Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 232 Flawless Calculation_1

Chapter 232: Chapter 232 Flawless Calculation_1

Zhulan truly hadn’t expected Lady Li’s alcohol tolerance to be so low. She’d drunk alcohol before, yes, before she had only had one cup, but today, Lady Li drank two cups. At first, Zhulan didn’t realize that Lady Li was drunk because Lady Li was too good at pretending, her face not red as she continued eating her food. It was not until Zhulan herself had finished three cups that Lady Li, belatedly realizing her own cup was empty, reached out for the wine.

While grabbing the wine cup, she giggled foolishly, "Eh, why are there two mothers-in-law? Scared me to death, how come there’s three now? One mother-in-law is scary enough, why are there three?"

Zhulan, "....."

Anyone who didn’t know better would think she had done something to Lady Li! And what about the promise to like her the best? Ha, even the mouth of a fool like Hanhan couldn’t be trusted—it was all lies to deceive her!

Lady Li chuckled naively, "Mother-in-law, don’t move, stay put, just sit there."

The saying ’alcohol emboldens the meek’ was made for Lady Li. Look at how formidable she’s become.

Zhou Shuren watched expressionlessly as Elder Zhou, who had drunk quite a bit, suddenly sobered up once his wife spoke up. As soon as Dad looked at him, all traces of drunkenness vanished. He hurriedly stood up and went to his wife’s side, "You’ve had too much to drink, I’ll take you back."

Lady Li waved her hand, which, given she was already quite forceful, caused Elder Zhou to stagger. Lady Li laughed naively, "Head of the household, why are you swaying? The head of the household must be very happy too, saying he’d never agree to divide the household. Indeed, we can’t divide, it’s best to stay with Dad and Mom, no worries, eating well, living well, enjoying the good life."

Elder Zhou, "....."

Before, he never knew that his wife would speak the truth when she was drunk. He could feel the gazes of his brothers on him now. This time it was his own little schemes, not his wife’s!

Zhulan sipped her wine, never expecting that there would be a show during the meal. As for Elder Zhou’s little schemes, she and Zhou Shuren wouldn’t take them to heart. It’s normal to have schemes, and one would truly be a fool not to.

Elder Zhou really feared his wife would blurt out something else. A sudden urgency overtook him, and he pulled Lady Li out of the main hall, quickly covering her mouth as soon as they were outside. Alas, he was truly frightened today, a few more times like this might shorten his life.

Seeing that no one was eating anymore, Zhulan spoke up, "What are you all thinking about? Are you all full?"

Of course, they weren’t full. The dishes on the table were barely touched; they had just been rushing to drink and were not eager to eat. Everyone snapped back to reality and began picking up their chopsticks to eat.

Elder Zhou’s Second Brother didn’t think Elder Zhou had any serious schemes. His own mind wasn’t any less busy. His thoughts were the same as his older brother’s: absolutely refusing to separate the family. He saw things even more clearly; Dad and the third and youngest brother were on the path of imperial examinations, and there was no telling how high their future might rise, certainly higher than what he and the elder brother, who lacked the talent for learning, could achieve. If the family were to be divided in the future, they could only rely on their sons, and catching up to their third and youngest brother would be years in the making.

Therefore, the family absolutely must not separate, and he must stick with Dad.

Chang Lian, for his part, had a general direction in mind and no longer fixated on the household affairs, having shifted his focus outward. Gazing at the little man that was Mingyun, he thought how pitiable the boy was; in the future, the main branch would depend on him. Not only would he have to look after Dad and Mom, but also care for his troublemaking younger brother. He patted Mingyun on the shoulder, "You have it tough."

Mingyun, "...."

He didn’t feel it was tough at all. With Grandpa and Grandma in charge, he only needed to keep an eye on his younger brother. As for the future, by that time he would be grown up with greater abilities and it would be even less of a burden. So, he really didn’t understand why his Uncle Chang Lian said it was tough!

Lunch took longer than usual, so they decided not to bother with dinner.

The next morning, after they had gotten up, Zhulan asked her daughters-in-law to pack up their belongings in each room, to get ready to move them out in a couple of days.

Just as Zhulan finished packing up her clothes, Lady Zheng and Lady Zhou arrived.

