Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!

Chapter 649: Chapter 649: Reading it Once is Not Enough_1

The carriage arrived at its destination, and Zhulan followed suit, alighting from the carriage. The crowd in front was so dense that Zhulan did not press forward, while Chang Lian and Rongchuan, accompanied by a young servant, squeezed their way in.

Although Zhulan did not go forward, she could still hear the discussions around her. The number of successful candidates this year was not large, still at one hundred and fifty. The Emperor was still not generous, and the candidates who failed to make the list left soullessly, while those who passed awaited the palace examination with excitement in a few days’ time.

Zhulan couldn’t help but tip-toe, though she had confidence in Chang Lian and Rongchuan, her heart was still not at ease without exact news.

Despite her age, Nanny Song had exceptionally good eyesight, ”Third Young Master and Young Master Rongchuan have returned.”

Zhulan saw them too and became cheerful at the sight of their faces, ”They must have passed.”

With a fan in hand, Chang Lian approached with brisk steps, his tone filled with joy, ”Mother, your son has passed, ranking twenty-first.”

Zhulan then turned towards Rongchuan, ”And you?”

Rongchuan felt a sense of relief in his heart, and said, ”Sixteenth place.”

Smiling, Zhulan said, ”These are both good results. Don’t put too much pressure on yourselves. The ultimate outcome will be determined after the palace examination. Let’s go back to the residence; today deserves a proper celebration.”

She said this with confidence because, during Zhou Shuren’s palace examination, many had climbed from lower interim examination rankings to the top ranks.

As long as the two children maintained a good attitude, they would certainly be fine.

Shen Yang was somewhat smug with his sixth place ranking. He looked around for a while before finding Third Young Master Zhou, ”Young Master Zhou, I heard that Lord Zhou ranked second in his interim examination. Your ranking is far behind that of Lord Zhou.”

Chang Lian was aware that people would compare him with his father as soon as his results were published. He hadn’t expected Shen Yang to be the first to do so and replied coolly, ”Young Master Shen doesn’t even have a rank to compare, does he?”

Zhulan pressed a handkerchief to her mouth, struggling to hold back a laugh, as Chang Lian’s retort hit the nail on the head!

Shen Yang’s face changed instantly, and whatever he meant to say next lost all its force, ”I have matters to attend to, so I will take my leave first.”

Chang Lian couldn’t care less about Shen Yang. However, thanks to him, others who looked at him unfavorably also stopped in their tracks. Chang Lian said, ”Mother, let’s go back.”

Zhulan saw that Chang Lian handled the situation very well and was greatly relieved. Her child had finally grown up.

As they walked, Chang Lian said, ”Now everyone knows Rongchuan is our family’s son-in-law. There are no insensitive questions directed at Rongchuan!”

Rongchuan coughed, ”Third brother.”

Zhulan’s face was smiling, but her heart was filled with worry. The circumstances of Rongchuan’s birth were problematic, and she feared that a good marriage could run into trouble, ”Alright, stop teasing Rongchuan.”

Chang Lian paused briefly. He spent more time with his mother and always felt that she was not as happy on the inside as she appeared on the outside. He eventually remained silent.

Back at the residence, Zhulan first handed out bonus money to the servants. Today was a day of great joy, and the happiness was to be shared.

Lady Dong was the happiest. Passing the exam meant eligibility for the palace examination, and she was as busy and agile as a bee, her presence felt everywhere.

Zhulan also wrote a letter, and so did Chang Lian and Rongchuan, all of which were sent back to Jinzhou Province on fast horses.

At the Jinzhou Residence Government Office, Zhou Shuren received the news earlier than the letters via a message from Lord Wang, ”Congratulations, Lord Zhou.”

A weight lifted inside Zhou Shuren’s heart, indeed it was a joyous occasion, ”Thanks, let’s rejoice together.”

Lord Wang was in an exceptionally good mood, ”Today the lord is going to treat guests.”

