Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 334 Silver Flew_1

Chapter 334: Chapter 334 Silver Flew_1

Zhulan climbed into the carriage, closed her eyes, and thought about the land in Pinggang, and the potential returns on her investment, which lifted her mood a bit.

When she returned home, Yang Zhumu asked, "You went out with your brother-in-law, how come you’re back by yourself?"

Zhulan, unfastening her cape, said, "Someone invited Zhou Shuren to a banquet at the restaurant, big brother, shouldn’t father and mother be setting out soon?"

Yang Zhumu counted the days, "It’s been ten days since we received the letter, I reckon they’ll be on their way soon."

Zhulan hummed in agreement, sat down, poured some tea, and drank a few sips to warm herself; in her heart, she calculated the family’s silver. Excluding the investment in Pinggang, there were 9,700 taels left in the house, Some of it was later spent, eldest brother dealt with the gifts, exchanged them for more than three hundred taels in return, Zhulan bought some top-notch ginseng which cost all that, the current saved silver is 9,500 taels.

This time, buying two residences would require 4,900 taels, plus commissions and transfer fees, which would come to almost 5,200 taels. After purchasing the residences, there would be 4,300 taels left.

Zhulan touched the teacup, hoping that after the palace examination results were announced, Zhou Shuren would make it onto the list of successful candidates and that the value of the property in South City would rise even further. Thinking of the list of successful candidates, Zhulan cursed Yao Zheyu once again, really thinking the Emperor wouldn’t investigate? The Emperor would certainly scrutinize the backgrounds of all the candidates, and everything that happened today would definitely be recorded. They really didn’t want to get involved with the male protagonist!

She could only hope Zhou Shuren would be capable enough to distance himself from Yao Zheyu, otherwise, it was hard to say whether it would not affect the palace examination - let alone losing the despised eternal second place!

Zhulan now didn’t feel at all that being second was something bad - it was actually quite good!

Zhulan put her cup down with a forceful clink, which startled Yang Zhumu. He hadn’t noticed his sister getting angry before, right, his sister was very good at hiding her emotions. Before, they met infrequently, but now that they met daily, Yang Zhumu realized, "like lid like pot," Zhou Shuren was deep in his schemes, and his sister was in no way inferior to Zhou Shuren.

No wonder their father didn’t worry about his sister at all, with such a sister, there really was nothing to worry about!

Sometimes, he maliciously wondered, between his brother-in-law and his sister, it would be hard to tell who could outsmart the other!

Zhulan looked up and said, "Big brother, you’re still here!"

Yang Zhumu was silent; he wasn’t small in stature, "I wanted to tell you, I’ll stay at the Wu Chun house to add some vitality to it, so that father and mother won’t find it too desolate when they arrive."

Zhulan was speechless. No matter if it’s just big brother alone, or even adding another ten or eight people, the house would still seem empty; moreover, she was afraid that big brother would overthink when alone, people tend to think more when they are by themselves, especially about things or people that upset the heart!

Zhulan said, "Big brother, Ming Teng really likes you, and your grandson is not by your side, if you take Ming Teng with you there, it will liven things up a bit."

Yang Zhumu was delighted, Ming Teng was particularly lively, and he loved that energy, the more lively, the better the atmosphere, "Alright, let’s bring Ming Teng along."

Xue Han held her chubby niece, looking at a dumbfounded Ming Teng.

Ming Teng frowned with a steamed bun face; he did not want to go. There were delicious and fun things at home, what was there at the West City residence? Nothing at all!

But he didn’t dare to contradict his grandmother’s words, and without his mother having to tell him, he knew he must listen to his grandmother!

Xue Han smiled and squinted her eyes, she waited till Ming Teng wanted to go in yet didn’t dare to, then she bent down and said, "It’s only to sleep over at night, it’s not like you have to stay there all day in the West City house."

Ming Teng’s eyes lit up as he shuffled in with his chubby legs, "Grandma."

Zhulan had very good hearing, she knew Xue Han and the others were outside the door long ago. Zhulan loved to pinch little chubby Ming Teng’s face, "What a good grandson aye!"

In his heart, Ming Teng thought, it’s great not to have big brother around, nobody to boss him around, and grandma adored him the most, completely forgetting it was his adored grandma who had just given him away.

