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

Chapter 1444: Chapter 1444: The Saved Silver is Gone

Xue Mei stood up, ”Great, just great. She lost my daughter and fled by herself, and it wasn’t just one family that did this—several families cleanly ran away. And now they want to come hide in the capital? No way.”

Angry, Xue Mei went to settle accounts with her husband.

Madame Jiang watched helplessly as her daughter-in-law stormed out. She was illiterate, but from the few words exchanged, she had figured out what happened, and slammed her thigh hard, saying, ”Such a sin.”

She had told her son to write a letter home. Her eldest son and his family, how wonderful, had actually abandoned Jiang Miu and fled on their own. How foolish they were—if they had really fought, Miumiu would surely have returned to the capital. The family was not unified in their actions, and the heart of her youngest son grew completely cold.

Jiang Sheng was twisted in pain by his wife’s grip, ”Fine, fine, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have kept the painting, I shouldn’t have let them think I’m easy to talk to, it’s all my fault.”

He was also angry. His daughter was lost, and there had always been a rift with his elder brother’s family. Now recalling the hardships of the past, his heart had turned completely cold towards them.

Xue Mei said, ”Not a single person from Zhou Village has escaped to the capital. There’s no New Year’s gift this year, so what’s there to send anyway?”

”As you say, the household will listen to you.”

Xue Mei’s anger subsided a little.

At the Zhou family’s, Zhulan and Mrs. Zhao were chatting. Mrs. Zhao said, ”The Dong family actually didn’t send anyone to the capital either.”

She had thought she would see some of the Dong family.

Zhulan wasn’t surprised, ”As long as Mr. Dong is still alive, the Zhou clan won’t make a move, and neither will the Dong family start leaving.”

In recent years, their relationship with the Dong family hadn’t been close. After the Dong family split up, the main branch knew how to deal with people well. Now that Chang Lian and Lady Dong were not in the capital, they also didn’t dare to call on them rashly.

Mrs. Zhao said, ”Yushuang wrote a letter back, asking me to help find a medicine merchant.”

”Has the medicine Liufeng planted already been sold?”

”Not yet, but they are looking to secure a merchant in advance so as not to delay things.”

Zhulan said, ”A medicine merchant, huh? Are they planning to grow more medicine in the future?”

”Seems like it. Looks like there is profit in planting medicine this year.”

Zhulan asked, ”Do you know any medicine merchants?”

Mrs. Zhao nodded, ”I do know a few.”

Zhulan nodded. Since the amount they were currently planting was small, they could consider dealing with an imperial merchant in the future when the volume increased. But for now, it seemed too early, as Liufeng was merely experimenting without scale yet.

Mrs. Zhao was very pleased that her son-in-law had found a way out for the people, and her husband said that as long as it picked up without affecting local farmland, her son-in-law’s contribution was not small.

At the Ministry of Rites, Sir Liu was sipping tea with relish, ”The tea here is indeed the best.”

”Ever since your child got engaged, I haven’t seen you bring any tea. Not bringing any tea is one thing, but you’ve also mooched two meals off of me. Don’t you think you’re going a bit too far?”

Sir Liu poured himself another cup, ”Come on, we’re practically family. We’re in-laws, aren’t we?”

Chang Yi chuckled heartily. He had spent quite some effort to please him before, and now he was eager to recoup some of that, ”Do you know what I envy most about my father?”

Sir Liu was rather curious, ”What do you envy?”

Chang Yi continued, ”I envy my father’s eye for choosing sons-in-law. My eldest brother-in-law’s paintings are now worth a fortune, and without my father having to ask, he regularly sends one to my father.”

He paused before adding, ”As for my younger brother-in-law, there’s no need to say more. He regularly presents antiques and paintings to my father, even those rewarded by the palace to my brother-in-law, he would make sure to share half of it with my father as a token of filial piety. You tell me, shouldn’t I be envious?”

Sir Liu said, ”I have high hopes for your eldest son-in-law, rest assured, he will show filial piety towards you.”

Chang Yi’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, ”I’m even more hopeful for my younger son-in-law’s filial piety towards me. Do you think that wish can come true?”

