Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 1363: Faith

Chapter 1363: Chapter 1363: Faith

The twins returned to the Zhou residence, estimating that their sisters must be accompanying their grandmother, so the two brothers made a beeline for the main court at a brisk pace.

Zhulan was telling stories to her granddaughters, initially just to her granddaughters, but when Lady Li and others came over to listen, they stayed on as well. This time, Zhulan was telling positive and uplifting short stories, and by expanding on the many idiomatic tales, they turned into rather good stories.

The twins interrupted the storytelling as they entered, and Zhulan, feeling tired from speaking, sipped her tea, "That’s all for today’s stories."

Yu Die and the others showed expressions of not having had enough, and even Lady Li and the rest wanted to continue listening.

Zhulan cleared her throat and asked, "I heard from your second aunt that you went out with Mr. Liuer. Did you come back a bit too early?"

After greeting one by one, Jiang Ping plopped down into a chair, "Grandma, Mr. Liuer is even stingier than Uncle described."

Jiang An nodded, "We only ordered a pot of tea, just one pot of tea without any snacks. That tiny pot split between three people made the tea taste like nothing. It’s already impressive we tolerated it until now."

Fortunately, Mr. Liu still cared about his face and didn’t order the cheapest tea, or else, they would have returned even earlier.

Zhulan laughed, "This Liu family is quite interesting."

Jiang Ping fell silent, "Looking at his pained expression when spending money is indeed quite amusing."

Lady Zhao couldn’t help but laugh, covering her mouth with a handkerchief. The husband had already declined, yet the Liu family was still not giving up.

Lady Li blinked her eyes, "Is the Liu family having a hard time making ends meet?"

Zhulan shook her head, "The Liu family is very wealthy. I heard from Chang Yi that even when the Liu family’s ancestors were just ordinary folk, during years of consecutive disasters, famine, and drought, they set a family rule to be frugal. Gradually some became somewhat stingy."

How to put it with the Liu family? Well, as long as you don’t talk about money they’re friends, but once money comes into the conversation it’s embarrassing. The Liu family would rather have no friends, which is a level of its own.

The twins widened their eyes, and Jiang An said: "They aren’t just somewhat stingy, they’re extremely stingy."

Zhulan said with a smile, "Only a few are very stingy, the others are still reasonably normal."

Yu Die blinked, "When someone is so stingy, what happens if they find a wife who spends money freely?"

Like her, she spends money lavishly, and every time she goes shopping, she comes back with bags big and small, not a silver to spare to bring back!

Lady Zhao laughed, indeed, Liu family’s persistence would be worn down just by her daughter’s spending ability.

Zhulan looked at Yu Die, "Who knows about that!"

The next day, outside the gates of Zhangzhou City, the Deputy Magistrate looked at the additional stalls erected and marveled at the Crown Prince’s thoughtfulness, a few words had bought so many cotton clothes.

As the Deputy Magistrate passed by, he could visibly see the girls in the stalls’ disappointed expressions, thinking to himself, if it weren’t for the Crown Prince’s intent to attract more stalls, he would have set off for the capital tomorrow. But now, with non-monetary supplies available, the Crown Prince decided to stay a few more days.

Zhou Shuren and the Crown Prince left Zhangzhou City to visit nearby villages.

They didn’t just look nearby but went further away. The collapsed houses in the nearby villages had been cleared, while those in the distant villages had yet to be dealt with. The villagers had all run to the Prefecture City, leaving only a few families in the village, making it especially silent. If not for the rising smoke, one would think it was a deserted village.

The Crown Prince stepped out of the carriage and followed a worn path into the village, "Houses are very important to the common people."

Zhou Shuren, "Yes, houses are one of the most important possessions."

The Crown Prince lamented, "For the common people to rebuild their homes on their own would require a substantial amount of silver."

"Your Highness could ask the villagers."

So don’t rely on your own thoughts that it would take a lot of silver; even if the Crown Prince lowers his standards, it is still unattainable for the common people.

