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

Chapter 758: Chapter 758 Reward_1

After dinner, Zhou Shuren went to the study with his son and took the opportunity to check on his grandsons’ progress. He had been too busy these days; he seldom went home and had neglected the children quite a bit.

Zhulan then went back to her room, took out the box containing the silver notes, and found there weren’t many left inside. She counted them and, together with the broken silver, she had less than seven hundred taels left. Taking out five hundred at once, she would have less than two hundred taels of silver remaining. It had been a long time since she’d felt the pinch of not having enough silver.

She had spent quite a bit since coming to the capital, and Zhou Shuren’s promotion had led to doubled pay for the servants, so their finances were tight.

Although they had received many gifts as a gesture of hospitality, all were goods and couldn’t be used like silver. This amount of silver was definitely not enough to last until the autumn harvest; the cost of living in the capital was too high.

When Zhou Shuren returned, he saw the silver notes on the table and only took four hundred taels’ worth, ”I haven’t had the chance to use the silver you gave me last time, four hundred taels will be enough.”

Zhulan, ”You should take it all with you. The reason you didn’t have an opportunity before was that the Ministry of Revenue was busy. After a while when it eases, hosting guests will be inevitable.”

”We don’t have much silver left at home, do we?”

Zhulan, ”Don’t worry about home. I will have Steward Ding go to the fish farm tomorrow to sort out some of the fish in the ice cellar, and we will have silver.”

Zhou Shuren, ”Processing ahead of schedule, huh?”

”Yes, originally I wanted to wait until the end of the year when we could sell them for a good price during the New Year festivities. But now the house cannot wait that long for silver.”

Zhou Shuren put the silver notes into his purse, ”It’s a pity to process them ahead of schedule.”

Zhulan also felt the pinch, ”The price of fish is low now; it’s a big loss in silver!”

There was no other way; she really didn’t want to resort to selling them ahead of time.

Zhou Shuren took off his coat and sighed, ”My salary is hardly enough.”

”Don’t say that, your salary is very useful. Without it, our house’s silver would have run out long ago.”

Zhou Shuren saw Song Popo and the maid coming in and said melancholically, ”I’m getting old, and I can’t recover as quickly from staying up all night. It’s hard to replenish this vitality, but thankfully I have finally made it through. From now on, I can sleep more peacefully.”

Zhulan covered the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and glanced at the maid. Her husband was playing the victim, ”I haven’t seen the Master in a few days, but why do I feel that the Master’s hair has become much grayer?”

She paused, then instructed Song Popo, ”Cook black rice porridge tomorrow morning.”

Song Popo, ”Yes.”

Zhou Shuren washed his hands, ”I’ve also lost quite a bit of hair!”

Zhulan sympathetically joined in, ”Then you must take good care to replenish yourself. Somehow, I think you also look thinner.”

Zhou Shuren, ”.... Yeah.”

After Song Popo and the maid left, Zhulan dropped the act, and once their footsteps had faded, she lowered her voice, ”Are you playing pitiful to get a reward?”

Zhou Shuren took off his shoes and said, ”Yeah, but don’t get your hopes up too high. It all depends on the Emperor. However, I feel the chances are slim. All officials in the Ministry of Revenue have merits, and the likelihood of me being singled out for a bounty is very low even if I came up with a good method, as my role at the Ministry of Revenue dictates these are my responsibilities.”

Zhulan pulled over a pillow, ”I didn’t have high hopes anyway. It’s good you show your vulnerable side, lest they think you’re made of iron.”

These days, she could see her husband’s exhaustion, and it pained her.

Zhou Shuren lay down, ”Nothing is as comfortable as home.”

Zhulan got off the bed to blow out the candle, ”Then rest well.”

Zhou Shuren fell asleep quickly; he didn’t sleep soundly at the Ministry of Revenue without his wife by his side, his mind preoccupied with too many worries and hardly any rest.

The next day, at the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren had just arrived when a line had already formed outside the ministry’s doors. Their attire gave them away; the people in line were clearly merchants, stimulated by the reward given to the Xu family.

Zhou Shuren entered the ministry, where the office work had already commenced.

After a while, silver donations from the various departments arrived. Although they were not as substantial as those from the merchants, they were still a considerable amount. Not including the Emperor’s one hundred thousand taels, the Crown Prince contributed ten thousand taels, several Princes donated five thousand each, and Dukes, Mr. Hou, and others did not exceed the Princes, varying from a few thousand taels each.

