Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 318 Joy and Concern_1

Chapter 318: Chapter 318 Joy and Concern_1

As soon as Zhulan finished speaking, Zhou Shuren fixed his gaze on him. "There’s a bun shop right at the street corner, where did you go to buy buns?"

Zhulan wasn’t intimidated by her father’s glare anymore; this time, she spoke with confidence. "Dad, war news reached the capital before dawn today, and everyone at the street corner was talking about it, so we listened for a while."

Zhulan suddenly realized, "No wonder I heard the sound of firecrackers when it’s not even a festival."

Lady Li’s excitement had her leaping and dancing with joy. "Mother, there are so many people in the capital, and the streets are so lively, full of people."

Zhulan pressed Lady Li’s hands down. "Stop that, or you’ll shake the buns onto the floor."

Only then did Lady Li remember that she had been out for a long time and that her parents were still waiting to eat breakfast. "Mother, the buns are bought, we can have breakfast now."

Zhou Shuren asked Zhou Laoda to call Wu Ming for breakfast, and Lady Li couldn’t stop talking even before Wu Ming arrived for breakfast. The news of the victory had spread.

This was wonderful news; it meant that the chaos in the Northwest was about to end.

Zhulan felt both joy and concern. She was happy because the houses in their two courtyards were going to increase in value – no, rather, they would continue to rise in value. Since the war began, there had occasionally been good news, and since Dongbei hadn’t erupted into conflict, there were few people taking their families and leaving the capital.

The value of the properties Zhulan bought had already recovered, and this significant victory that had subdued the foreign clans would further bolster the dynasty’s fortune. As the political center, property prices in the capital were sure to soar.

Zhulan’s worry stemmed from her three nephews; the heartless swords and spears made her unsure of their fate.

For breakfast, they had buns and rice porridge, and the last of the firewood at home was used up making the porridge.

Last night, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren made a list of things to buy—a very long list, including firewood, rice, flour, and such, all of which they needed to purchase in larger quantities to store. Zhulan felt uneasy looking at the empty cellar and firewood shed; she liked to stock up on things. The more she hoarded, the more at ease she felt.

They also needed to buy bowls, plates, and dishes. The departing merchants hadn’t been generous enough to leave their dishes behind, not that Zhulan would have used them if they had.

Back in her home in the capital, Zhulan lacked everything—candles, lamp oil, etc.—they’d used the last few candles writing the list last night!

Zhulan wrote a list for Zhou Laoda to buy groceries, and he went out to purchase food supplies and firewood.

Lady Li, however, was reluctant to go with the head of the household. She felt intimidated by the vastness of the capital and the sea of people. She felt less secure following the head of the household than staying with her parents. "Mother, I’ll go with you."

Zhou Laoda was speechless; his wife’s disdain was too obvious.

Ming Teng, with his bolder nature, was eager to accompany his father. "Dad, I’ll go with you."

Lady Li glared at him; her youngest son was too rambunctious. "You stay home. The capital is full of swindlers, and aren’t you afraid they’ll snatch you away?"

Ming Teng became a bit scared. He knew that once taken by swindlers, he wouldn’t see his parents again, so he hid behind his grandmother. "Then I won’t go."

Zhulan supported Lady Li in scaring Ming Teng. Without a good scare, the boy truly dared to run around everywhere.

In ancient times, unlike today, there wasn’t CCTV everywhere. If you lose something, there was a chance to find it again, but in ancient times, only the wealthy and powerful households could afford to search extensively, and even then, there was no guarantee of success. For other families, losing a child was like looking for a needle in a haystack—completely hopeless!

Unless parents and relatives had strong connections, the chances of being reunited were exceedingly slim.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren first went to buy a carriage, as it was too inconvenient not having a personal means of transportation. More importantly, the capital was large, making travel on foot too slow.

They bought two carriages, but the second courtyard was still too small to keep horses, so they had to stable the carriage in the South City stable.

After buying the carriages, Zhou Laoda, accompanied by Ma Eryue, went to purchase rice, grain, and firewood.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren brought Lady Li to buy other items. Zhou Shuren didn’t really want to bring Lady Li; the purchased goods could be delivered to their residence, so there was no need for Lady Li to carry anything.

