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

Chapter 802: Chapter 802: It’s Best to Be Down-to-earth When Studying

Zhulan asked Zhou Shuren in the carriage, ”Would it be alright for you to return home with us?”

Zhou Shuren had seized the chance to slip away, and he certainly didn’t want to go back to the Crown Prince. ”It’s fine, the Crown Prince didn’t send anyone to follow me, he probably guessed that I would go home with you all.”

Upon hearing this, Zhulan asked, ”So you didn’t go out on business, but went out with the Crown Prince instead?”

Zhou Shuren nodded without saying much, as it wasn’t appropriate to discuss the affairs of the Ministry of Rites with Nanny Song around. He changed the subject, ”How come you were out on the streets?”

Zhulan smiled and said, ”It’s all because your daughter wanted to buy materials for carving seals. I wanted to take a stroll too, so I took them out for a walk. I just didn’t expect that something would happen.”

Zhou Shuren said, ”In the future, take a few more young servants with you when you go out. When you’re outside, young servants are more useful than maidservants.”

Zhulan also felt a lingering fear; fortunately, she hadn’t been struck today. Otherwise, if she really had been hit and trampled, she wouldn’t have died but would have been crippled. ”I’ll remember that.”

Zhou Shuren was somewhat scared as well; if something had happened to Zhulan, he wouldn’t know what to do. He held his wife’s hand tightly, thinking that in the future Shen Xing should stay at home and accompany Zhulan when she went out. He would feel more at ease that way.

Inside the Crown Prince’s carriage, the Crown Prince rolled his eyes inwardly. He hadn’t stopped Zhou Shuren, yet the man had indeed slipped away. Zhou Shuren was truly elusive.

He had originally planned to take Zhou Shuren to meet Tang Yan. Forget it, he wasn’t in a hurry for now and signaled to the coachman to return to the estate.

Outside the Palace, Ning Xu did not follow his father inside and had been waiting outside. He thought his father would come out soon, but the wait turned out to be four hours.

Finally seeing his father coming out, Ning Xu quickly jumped down from the carriage to assist him, ”Father.”

Duke Ning, not having walked such a distance in a long time, was bathed in sweat. ”Get on the carriage first.”

Ning Xu glanced at the palace gate and saw the sedan chair. It was prepared by the Emperor for his father, but his father refused to sit in it, which made Ning Xu feel uneasy. Considering his father’s age and the burden of supporting the Ning family, he carefully helped his father onto the carriage.

Duke Ning, sipping tea and wiping sweat, felt his strength returning a bit after the carriage had been moving for a while, and he massaged his somewhat weak legs. ”I never used to think the Palace was so big, but today it felt as if it had been expanded.”

Ning Xu reached out to massage his father’s legs. ”Father, you have worked hard. Your son is unfilial for letting you worry about Rongchuan’s surname. I should have been the one to enter the Palace.”

Duke Ning was enjoying the filial piety of his youngest son. Although his body was tired, his spirits were lifted. He had felt hopeless when his son had not returned, but now with his son back, his tired body was overshadowed by a rejuvenated spirit. ”The Emperor’s original intention was to grant the Zhang surname to Rongchuan because of his looks, which could have been justifiable. But I, your father, was not content. Even if Rongchuan only carries the Ning surname for a while, it means something different for our Ning family. No matter what, Rongchuan once bore the Ning surname. When Rongchuan reclaims his status later, he will take special care of the Ning family.”

Ning Xu felt a tightness in his throat. He knew all too well how stubborn the Emperor’s convictions could be. ”Father, the Emperor must have guessed your plan. He is unwilling for Rongchuan to change his surname. Not wanting to favor the Ning family too much is one thing, but he also doesn’t want his own son to switch surnames.”

As long as the Crown Prince ascends the throne, the wealth and status of the Ning family for generations would be secured. Their generation wouldn’t harbor ambitions, but there was no guarantee that future generations wouldn’t. The Emperor was always one to take precautions, and for the Crown Prince’s sake, he truly exhausted all his efforts, always being wary of the Ning family.

Duke Ning laughed. ”Fortunately, I have your elder brother’s favor, and I am someone who’s halfway into the grave. The Emperor, in the end, consented to the name change.”

