Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 178: Testing_1

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: Testing_1

Zhou Shuren shook his head, "Let Chang Lian and Rongchuan share a room, so that the vacated room can be used by Mingyun and Ming Teng."

Zhulan frowned, "Why did you put Chang Lian and Rongchuan together? Chang Lian doesn’t like Rongchuan. It would be better for Chang Zhi to share with Rongchuan; the two of them get along well."

Zhou Shuren explained, "It’s precisely because Chang Lian doesn’t like him that I’ve had them room together; it will help to temper Chang Lian’s character."

Zhulan realized that, while Chang Lian’s temperament had apparently improved, it was mostly an act. Rongchuan, the boy who was making good progress in his studies and had a good temperament, would make it easier for Chang Lian to identify his own issues.

As for Mingyun and Ming Teng sharing a room, Mingyun was capable of keeping Ming Teng in line. Indeed, the youngster Ming Teng was much too rambunctious.

The next day, when Zhulan got up, Lady Li had already returned from buying meat. Lady Li was preparing breakfast, and Zhulan checked over the meat; it was quite fatty, "The pig slaughtered today wasn’t small, eh!"

Lady Li was delighted, "This pig was over two hundred pounds. We haven’t had a fatty pig like this in a long time, and opportunities like this are rare. I used the leftover Silver Coin from the meat purchase to buy some lard as well. After breakfast, I’ll render the lard into pork fat."

Zhulan was pleased with Lady Li’s change; Lady Li was developing her own judgement, not wasting the diligent guidance she had received. She spoke to Lady Zhao, who was washing vegetables, "Tomorrow, Mrs. Dong will bring her daughter to visit. After breakfast, we mother and daughter will clean the house together, so that visitors won’t find our home a laughing stock."

She then turned to Lady Li, "Prepare all the meat you bought in brine, ready for tomorrow’s use."

Lady Li finally understood who the guest would be; wasn’t Mrs. Dong the County magistrate’s wife? Her heart tensed, "Mother, don’t worry, I will make sure the meat is well braised so that our family will make a good impression."

Lady Li was still very confident in her cooking skills.

Zhulan smiled. Lady Li loved to be praised; her vanity was strong, and the more she was praised, the harder she tried, "I trust in your cooking skills."

Lady Li stood tall and proud, looking at her sister-in-law with satisfaction. Look, when guests visited, she was the one who brought honor and pride to the family!

Lady Zhao understood her sister-in-law’s intentions and rolled her eyes. She would rather not show her face in front of outsiders. She truly felt no envy nor jealousy!

Lady Li saw the eye-roll from her sister-in-law, her eyes widening with disbelief. Was this the same sister-in-law who usually kept her head lowered? She suddenly felt hurt, as if everyone in the house had two faces, while she herself maintained the same one from beginning to end!

Zhulan watched Lady Li, who was clearly feeling upset, and felt an inexplicable urge to laugh at the somewhat adorable situation.

After breakfast, besides those who went to the school, Zhulan directed the remaining family members to clean. The eldest and second eldest were assigned the courtyard, Chang Zhi and Chang Lian’s room was Zhulan’s responsibility, Rongchuan’s room was left to Xue Han, and Lady Zhao, along with Yushuang, was to clean their own room and the main hall.

As for the master bedroom, Lady Li would clean it herself after brining the meat.

The Zhou family’s major cleanup did not attract the attention of the village women. They all knew that Zhulan liked cleanliness, and it was normal for the Zhou family to clean thoroughly every so often.

It wasn’t until Lady Donglin arrived in a carriage that the villagers learned the Zhou family’s cleanup was due to having guests.

Zhulan’s family changed into clean clothes, and the children refrained from running about. Zhulan, accompanied by her daughters-in-law and daughter, welcomed the guests at the entrance. When Donglin stepped off the carriage, Zhulan approached with a smile, "Sister-in-law, please come this way."

Donglin smiled and reached out her hand to pull Zhulan along, apologizing, "I suddenly wanted to take a walk in the countryside, and I thought of you, sister-in-law. It’s really not good to trouble you like this unexpectedly."

"Don’t say that, sister-in-law. Your visit makes me very happy. You are welcome at any time."

The group entered the main hall, where Zhulan and Donglin took their seats. Zhulan pointed out Lady Li and Lady Zhao, "These are my two daughters-in-law: the heavier one is Lady Li, who has excellent culinary skills—I had her cook today to show off for you; the thinner one is my second daughter-in-law, who is a bit shy but skilled with needlework."

Remembering her mother-in-law’s instructions, Lady Li curtseyed, "Madam, nice to meet you, I am Lady Li."

Lady Zhao followed with a curtsey, "Madam, nice to meet you, I am Lady Zhao."

Donglin studied them closely; she had seen many people and could tell a lot even from those who were pretending. Lady Li did not dare to meet her eyes, standing up straight but inwardly timid, while the second daughter-in-law kept her head low, not truly timid at all. Overall, these two were far superior to the average rural women. Considering that her own relatives would be either afraid or obsequiously flattering upon meeting her, Donglin found these two quite acceptable.

After her scrutiny, Donglin smiled and took the prepared gifts from the maid’s hands, "Not knowing what each of you would like for our first meeting, I brought over two hairpins."

As she said this, she opened the box, which held two gemstone-encrusted hairpins.

Zhulan played with the tips of her fingers. The gifts from Donglin were somewhat extravagant, a test for her daughters-in-law it seemed, but unfortunately, both daughters-in-law already had gemstone-encrusted hairpins.

Only after seeing her mother’s nod did Lady Li and Lady Zhao step forward, their eyes clear. They curtseyed together and said, "Thank you, Mrs. Dong, for your gifts. We like them very much."

Donglin watched Lady Li’s eyes, detecting no greed, only a fleeting look of surprise that quickly faded. Donglin’s smile grew warmer, "Drop the formalities. If your mother calls me sister-in-law, then you should call me auntie; it feels more intimate."