Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 1416: Cautious and Careful

Chapter 1416: Chapter 1416: Cautious and Careful

In the mountains of Huizhou, Ming Rui was holding a dead snake with one hand, a not-so-small snake weighing around two jins, which should be enough to satisfy some hunger.

Shangguan Liu’s fingers trembled, "You, you’re not thinking of eating it, are you!"

Ming Rui, "Hmm."

Shangguan Liu felt goosebumps all over, "No, I won’t eat it."

He would rather starve than eat it.

Ming Rui rolled his eyes; he also wanted to hunt rabbits or wild chickens, but unfortunately, he wasn’t a hunter and didn’t have arrows in hand, so he didn’t catch anything except for the snake that came to him.

Ming Rui ignored Shangguan Liu; he had to fill his stomach.

Shangguan Liu, "Are you going to eat it raw?"

Ming Rui, "!!"

That’s a good question; he didn’t have any matches, and it was lucky that his pouch hadn’t been lost while hanging from his waist, and who knew if an assassin might detect the smoke and track him down.

Ming Rui reluctantly buried the snake; it was no longer an edible option.

Shangguan Liu let out a breath, then his stomach growled loudly; he took out a sour fruit, the most unpalatable fruit he had ever eaten in his life.

After washing his hands, Ming Rui also picked up the fruit to nibble. It was unbearably sour, and after one, he couldn’t bring himself to take another bite, "Tomorrow we will follow the path down the mountain."

He had carefully observed the traces of someone passing through the underbrush, which indicated people had come into the mountains to hunt. As long as they found a village... But they must be cautious upon finding one, in case someone harbored ill intentions toward their wealth.

As Ming Rui was thinking about hiding his pouch tomorrow, he heard snoring sounds, "!!"

Great, he was on his own to keep watch tonight; he couldn’t trust Shangguan Liu to do the job!

The next day, after the early morning court session, Zhou Shuren didn’t give a single look to the Minister of Works, swiftly departing.

Li Zhao was puzzled and asked, "What did you do to upset Zhou Shuren?"

The Minister of Works touched his nose, "I simply mentioned my grandson to him."

Li Zhao gave the Minister of Works a couple of disdainful chuckles before quickly following Zhou Shuren.

As the Minister of Rites was well-informed about the affairs of the Ministry of Rites, he naturally knew that the Liu family wanted to establish a marriage alliance with the Zhou family. The Liu family wasn’t afraid of being scrutinized by the Zhou family, but for the family of the Minister of Works, "Heh."

The Minister of Works, "..."

This was pure disdain for his family’s backyard!

Li Zhao caught up and said, "The Minister of Works is irresponsible."

If it were a matter of official business and he wasn’t muddleheaded, the Emperor would have replaced him long ago.

Zhou Shuren, "I know."

He wasn’t genuinely angry, he just didn’t want to listen, that’s all.

Li Zhao tentatively said, "Actually, I have a good candidate in mind."

Zhou Shuren glanced sidelong; Li Zhao was dependable, "Oh?"

Li Zhao, "It’s not a noble family from the capital."

Zhou Shuren interrupted Li Zhao upon hearing this, "Then forget it."

Noble families from the provinces? He wouldn’t marry off his granddaughter to them. He wouldn’t even feel at ease with her under his own watchful eye, let alone send her off to a distant land.

Safe under his protection in the capital, everyone would have to think twice. But marry to a foreign land? Ha, if his granddaughter faced grievances and became isolated, it would be difficult even to seek help if she ended up trapped in the back house.

He had often heard his wife talk about the gossips of the capital; there were cases of married women dying under mysterious circumstances, only to discover the truth upon investigation.

He always remembered this; how could he choose such a distant family for his granddaughter?

In this life, he couldn’t leave the capital, and his granddaughter’s in-laws would be chosen from the capital. Even if his granddaughter later followed her husband to take office away from the capital, he wouldn’t worry—with anyone daring to bully his granddaughter, it’s easy for a monk to run away, but the temple remains.

Li Zhao, "There are good ones among the noble families of each state as well."

Zhou Shuren waved his hand, "Not listening."

Li Zhao, "..."

