Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 1411: Water Drips Through Stone

Chapter 1411: Chapter 1411: Water Drips Through Stone

A few days later, Ming Rui’s letter arrived in the capital. Ming Rui wrote several letters, one for his grandparents, his parents, and his younger brothers and sisters.

Zhulan looked at the thick stack of letters, "Ming Rui is such a meticulous child."

He took care of everyone, not leaving anyone out.

Zhao touched the envelope, missing her son, "This child is like his father."

Zhulan smiled, "He is also like you."

He attends to everything carefully, which is good, but keeping everything on his mind is too tiring.

Unable to wait, Zhao took the letter to read, and Zhulan also opened Ming Rui’s letter, which was long. Ming Rui wrote about his insights from what he observed along the way, and seeing him teaching children to read made Zhulan smile.

That night, Chang Yi came home and read his son’s letter, then he took it to the main courtyard to find his father, "Father, have you read Ming Rui’s letter?"

Zhou Shuren, "Yes."

Chang Yi looked at his father, whose every word and deed influenced the entire Zhou family. Even Prince Qin, who grew up in the Zhou family, was deeply influenced by his father. The Imperial court’s promotions are in simple language, and those who don’t know the truth think it’s the idea of Prince Qin.

But it is not, he was very clear that Prince Qin was influenced by his father. Every time his brother-in-law came back, his father would talk to him, sometimes giving guidance, other times conveying his father’s thoughts.

It seemed that father did nothing, yet he influenced so much.

Zhou Shuren saw that Chang Yi was silent just watching him, raised an eyebrow and said, "That look in your eyes, as if I did something."

Chang Yi took a deep breath, "Father, why do you hope more people can read and write?"

Zhou Shuren hummed, finally getting serious, put down his teacup, "You are the first one in our family to notice."

Zhulan also glanced at Chang Yi, should she say he is the most delicately minded in the family?

Chang Yi was stunned, "Did your son actually guess right?"

Zhou Shuren didn’t answer his son’s question, but asked instead, "Providing children with books to read and giving more people opportunities thus changing the uni-dimensional selection of talents through examinations, what do you think about that?"

Chang Yi suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, feeling tingling in his scalp, and he didn’t quite know what to feel, his lips trembling, "Father, father, the noble families will not allow it."

Zhou Shuren touched his beard, "You are right, the noble families will not allow it, they have occupied the best resources generation after generation, they won’t step down from their benefits, it’s hard for children from poor scholars to rise, most of the talents in the Imperial court are from noble families, they would stop anything that harms their interests."

Chang Yi, "You know all this, why do you want to change it, and moreover the royal family."

Zhou Shuren continued his son’s unsaid words, "The royal family, for the stability of the royal power, has always controlled the thoughts of the people. Learning to read and understand matters will break the shackles, and the royal family will be afraid."

Chang Yi blinked his eyes, father knows everything, "Son doesn’t understand, father, you know we can’t oppose them, why then?"

Zhou Shuren was well aware, if the Zhou family really did something out of line, the royal family could obliterate the Zhou family in minutes, "I never thought about changing it personally."

How could he possibly stand against the entire royal dynasty alone? He was merely subtly influencing change; the words in promotional pamphlets accumulate over time and generations. As scholars increase with each generation, just wait for the persistent dripping to wear away the stone. He is laying the foundations, sooner or later it will take root and sprout, he wants to see a strong future, not some half-colonial humiliation history, if all this laying of foundations still results in a humiliating history, he could truly vomit to death.

He currently doesn’t have the power to directly change things, but he has the patience to gradually spread his ideas.

Chang Yi understood his father’s intentions, felt relieved, yet could not perceive his father’s true inner thoughts. At that moment, he felt he had never truly understood his father, feeling his father was so far away from him.

Zhulan waited until Chang Yi left, "This child is really sensitive."

"Indeed."

Zhou Shuren thought of the eldest and the fourth child at home, rubbed his forehead, the eldest calculated, the fourth told him to proceed step-by-step, and that’s precisely what he meant by step-by-step!

