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

Chapter 665

The next day, when Zhou Chu once again brought the same engagement gifts to the princess's residence, the people of the capital were dumbfounded.

"What's going on? I remember Lord Zhou just got engaged to the Lu family yesterday. What's this all about today?"

The onlookers were completely bewildered, having no idea what Zhou Chu was doing.

"You don't know this, do you? His Majesty specially issued an imperial decree to grant Lord Zhou a marriage, allowing him to marry both the daughter of the Lu family and the county princess at the same time. Both are principal wives, and there are no secondary wives."

One of the onlookers, a wealthy businessman who clearly knew more, boasted.

"Such a good thing? The young lady of the Lu family is the General Who Guards the North, and her status as a county princess is also extraordinary. Lord Zhou can actually enjoy the blessing of having two women, truly..."

The other person ran out of words and didn't know how to express their envy.

"Envious, aren't you? Don't you even know what kind of status Lord Zhou has? Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Left Pillar of State, Grand Master of the Palace, Duke. In the current court, Lord Zhou may not be all-powerful, but he is extremely favored. It is said that this is the result of the Princess's Mansion and the County Princess's repeated efforts to persuade His Majesty. Otherwise, Lord Zhou would not have gotten engaged so late."

"That's what the wealthy businessman said."

"How do you know this?"

The people standing nearby asked, puzzled.

"These are no secrets. The county princess is deeply in love with Lord Zhou and has been waiting for him all these years. Otherwise, she would have married him long ago."

The wealthy businessman explained.

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on.

"Thinking about it, that makes sense. Among the women in the capital, who is worthy of Lord Zhou? Even the daughter of the Lu family, the General Zhenyuan, was raised by Lord Zhou from a young age. It is said that her ability to lead troops and fight battles was taught by Lord Zhou. And the General Fuyuan also served under Lord Zhou in the army, and his ability to march and fight battles was mostly learned from Lord Zhou."

Another person sighed.

"So, in that case, most of the Ming Dynasty's territorial expansion is thanks to Lord Zhou?"

"Of course! What do you think? Take the recent campaign against the Yarkand Khanate, for example. In the past, this would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible. Just the long supply line alone would have required ten or even dozens of times more grain. But Lord Zhou and his students built a train that directly solved the supply line problem. Just you wait and see, in the future, the Ming Dynasty will not only conquer Yarkand, but its territory will far exceed that of the Tang Dynasty."

A minor official working in the Ministry of War happened to pass by and overheard this, so he couldn't help but comment.

Upon hearing this, everyone finally understood just how great Zhou Chu's contributions to the Ming Dynasty truly were.

Even so, what people understand is still far from what Zhou Chu actually did.

"No wonder His Majesty personally bestowed the marriage; he wanted to use the county princess to bind Lord Zhou to the royal family."

The wealthy businessman couldn't help but sigh.

......

Zhou Chu rode his black horse to the princess's residence. Jiajing, naturally, would not show favoritism, so he brought Huang Jin to the princess's residence early this morning.

When Zhou Chu arrived at the princess's residence, he happened to see Princess Deqing and Emperor Jiajing.

"Greetings, Your Majesty. Greetings, Princess."

Zhou Chu bowed and said.

"Don't call me Your Highness anymore. We're all family now, so just call me Auntie."

Princess Deqing smiled.

Princess Deqing then looked at Tang Bohu.

"Tang Jieyuan, from now on we're practically in-laws."

Upon hearing this, Tang Bohu couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of fate. He and Princess Deqing had always had an excellent relationship. When he was at his lowest point, Princess Deqing gave him a lot of encouragement, and now the two of them had become in-laws.

Although Zhou Chu was not his son, he was almost like one. Zhou Chu's decision to have him officiate the wedding was tantamount to him acknowledging the matter.

"Yes, I never imagined that we would become in-laws one day."

Although Tang Bohu is now over fifty years old, he doesn't like to call himself "this old man." He always feels that he is still young and not that old.