"Uncle Grandfather is right."

Mr. Yan glanced sideways when he heard the honorific; he had actually overlooked that Zhou Shuren was related to the Royal family.

The Crown Prince didn’t continue to speak. They arrived at a household that was burning a fire in preparation for cooking. The door was tightly closed; heavy snow sealed the mountains, and the hungry beasts would come down from the mountains.

On their way here, they had seen traces of wolves on the road, but there were too many of them for the wolves to dare show themselves, as the wolves are very clever.

The guard called out several times. There was silence inside the house for a while before a man with a heavily bent back came out. Seeing Zhou Shuren and the others, fear filled his eyes, and he trembled as he asked, "What business does the government officer have with someone as humble as myself?"

Zhou Shuren remained silent. If he hadn’t embarked on the path of the imperial examinations when he first came to ancient times, he would have been particularly cautious in the face of a government officer.

The Crown Prince stepped forward, "Don’t be afraid, we are government officers from the Prefecture City. We are here today to inspect the disaster situation. We would like to inquire about some news from you, our fellow villager."

The man sensed their goodwill. Being someone who seldom interacted with government officers and nerves on edge, he slightly relaxed, not daring to offend anyone, and slowly opened the door, "It’s... it’s cold outside, I’ll go boil some hot water to warm up a bit."

The Crown Prince stopped him, "Fellow villager, no need to rush; we’ll just ask a few questions and be on our way."

The man said, "Then, please, come into the house and sit."

In the dimly lit, low adobe house, which was not used to the brightness brought by glass windows, the Crown Prince felt somewhat uncomfortable.

He had toured around the areas near the capital, but he had never entered a farmer’s house before. This was his first time.

The Crown Prince looked around the room with its mended table and chairs—out of five chairs, three had been repaired. After a moment, the man brought in hot water, serving it in a few bowls which were likely the only intact ones in the household.

The man said nervously, "We have nothing good to offer at home, only hot water."

Tea was not something their kind of household could afford to buy, and even if they could afford it, they wouldn’t buy it. The Silver Coin that could be used to buy tea would be better spent on more food.

The Crown Prince gestured for the villager to sit down, "Fellow villager, don’t trouble yourself, we’re not cold."

The man dared not sit. "No, no, I’m used to standing. You can just ask directly, Your Highness, anything you wish to know."

Zhou Shuren was sitting on a chair, considering that poverty alleviation in modern times had to be approached slowly, not to mention in ancient times, where it was incredibly challenging. Zhangzhou was indeed poor, but not the poorest. He knew very well the tax revenues from the various provinces.

Though this household’s belongings were worn, the scent of cooking suggested they had some savings; otherwise, they wouldn’t have stayed in the village and instead would have fled as refugees.

Despite shivering with cold, the man still had worn cotton clothes to wear.

In the truly impoverished provinces, it was not an exaggeration to say that a family could hardly have a single warm cotton garment, let alone enough food to eat. If you can’t solve the issue of hunger, there’s no point talking about clothing, and there were countless foolish and backward customs.

He had thought about poverty alleviation, but his thoughts halted there. Zhangzhou Province had moved some disaster relief Silver, but he didn’t dare touch the rest. That was because it was close to the capital,

As for the distant provinces far from the capital, where the Silver was peeled away layer by layer during delivery, a conscientious official could leave a bit more for the people. As for the unscrupulous ones, well...

The Crown Prince finished his inquiries and signaled the guards to move some food and two cotton garments from the carriage down to the village where every left-behind farming household could have some.

The man was stunned at the sight of the food and cotton clothes; by the time he recovered, the carriage had already left, and he then knelt down in excitement.

Watching this, the Crown Prince felt a mix of emotions, "The plight of the people is hard."

Zhou Shuren uttered a sound of agreement, "But I believe that the days ahead will get better and better."

The Crown Prince’s eyes twinkled with hope, "Hmm."

Zhou Shuren’s smile deepened; the purpose of this trip was fully accomplished.