Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!-Chapter 709: Ignoring It As You Pass By Will Make Enemies_1

Chapter 709: Chapter 709: Ignoring It As You Pass By Will Make Enemies_1

Entering the capital now carried a different significance. According to the Emperor’s esteem for Minister Zhou, it was said that these days, Minister Zhou had been giving lectures to the Emperor and Crown Prince in the Palace. This was indeed extraordinary—it showed just how highly the Emperor valued Minister Zhou’s talent.

With the Emperor backing him, Minister Zhou’s career path was smooth. Zhou Changlian, with such a good father to protect him, had a promising future.

Changlian hadn’t heard his father mention this, but he had guessed as much. Still, he couldn’t say it out loud. If his father was truly going to the capital, he needed to be even more prudent at this critical juncture, "I haven’t heard about this. Alright, stop guessing wildly, everyone focus on their own tasks."

Mr. Lv returned to his seat with a smile, thinking that he still needed to follow Zhou Changlian. As for Shen Yang’s overtures to him, he was better off ignoring them.

Shen Yang put away the papers on the table. Despite Zhou Changlian’s calm tone, Shen Yang still detected pride. Looking at the attitudes of the other Scholars, Shen Yang couldn’t help but clench his fists.

Zhou’s residence, Zhulan and her daughter had returned to the mansion. Seeing her daughter was tired, Zhulan said, "You should go rest too!"

Back at home, Xue Han relaxed her tense nerves and finally had the mood to reflect on her experience at the Palace. She smiled and said, "Mother, I’m going back to my courtyard first."

Zhulan nodded, "Go ahead."

Zhulan returned to her courtyard in good spirits. Not seeing Zhou Shuren, she asked a maid and found out that he was reading with his son in the study. After changing her clothes, Zhulan sat at the table looking at the gemstones and jewelry. All of these were for her.

Zhulan asked Nanny Song to bring several small boxes. She picked out some gemstones that suited her and then counted the remaining number of gemstones—twenty-two left. The Empress’s generosity was immense, and Zhulan was certain that most of these were given to her for taking good care of Rongchuan.

Zhulan considered the female members of the family: her eldest daughter Xue Mei, granddaughter Jiang Miu, Xue Han, Yushuang, Yu Lu, Yu Die, Yu Yi, and the newly born Yu Wen—eight people in total. Two gemstones per person would make sixteen, leaving six. One for each of the four daughters-in-law would leave two.

All the leftover gemstones went to Xue Han.

Nanny Song gathered the divided boxes, "Mistress, should we also put away this set of jewelry?"

Zhulan had had her fill of admiration, "Keep it here, don’t bring it back to the capital."

This set of jewelry was valuable; she could wear it in the future when she visited the capital again.

Nanny Song caught on, her smile deepening, "Yes."

Zhulan poured herself a cup of flower tea, "Time flies; I really miss Xue Mei and Jiang Miu."

Her only granddaughter, she wondered if she had changed as she grew up.

Carefully, Nanny Song suggested, "If you miss the eldest miss, you could invite her to stay for a while."

Zhulan waved her hand, "Xue Mei is married into the Jiang family. It’s not as simple as just bringing her over whenever we want; the Jiang family cannot do without her."

Zhulan did think about inviting Jiang Zhu over. Her daughter and son-in-law had placed their hopes on him, and now at his age, it was appropriate to bring Jiang Zhu over. As for her son-in-law Jiang Sheng, Zhou Shuren was quite satisfied with him; Jiang Sheng had found what he wanted early on, which was a rare prudent quality.

Zhou Shuren returned with his son. Zhulan said, "I was just about to go to the study, and you have come back."

Chang Xhong, "Mother, is the Palace fun?"

Zhulan tapped her son’s nose, "That place is not for fun. What did you learn at home with Father today?"

Chang Xhong hung his head, "Father was testing his son."

Zhou Shuren pulled at his son’s pigtail, "This boy has been playing wildly recently, forgetting all that Chang Zhi taught him. Even the characters he knew how to write are nearly forgotten."

"That’s your fault."

Zhou Shuren, "..."

In truth, it was partly his doing.

Chang Zhong felt embarrassed, his face flushed red, "Mother, I will study hard."

Zhulan, "Mother believes you."

Zhou Shuren saw his wife looking at him and touched his nose, "In the future, I will supervise our son’s studies."

Zhulan hummed in agreement, she believed that, and patted her son’s little bottom, "Go play, your mom and dad need to talk."

Zhou Shuren waited for Nanny Song to take the son away and then sat down to ask, "Was your visit to the Palace smooth?"

"The Empress is quite satisfied with Xue Han, although there were some tests, our daughter did not disgrace us and performed very well. She brought back quite a lot of rewards from this trip."

Zhou Shuren was relieved, "We’re returning to Jinzhou Province tomorrow, aren’t you going to pack?"

"No need to pack, everything will stay in the capital, we will be back before long anyway."

Zhou Shuren held his wife’s hand, "These are our last leisurely days."

Zhulan also felt nostalgic, "Indeed."

In the afternoon, Rongchuan came to look for Chang Lian, who lifted his head, "Wait a moment, I’m almost finished writing."

Rongchuan was not in a hurry, sitting by and waiting. There were still quite a few people in the room who were not eager to leave, and Rongchuan saw Shi Qing. During his days in the Hanlin Academy, he had not spoken to Shi Qing even once.

Shi Qing felt it, lifted his head, glanced at Rongchuan, and with an almost imperceptible nod, continued transcribing today’s records.

Chang Lian finished his work, handed in the transcribed records, and said to Rongchuan, "Let’s go."

Rongchuan stood up and followed him out, "Third brother, I ordered a hairpin at the jewelry shop, let’s take a detour to pick it up."

Xue Han is leaving tomorrow, and he truly couldn’t bear it. With Xue Han in the capital, he could see her every day when he returned home, sharing a table for meals, which felt almost like being married if he ignored the other people at the table. He was beginning to entertain thoughts of marriage.

The two arrived at the jewelry shop, Rongchuan paid the Silver Coin and got the hairpin, Chang Lian said, "Wait a moment, I will also choose a hairpin for your third sister-in-law."

These days, his wife had also been working hard, and of course, he didn’t want her to nag him.

With dad courting mom upstairs all day and Rongchuan giving Xue Han little surprises from time to time, it had been tough on him. These days, his wife had not spared him her nagging.

In order to have little surprises, his wife had even added Silver Coins to his purse, which was not just a hint, but a very clear indication!

Rongchuan didn’t stay to help his third brother choose and sat down at a resting spot by the window. Rongchuan watched the street, where vendors had not yet closed their stalls, and the street was still bustling with people.

Chang Lian quickly chose a hairpin, "Let’s go back."

Rongchuan stood up, "Alright."

The carriage had not been traveling long, when as it turned a corner into the West City district, it came to a stop. A young servant soon reported, "There’s a carriage up ahead that’s lost a wheel, and the old master’s condition seems to be bad."

Chang Lian opened the curtain to look ahead. To enter West City, even inconspicuous carriages indicated no simple status for their passenger. If the Zhou family’s carriage passed by without helping, and the elder really had an incident, well, that would breed enmity, "Let’s go and have a look."

With that, Chang Lian got down from the carriage, Rongchuan closely following him.

The carriage ahead was indeed inconspicuous, a gray carriage that gave no hint of its owner’s status. However, one could tell from the Guard that the old master was a person of no small standing!

Chang Lian and Rongchuan approached, "My younger brother and I are passing by, our family’s carriage is right behind. Please feel free to use it if needed."