Zhou Shuren smiled, ”Absolutely, absolutely, I will arrange it today, and make sure everyone is invited.”

Lord Wang was also smiling, indeed there was a face to be slapped now, at this point everyone basically knew the results, and he said gleefully, ”Lord, let me help you notify everyone, I will make sure all are informed.”

When Lord Wang entered, he overheard this, ”Lord Wang, I will join you in notifying.”

During this period, due to the relationship with He Shu, the Wang family and the Zhou family had also grown closer, and he hadn’t heard a shortage of disheartening remarks, just waiting for this day to vent!

Zhou Shuren had the young servant return to the house to announce the good news, and also felt the silver in his purse, the money for treating guests had been prepared early!

At the Zhou residence, Xue Han received the confirmed news and called for the steward, ”Quick, quickly set off the firecrackers, yes, and double the monthly money for the house this month.”

She had been holding her breath too, these past few days the young ladies who had been at odds with her hadn’t stopped bringing up her third brother and Rongchuan to make a point!

Xue Han then instructed Liu Li, ”Go to the kitchen and let them know, today everyone will eat together.”

Liu Li’s mouth curved into a smile, not only because she would receive more monthly money, but also because the better the Zhou family did, the brighter the future of their master, and the better their young lady would be, which meant they as maids would be better off too, ”Yes.”

Lady Li of the main house was happy and then muttered, ”Mother will be back soon too.”

She then looked at her youngest son holding a pen, and pinched her son’s face, ”You also need to make good progress, in the entire house, your grandfather has only held your little uncle and you in his arms, not even your elder brother had this treatment, I don’t ask you to be as accomplished as your uncle, as long as your brother is there, I just hope you take after your third uncle.”

Yu Lu listened to this and thought to herself, it was fortunate that Ming Hui couldn’t understand, or the pressure would have been immense, to take after their third uncle was too high a request; in her eyes, aside from her young uncle who was not much older, her third uncle was the most formidable one. Reading might not be his strongest suit compared to her fourth uncle, but the third uncle was smoother, she felt that the third uncle was even more formidable.

As for her fourth uncle, she thought he was just too compliant, with a good father, a good master, and having married a good wife, so her fourth uncle was not as cautious as her third uncle and also more outspoken than him. Anyway, she liked her third uncle more.

In the second wife’s quarters, Zhao Shi continued sorting her son’s papers after her excitement, the better the Zhou family did, the better it was for their second branch, but in the end, everything relied on her son. Recently, her son had been working harder and was rarely fooling around with Ming Teng, which made her the most gratified.

Zhao Shi saw her daughter holding her son’s pen and smiled as she picked her up, ”Does Yu Die also want to learn to read?”

Yu Die grasped the pen tightly and nodded her little head, ”Like.”

She liked listening to her brother read.

Zhao Shi kissed her daughter’s little face, the lass loved to stick close to her son, especially when he was reading and writing, she then sighed; if only her son loved reading as much as this lass, it would give the second branch more confidence, ”When you grow a little bigger, Mother will teach you to read.”

In the fourth branch, Su Xuan’s belly was somewhat big, so she now dared not move too much. The baby inside had just moved when she did. She told the maid beside her, ”I won’t go to dinner tonight, you go and tell the young miss for me.”

The maid accepted the order and left, ”Yes.”

Su Xuan touched her belly, ”You must be happy too, Mother is happy, the better Zhou family does, the smoother your futures will be.”

She hoped the twins wouldn’t be in such a rush to come out; it had barely been more than seven months, and it would be best if they could be born after a full nine months.

In the capital, inside the Palace, Ning Xu looked at the list with a smile that never left his lips, once wasn’t enough.

The Emperor was speechless, ”Aren’t you a bit too focused on Zhou Changlian? Do you have such a favorable impression of him? Look at how you’re reading the list, if someone didn’t know, they’d think a child of the Ning family had made the list.”