A few more days passed, and the young ladies who stayed in the palace finally left, having stayed for not a short duration.

At the same time, the Second Prince also determined his future Prince’s Consort, Miss Li, not from the Xue family.

After knowing this, Zhulan remarked, "The Emperor is indeed a good father, not heartless enough to depose a son."

The decree was issued, and the Liu family quieted down. Even if they felt discontented, they could only calm down for now.

The princesses from various tribes have been in the capital for many days, and when the tribes ran out of patience, the princess from the Yiqi Tribe entered the palace.

Zhou Shuren came back and whispered to Zhulan, "The Emperor’s move is clever."

Zhulan, curious, asked, "Why do you say that?"

Zhou Shuren explained, "The Yiqi Tribe is located in the middle of all the tribes and has been like a military advisor to the Grassland Tribes for several dynasties. The princess from the tribe that gives advice entering the palace, tsk tsk, how can the other tribes still trust the Yiqi Tribe?"

The Yiqi Tribe still acts as a military advisor; wouldn’t the other tribes be vigilant? Alright, even if this was calculated by the Yiqi Tribe, he wouldn’t believe that the Emperor only planned one move; the current Emperor likes to play consecutive moves.

Zhulan, "You had guessed it was the Yiqi Tribe, hadn’t you?"

Originally, for the Tana tribe, Zhou Shuren directly said it was hopeless.

Zhou Shuren stroking his beard, "Hmm."

The current Emperor is full of ambition. From the perspective of ambition, guessing is mostly correct.

Zhou Shuren sighed again, "It’s going to be a war."

Last time he saw the new cannon, the Emperor didn’t avoid him and directly issued a decree, only he knows where several batches of silver from the Ministry of Revenue have gone recently.

Zhulan, "I want to invite my elder and second brothers to come to the capital for the winter."

Zhou Shuren, "If you want them to come to the capital, write a letter now."

The Yang family, among the military noble families on the frontier, doesn’t rank high and won’t attract attention. However, if it were the Zheng family, it wouldn’t work; the movements of the Zheng family members are too conspicuous.

At present, the only notable person from the Yang family is Wu Chun, while Yang Wen hasn’t been on the frontier but instead joined the Navy, making the Yang family even less noticeable.

Zhulan acknowledged with a sound, "I don’t ask for Wu Chun to have military achievements, I just hope Wu Chun can be safe and sound."

Zhou Shuren comforting, "Don’t worry, perhaps neither Wu Chun nor Wu He will need to go to the battlefield!"

Two days later, the tribes left the capital one after another, with Ming Teng responsible for monitoring them, "Finally they’ve left."

Xu Chen, "Yes."

Ming Teng turned the horses around, "Let’s head back to the city."

Many people enter the capital daily; entering the capital city requires waiting in a long line, but Ming Teng and Xu Chen don’t need to queue by showing the Token to the city guards.

Xu Chen moved his ears, "I think I heard someone calling your name."

Ming Teng took back the Token and didn’t hurry away, listening carefully, "Hey, someone really is calling my name."

Xu Chen grew curious and followed the direction of the voice, only to see a carriage with a young master stretching half his body out of the window, vigorously waving both hands, Xu Chen, "..."

Ming Teng laughed, turning his horse around, "So it’s you, lad. Quite the lad you are, coming back to the capital and not even sending me a letter."

Ran Xun didn’t get off the carriage since it was almost his turn to enter the city, "I wanted to surprise you."

Ming Teng didn’t believe it; this young man wrote letters saying he would come back next year when he got married, "You couldn’t have escaped back here, could you!"

Ran Xun stiffened, "Certainly not."

Ming Teng felt he uncovered the truth, turning to Xu Chen, "You go back first."

Xu Chen nodded, "Alright, finally I can rest. I’ll head back to the Qi Prince Residence first."

After the Heir of Prince Qi left and it was Ran Xun’s turn to enter the city, once inside, Ming Teng dismounted and sat in the carriage, "Tell me, what trouble have you stirred up?"