Xiao Qing felt that it was the happiest day since becoming the Minister of Revenue.

In the afternoon, the amount of silver donated by each merchant was less, some being small merchants and others feeling that since the majority had already donated, it would be embarrassing not to donate at least a little.

Zhou Shuren had finished tallying the donations from the morning, ”Grand Master of Writing, I have finished the tally, please take a look.”

Xiao Qing took it and saw, ”1,655,000 taels of silver, and that’s just the silver from the morning.”

Zhou Shuren replied, ”Yes.”

Including the Xu family’s donation, it was more than two million taels—a large sum indeed—and this was merely from the donations of the merchants.

After his excitement, Xiao Qing added, ”This amount must not be known to outsiders; otherwise, there would be even more reasons for needing silver.”

Zhou Shuren stood up, ”Sir, I will take my leave now.”

”Very well.”

Just as Zhou Shuren stepped out, he ran into Eunuch Liu, ”Eunuch, what brings you to the Ministry of Revenue?”

Eunuch Liu replied courteously, ”I am here to deliver the Emperor’s decree.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shuren said, ”Eunuch, please, the Grand Master of Writing is here.”

Eunuch Liu nodded, ”Mr. Zhou, you go ahead with your duties.”

Not long after Zhou Shuren returned to his room, the Grand Master of Writing called over officials from the Ministry of Revenue of fourth rank and above.

Once everyone was present, Xiao Qing began, ”The Emperor has taken note of the Ministry of Revenue’s hard work; there will be rewards for everyone in the Ministry according to their ranks. The third-rank officials and those of equivalent ranks will be awarded three hundred taels, fourth-rank officials two hundred taels, fifth-rank officials one hundred taels, those from sixth to seventh rank fifty taels, and eighth rank to ninth rank twenty taels. Those without any rank will receive ten taels of silver each.”

Xiao Qing paused before continuing, ”Deputy Minister Zhou Shuren, who has just assumed office, has solved the silver shortage problem for the Ministry. The Emperor has specially granted Deputy Minister Zhou an additional two hundred taels, in the hope that he will continue to work diligently for the Imperial court.”

Zhou Shuren quickly expressed his gratitude, yet thought to himself that the Emperor really knew how to calculate—the five hundred taels were exactly the amount he had donated!

This was a joyous occasion for the Ministry, and the news soon spread throughout the entire department.

Zhou Shuren did some quick accounting: the Ministry had the most departments of any within the Six Ministries and also the most officials, particularly below the sixth rank; consequently, the Ministry had also donated the most silver. He quickly finished his calculations—the Emperor’s reward amounted to only two-thirds of what was donated!

The Emperor was indeed the Emperor!

That evening, when Zhou Shuren returned home, Zhulan was still expectant and asked, ”Is there any?”

Zhou Shuren took out the silver note and handed it to his wife, ”Yes.”

Zhulan’s eyes brimmed with surprise; there really was a reward, and she was stumped to see the amount on the rewarded silver note—five hundred taels. ”This?”

Zhou Shuren, while changing his clothes, ”The entire Ministry has received rewards...”

After hearing the full story, Zhulan remarked, ”....I’m impressed.”

Zhou Shuren asked, ”You didn’t send the steward to the fish farm, did you?”

”Not yet,” she replied. ”Though I said I wasn’t expecting much, I was still hopeful. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to wait another day or two before sending the steward.”

Zhou Shuren smiled, ”With this silver, we should have enough, right?”

Zhulan smiled back, ”Added to your salary, we more than have enough.”

At the Yao residence, Yao Yao was preparing to leave for home. Today, she spent the day with her mother at her brother’s bedside. Her brother had been calculated against, and just as he was finally able to get some fresh air, he was pushed off the pavilion and hit his head on a rock; he was still unconscious.

Yao Yao stood up, ”Mother, I’ll be returning now and will come again tomorrow.”

Lady Bai, with her eyes swollen from crying, said hoarsely, ”Very well.”

Yao Yao glanced at her brother and felt regret; if it hadn’t been for the drug she administered, he wouldn’t have been weakened and subsequently harmed. She walked out, somewhat dazed and not looking where she was going, until she bumped into a young servant at the doorway—the maid that came with her dowry quickly supported her, ”Miss, are you all right?”

Yao Yao frowned and watched the young servant being taken away by the steward, feeling that he looked somewhat familiar.