Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 210 Unlucky_1

Chapter 210: Chapter 210 Unlucky_1

Zhulan looked at Elder Zhou, who nodded, "We were anxious to get home before the rain, so we rushed out of the city gates to catch up with the Zhang family’s ox cart. I glanced at Wang Ru, she was still unconscious but her complexion had improved a lot."

Lady Li sighed, "The neighbors really have bad luck, Wang Ru was already injured and then got caught in the rain. I hope she doesn’t come down with a high fever."

Zhulan looked at the increasingly heavy rain. It was already autumn, and each autumn rain brings a chill. Wang Ru’s luck was indeed poor; in ancient times, catching a cold could be fatal.

Lady Li saw her mother-in-law looking at the meat and chuckled, "Mom, the pig we slaughtered today was really fat, said to weigh two hundred and twenty pounds. Look at this fat, isn’t it plentiful? We’ll surely render a lot of oil from it."

Zhulan nodded, "It is indeed quite fat."

Their own pig raised this year wasn’t bad either, probably also reaching two hundred pounds!

Thinking of the hot pot meal for the evening, Lady Li energized, lifted the meat and said, "Mom, I’m going to render the lard now."

"Go ahead, and don’t forget to start boiling the bone broth; we can have a bowl of it for lunch."

Lady Li had already entered the kitchen, shouting back, "Got it, Mom."

Zhulan sat under the eaves continuing to sew clothes. The house was too dark on rainy days, and she didn’t want to light an oil lamp and strain her eyes. She could only sit where the light was sufficient.

After finishing a piece of clothing, there was a commotion next door, and she could faintly hear someone cautioning to avoid the rain. Wang Ru must have returned. Next door was in disarray, and she could even hear Wang Laosi’s voice. She didn’t believe for a second that Wang Laosi was genuinely concerned about Wang Ru. The fuss he made yesterday was all for silver, with no money tree and constantly dipping into his savings, Wang Laosi had considerably toned down lately!

Wang Laosi also wanted to make amends, but sadly, Wang Ru was not amenable. She even doubted whether Wang Laosi had deliberately angered Zhang to receive a slap.

The heavy rain didn’t last long and stopped by noon. When the rain ceased, a cool breeze began to blow, and it felt rather chilly. Zhulan’s house had a fire burning, and it was really comfortable to sleep on the warmed brick bed.

In the afternoon, Zhulan didn’t need to worry about anyone visiting; everyone knew about her habit of taking a rest after recovering from illness. No one came in the morning, so they surely wouldn’t come in the afternoon. Zhulan slept until she naturally awoke.

Lady Li, bursting with gossip, finally waited until her mother-in-law woke up, "Mom, Wang Ru called for the doctor again, she really developed a fever."

Mrs. Zhao joined in, "With such a severe injury, it’s hard to tell whether she can pull through."

Zhulan was not surprised by the fever; given Wang Ru’s condition, anyone would have succumbed to the rain, and asked, "Was it Dr. Lv who was called?"

In the excitement of watching from her own doorway, Lady Li nodded, "It was Dr. Lv."

Zhulan thought to herself that the Lv family patriarch must have personally come, "The Wang family must have given a lot of silver."

Lady Li, thrilled, said, "Mom, it wasn’t the Wang family who invited him; it was Master Shi who came. Master Shi sent someone to call for him, and Wang Ru woke up for a bit, crazily chased away Wang Da Ya. Wang Da Ya was driven out and already taken back home by Mrs. Sun."

Zhulan was astonished, "Only Wang Xin was chased away?"

Lady Li nodded, "I heard it all clearly standing at our doorstep. Wang Ru told Wang Da Ya to get lost. I don’t know what Wang Da Ya did, but Master Shi’s attendant escorted Wang Da Ya out, and even drove out Wang Laosi and his wife, but then Wang Ru fainted again!"

Zhulan hadn’t expected this; she had only slept for half an hour, and so much had happened, "Has Dr. Lv left?"

Zhulan had just finished speaking when Dr. Lv and his son entered the courtyard. Zhulan quickly rose to her feet, "Dr. Lv, are you heading back to the county? I’ll have my eldest son get the carriage ready right away."

