The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 252

Moreover, Jiajing had always been well aware that his aunt had been feeling quite stifled living alone in the princess's residence since his uncle's death. He thought it would be a good opportunity to let the mother and daughter travel to Jiangnan together.

For this reason, Emperor Jiajing specially bestowed a very good title upon Princess Deqing and her daughter.

He was appointed to inspect the Jiangnan region on behalf of the emperor.

However, both Jiajing and the officials in the court knew that this was just a pretext, and no one would investigate it further.

Now, thanks to the booming business of Yun Gui Fang, Princess Deqing no longer wants to live such a frugal life as before. So, she had a boat bought exclusively for the princess's residence and sailed down the Yangtze River.

Traveling by water was many times faster than by land. In less than ten days, Princess Deqing and her entourage arrived in Suzhou Prefecture. Originally, they were going to visit Zhou Chu's residence, but upon learning that Zhou Chu was at Tang's residence, they decided to go there instead.

"Your Highness, why don't you just go inside?"

Tang Bohu and Zhou Chu arrived at the entrance of the Tang residence and saw Princess Deqing and Lin Yao, along with a eunuch holding an umbrella beside them.

This scene truly evokes the feeling of a beautiful woman amidst the misty rain of Jiangnan.

"You flatter me, Tang Jieyuan. I just think the misty rain in Jiangnan is really beautiful. It's hard to see in the capital, so I couldn't help but look at it for a while."

Princess Deqing spoke very cleverly, instantly defusing the Tang family steward's embarrassment and awkwardness.

"Your humble servant Zhou Chu greets Your Highness the Princess and the County Princess."

Zhou Chu bowed and said.

"When did weighing instruments become so unfamiliar?"

Princess Deqing said with a hint of reproach.

“That’s right, Brother Hengqi, there’s no need for such formalities.”

When Lin Yao saw Zhou Chu again after several months, she was filled with undisguised joy.

Looking at Lin Yao and Princess Deqing in front of him, Zhou Chu felt helpless. Their arrival in Jiangnan must have been approved by the emperor.

It could even be said that it was driven by the emperor.

In this way, how could Zhou Chu not understand what the emperor was thinking?

Zhou Chu simply didn't want to mix his feelings into this exchange of interests, especially since he saw Lin Yao more as a little girl.

How old is Lin Yao? At most fourteen or fifteen, while Zhou Chu is only sixteen.

Zhou Chu wasn't against getting married, but he would at least wait a few more years until he was in his early twenties.

Once married, there will be more constraints, and you will feel restricted in many things.

Actually, Zhou Chu hadn't decided who he would marry in the future, because no girl had ever really captured his heart, so he wasn't in a hurry at all.

Princess Deqing and Lin Yao followed Tang Bohu into the Tang residence. Lin Yao excitedly told Zhou Chu what she had been wanting to say for the past few months, while Princess Deqing looked at Tang Bohu with a smile on her face.

When Yunniang received the news that Princess Deqing had arrived, as the mistress of the Tang family, she naturally had to come out to greet her.

Yunniang had always known about the relationship between Princess Deqing and Tang Bohu, but she also knew that Tang Bohu was over fifty years old and could only chat with the princess and reminisce about the past.

Since following Tang Bohu, Yunniang has never cared about these things, after all, she is now the mistress of the Tang family, not someone else.

At the same time, on both sides of the newly built dike in Suzhou Prefecture, many people wearing straw raincoats appeared. These people were none other than the gentry who hated Zhou Chu to the bone.

The wealthy and powerful families in Jiangnan were not a monolithic entity. Many of their families had their members killed during the raids on their homes by Zhou Chu's men, which fueled their deep hatred for Zhou Chu.

However, they dared not openly confront Zhou Chu, for they had learned from past mistakes and could not afford the consequences of assassinating him.

So these gentry who harbored resentment towards Zhou Chu took advantage of the arrival of the rainy season and sent their men to the dikes in Suzhou Prefecture, intending to breach the newly built dikes. Once the dikes were breached, Yan Song, the prefect in charge of building them, would be held responsible, and the entire Suzhou Prefecture and even the whole of Jiangnan would be flooded.

When that time comes, Jiangnan will fall into chaos again.

These people did this not out of any self-interest, but purely to take revenge on Zhou Chu and the imperial court.

In the rain, a group of people took out the pickaxes and rakes they carried with them, and the leader swung the pickaxes and rakes with all his might to chop at the embankment.

The scene he had envisioned did not occur. Instead, the strong recoil made his hands go numb, and a spark appeared in the dim light after the pickaxe made contact with the embankment.

Everyone looked at the intact dam with only a faint white mark and fell into deep thought.