to drink the thin porridge that was like slop, but they were afraid that they would really have no food to eat, so they picked up the steamed buns and put them in their arms for emergency use.

Obviously, these concubines had experienced hunger before entering the Zhou family.

Seeing that Madam Zhou and the two daughters of the Zhou family refused to eat, the female jailer was too lazy to persuade them, and immediately picked up the "swill bucket" and steamed corn bread and went to the next cell.

In her opinion, the wives and daughters of rich and powerful families are all very pretentious.

After a few days of starvation, they will resign themselves to their fate.

Of course, even if she starved to death, it would be none of her business.

Just as the female head of the prison delivered dinner to all the cells and was about to lock the doors and leave.

The head of the Imperial Prison came in with a small banner of the Imperial Guards:

"Let the women of the Yang family, Zhou family, and so on, go. Your Majesty is merciful and has pardoned the crimes of these five families!"

The female head of the prison was a little surprised.

After all, this is the Jinyiwei prison. How can they lock people up during the day and release them at night?

However, she recognized the small flag of the Jinyiwei and believed that he was a confidant of Commander Luo Sigong, so she did not suspect that it was a false order. She quickly opened the door and sent the five women out.

The one-day trip to the imperial prison by sisters Zhou Miaoxuan and Zhou Miaotong ended here.

After the five women left the imperial prison, they saw the five adults who were captured during the day and the five men standing at the gate of the prison.

Among them, Zhou Gong and Zhou Miaoxuan’s eldest brother Zhou Qing was standing at the gate of the imperial prison, waiting for everyone.

"Go home first!"

Zhou Gong didn't say anything, nor did he let his wife and daughter speak. He bowed to his four colleagues, then said goodbye and left.

The five people who roared in the lobby today were absolutely guilty of disrespect.

According to the law, even if the nine clans are not implicated, if the crime is reduced by one level, three clans will still be implicated.

But the emperor released five families.

This makes people feel unbelievable.

Zhou Gong couldn't figure out the cause and effect, but he knew that if he didn't want his family to suffer, he should control his mouth.

When he returned home, Zhou Gong discovered that all the servants, maids, furniture and livestock had been returned.

The gold and silver jewelry that were confiscated were not returned.

But none of these things matter anymore.

Once inside the house, servants and maids lit the oil lamps and candles.

At this point, everyone discovered that Zhou Gong not only had a red and swollen face, but also had blood scabs on his legs, which showed that he had been tortured:

"Master, you have been wronged!"

"It's okay, it's okay, are you okay?" Zhou Gong was very stubborn. Before going to class, he had already prepared himself for the risk of having his entire clan exterminated.

Now I just got beaten up, there's no point in crying.

"Dad, we are all fine! Mother, please take Dad to get some wound medicine!"

Zhou Miaoxuan felt sorry for his father's hand condition, so he quickly asked someone to bring some medicine for his father's wounds, and asked his mistress and several concubines to help apply the medicine on his father.

This night.

The five families did not sleep well.

On the second day.

A eunuch from the palace delivered the order.

Zhou Gong then realized that it was Queen Zhu Xuan'an who asked for favors for the five families, thus saving them from imprisonment.

However, the death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be forgiven.

After all, Yang Shiquan, Zhou Gong and four others committed the crime of great disrespect, so they were demoted to work as clerks in the mines.

At this point, Zhou Gong no longer insisted on being stubborn, and readily accepted the imperial edict, ready to "take up the post".

"Master Zhou, wait a minute!"

The eunuch who announced the decree was about to remove the incense table when Zhou Gong received the decree, but he hurriedly stopped him:

"Here at home, we have a decree issued by the Queen Mother!"

When Zhou Gong heard that it was an imperial decree from the Empress who had saved his life, he knelt down again immediately to receive the decree.

The eunuch spoke a lot again in a very eloquent manner, the meaning of which was nothing more than persuading Zhou Gong to be diligent in the king's affairs and not to follow the crowd and do anything treasonous again.

At the end, there was a sudden turn of events.

The queen turned the topic to Zhou Gong's two daughters.

First, he praised Zhou Miaoxuan for her literary talent and said her talent was not inferior to that of Li Qingzhao of the Northern Song Dynasty. He then talked about Zhou Miaotong's virtuousness. Finally, he opened his mouth and wanted to recruit Zhou Miaoxuan and her sister to be female officials in Kunning Palace.

The Zhou family was a scholarly family and they did not want their daughter to enter the palace to be a court lady.

However, the queen had just saved her family, and Zhou Gong could not say anything against it no matter what.

Seeing that Zhou Gong had received the imperial edict, the eunuch smiled and said goodbye.

Outsiders didn't know what was going on, but the eunuch who delivered the imperial eunuch had been reminded by the chief eunuch Wang An.

The current emperor had designs on the two daughters of the Zhou family, but it was not easy for him to act directly, so he had to summon the two girls into the palace in the name of the queen.

Once the two women entered Kunning Palace, no matter what the emperor wanted to do, they would naturally have no room to resist.

It must be said that the emperor's actions were vague and if no one pointed it out, others would not be able to see any clues at all.

The eunuch returned to the palace to report.

When Su Mingzhe learned that no accidents had occurred, he went to Kunning Palace at noon to thank Queen Zhu Xuan'an for her cooperation.

After hearing the man thanking her, Zhu Xuan'an stroked her bulging belly with one hand, held the man's hand with the other, and said jokingly:

"Your Majesty values ​​the Zhou sisters so much, so they must be extremely beautiful. When they enter Kunning Palace, I will take a good look at them."

"I don't think I will disappoint the Queen!"

Su Mingzhe and Zhu Xuan'an have been married for ten years, although there is a rift between them because of the conspiracy to usurp the throne.

However, Su Mingzhe made their eldest son Su Xi the crown prince, and in the entire harem, only Zhu Xuan'an was pregnant, while the other concubines had no children.

From this point of view, even if Su Xi made a mistake and lost his position as crown prince, the position of the Master of the Eastern Palace would definitely fall into the Kunning Palace.

Of course.

From the current perspective, Su Xi has received full training from Su Mingzhe and has even begun to learn how to handle government affairs.

Therefore, Zhu Xuanmei doesn't have to worry about anything.

In general, Su Mingzhe has proved with his actions that the future emperor of Da Zheng will still have Zhu bloodline.

For Zhu Xuan'an, this is enough.

(End of this chapter)