Fine, the Zhou family’s young ladies have no troubles finding marriage prospects. Even with the Zhou family’s stringent conditions, there’s no shortage of suitors. He also believed that the women of the Zhou family bring prosperity to their husbands, but of course, he believes even more in the flourishing fate of the Zhou family.

At the Ministry of Rites, Sir Liu was thrilled upon hearing Zhou Changyi’s words, "I was wondering why magpies were circling me this morning. What do you think about having the matchmaker visit in half a month’s time?"

Zhou Changyi, "..."

He had just expressed his interest. Shouldn’t there be several back-and-forth exchanges as part of the normal process?

Sir Liu felt he truly was the best father in the world, having worried himself sick for his second son, who was finally about to be engaged—or rather, about to set a marriage agreement.

Chang Yi couldn’t be bothered with Sir Liu and turned to leave.

Coming back to his senses, Sir Liu said, "Your silence means consent. I will have someone inform the missus right away so we can summon the matchmaker."

Chang Yi stumbled, "!!"

In Huizhou, the Crown Prince glared at the captured assassin, "Repeat what you just said."

The poison hidden in the assassin’s teeth had been removed, and any chance of biting his tongue and committing suicide was gone. With few teeth left after being knocked out, the assassin spoke with a mouth full of blood, "They’re dead, I killed them all, haha, fed them to the wolves."

Spitting out blood, the assassin thought about how many of them had died in pursuit of the decoy Crown Prince. He hated the decoy who lured them away. With wolf packs in the woods, he didn’t believe they could still be alive.

The Crown Prince looked at the assassin with disgust, "Don’t let him die."

Prince Qi and the others stepped down, "The assassin’s words cannot be trusted."

The Crown Prince said, "My inquiry was not to confirm the news, but to ascertain the hatred in the assassin’s eyes."

Trained assassins can conceal a lot, but a person’s eyes reveal many emotions. The more regret an assassin shows, the more it indicates that Shangguan Liu and the others haven’t been captured.

Prince Qi nodded in satisfaction. After having experienced assassination attempts, the Crown Prince had truly matured, "The young servant of the Zhou family said that Zhou Mingrui has practiced martial arts since childhood. The odds of their survival are quite high."

The Crown Prince ordered, "Continue the search. I need to provide an explanation to the Shangguan and Zhou families."

Dead or alive, he needed to bring back their bodies.

In the afternoon, Zhou Mingrui and company finally emerged from the mountains. Upon seeing the farmland, Shangguan Liu felt like crying tears of joy, "We finally made it out. I’m so hungry—let’s go find something to eat."

Ming Rui slid the dagger into his trouser leg and took off his shoes to hide the silver notes around his ankle, dismissing the idea of hiding them in his shoes since they were soaked with sweat.

To prevent damage to the silver notes, he cut a piece of his clothing to wrap them up, hiding the Silver and melon seeds in a tree, keeping only some broken silver at hand.

Shangguan Liu watched in astonishment, "What are you doing?"

After ensuring that no traces were left, Ming Rui explained, "Just in case. This place is a remote village. Grandma and father told me that one must always be cautious of others when outside, especially in remote areas."

Shangguan Liu fell silent, accustomed to being high above others. Even if he needed to be cautious, it was against schemes of those on the same level—his guard against people of lesser status tended to lax, "You’ve taught me a lot."

Ming Rui touched his waist, feeling a sense of loss. The Jade Pendant was his favorite; it was a birthday gift from his grandmother, "Let’s go."

In the capital, upon receiving the news, the Liu family naturally sent someone to inform Lady Gu, who excitedly shared it with her son.

Liu Yuanbo clenched his fist, then touched his purse and said to his mother, "I still have things to buy. I’m going to the market."

Lady Gu, "Son, have you stopped being stingy and started spending Silver willingly?"

Isn’t this change a bit too abrupt?

Holding the purse, Liu Yuanbo still felt the pinch, "Aren’t we not yet officially engaged?"

Seeing her son’s action of touching the purse, Lady Gu was speechless, "Go on then."

Meanwhile, at the Zhou residence, Yu Die and her future sister-in-law Lin Qing had an appointment. Yu Die was accompanying Lin Qing to replace her guqin strings today.