Ning Xu felt even more distressed. His father spoke lightly, but if it were actually easy, his father wouldn’t have stayed inside the Palace for four hours, nor would he have insisted on walking out. In the end, the Emperor wasn’t pleased. ”Father, you have been through a lot.”

Duke Ning smiled broadly, showing his teeth. ”Not at all, not a bit. Now that Rongchuan has taken the Ning surname, I truly feel like your elder brother has come back.”

At the Zhou residence, when Zhulan got home, the young servant had already called for a doctor to come to the house ahead of time to examine Yushuang’s foot.

Zhulan asked, ”Doctor, is my granddaughter’s foot alright?”

The doctor examined the patient and let out a sigh of relief, smiling as he said, ”It’s nothing serious, just a slight twist. Just go to the medical hall and get some medicinal oil to rub on it, and it should be better in seven days.”

Zhulan breathed a sigh of relief, glad that it was nothing serious, ”Thank you, Doctor.”

Lady Zhao asked, ”Doctor, does she need to take any medicine?”

The doctor replied, ”No need, the medicinal oil will suffice.”

Lady Zhao was completely reassured now.

Once the doctor had left, Zhulan also returned to the main courtyard. Zhou Shuren had changed his clothes and was sitting in a lounge chair, reading and eating grapes.

Zhou Shuren asked, ”How is Yushuang’s foot?”

”It’s fine now, I’m going to change my clothes first.”

”Mmm.”

By the time Zhulan came out after changing her clothes, Zhou Shuren had eaten half a plate of grapes, had sent the maids and servants away, and then said, ”Weren’t you with the Crown Prince at the Ministry of Rites? How did you end up on the street?”

Zhou Shuren gave a brief account of what had happened at the Ministry of Rites, ”I didn’t want to get too involved, so I took the opportunity to come back. It also afforded me some leisure time.”

Minister Xiao had said that he was on leave with the Crown Prince, and he certainly wouldn’t be returning to the Ministry of Revenue either.

Just as Zhulan was about to speak, Chang Xhong rushed in, ”Father, you really came home!”

Zhou Shuren smiled, ”Shouldn’t you be studying diligently? Why have you come back here?”

”I missed Father. It’s rare for Father to be home, so I naturally want to stay with you. Besides, I’ve remembered all the characters the teacher taught. If it weren’t for waiting for Ming Hui, I would have liked the teacher to start on new characters already.”

Zhou Shuren knew his son was clever. The boy could recognize characters, but that didn’t necessarily mean he could write. He stood up, ”Let Father test you. For every character you get wrong, you’ll have to write a page of large characters.”

Despite being young and lacking strength in his hands, the little fellow could still write.

Chang Xhong was brimming with confidence, as his recent studies had been going smoothly. He felt like he knew everything, ”Alright.”

Zhulan smiled silently, knowing Zhou Shuren wanted to teach his son a lesson. It was good for him to remember it for a long time. Being earnest in learning was better.

Zhulan hadn’t written for a long time. She could recognize the characters, but sometimes she would write them incorrectly. Traditional characters were truly a source of sadness. She wondered how many pages of large characters her son would end up writing.

At the Hu family, Lady Jin couldn’t bring herself to scold her daughter. Her youngest daughter was naturally doted on. After comforting her daughter, she looked at her husband’s younger sister. If she hadn’t been born of the same mother as her husband, Lady Jin would have sent her away long ago.

Lady Hu had returned home many years ago with her two-year-old son in tow. She had the opportunity to remarry, but she stubbornly returned part of her dowry just to keep her son with her and not remarry. She knew very well that if she didn’t remarry, her son would have a mother. Of course, she was also scared of remarrying, fearing that she might not marry a decent man. Thus, she had given up on the idea of marriage entirely, focusing solely on raising her son well.

All these years, she had been patient for her son’s sake. Next year would be the Examinations for Young Students, and all she needed to do was get through them. She just hadn’t expected an incident to occur today.

Lady Jin was seething inside. Today, she had lost more than sixty taels of silver. Her husband’s annual salary wasn’t much, and their household could only live comfortably because of the dowry she had brought in. When the sister-in-law had returned some of the dowry years ago, she hadn’t received any significant amount of money since. Thinking about the dowry, she felt contemptuous—the dowry from the Hu family was really too small.