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

Chapter 1273: Chapter 1273: It’s Definitely Not Me Two days later, Zhulan envied Zhou Shuren, who had attended a banquet and met Princess Aerola.

Zhou Shuren entered the room, and Zhulan hurriedly asked, ”Is the princess really that beautiful?”

Zhou Shuren, suddenly asked, took a moment to respond, ”As a minister, I shouldn’t be staring at the princess’s face. Although I didn’t look closely, she is indeed a rare beauty.”

Zhulan’s envious look made Zhou Shuren want to laugh, ”If you want to meet her, you’ll get the chance sooner or later.”

Zhulan rolled her eyes inwardly, thinking it would be difficult for her to meet the princess, who would be even harder to see once she entered the Palace.

After changing his clothes, Zhou Shuren came out and saw his wife sighing, and told her the news, ”Princess Aerola will enter the Palace on an auspicious day in half a month.”

Zhulan exclaimed, ”That’s so soon.”

Zhou Shuren sat down and said, ”It’s just a political move for benefits, to the Emperor, it’s merely an addition to the Palace.”

Zhulan sighed, this princess was a friendly token offered by the foreign clans, nobody cared about what the princess thought.

Zhulan thought back to the former dynasty, which, despite its ultimate decay, had never married off a princess for peace and benefits.

Zhulan said, ”The former dynasty never married off any princesses. The Retired Emperor had no princesses. Now that the Emperor has a princess, do you think he would...?”

Zhou Shuren shook his head firmly, ”No, the Retired Emperor wouldn’t marry off a princess for a marriage alliance, and nor would the Emperor. The Retired Emperor overthrew the former dynasty and will only aim to do better. He would never use women to gain peace or to draw in neighboring nations—such is not his way. The Emperor, as the Retired Emperor’s most perfect successor, would certainly not do it.”

Both the Retired Emperor and the Emperor have their pride, preferring bloodshed over marrying off a princess for an alliance; this is a matter of principle.

Besides, this princess presented by the foreign clans is merely a harem ornament, without the future prospect of children. In fact, deep down, the Emperor didn’t want to accept her; but after much consideration, it all came down to ambition, as the Emperor wished to open up an inland trade route.

Zhulan changed the subject, ”The preparations at home are almost complete, and we can send the things over tomorrow.”

”You’ve worked hard these days, my wife.”

Zhulan unfolds the blueprint of their new house and says, ”Mingyun will return home after taking the Scholar examination, then we can set a date. I’ve chosen a yard for him; have a look.”

Zhou Shuren looks at the spot his wife is pointing at, ”Near the front yard, eh?”

Zhulan nods, ”Mm-hmm, several children from the main family are all in this area, so when we divide the households in the future, it will be easier for the children from the main family to move.”

Zhou Shuren replies, ”You’ve arranged it well.”

Zhulan rolls up the blueprint, her tone carrying a hint of emotion, ”In the blink of an eye, Mingyun is going to be wed.”

Zhou Shuren can no longer recall what his eldest grandson looked like as a child, his mind filled only with the image of him now, a grown young man, ”Yes, the kids have grown up so quickly; time flies. Yushuang has also grown into a young lady.”

”I’m not willing to marry off my granddaughter early. Anyway, Liufeng is not that old; it’s good for him to focus on his studies for a few more years.”

Zhou Shuren nods in agreement, for marriage is different between taking in and giving away.

Although Zhulan talks like this, she plans to visit the second wife tomorrow and check on the dowry that Chang Yi and his wife have prepared for Yushuang.

The next day, Zhou Shuren went to court. There were no major issues to be discussed at the morning court session, and Zhou Shuren’s eyes were mostly on the Crown Prince. Ever since the coronation ceremony, the young Crown Prince had been accompanying the Emperor to court every day.

The young Crown Prince listened attentively, taking even the smallest matters to heart. Feeling someone’s gaze, he turned slightly and caught sight of Lord Zhou.

The young Crown Prince blinked, looked at Lord Zhou’s face, and remembered his father saying that Lord Zhou was a gemstone. He had made a special effort to learn about Lord Zhou, finding him to be very capable, and so he hoped Lord Zhou would live many more years.

