There Will Always Be Protagonists With Delusions of Starting a Harem

Everyone sat down in the main hall. The atmosphere was a little cold and also a bit awkward.

Tao Dong kept glancing at Ye Zhizhou with an expression full of worry and distress, having the appearance of wanting to be concerned but not daring to do so.

On the way here, Shen Tingwei began to roughly understand the replacement marriage situation, but he could see Ye Zhizhou's dislike for his birth mother, Concubine Tao. With another cold expression, he said, "Father-in-law, even if you brought a concubine to welcome guests, how could you let a concubine attend to them?"

When Zou Qing heard Shen Tingwei’s words, his face turned black and he turned to stare at Tao Dong, “Why are you still here? Withdraw! Let a servant bring tea!”

Tao Dong tightly gripped her handkerchief and pressed down her moodiness. She stood up submissively, said goodbye and left. When she left, she deliberately passed by Ye Zhizhou’s side and gently patted him on the shoulder, giving him a meaningful look.

Ye Zhizhou acted like he didn’t see it. He hung his head and sat beside Shen Tingwei, pretending to be quiet.

Waiting for her to leave, Zou Qing straightened out his emotions and took the lead to say, “Young General Shen…"

“Father-in-law doesn’t have to be so polite. You can call me Tingwei,” Shen Tingwei interrupted him, saluted again and said, “Previously, I was busy recovering so I couldn’t bring Xiao Lan back to visit. I hope father-in-law won’t take offense.”

Zou Qing felt extremely uneasy with Shen Tingwei addressing him as father-in-law so he moved his gaze to Ye Zhizhou. He habitually frowned and put on a strict father’s face, "Lan-er, if you wanted to come back with Shen…with Tingwei… Then you should at least send someone in advance to inform me. Father also needs time to prepare to prevent neglecting precious guests."

“I wanted to give Xiao Lan a nice surprise, so I didn’t tell him ahead of time,” Shen Tingwei strongly took the blame, then very stiffly changed the topic to government affairs, "These days, it seems like the emperor is investigating the salt gang in Huainan. I wonder if father-in-law has heard about it?"

Zou Qing’s complexion changed a bit. The Huainan salt gang has a lot of poisonous tumors from the Ministry of Revenue and several of them were even promoted by him. It seemed like the emperor was truly preparing to regulate that place… He looked at Shen Tingwei inquiringly but saw that the other party still had an emotionless cold face. He churned these thoughts in his head for a bit before his facial expression eased up to be more relaxed and he turned to Ye Zhizhou to say, “Lan-er, since you finally got the chance to come and visit, don’t delay here with Father. Go and see your mother.”

He was sending him away because he wanted to discuss proper business. Ye Zhizhou firmly held back Shen Tingwei who was about to speak while rising to say goodbye, “Then Lan-er will be excused first. Father, husband, have an enjoyable talk." After saying goodbye, he shook off the hand that snuck over from Shen Tingwei, quickly saluted and turned around to eagerly walk towards Yuan Hui’s courtyard, seemingly calm but was actually impatient. He came to the Zou mansion ready to make a scene, how could he continue to accompany Zou Qing and waste time?

When he arrived at the garden’s entrance, he felt Tao Dong's presence in his spiritual net and frowned. He stopped a Zou family servant and gave him an order. Then, he changed his path and walked towards Yuan Hui’s courtyard.

Yuan Hui’s courtyard door was tightly closed, not at all as lively like it was before, in the original Zou Ming’s memory.

He knocked on the door and waited awhile for it to open, but the first thing the person who opened the door did was question him with a bad attitude. He was not in the mood to deal with these difficult servants, so he used his spiritual power to clear the way and was unhindered as he went to the family hall where Yuan Hui was confined to. The momo that constantly accompanied Yuan Hui wanted to block his path, but she was simply and crudely knocked out by a pill. In the family hall, Yuan Hui heard the movements and came out quietly, just in time to see the momo collapsing. She was so frightened that she opened her mouth to scream, but was quickly stopped by Ye Zhizhou.

"Mother, do you remember, when I was little I hid in your sedan chair and followed you to the Baiyun temple?"

Yuan Hui froze and stared at him with wide eyes, struggling violently after she saw his appearance and vaguely called him, “Zou Lan.”

Ye Zhizhou frowned, searched the original owner's memories, and continued, “When I was three years old, I tore up father’s painting. It was mother who helped me hide it and deceived father by saying that a wild cat had come in and destroyed it.”