Old Master Lv waved his hand, "We’re not going back to the city, we’ve come to stay for a while. I hope we’re not imposing too much, Scholar’s wife, but we’ll be troubling you for a few days."

He certainly had no intention of staying next door; a house full of crafty people was enough to give anyone a headache. Being old, all he wanted was peace and quiet.

Zhulan lowered her voice, "Is the situation next door not good?"

Old Master Lv didn’t hide it, "Indeed, it’s not good. High fever, I’ve given a strong medicine, everything depends on tonight."

Zhulan thought to herself that if Wang Ru had known this would happen, she certainly wouldn’t have taken the risk. In the end, it was Wang Ru’s folly for not understanding the situation before rashly taking action. Whatever happened today was of Wang Ru’s own making. "Dr. Lv, this way please. My grandson’s room will have to accommodate Dr. Lv for the next few days."

Old Master Lv said, "I’m the one who should be embarrassed, there’s no imposition at all."

Zhulan had new quilts at home. She first led the way to the room and instructed Lady Li to bring over the bedding for the two grandchildren to Chang Zhi’s room, where the two grandchildren would be staying for the next few days.

She then moved two sets of new bedding onto the kang bed and told Old Master Lv, "In a moment, I’ll have my eldest son come over to start the fire. There’s a well in the courtyard for water, which is convenient, and if you need to boil water, there are pots for that too. If you need anything else, just ask my eldest son."

Lv Lingzhi, Old Master Lv’s son, said, "Thank you for the trouble, Scholar’s wife."

Ever since Zhulan learned the name of Dr. Lv’s son, she had specially asked why his name was chosen as Lingzhi. The old man had said frankly that because Lingzhi was valuable, his grandson was even named Lv Ginseng. However, after the grandson grew up and strongly protested, he changed his name to Lv Renshen.

Zhulan sympathized with the younger generations of the Lv family. Laughing, she went out and had Zhou eldest brother prepare some tea to be sent over.

With the fire burning in Dr. Lv and his son’s room, Shi Qing’s young servant arrived at the door, carrying a box with a purse on top.

Zhou eldest brother was the one who greeted him. After sending the visitor off, Zhulan came out to inquire, "What did they say?"

Zhou eldest brother put down the box, "The box is a thank-you gift from Wang Ru, expressing gratitude for yesterday’s help. The purse contains the lodging and meal fees for Dr. Lv and his son."

Lady Li was so curious she couldn’t stand it, yet she didn’t dare to suggest opening it to see what gift had been sent. However, originally disliking Wang Ru for moving in next door, the gifts of gratitude from the past two days had smoothed things over in her mind.

Upon opening the purse, Zhulan found a five-tael silver ingot—a generous gesture indeed. With this amount of silver, one could live comfortably for a whole year!

Zhulan had intended to put the silver back into the purse for Zhao’s safekeeping. Noticing Lady Li eyeing the purse, Zhulan paused. Lady Li had a talent for cooking, but her embroidery was painful to look at, and she didn’t even know how to embroider. She had always admired embroidered purses and handkerchiefs, but couldn’t make them herself. Her own purses were always unattractive—it was clear she had taken a liking to this one. Zhulan handed the silver to Zhao, "Keep the silver safe."

Zhao had grown accustomed to managing the household finances, "I’ll account for it when I get back."

In the face of Lady Li’s disappointed look, Zhulan took the purse. She didn’t open the box and didn’t plan to show it to eldest or second son. Some things were better left unknown; the less they knew about the family’s wealth, the better she and Zhou Shuren could control the whole family’s direction.

Zhulan took the box back to her room, only opening it when she was alone. Inside were silver ingots, no wonder it was so heavy. There were four five-tael ingots, totaling twenty taels of silver. The gratitude gift was silver, which indicated that Shi Qing must have been in a hurry coming from Pingzhou, carrying only silver with him!

After putting away the silver, Zhulan reflected quietly. August had been a prosperous month for the Zhou family, as if the God of Wealth had entered their home, with silver seemingly sprouting legs and running towards the Zhou’s. In just a few days, a new business venture had emerged.

Lady Li knocked on the door, "Mother, may I come in?"