I insist

Chapter 228: The White Rabbit and the Wolf

Hearing Madam Zhou's words, Tian Yumei instantly imagined Madam Zhou as someone who was not favored in the household. Looking at the other woman's complexion and appearance, Tian Yumei couldn't help but look up and sigh.

If the other person can live so well even though they are not favored, then even if I wanted to buy a nice dress, I would feel out of place wearing it.

Tian Yumei had tried it once before, but afterwards she would hear them talking about her behind her back, so she stopped spreading it.

Both were women, and Madam Zhou frequently moved among the female relatives of officials, so she was no stranger to any of the shrewdness that came with such situations.

In her presence, Tian Yumei was like a white rabbit to a wolf—utterly innocent.

After chatting for a while, Tian Yumei and Mrs. Zhou became friends. Qiu Tianlei naturally listened to his wife and patiently answered Mrs. Zhou's questions from time to time.

When Song Miqiu returned home, she heard a burst of laughter and chatter. A smile appeared on her lips. Just as Song Miqiu was about to ask them if they had encountered something happy today, she strode over and saw a Mrs. Zhou sitting in the house.

Upon seeing the other person's face, Song Miqiu's smile instantly froze. Standing not far from them, looking at Madam Zhou's smile, Song Miqiu felt that something was very wrong.

I just swindled 100,000 taels of silver from Vice Minister Zhou a few days ago, and now Madam Zhou has come up here.

That would have been fine, but instead of causing a scene, they started chatting with Qiu Tianlei and Tian Yumei.

Perhaps because the gaze was too intense, Tian Yumei and Madam Zhou turned their heads and saw Song Miqiu standing at the door watching them.

Seeing this, Tian Yumei stood up first and strode towards Song Miqiu. "Mother, why are you back so early today? I haven't even cooked yet."

As she spoke, Tian Yumei showed a hint of guilt on her face. After all, she was supposed to prepare dinner for Song Miqiu, but she didn't expect that Song Miqiu would be back before she had finished cooking.

"You can cook it now, I'm a little hungry."

Upon hearing this, Tian Yumei quickly nodded and went to do it. She picked up her apron, hung it on herself, glanced apologetically in the direction of Madam Zhou, and strode towards the kitchen.

However, with Song Miqiu here, Tian Yumei was not afraid of neglecting Madam Zhou.

After all, Song Miqiu was good at smoothing things over, so he could certainly entertain guests.

After sending Tian Yumei away, Song Miqiu strode up to Madam Zhou, crossed her arms, and seeing that the other woman seemed eager to talk to her, asked directly, "What brings you to my house?"

Song Miqiu tilted her head and looked at the other person, continuing to question, "Didn't Vice Minister Zhou tell you about what happened between him and me?"

Recalling how Madam Zhou and Tian Yumei had been laughing and joking earlier, Song Miqiu felt particularly regretful that she had only mentioned 100,000. Look, Vice Minister Zhou was no longer lively under her nose, but Madam Zhou had become lively instead.

"Of course I told him, but I was thinking that since this is your business, and my husband himself has some problems, it's only right that you want to teach him a lesson."

Hearing Madam Zhou's words, Song Miqiu tilted her head, as if a big question mark had appeared on her forehead.

She hadn't expected Madam Zhou to be so calm in front of her and to push all the blame onto Vice Minister Zhou.

The thought of Vice Minister Zhou's humiliation made Song Miqiu want to laugh.

"Oh, right!" Madam Zhou seemed to suddenly remember something, and took out a bag of silver coins from her sleeve. She looked at the person in front of her with a dry laugh, "I came here today to apologize to you on behalf of my husband. He was ungrateful. This is our Zhou family's apology."

This surprised Song Miqiu. She readily agreed to Madam Zhou's request, accepted all the money, exchanged a few pleasantries with Madam Zhou, and then Madam Zhou left with her maid.

Watching the other person's departing figure, Song Miqiu's eyes gradually turned cold. When she returned to the house, she saw Yu Huailin sitting on a wooden stool, fiddling with something.

Seeing this, she strode over, reached out and tapped the other person's keyboard, asking with amusement, "What are you doing now?"

"It's nothing, I was just bored and playing around with some things." Yu Huailin looked up and saw Song Miqiu's happy expression. He raised an eyebrow, smiled, and tilted his head back, asking with amusement, "Did something happen that made you happy?"

Song Miqiu smiled and tossed the silver he had just received from Madam Zhou onto the wooden table.

Perhaps the silver in the purse was quite heavy, because it made two clanging sounds when it was dropped on the table, enough for Yu Huailin to tell exactly how much silver was inside.

She sat down next to Yu Huailin and told him about the events of the past few days, adding, "I think Madam Zhou is definitely up to something."

After all, no husband would rush to give money after being extorted for 100,000 taels of silver, ostensibly to apologize.

Song Miqiu had never seen such a fool.

"So what are your thoughts now...?"

Song Miqiu paused, her little finger tracing the rope of the money bag, and whispered her opinion, "I just don't know whether I want this money or not. After all, I feel that a weasel offering New Year's greetings to a chicken must have ulterior motives."

Yu Huailin thought for a moment, then continued to ask, "Do you intend to get rid of Minister Zhou?"

“Of course he must be eliminated. Although Vice Minister Zhou is not a great threat to me, and I have evidence against him, so he won’t dare to act recklessly in the short term, the problem is that I feel he will secretly take action against me.”

“Take Madam Zhou for example. Today, she deliberately approached Yu Mei and Tian Lei, and then returned home with them. When she saw me, she said she had come to apologize to me.”

Thinking back on what had just happened, Song Miqiu still found it utterly absurd.

Yu Huailin nodded and said to Song Miqiu, “How about this, since you’re going to get rid of Minister Zhou sooner or later, let’s keep this money for now and give it to the victim’s family after we’ve gotten rid of Minister Zhou.”

"After all, you said that Vice Minister Zhou has done so many bad things, and there are quite a few victims among them. Distributing the silver should be enough."

Upon hearing this, Song Miqiu nodded, fully agreeing with Yu Huailin's idea.

Qingzhi had been keeping a close eye on Vice Minister Zhou. After the incident where Vice Minister Zhou investigated Song Miqiu, he became extra cautious, since he didn't know the other party's true identity.

As a result of Qingzhi's investigation and follow-up, it was discovered that the other party was actually the Empress Dowager's confidant!

He hadn't expected that Vice Minister Zhou was so well hidden; he only just realized he was the Empress Dowager's confidant.