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

Chapter 1709: Chapter 1709: Surprise

On the second day of Chang Xhong’s engagement, Zhulan received the news that this morning, the old lady of the Luo family left the capital with Ji Rong. It is said that the old lady took a lot of luggage, with as many as ten carriages for transporting things.

Zhulan said to her daughters-in-law, “The old lady of the Luo family deliberately chose to leave today.”

Zhao joined in, “This old lady has gone to great lengths for Ji Rong, I just hope Ms. Ji doesn’t disappoint her.”

Su Xuan said, “The old lady of the Luo family is such an insightful person, if Ms. Ji can learn even a fifth of that, she would have a smooth life.”

Zhulan didn’t want to continue talking about Ji Rong, so she turned to her daughters-in-law, “Aren’t you busy?”

Lady Li and the others exchanged glances, and Lady Li spoke, “We haven’t chatted with you for a while, and today we just thought to come together.”

This time the youngest brother was engaged, and they realized they were the last to know. It made them realize they hadn’t spent much time with their mother-in-law, so they all came today.

Zhulan really didn’t need the company of her daughters-in-law, “If you have things to do, go attend to them.”

Lady Li and the others shook their heads, “Nothing important.”

Zhulan pointed to the register on the table, “You’re not busy, but I am!”

For her son’s engagement, she had accumulated quite a few tasks. Now that the engagement was settled, she needed to attend to matters at the academy and write articles for the newspaper.

Speaking of articles, Zhulan had to feel proud. She had been commissioned by the newspaper for articles, and it was said that many students co-signed a request for her to write more articles!

As soon as Lady Li and the others heard this, Lady Li stood up with a smile, “Mother, then we will go back first.”

Zhulan said, “Go ahead.”

At noon, Ming Hui came to the main courtyard, and Zhulan looked at his attire, “You just came back from outside?”

Ming Hui said, “Grandmother, do you remember Miss Shao?”

“I remember, I heard from the Female Officer that she completed her task well and already qualified for a permanent position. Why did you mention her?”

Ming Hui sat next to his grandmother, “She’s quite impressive. Four girls from her village have enrolled in school recently.”

Zhulan really didn’t know this, as the past few days were focused on Chang Xhong’s engagement, “Is that so?”

“She went from household to household persuading them and was even scolded for it. Any other girl would have cried by now, but she continued persuading even after being scolded.”

Zhulan felt a stir in her heart. Miss Shao being verbally abused affected her reputation in the village, and her actions could impact her future marriage prospects. Persuading girls to enroll wasn’t even a task Zhulan had assigned her!

Ming Hui fanned his grandmother, “Aren’t you curious about the ages of the four enrolled girls?”

“You seem to know a lot.”

Ming Hui directly gave the answer, “One of them is already married with children, the eldest being five years old. Another is about to get engaged, and the last two are eight years old.”

Zhulan asked, “Married?”

“Yes, married.”

Zhulan was excited; this was a breakthrough, “Good, good, Miss Shao is impressive.”

Ming Hui said, “Grandmother, Miss Shao has endured a lot. How much do you think her salary should be upon her regularization?”

Zhulan was joyous, “One silver tael.”

One silver tael was quite a sum, all because of Miss Shao’s efforts persuading girls to enroll; otherwise, it would have been the normal 800 coins.

Zhulan realized something was off, “Don’t you think you pay a little too much attention to this girl?”

Ming Hui replied, “Grandson just thinks Miss Shao is very clever.”

Well, she’s bold, has ideas, and is very resilient.

Zhulan asked, “Your uncle is engaged now, you’re not young anymore either. Do you want to?”

“No rush, I’m still young, it won’t be too late to wait a few more years.”

Zhulan said, “… fine.”

She realized that besides Ming Yun, she seemed to worry less about the rest; each had very firm ideas of their own.

Ming Hui left his grandmother’s side and sat by the ice basin, “The weather is too hot, it hasn’t rained for over half a month.”

Zhulan said, “You are sweating profusely, stay away from the ice basin.”

“Grandson is physically strong.”

Zhulan said, “There have already been signs of drought near the capital.”

If there was a drought this year, the academy they had started would be affected, and the livelihood of the common people relying on the weather for food would be the hardest hit.

Ming Hui stood up, “Grandmother, I’m going back to wash up.”

He was soaked in sweat and couldn’t bear it anymore.

After Ming Hui left, Zhulan said to Qing Xue, “Inquire about Ming Hui lately, forget it, the boy has his own plans, I won’t interfere.”

However, she planned to meet Miss Shao tomorrow; this young lady had given her many surprises.

In the afternoon, Zhou Shuren returned to the residence and didn’t change from his official robes before going to bathe. After the bath, he finally felt alive, “Comfortable.”

“Stay away from the ice basin.”

Zhou Shuren stepped back a few paces, “Today, I was banging desks all day with the Minister of Works. The old guy is too greedy.”

Zhulan chuckled, “It’s human nature; the Ministry of Works provides the technology, of course, they want the lion’s share of the patent silver.”

“Pff, the Ministry of Works can’t improve technology without the silver from the Ministry of Revenue, now they want the major share? No way.”

Zhulan handed a tea to Zhou Shuren to quell his fire, “Did you argue till you got results today?”

Zhou Shuren’s face twisted, “Shamelessly unreasonable.”

Zhulan laughed, “Seems like the Minister of Works doesn’t want to continue extracting silver from you.”

Zhou Shuren snorted heavily, “They better not need any more silver from the Ministry of Revenue!”

Zhulan gave Qing Xue a look, and Qing Xue withdrew, “Alright, let’s have cold noodles for dinner to cool off.”

Zhou Shuren didn’t have much anger left. He didn’t expect to finish negotiations in one day. Today, neither side gave in; tomorrow, they would test the waters again, “It’s really hot.”

Zhulan, a chubby old woman, couldn’t stand the heat, “Yes, it is.”

Zhou Shuren added, “The Retired Emperor had a heatstroke a few days ago; I wonder how he’s doing now.”

Zhulan was surprised, “You don’t know either?”

“Haven’t heard the Emperor mention it.”

Lately, the Emperor didn’t look well, unsure if it was due to bickering and annoyance or worrying about the Retired Emperor, who was no longer young.

Zhulan said, “The last time was so dangerous, yet he pulled through. This time it’s just heatstroke.”

Zhou Shuren didn’t want to dwell on it, waiting for the cold noodles, although he couldn’t eat much at night, as eating too cold would upset the stomach.

Before going to sleep, a strong wind blew from outside, and Zhulan lost her sleepiness, “Why is the wind so strong?”

Zhou Shuren frowned; the howling wind sounded quite frightening.

Both of them lost their sleepiness as strong winds blew for a while, even hearing the sound of roof tiles being swept away, and after the wind stopped, they heard thunder.

Zhou Shuren said, “Is it going to rain?”

“Thank heavens, it finally rained.”

Zhou Shuren was even more sleepless, waiting quietly, not knowing how long, until hearing the sound of rain falling, “It’s raining, the crops in the capital won’t continue to decrease in yield.”

Lately, with no rain, many crops in the fields had withered, and what Zhou Shuren feared most was a reduction in grain yield, as food was too important.

Accompanied by the sound of rain, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren gradually fell asleep, even as the heavy rain continued into the morning.

Upon waking, Zhou Shuren saw he didn’t have to attend the morning assembly, standing at the door watching the water accumulating in the courtyard; with it raining this much, he began to worry about excessive rainfall.

Luckily, the capital’s drainage had been consistently maintained, and the drainage system was good, yes, the annual investment in infrastructure silver was indeed valuable.