Yuan Hui stopped struggling and looked at him with eyes full of shock. This type of matter should only be known by her and Mingming. How could Zou Lan…

At a glance, he understood her train of thought and continued to talk, "When I was three and a half years old, I took a nap in brother’s bed and wet it. I was afraid of being mocked by you, so I falsely accused brother of wetting the bed, and caused him to be scolded by father.”

"Another time during new year celebrations, I smashed your vanity dresser…"

One event after another, one item after another, Yuan Hui completely quieted down and looked at him in a daze, her eyes doubtful, confused and vacant.

“Mother, whether you believe it or not, I am Zou Ming. The one you sent to the countryside was Zou Lan.” He slowly loosened the hand that covered her mouth, looked into her eyes and said earnestly, “When I was four, Tao Dong deliberately allowed me to get into contact with a smallpox patient and then made a pretense that Zou Lan was also infected. She encouraged Grandma to send me and Zou Lan to the countryside. Half a month later, Tao Dong also arrived in the countryside. She made me wear Zou Lan’s clothes, repeatedly wiped a liquid medicine on my face that changed my appearance, brainwashed me and made me think that I was Zou Lan.”

Yuan Hui gaped, and the vacant look in her eyes turned into shock.

He showed her the Meiyan Pill, then pointed at his face, “This face is fake. It was made by Tao Dong’s medication. Recently, I remembered my childhood memories and realized Tao Dong’s plot. I managed to get the antidote to restore my appearance. Mother, I am truly Zou Ming.”

“You are… Mingming?" Yuan Hui hesitated, wanting to reach out to touch his face. Halfway through, she stopped and shook her head, “No, it’s impossible. How can you possibly be Mingming? Mingming is in the countryside. You are deceiving me. You must be deceiving me.”

“Mother!” Ye Zhizhou was helpless. Once again, he searched through the memories of the original owner and said with shame, “There is a mole on your lower back. Once, you and father… I accidentally saw it. You and father thought I was asleep, so… At that time, your clothes were pink with butterflies embroidered on them."

Yuan Hui was motionless but then rushed over with agitation, “How do you know this? How could you possibly know this? How could you know this when it was only Mingming that used to sleep with me? Mingming told you right? Zou Lan, you can’t lie to me!”

“Mother, I didn’t lie to you. I am Zou Ming,” Ye Zhizhou looked into her eyes and affirmed, “The one you've been calling Zou Ming, he doesn't have any of these memories. If you don’t believe me, you can write to him and ask! Also, the momo and maid by your side have been bought by Tao Dong already, they have been brainwashing you, wake up!"

“No! How could I possibly not recognize my child…” Yuan Hui covered her face, shook her head vigorously, and her voice gradually became increasingly choked with sobs, “I don’t believe it. How can you be Mingming! If you are Mingming, what have I done over the years? How can you…”

Ye Zhizhou sighed in his heart. He took her into his arms and patted her on the back soothingly, using his spiritual power to comfort her while saying, “If you don’t believe me, I can take the antidote to restore my appearance now. When you see my true appearance, you will understand everything.”

Yuan Hui’s cries weakened and she bowed her head to wipe her tears. She moved out of his arms and looked at him closely for a moment. Suddenly, her gaze became firm, “You said your face was false. It was Tao Dong who gave you the medicine that changed your appearance?”

Ye Zhizhou nodded.

“You have the antidote?”

Another nod.

Yuan Hui’s eyes flashed with a trace of ruthlessness and she pulled him as she walked out, “That's good. Let’s go find your father, and then bring Tao Dong to confront her! You take the antidote at the scene to show me! If you dare to deceive me, I will definitely drive you and Tao Dong out of the Zou mansion together!"

This demand coincides with Ye Zhizhou’s intention. While continuing to output his spiritual power, he cooperated with Yuan Hui as they walked towards the main hall.

Zou Qing was questioning Shen Tingwei about the salt gang in Huainan District when he saw Yuan Hui pulling Ye Zhizhou in with her. He couldn't help his expression becoming cold as he shouted, “Why did you come here? You're not needed here, go to the back garden."

Yuan Hui ignored him and let go of Ye Zhizhou’s hand. She went to the door, asked the servant to bring Tao Dong here and sat down calmly.

“You!” Zou Qing slammed the table wanting to scold her. Seeing that Shen Tingwei rose to meet Ye Zhizhou, he swallowed back the scolding and pressed down his temper to say, "Wife, what is the meaning of this? There are still guests here."

