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

Chapter 1308: Chapter 1308: Becoming Fond

Zhou Shuren remained motionless in deep thought after the Retired Emperor left, mulling over the unexplained change in the Crown Prince’s behavior.

Without moving his gaze from the chair the Retired Emperor had sat on, he reflected on how it symbolized the realm which had been passed to the Emperor—who, as Crown Prince, had been very reserved.

Zhou Shuren had an insight: the livelier the Crown Prince, the less likely the similarity between father and son would drive them apart. Otherwise, both reticent, their relationship would surely suffer.

At the Zhou family residence, Zhulan received an invitation from the Ningxu Residence for Marquis Ning’s birthday feast.

Lady Li took the gold-embossed invitation and remarked with mixed feelings of admiration and perplexity, ”Didn’t Marquis Ning used to keep his birthdays low-key? Why the big celebration this year?”

Lady Zhao pointed at Ming Jung playing in the yard, ”Because there’s now an eldest son in the Qin Prince Residence, and a second son is already amongst us.”

Su Xuan fanned herself and added, ”Among the two Ning residences, the other has always been subdued.”

If it weren’t for Lady Song’s frequent visits, Zhulan would have rarely seen her at such banquets for quite a while.

Zhulan finished peeling a handful of pine nuts and savored their taste before speaking, only after her daughters-in-law had finished talking, ”Staying low-profile is the key to survival. The two Ning residences are already attracting enough attention; there’s no need to flaunt status excessively and court disaster.”

Lady Li inquired, ”Mother, since Marquis Ning has only concubines and no official wife, who is organizing this feast?”

Zhulan replied, ”It must be Lady Song.”

Xue Han didn’t find it convenient to attend, not just because she had to care for Zeze, but also because it would look bad for the Qin Prince Residence and might stir up gossip.

Zhulan turned to Lady Li, ”You will accompany me this time.”

As the head household set to inherit the title, Zhulan made a point of bringing Lady Li to such significant events throughout the year.

Lady Li responded, ”Yes, I will begin preparations to return home now.”

In Xuzhou Province, Chang Lian was enjoying a day at home, watching his toddler who could already run play, and commented, ”Time flies so quickly; it feels like he was just as small as a kitten yesterday, and now he’s running around.”

Lady Dong, always smiling, watched her son play while conversing, ”Yes, indeed. The last time I attended the Magistrate’s banquet, Zhao Ji’s wife seemed different—more assertive and no longer scurrying around aimlessly.”

Chang Lian’s lips curled into a smile, ”Another imperial examination is coming, and Zhao Ji must be getting anxious, given that his past three years at the Maritime Affairs Administration have been uneventful.”

Another three years had passed, and Zhao Ji did not wish to stay at the Maritime Affairs Administration anymore. Wanting to try his luck elsewhere, he was, of course, starting to panic.

Lady Dong asked, ”So why have that couple stopped panicking?”

Chang Lian tossed a cloth ball kicked over by his son back as he replied, ”Because they have found a support.”

Lady Dong didn’t press further, knowing that even if she did, her husband would not confide in her and instead focused on her own concerns, ”What about you?”

Chang Lian whispered, ”There’s not much point in me staying at the Maritime Affairs Administration; I can’t climb any higher. Father and I are thinking of transferring to a sideways position.”

Lady Dong exclaimed, ”Then I should start packing our belongings.”

Chang Lian held his wife’s hand to reassure her, ”There’s no hurry, we’ll pack once everything has settled. It’s not wise to stand out right now.”

Lady Dong nodded, then looked affectionately at the purse tied to her husband’s waist, ”Yu Yi’s needlework is getting better and better.”

Chang Lian was particularly fond of his eldest daughter; the feeling of being a father for the first time was unique and had always been etched in his heart, leading to his doting on his elder daughter. They would always read her letters together.

He was delighted by his daughter’s increasingly cheerful disposition.

