Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 1359: Thoughts

Chapter 1359: Chapter 1359: Thoughts

Zhulan gazed at the root of the lawsuit before her. Though her child is clever, he wouldn’t lie to his family. Ming Hui didn’t lie, so it must be true, no, Ming Jung hasn’t learned these yet, thus Ming Teng must have seen the answers.

Ming Jung’s chubby little hands fidgeted uneasily, and he shook his head silly, "Grandma, why are you looking at your grandson like this?"

Zhulan waved her hand, "Ming Jung, come here."

Ming Jung hesitated, moving his steps honestly though reluctantly, the little one dryly said: "I... I didn’t lie."

He remembered his grandma saying good children shouldn’t lie.

Zhulan grabbed the chubby little hand, addressing her son: "Repeat the question, let me hear how Ming Jung answered it."

Chang Zhong also came back to his senses, squinting his eyes. He spent the most time with Ming Hui, each understanding the other like foxes. Predominantly influenced by his preconceived notions, he believed Ming Hui was setting him up, now it seems not so.

Chang Zhong posed a question, still a middle one, then watched Ming Jung without blinking.

Ming Jung, still young but honestly answered.

Chang Zhong clenched his teeth, "Our Ming Jung is really incredible, being able to remember such a long verse."

Yu Yi turned her face just in time to suppress her laughter, Ming Jung had given himself away.

Ming Hui’s face hurt, especially hurting, he was still thinking how his little brother loved to eat just like their mother, and also resembled her, he must have inherited her personality too. Unexpectedly, he realized something wasn’t right, today’s question was handwritten and this little guy sometimes answered before he even read the question.

This little guy remembered all the characters he had taught, biting his teeth, "Indeed amazing, Ming Jung recognizes so many characters at such a young age!"

After all, he was the one who taught these characters, reading along with Ming Jung, not expecting his brother to recognize them all, but only hoping he could memorize more by listening more, unexpectedly so.

Ming Jung’s gaze became dull, chubby hands nowhere to place, foolishly looking at his uncle and third brother, "I... I am very dumb."

He really was dumb, secretly following to the kitchen, grabbing a knife and still managed to cut his own hand.

Zhulan couldn’t stop laughing, the personality of their own child was particularly interesting, she tapped on Ming Jung’s forehead, "Although young, you sure have a mind of your own, your parents certainly don’t know!"

Lady Li often said how much Ming Jung resembled her, saying she would dote on Ming Jung more, also mentioning that Ming Jung has several older brothers, so Ming Jung wouldn’t need to work so hard.

Ming Jung wanted to cry, his mother would surely flay him if she found out, both hands covering his little behind, his mother really spanked hard, it hurt so bad.

Du family, Mrs. Ma solemnly addressed her second daughter-in-law: "I am happy that you cherish your younger sister-in-law, but I can’t accept the dowry you provided."

Ning Ting came from the Ning family, with her father being Mr. Hou, her mother also from a major family, the dowry she brought into the marriage stretched for miles.

Ning Ting earnestly said, "Mother, it’s my heartfelt gesture, I have only this one younger sister-in-law."

Ning Ting also wanted her sister-in-law’s dowry to look more impressive; only she knew how ample her own dowry was.

After grandma passed away, grandpa distributed grandma’s dowry, yes, and also divided up the silver money grandma had saved over many years, she was shocked by how much silver her grandma had saved when she was looked after by her mother.

Grandma came from a small family, her dowry wasn’t much, but these years at the Duke’s residence accumulated to more than five or six times her original dowry, not yet counting the dowry filled for Du family.

Grandfather fell ill after dividing the dowry, and Mother didn’t keep any of it, half went to her and half to her sister; she knew Mother harbored resentment against Grandma and didn’t want to keep anything Grandma had saved.

Grandma’s dowry items were visibly brought into the Lau Jia family, while the other Silver Coins became her private stash and weren’t listed in the dowry inventory.