Sir Liu felt that the tea had lost its fragrance; his youngest son needed to pay respects to his father-in-law. Where could the good things come from if not from the Liu family’s storeroom?

Chang Yi continued, ”Why aren’t you drinking anymore? Keep drinking, it’s not a big deal. In the future, I’ll have a son-in-law to show me filial respect.”

Sir Liu, ”Today’s tea is somewhat bitter.”

Chang Yi took a sip, ”Not at all, it’s very sweet.”

Sir Liu couldn’t swallow any more tea, ”I have other matters to attend to now.”

Why was his heart so uneasy? How he had been pressed by his daughter-in-law to show respect to his mother-in-law; his youngest son would have to do the same for his father-in-law. Thinking of how his youngest son was currently ingratiating himself to his future brothers-in-law, he couldn’t bear it; his heart ached terribly.

Chang Yi was not joking; he remembered it all for the future.

Time passed quickly, the Grassland Tribe was caught off guard. The Northwest had amassed troops so swiftly that what was intended to be a surprise attack on the enemy turned into a panicked retreat for them.

Chased by a large army from behind, with ambushes lying ahead.

The Northwest’s border towns remained intact, and within the Alliance, there were continuous betrayals, poisonings, burnings of provisions, and ambushes.

Victorious reports from the Northwest kept arriving in the capital, yet the Emperor did not show any signs of joy, for everything was within his expectations.

The Emperor instead focused on the coastal map, asking, ”General Hou reports that the nearby nations’ ships have already departed?”

Li Zhao responded, ”Yes, the ships that have been frequently invading our waters have left.”

The Emperor, ”They want a share of the spoils.”

Zhou Shuren sighed with relief; the Imperial court truly could not withstand warfare on three fronts. With the war yet to end, the expenditure of silver each day was massive, and this did not even include the post-war compensatory silver. All the silver he had painstakingly saved over the years was gone.

Moreover, most of the Navy was in the south, guarding trade routes—Pinggang’s Navy truly could not withstand the joint forces of several nations.

The Emperor remained vigilant, ”Send the order down: patrols in the maritime area must not be relaxed.”

The Emperor was currently unable to continue maritime warfare. Still, he was not in a hurry. He would proceed cautiously and steadily. He remembered the recent probes.

In the mountain village, Rongchuan had completely relaxed. In the past two days, the Emperor’s personal soldiers had made contact with the leader of the dedicated warriors. Two thousand five hundred personal soldiers—that was half of the Emperor’s five thousand personal soldiers.

When the Retired Emperor abdicated, most of the personal soldiers were handed over to his brother, the Emperor, leaving only five thousand behind. The Retired Emperor dispatching half demonstrated his deep concerns.

The leader of the dedicated warriors also relaxed. With the personal soldiers of the Retired Emperor arriving, he no longer needed to find ways to reassign more men.

Xue Han, looking at the stationed personal soldiers, felt at ease, and the position of the baby in her womb became more stable, ”When do we set off?”

”We set off tomorrow. With my father’s personal soldiers as guards, as long as we are careful of assassinations, we can safely reach the capital.”

With the news brought by the personal soldiers, the Grassland Tribe was being repelled step by step. Dongbei had already expelled the invading tribes from the territory and was in hot pursuit. There should be no more assassins targeting him, yet he still had to be extremely cautious—the final thrust could be crazier. Better to be safe than sorry.

In Qiizhou city, the floodwaters of Qiizhou Province had receded, and refugees gradually left Prefecture City. Shizhou was the first to return to normal, followed by Qiizhou.

Chang Lian looked at the villagers clearing mud from the fields, ”This year’s grain harvest...”

The flood had passed, but the impact of the disaster had not ended; Qiizhou’s granaries were burned, and the relief grain was all borrowed. Now there was a severe shortage of grain.

The Magistrate, draped in a cloak, ”At present, the Imperial court doesn’t have spare grain for us either.”

Chang Lian sighed, ”Indeed, the war has not ended, and grain is in short supply.”

The Magistrate frowned. He had entertained the idea of asking Chang Lian to write to the Minister of Revenue, but as soon as the thought came, it was extinguished.