“You’ll know very soon what I’m trying to do.” Yuan Hui adjusted her collar and looked at him. Her eyes were cold and indistinctly looked like it had hardened into ice to hide a needle, “Husband, your mother took in a good concubine for you.”

The space between Zou Qing’s eyebrows twitched and he took several deep breaths before he managed to press down the anger that was almost breaking through the sky.

Shen Tingwei listened to the conversation between the two and inquisitively glanced at Ye Zhizhou.

“It’s alright,” Ye Zhizhou pressed him down into a chair. He came close and said, “Whatever you see in a moment, don't be surprised.”

Tao Dong came to the main hall suspicious. Seeing Yuan Hui who was sitting on the side, along with everyone’s expressions made her heart a little nervous, “Lord, Madam, this is…"

“Stand on the side,” Yuan Hui waved her hand and interrupted her. Looking towards Ye Zhizhou with hope and madness in her eyes she said, “Take the antidote. Eat it right now.”

Ye Zhizhou broke away from Shen Tingwei’s hand and got up with everyone’s doubtful and dissatisfied eyes trained on him. He went to the tableside and took the medicine. Afterwards, he poured a cup of warm tea, wet his handkerchief and began to wipe his face vigorously.

When Tao Dong saw him do this, her complexion changed, and her heart couldn’t help skipping a beat.

Shen Tingwei glanced at his palms and got up to sit down next to Ye Zhizhou. He looked at him seriously.

As he wiped, the handkerchief was gradually stained with yellow and the smooth skin of his face became wrinkled. Yuan Hui couldn’t resist leaning over to look and Zou Qing’s eyes filled with a bit of astonishment.

“Lan-er, you…”

“Father should not be restless. It’s just some old toxins. Once it’s discharged it’ll be fine,” Ye Zhizhou raised his head to reassure him. He glared at Shen Tingwei who began to stir, but then bowed his head and continued to wipe his face.

Tao Dong finally couldn’t stand it and said impatiently, “Lan-er, what are you doing? There are still guests here. You’re being discourteous. Stop it.”

“Shut up!” Yuan Hui glared at her and then shouted out, “Someone come in, tie up Concubine Tao and gag her!”

Zou Qing instinctively wanted to block this but hesitated after seeing Yuan Hui’s fierce eyes and Ye Zhizhou’s face.

The servant came quickly. Tao Dong was tied up and her mouth was gagged before she had the time to struggle and scream. Her eyes gradually became panic-stricken.

15 minutes later, a yellowish layer of skin on Ye Zhizhou’s face was finally rubbed off, revealing the tender, fair but red and swollen skin inside. The warm tea was replaced by a basin of warm water, and many handkerchiefs were used. He rubbed until his hands were sore, and his heart grew more sympathetic for the original owner. The medicine had penetrated the skin and flesh for more than ten years. If it wasn't for the pill given by the system, the original owner's face wouldn't have been able to be restored in this lifetime.

Layer after layer, his face shape became noticeably smaller, and his delicate straight nose was exposed. Because of his thicker, drooping upper eyelids, his original listless gaze gradually turned back into his original lively gaze. Finally, after tearing off the last layer of dead skin, his dark and slightly purple lips became red and plump.

Yuan Hui looked at him with her breathing becoming more and more rapid. When he finally showed his face, she couldn’t help but muffle her mouth while emitting a low cry.

The water in the basin already became a faint yellow, and the handkerchief that he was using was black. Ye Zhizhou took the new handkerchief that Shen Tingwei handed him and wiped his face. He smiled at Yuan Hui, “Mother, it’s been more than ten years. Do you still remember how I looked like when I was a child? Do I look similar to how I did when I was young?”

“Yes, very much…Mingming…” Yuan Hui threw herself forward and with a trembling hand she touched his face. Tears finally fell, “You are Mingming? Th-then the one I raised for so many years… You, how do you… I…Mingming, you really are…”

Zou Qing was also shocked by his appearance. He couldn’t help asking aloud, “What's going on? How could your face be like this? Wife, why are you saying he’s Mingming? What the hell’s going on here?"

The tied-up Tao Dong's eyes filled with despair and she lowered her head with a pale face.

The author has something to say:

Thank you 1 degree pudding for the grenade! Thank you steaming=^^=, Jun Shi, Du Zhuan for the mines! Love you so much =3=

PS: Fk, forgot to schedule a time for the chapter! Sorry, little angels orz

PPS: I’ll give you guys a fat chapter tomorrow.

And we get to see some dramaaaaa, ooo YZZ got back his identity \o/