Chang Lian suddenly laughed, ”Our daughters-in-law, it seems like only the third household is the most normal.”

The daughter is just being normal, with a temperament that should be unremarkable but somehow stands out.

Lady Dong joined in with a laugh, ”Mother said Yu Yi went back to be a big sister, and she’d sometimes raise her voice if she got too frustrated.”

Chang Lian and Lady Dong missed their daughter, even with portraits of her, they still longed for their daughter. Chang Lian said, ”Wait a few more days, then you should stay in the capital for a while.”

The journey back and forth was not short, it would just be too taxing for both daughters, it would be good to bring the son back to show his grandparents, they hadn’t even seen the boy since he was born.

Lady Dong also had the idea of going back to stay for a while. Now that they had Nurse Li at home, she wasn’t worried about anything, ”Alright.”

Early the next morning, Zhou Shuren got up and said to his wife, ”My eyelids have been twitching non-stop, something I haven’t experienced in a long time. I feel like something bad is going to happen.”

Zhulan thought about it carefully, ”Shouldn’t be anything major, right?”

Zhou Shuren put on his shoes, ”No, my intuition is seldom wrong.”

Zhulan became anxious as well, fearing that something might happen to Mingyun while he was out.

At the morning court, after Zhou Shuren saw the Crown Prince, he realized where his unease was coming from. The Crown Prince hobbled into the morning court, and Zhou Shuren was speechless. The Crown Prince’s teacher was the Grand Scholar Wu, oh, the Grand Scholar wasn’t there today, heh, becoming high and mighty just from teaching in the palace, what timely intuition to avoid this.

He then received a glare from the Emperor, tsk tsk, that’s why he was right not to teach the Crown Prince.

Zhou Shuren didn’t look at the Crown Prince, nor at the other ministers. These ministers only knew that the Crown Prince often sought him out, but they didn’t know he was helping the Crown Prince with his questions!

So Zhou Shuren faced the scrutinizing gazes with steadiness, having found the source of his anxiety, his heart instantly settled.

After the morning court, the Emperor had not been in a good mood these past few days. Just yesterday he had a fit of anger, and Zhou Shuren was asked to stay behind.

The Crown Prince was hobbling around in front waiting, and Zhou Shuren walked so slowly that a eunuch nearly started crying, his voice sharp, ”Oh, Grand Master of Writing, please lift your feet a bit higher, I beg you!”

Zhou Shuren cleared his throat, alright then, he wouldn’t give the small eunuch a hard time, and started walking faster.

When Zhou Shuren saw the Crown Prince, he twitched his mouth, ”Why is Your Highness waiting for me here?”

The Crown Prince said dryly, ”To give you a heads up, I angered Father greatly yesterday. I had to kneel for an hour last night.”

Zhou Shuren rolled his eyes inwardly, the Crown Prince actually kneeling would be a wonder, despite his hobbling, surely he wasn’t that injured, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to attend the morning court.

The Crown Prince felt uncomfortable under Zhou Shuren’s gaze, ”I didn’t do much, I just redesigned the shape of Father’s bonsai.”

Zhou Shuren stumbled, ”The one in front of the Emperor’s desk?”

”Ah, isn’t there only one bonsai in Father’s study?”

Zhou Shuren, ”....Is that the point?”

That bonsai was a tribute gift, the Emperor particularly liked it, and thus always took care of it himself, no one else was allowed to touch it!

Zhou Shuren, ”Heh.”

The Emperor only gave the punishment of kneeling, all bark and no bite; truly, the Emperor was being lenient. If it had been someone else, heh!

The Crown Prince chuckled dryly, ”Well, I’ll be leaving now.”

”Aren’t you going with me, Your Highness?”

The Crown Prince smiled, then his leg didn’t hurt anymore, his step became brisk, and he left with the distant palace maids and eunuchs, leaving Zhou Shuren with his hand outstretched. He had been duped!