[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-doted-by-the-regent-king":3,"chapter-doted-by-the-regent-king-doted-by-the-regent-king-chapter-7":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Doted By The Regent King",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1324848,1760,"Chapter 7 - 7 7 Exaggerating in Speaking Ill of Others","doted-by-the-regent-king-chapter-7",7,"\u003Cp>7: Chapter 7 Exaggerating in Speaking Ill of Others 7: Chapter 7 Exaggerating in Speaking Ill of Others The Zhou family was a simple household, with Scholar Zhou and Old Lady Zhou having two sons and one daughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The eldest, Zhou Xuennian, was thirty-two this year and still a Child Student.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had failed the examination for becoming a scholar every year, and Scholar Zhou had passed away three years ago without seeing his son achieve the rank of scholar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second child was their only daughter, Zhou Yingmei, and then there was a latecomer son, Zhou Xueli, who was just sixteen this year and had not even taken a wife, living with his widowed mother and elder brother’s family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Xuennian had married Madam Lu and also had two sons and a daughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eldest son, Dajun, was fifteen this year, his daughter Zhou Xiuer thirteen, and the youngest son, Erhu, was only five years old.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Zhou family’s home in Wozi Village was a standalone property, Scholar Zhou being a ninth-generation only child, and to him were born two sons, both scholars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, by the time he died, he was still just a scholar, and his eldest son, Zhou Xuennian, was even less successful, remaining a Child Student after all these years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Insisting he was a learned man, Zhou Xuennian was tireless, participating in every imperial examination but also failing each one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t believe that the problem lay with his own abilities, but rather that he was a late bloomer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, Zhou Xuennian was proud and arrogant, and also obstinately conservative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing his wife’s complaints, his face darkened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Madam Lu had been married to him for many years and had learned to read his moods very well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the years, as he failed his examinations, he had placed the blame on his young sister-in-law, convinced that her premarital pregnancy had tainted the family’s feng shui, damaging the Zhou family’s fortunes and therefore causing his own failures in the scholarly examinations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Zhou Xuennian always despised his young sister-in-law and her mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had it not been for his father’s protection in earlier years, he would have taken action against the two long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Husband, you didn’t see how that little hoof Wufu was looking at me with those bamboo shoots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah, her gaze was even more vicious than a wolf cub’s, like she wanted to kill someone, just terrifying,” Madam Lu eyed his expression while continuing to exaggerate, “No matter what, I am still her aunt by marriage, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if she disregards proper manners with me, the way she looks as if she wants to devour me, oh dear, truly the result of having a mother but no father’s teaching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Should this spread, I fear it would reflect even worse upon your reputation…”“Enough!” Zhou Xuennian snapped, kicking over the basin at his feet, spilling water all over the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Madam Lu’s face shifted slightly, she swallowed hard and cautiously observed her husband.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Xuennian’s face, more handsome than that of an ordinary farmer, was overcast with darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes, with drooping eyelids, seemed to harbor the edginess of years of frustration or perhaps ill-fate; he lacked the scholarly grace expected of a reader and had instead an air of sternness and severity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Husband, I—I didn’t mean to bring it up on purpose, just that I find this mother and daughter to be ill-omened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tell me, if not for their bad luck, why would you have failed your exams time after time?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forget scholar, you might well have been a Juren by now, an official lord…” Madam Lu’s voice dwindled under his glowering look, as she stooped to pick up the water basin from the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zhou Yingmei still dreams that the man will come to fetch them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he doesn’t come, can we not go and find him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they were gone, it would be better; we could have some peace, and with the bad luck gone, nobody would speak ill of the Zhou family’s reputation anymore,” muttered Madam Lu as she walked out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Xuennian watched his wife’s retreating figure, his lips tightening as he thought of the mother and daughter on the mountain, the gloom in his eyes deepening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Guiniang was somewhat right, that dreadful pair of stars of calamity had plagued the Zhou family long enough, grinding away all their good fortune.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Xuennian lay on the bed, his fingers tapping irregularly as he pondered deep thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>",744,"2026-06-05T19:25:17.491Z",1,"novelbin.me","bc4ad8ad217bca3f2e1578f1e994cb1f00e14d059ce7af0de0a4dedb0ca8eba0","doted-by-the-regent-king-chapter-8","doted-by-the-regent-king-chapter-6",1685,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdoted-by-the-regent-king-cover.jpg"]