She Came to Heal, Stayed to Conquer

The Old Lady personally arranged a courtyard for Han Lei. When Zhao Zun returned, Han Lei was busy arranging and decorating her room.

Zhao Zun couldn’t bother with the dust and fatigue from the journey and headed straight to the Old Lady’s room to visit his long-separated mother and sister.

Zhao Ling’er was practically idolizing Han Lei. Zhao Zun had just reached the doorway when he heard his sister’s chattering voice.

”Hehe, Mother, I am so happy today. People like Ms Qin deserve to be properly dealt with this way. If she dares to disrespect you again, I will tell Sister Han Lei.”

”Who needs to be dealt with?” Zhao Zun asked with a smile as he walked in.

”Zun’er!”

”Ah, Brother, you’re back!”

As soon as Zhao Zun appeared, both the Old Lady and Zhao Ling’er joyfully went up to greet him, with Zhao Ling’er even more excitedly throwing herself into Zhao Zun’s embrace.

Zhao Zun hugged Zhao Ling’er, lovingly ruffling her hair before releasing her and kneeling at the Old Lady’s knees. ”Mother, your son is back.”

The Old Lady’s eyes immediately welled up with tears, and in a trembling voice, she said, ”Zun’er, you’re finally back.”

”Mother, I’m unfilial, making you wait so long.” Zhao Zun tightly held her hand.

”We think of you every day. Now that you are back safe, nothing else matters. Get up, quickly, get up.” The Old Lady could hardly contain her joy.

”Mother, Ling’er, this time, we will never be separated again.” Zhao Zun stood up with a smile. ”Oh! By the way, Mother, have you all met that girl?”

”Which girl?” The Old Lady wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and looked at Zhao Zun with a playful expression.

”Uh... it’s... it’s...” Faced with his mother, Zhao Zun blushed shyly.

”Hehe...” Zhao Ling’er laughed at Zhao Zun’s bashful expression. ”Brother is talking about my future sister-in-law, Sister Han Lei, right?”

”Hehe, yes! It’s her.” Zhao Zun scratched his head in embarrassment.

”She’s currently resting in her room.”

”By the way, what were you talking about just now regarding an evil person?” Zhao Zun quickly changed the topic, not wanting to continue on a subject that made him blush.

”Hmph! That’s Ms Qin.”

”Ms Qin, what’s with her?”

When Zhao Zun left home, Ms Qin was still an honest and straightforward woman, making it hard for him to associate her with the image of an evil person.

”Ah, it’s nothing, it’s all in the past now,” the Old Lady said kindly.

With her son back, she suddenly didn’t want to pursue anything anymore; as long as the family was safe and together, she felt that was more important than anything.

”Mother, what passed?” Zhao Ling’er pouted, looking aggrieved. ”Brother, you don’t know, Ms Qin is actually a malicious person. Since Father passed away and you were sent to the frontier, Ms Qin often bullied us. She wants to become the mansion’s mistress and control the household finances. Mother didn’t write you about it because she didn’t want you to worry at the frontier.”

”She dared to bully you? Outrageous!” Zhao Zun’s heart ached upon hearing this, and he turned on his heel, about to confront Ms Qin.

Zhao Ling’er quickly stopped him, ”Brother, you don’t need to go, Sister Han Lei has already taught her a lesson.”

”You mean that girl?”

”Mm!” Zhao Ling’er nodded vigorously, ”Brother, let me tell you, Sister Han Lei is amazing...”

As soon as she spoke about this, Zhao Ling’er got excited and told Zhao Zun the entire incident at the gate.

When he heard the words ”If she dares to disobey, I’ll beat her until she complies,” Zhao Zun couldn’t help but laugh, feeling incredibly grateful to Han Lei for standing up for his mother and sister.

”Mother, Sister, I’ll go see Han Lei and thank her.”

”Alright, go ahead! Also, please give her this heirloom bracelet for me.”

”Mm!” Zhao Zun nodded, taking the bracelet to find Han Lei.

Han Lei looked at the room she had personally arranged and felt very satisfied. She clapped the dust off her hands and sat by the table to pour herself a cup of tea.

”I heard you were quite brave today! Giving that evil Ms Qin a slap.” Zhao Zun strode in and said.

”You’re back?” Han Lei’s lips curled into a smile as she saw Zhao Zun return, and she got up to greet him.

”I heard you stood up for my mother and sister today, I really must thank you.” Zhao Zun took Han Lei’s small hand, sitting with her by the table.

”There’s no need to thank me. That malicious concubine, she even insulted me.” Han Lei pouted in grievance, like a bullied child seeking comfort from a parent. ”I didn’t want to trouble her, but she kept provoking. Hmph! Aunt was almost faint with anger. I couldn’t bear it, so... you won’t blame me for being rude, will you?”

”How could I? I feel sorry for you, that’s all.” Zhao Zun said, affectionately pinching her delicate face. ”It was my fault, I should have accompanied you back first, so you wouldn’t have suffered such an injustice before even entering the Prince Mansion.”

”I’m really fine, truly. But Aunt was quite upset at the time.” With Zhao Zun’s words, any feeling of grievance Han Lei had were immediately soothed.

”I’ve already comforted Mother and Sister.” Zhao Zun said, his head close to Han Lei’s nose, declaring earnestly, ”From now on, I will never allow such things to happen again. Later, I’ll clear out all the staff in the mansion. And then I’ll get agents to sell off those staff who are disloyal to Mother and Sister.”

”Mm! That’s good.” Han Lei smiled lightly and slipped away. Zhao Zun’s breath as he spoke tickled her nose.

At this moment, Zhao Zun called out to the outside, ”You can come in now.”

In response to Zhao Zun’s call, two maidservant-looking girls walked in from outside. They were only about fifteen or sixteen years old, heads lowered, and appeared timid and reserved.

”Come over quickly and meet your new mistress, Miss Han,” Zhao Zun instructed the two maidservants.

The two young maidservants took small steps forward and courteously curtsied.

”Zitan greets Miss Han.”

”Jin Ju greets Miss Han.”

Zhao Zun pointed to the two maidservants and introduced, ”Young lady, these two are the maidservants assigned to serve you.”

”I don’t need maidservants.” Han Lei wanted to refuse. Having grown up in modern times with nine years of compulsory education, she was used to doing things herself, not needing others to serve her.

Zhao Zun thought she might be wary that these two maids were Ms Qin’s people and hurriedly explained, ”I asked Mother, and she said these two are trustworthy. Use them for now, and after the disloyal staff are sold off, I will buy a few more to serve you.”

”I really don’t need them. We’ve known each other for so long, when have you ever seen me needing maidservants?” Han Lei was genuinely not accustomed to it.

Zhao Zun pulled her hand to his chest, gazing at her tenderly.

”That was because the frontier was harsh, and I had no choice but to have you endure so much hardship. But this is the Capital City, and you are determined as the Princess Consort by me. How can a Princess Consort not have maidservants?”

”Uh... fine then.”

Han Lei hesitated for a moment, but finally had to accept, realizing that she must adapt to the ways of ancient times, especially since it also came from Zhao Zun’s good intentions.

Having accepted the maidservants, Zhao Zun was pleased and waved them off, ”All right, no need for service here, you may withdraw first.”

Once the two maidservants had exited, Zhao Zun looked back at Han Lei.

”I have more to say to you.”