Lady Zhou was envious in her heart, wishing she too could live in a big mansion. Suppressing her envy, she said, "I heard you were moving, and I came over to see if there’s any way I could help."

Zhulan had already packed up the clothes, and the kang was tidy, "We won’t be moving until six days later, so we can pack up slowly. Aunt and sister-in-law, please take a seat."

Lady Li didn’t know why the mansion was only sold for one hundred silver taels, but her father must have had his reasons for setting the price, which made her feel even closer to the Yang family. Her father was accurate in his judgments of people, and she trusted him. She reached out and touched the bracelet on her wrist, a precious remembrance of her deceased parents, who left her quite a bit of gold and silver jewelry. She knew that it would be difficult for her to see such days again in the future.

Lady Li said with a smile, "I never imagined we would have this fate to meet, it’s a pity that we just moved here and you are already planning to move away. We haven’t been neighbors for long."

Zhulan replied, "This is the old estate of the Zhou family, the root of our family. We will come back in the future, refurbish the old estate and build a big mansion just like the Zheng family’s house."

Mrs. Zhou had long stopped guessing how much silver the Zhou family had. She said, "Your family’s land may be large, but it’s still too small for a big mansion."

Indeed, Zhulan’s land was not small, covering one and a half acres, but to build a house like the Zheng family’s was definitely insufficient—such a construction would require at least three acres. Therefore, she and Zhou Shuren were eyeing the neighbor Zhang family’s property. As the Zhang family’s estate was purchased later and wasn’t an ancestral home, it would be easier to buy it as long as they had enough silver. However, they weren’t planning to purchase it this year; it could wait a few more years without rush.

Zhulan laughed and said, "We’ll talk about it when the time comes. Right now, it’s too early to build a mansion."

Mrs. Zhou smiled and did not inquire further about Zhou Shuren’s family’s plans.

Seeing that there wasn’t much they could help with, Lady Li and Mrs. Zhou sat for a while and then went back home.

After seeing the two women off, Zhulan went back inside and took out the box where they stored the silver coins. She put all the family’s silver coins into it, totaling up to more than three hundred and sixty taels of silver. Her jewelry was also worth a considerable amount of silver, but the most valuable piece was the Jade Pendant left by her mother-in-law. Zhulan took out the Jade Pendant and carefully placed it inside, regretting that her mother-in-law had passed away before finishing what she was saying. However, the fact that her mother-in-law had brought it out at the end must mean it was very important.

Zhulan thought to herself that, when her time came, she would make sure to say what was most important first instead of waiting until the last moment and potentially failing to explain it clearly due to a lack of breath.

In the afternoon, Lady Li’s father arrived, his face covered in sweat. Lady Li turned pale, "Dad, what happened?"

Li Cong didn’t have the time to attend to his daughter but hurriedly went into the main house. Seeing his relative there, he said, "The Zheng family’s house was broken into by a thief last night who has been caught. In-law, don’t you want to have a look?"

Zhou Shuren asked, "How many were caught?"

Li Cong grew embarrassed. Not all the people from Li Family Village were good. There were four young men in total, and two were from Li Family Village, "Four."

"Where are the people who were caught?"

Li Cong replied, "The guards at the house tied them up to the big tree at the village entrance. In-law, aren’t you going to take a look?"

He then realized that his relative had no intention of going.

Zhou Shuren thought to himself, the people Mr. Zheng left behind were really capable. "The house is being watched, so it’s the same whether I go or not. Since they didn’t report it to the officials, just take back whoever is from Li Family Village. For those who aren’t, let their respective villages take them back."

Li Cong thought about the guards, his legs trembling slightly. He was also glad that the two youths from the village were surely going to learn their lesson this time, which might mean fewer thefts. Curious, he asked, "In-law, are the people guarding the house from the Armed Escort Agency?"

It must be the in-law’s family who had helped in hiring those people, and he admired his in-law for thinking so thoroughly and knowing to leave people to watch over the house.

Zhou Shuren thought to himself, Old Master Zheng really left nothing to chance, managing to include even his son-in-law’s family in his calculations. Everyone would speculate just like Li Cong did after this incident. Who doesn’t know about the close relationship between the Yang family and the Armed Escort Agency in the eight surrounding villages, "Yes."

Li Cong breathed a sigh of relief, but then his expression darkened again as he remembered something he had neglected.