Unfortunately, Zhulan wanted to bring Lady Li along, leaving Zhou Shuren speechless. He realized that aside from bullying Lady Li occasionally, Zhulan really did pamper her most of the time.

Listening to Lady Li’s constant chattering, Zhulan’s eyes sparkled with mirth. Ah, having Lady Li around made everything seem so interesting!

Zhulan decided to go shopping, and she really took action, "Stop the carriage."

Zhou Shuren, "What’s the matter?"

Zhulan said, "Lady Li and I will get off and look around. You go ahead and do the shopping for the household. Just come to pick us up here later."

Zhou Shuren, "......"

His wife absconded with Lady Li? How infuriating!

Lady Li cowered like a quail, not understanding why her father-in-law was giving her dagger-like looks when it was clearly the decision of the mother-in-law. She couldn’t help but move closer to her mother-in-law.

Zhou Shuren glared at Lady Li’s plump hands. Those chubby hands had quite the gall, brazenly hugging Zhulan’s arm. It looked as if they deserved to be chopped off!

Zhulan, with a beaming smile, patted Zhou Shuren’s shoulder, "I’m leaving the rest to you!"

Zhou Shuren, "...... Right."

A husband must listen to his wife. He absolutely must.

Zhulan and Lady Li got off the carriage. Lady Li waited for the carriage to leave and then breathed a sigh of relief. She took in the stalls on both sides and instantly forgot all about her father-in-law’s hostile glares, excitedly pulling her mother-in-law along, "Mother, look how exquisite these lanterns are."

Zhulan’s eyes lit up as well. She and Zhou Shuren hadn’t really explored the capital properly. Zhulan had a fondness for ancient lanterns, with their fine craftsmanship and auspicious meanings. The stall didn’t just have red lanterns; there were other colors too. Zhulan felt like taking them all home.

Zhulan decided to save the lanterns for last, as they were bulky and quite a hassle to carry, "Let’s go see other things first, then come back to buy these later."

Lady Li couldn’t get enough with her eyes, and although Pingzhou City was lively, it couldn’t compare to the capital’s buzz, "Right."

Zhulan and Lady Li had so much fun shopping. It was a completely different experience from shopping with Zhou Shuren. Women had so much more to talk about when shopping together, and their combined purchasing power was greater than the sum of their parts.

This was apparent from the loads of items Zhulan and Lady Li were carrying with both hands.

Zhulan bought rouge, some delicate jewelry, sugar figurines, paper cuttings, and basically something from each stall, ending with the lanterns.

In the capital’s residence, there wasn’t a single lantern to be found. It’s a pity that the majority of the lanterns from the street vendors were for children. Lanterns for the residence had to be purchased from a specialized lantern shop.

When Zhou Shuren came to pick up Zhulan, he was silent at the sight of the goods strewn everywhere. She truly hadn’t held back on her purchases.

Luckily, he had arranged for the shop assistants to deliver his purchases back to the residence. Otherwise, the carriage wouldn’t have been able to accommodate all the items Zhulan had bought.

Zhulan got into the carriage, extremely pleased with her shopping haul, and said to Zhou Shuren, "I forgot to write down ’lanterns’ on the list."

Zhou Shuren had a good memory, and he was accustomed to keeping track of where he had been. "There’s a lantern shop on the way home."

Zhulan, feeling a bit tired, "Then let’s go home."

Zhou Shuren grunted morosely. He wasn’t happy that his wife hadn’t kept him company.

Back at the residence, Big Brother Zhou had already returned with firewood piled high in the woodshed. Big Brother Zhou said, "Father, it’s getting late. Lady Li and I will go buy some vegetables and meat."

He had already scouted the area, and the market was not far away.

Zhulan took out some silver for Big Brother Zhou. Since Zhao hadn’t come this time, Zhulan was currently in charge of the household expenses. She regarded Lady Li and, after a moment’s consideration, decided against it. It was better to have Xue Han take care of the household silver; after all, Xue Han was not too young and it was time to start learning how to manage a household.

Once Lady Li had left, Zhou Shuren asked, "Lady Li bought so much stuff, why does she have such a long face?"

She had monopolized Zhulan’s company, and still, Lady Li was not happy?