Mrs. Ma was shocked by her daughter-in-law’s dowry; just looking at the dowry made her feel intimidated by her daughter-in-law, not to mention that her daughter-in-law was from a noble family. Mrs. Ma always felt inadequate towards her second daughter-in-law, "Your intentions are clear to Mother, but Lau Jia’s dowry is already sufficient."

Mrs. Ma thought, if only the master hadn’t said that they couldn’t divide the family yet, she really would like to do so.

Ning Ting, having married into the family, understood her mother-in-law’s temperament better and was firm in her decisions, "Then I’ll take it back."

Mrs. Ma sighed, she wasn’t lying, her daughter’s dowry was enough; Ming Teng was a good man, the Zhou family was honorable, the bride price they had given was generous, and with what the bride should take back plus what they had prepared themselves, it was already more than enough.

Two days later, the roads to Zhangzhou finally cleared, and the convoy carrying supplies also arrived at Zhangzhou City, but the team stopped at the city gate and wouldn’t advance.

The Prefect of Zhangzhou had been very uneasy these days. Hearing the news that they weren’t entering the city, the Prefect of Zhangzhou’s eyelids twitched severely, "I have a bad feeling about this."

The Circuit Intendant also felt uneasy, "There’s nothing wrong with our disaster relief procedure."

The Prefect of Zhangzhou glanced at the Circuit Intendant, "Have you still not found out the identities of the people at the inn?"

The Circuit Intendant shook his head, "The heavy snow has slowed the spread of information these days. This group of people left the city a few days ago and have never left the inn since. We couldn’t even buy off any Servant; their lips are sealed."

The Prefect of Zhangzhou frowned, "I think it’s the Princely Heir of the Qi Prince Residence; haven’t there been talks these past two years that the Princely Heir from the Qi Prince Residence has been following Prince Qin? And judging by his age, it’s about right."

The Circuit Intendant thought the same.

Well, Zhou Shuren thought they would be exposed quickly, but to his surprise, they wrongly assumed it was Xu Chen instead. Since there is a Xu Chen following Prince Qin on missions, it’s indeed easy to mix up the information.

The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes, "Let them camp outside the city."

Now that it no longer snows, and with sturdy tents, camping outside would not be a problem; he needs to wait and see the actions of the Prefect of Zhangzhou.

The Crown Prince rubbed the written Zhezi; does he really think just watching them closely is enough? Are the court’s best really that good at guarding?

Zhou Shuren wasn’t as agitated as the Crown Prince. Given the ancient times’ inconvenient transportation and information, and with each state’s governance deeply rooted in major families, he had seen too much over the years; without thorough investigation, he could guess it all.

Zhou Shuren glanced at Mr. Yan, who had been subdued a bit since being disciplined, and now seemed unsure of how to interact properly with the Crown Prince. Zhou Shuren could understand; habits aren’t so easily changed, but staying silent now would disappoint the Emperor.

Zhou Shuren swept a glance at the guard stationed by the door, who was a confidant of the Emperor. When the Emperor was still Crown Prince, this guard was already following him closely, now serving as the Emperor’s eyes.

Zhou Shuren said, "Your Highness, do you want to personally oversee the disaster relief?"

The Crown Prince shook his head, "No, I’ll choose the right person to oversee it."

At his young age, he doesn’t need to build his reputation among the common folk through personal efforts; being the Crown Prince, what he needs to learn is how to wisely utilize talents.

A glint of satisfaction flickered in Zhou Shuren’s eyes. The Crown Prince, despite his young age, was steady and deeply aware of his role, which was excellent. The Crown Prince was focused on the bigger picture rather than chasing a bit of public favor and forgetting what it means to be a Crown Prince.

Seeing the almost imperceptible nod from Chief of Staff Zhou, the Crown Prince’s smile deepened. He rarely received compliments from Chief of Staff Zhou. He had few opportunities to be mentored by him over the years, but every visit for advice was enriching, not so much knowledge-wise but in terms of thought.