In the afternoon, almost four o’clock by modern standards, Zhou Shuren finally returned home, Zhulan had been waiting for almost half a day. She knew that Yao Zheyu’s visit wouldn’t be so straightforward. "What was his purpose in seeking you out?"

Zhou Shuren hadn’t had many drinks nor eaten much food. Just looking at Yao Zheyu filled his stomach. Now that he was home and his mind was relaxed, he felt somewhat hungry. As he picked up some snacks from the table and started eating, he said, "He came for the land in Pinggang."

Zhulan’s hand paused while pouring water, "Is it that all the powerful are now coveting Pinggang?"

Zhou Shuren took the water that Zhulan poured and swallowed the cakes in his mouth, "A big piece of fat meat – everyone wants to tear off a chunk!"

Zhulan sat down in a chair, "I knew that ten thousand taels of silver wouldn’t be easy to obtain. Yao Zheyu must have definitely brought up the ten thousand taels, his heart is not only black but also increasingly shameless."

Zhou Shuren laughed; he knew how much Zhulan had her heart set on converting the Pinggang investment into silver. Yao Zheyu’s goal was the land, which made Zhulan angry, "He is quite adept at slapping his own face. He offered me two choices: either join his side, or use the land to offset the debt of ten thousand taels of silver."

Zhulan clutched at her chest with eighty acres of land at stake. Considering Pinggang’s future prospects, it could increase in value by dozens of times, "Tsch. He wishes. Even if we use the land to offset the silver, he can still leverage the life-saving favor to influence us. After all, we would have repaid the silver and yet owed him another favor."

Zhou Shuren held Zhulan’s hand, "That’s why I only gave him forty acres of land, on the condition that he no longer uses the life-saving favor as leverage."

"He agreed to that? He’s not stupid. Since you’ve been singing all the way to becoming a candidate, would he let you go?"

Zhou Shuren’s mouth curled in amusement, "Of course he doesn’t want to let go. However, he must tear it off; otherwise, it could adversely affect the imperial examination!"

Zhulan pursed her lips, "How will you manage to do it?"

Yao Zheyu was no fool! She hoped that Zhou Shuren would put up a strong fight!

Zhou Shuren’s eyes were smiling, "We only gave Yao Zheyu forty acres of land, not the entire eighty. This shows how unwilling we were, and although we couldn’t completely rid ourselves of Yao Zheyu, as long as we can make it clear that we are dissatisfied with him, by tomorrow, after giving Yao Zheyu the deeds, I’ll sell the remaining forty acres. This will vent our dissatisfaction, and essentially, I will have achieved what I wanted."

Zhulan felt a painful twinge in her heart, "Although the land has gone up considerably in value, and we could earn quite a bit of silver by selling it, why do I still feel like we’re at a loss!"

The land in Pinggang had cost them five hundred taels, and it had only increased tenfold so far. Her estimate was that by this summer, it could have tripled in value. Ah, if only they had stubbornly refused Yao Zheyu’s silver from the start!

Zhou Shuren knew Zhulan felt the loss deeply, "In the future, we’ll make it back."

Zhulan sighed, she had no other choice now. The most important thing at the moment was the imperial examination. However, she made a mental note of Yao Zheyu, that duplicitous scoundrel, "Okay."

That night, Zhulan dreamt that silver was flying past her eyes, and no matter how she tried, she couldn’t catch it. When she woke up in the morning, she felt an emptiness inside – the silver was gone.

After breakfast, Zhou Shuren took the deeds for the eighty acres and left; the land in Pinggang was now a hot commodity.

Two hours later, the broker arrived, "Madam, the price for the residence has been settled, sold according to the amount of silver you offered."

Zhulan’s face brightened with a smile; at last, there was some good news, "Let’s go!"

The broker was stunned, wasn’t she going to wait for Scholar Zhou? As a minor figure, he dared not ask, but he thought to himself that Madam Zhou held a high position in the household, handling such a significant transaction without Scholar Zhou.

Zhulan followed the broker to complete the payment and then went to the government office to exchange the property deed, which was put in her name.

The broker was flabbergasted throughout, several times he wanted to ask, but in the end he stayed silent. It wasn’t his place to inquire into Scholar Zhou’s family matters, but he was intensely curious. Nearly 4,900 taels – had this just become Madam Zhou’s dowry?