Zhou Shuren did not expect the young Crown Prince to be so perceptive. Though he was spotted, he did not feel embarrassed, but why did the young Crown Prince’s gaze seem off? Why was he looking at his face!

After the morning court, Zhou Shuren could still see the young Crown Prince walking away but turning back to look at him. Qiu Yan asked in a low voice, ”Why is the Crown Prince constantly looking at you?”

Zhou Shuren was also at a loss, ”I don’t know.”

Li Zhao walked over, ”I heard that the Emperor wants to select a teacher for the Crown Prince.”

Zhou Shuren uttered a sound of surprise; anyway, it wasn’t him, he didn’t care, ”Is that so?”

Li Zhao asked in confusion, ”You really don’t know?”

”Should I know?”

Li Zhao truly felt that Zhou Shuren should know, everyone knows that the Retired Emperor visits the Ministry of Revenue from time to time. Seeing Zhou Shuren genuinely unconcerned, it must not be an act, he made sure no one was around before saying, ”There are quite a few people eyeing that position!”

A new Emperor’s teacher—when the new Emperor ascends, one’s status would rise with the tide, how many people are envious of it!

Zhou Shuren, ”Why are you looking at me like that?”

Li Zhao smiled, ”Whether you really don’t know or are pretending not to know, many people think it’s already decided for you.”

Zhou Shuren, ”...I really don’t know.”

Li Zhao also noticed that the young Crown Prince had been looking at Zhou Shuren all day, patting Zhou Shuren’s shoulder, ”The Crown Prince’s behavior just now had been noticed by quite a few people.”

Zhou Shuren thought to himself, if time could be reversed, he definitely would not have looked randomly; the result of looking randomly is an unexpected burden falling from the sky.

After leaving the Palace, Qiu Yan hesitated to speak, Zhou Shuren kept a poker face, ”It’s definitely not going to be me.”

Qiu Yan, ”Oh.”

Zhou Shuren, ”....”

That reply was really dismissive, even Qiu Yan is overthinking now, let alone how much misunderstanding the Crown Prince’s behavior today had caused.

Inside the Palace, the Emperor asked the Crown Prince, ”Why were you staring at Minister Zhou the whole time during court?”

The Crown Prince honestly confessed, ”Your son wishes for Minister Zhou to live a long and healthy life. But seeing that Minister Zhou looks old, your son couldn’t help but worry and gave him a few more glances.”

The Emperor, ”....”

Luckily, Zhou Shuren does not know what his son thinks, but his son has indeed caused quite the misunderstanding.

The Emperor knew many people wanted to be the teacher of the Crown Prince. Wherever there were benefits, there would be contention.

At the Zhou residence, Zhulan looked at the list Mrs. Zhao had brought out, somewhat dazed, ”Are all these for Yushuang’s dowry?”

Mrs. Zhao nodded, ”Mother, everything is listed here.”

Zhulan really underestimated the ability of her second son to earn silver. Now on the list, skipping over the gemstones and the like, just the fields and shops were dazzling, ”Where did you get so much Silver Coin from?”

Mrs. Zhao’s eyes curved, ”Mother, didn’t my husband acquire a batch of gemstones? Later we discussed and sold some, and that’s how we got the Silver. So, we bought shops and fields, among other things.”

Zhulan took another close look at the dowry list. The list leaned towards Silver Coin, that can’t be helped. In terms of antiques and paintings, the second wife just couldn’t compare to the third and fourth wives.

Mrs. Zhao, looking at the lengthy dowry list, was very proud of herself. She was the mother of two daughters, ”Mother, would you like to take a look at Yu Die’s dowry list?”

Hmm, there was a bit of a show-off intention, showing off how she and her husband could save up so much for their daughters’ dowries.

Zhulan nodded and carefully reviewed Yu Die’s dowry list. Yu Die was young, not having as much as Yushuang, but some of the things that Yushuang had, Yu Die had too.

Zhulan then went to the eldest wife and got Yu Lu’s dowry list. It’s lucky for the first wife and her husband that they only had one daughter.

Having reviewed her granddaughters’ dowry lists, Zhulan already knew what to lean towards for adding to her granddaughters’ dowries.