Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 367 Visitor_1

Chapter 367: Chapter 367 Visitor_1

Zhulan had also spent the past couple of days ensuring that the flower arrangement would not be embarrassing; she arranged several vases with her daughter. She distinctly remembered that when the girl had learned from her, the flower arrangements could only be described as pretty, devoid of any artistic conception.

Zhulan looked closely at the vase with the most votes, a smile in her eyes; the girl had been cunning. She had arranged it according to the shape of the headdress, with the red flowers in the middle providing the perfect finishing touch.

Zhulan passed the votes and list to Lady Hua and said, "The top prize cannot be awarded today."

With a single sentence, everyone knew who had won first place.

Lady Hua quickly glanced at the list and vote count, her facial expression stiffening. She had thought that the best work was her daughter’s. Although she rarely taught her daughter herself, she believed that, as Mr. Guan’s daughter, she had some aesthetic sense.

Lady Miao was also displeased. Her daughter actually couldn’t surpass a young lady from a scholarly peasant family.

Xue Han was pleasantly surprised; she felt the headdress pairing was beautiful and eye-catching. She hadn’t expected to win. Her hopes were indeed not high; as long as she did not disgrace her parents, it was enough.

Lady Hua and Lady Miao gave a dry laugh and said congratulations in a desultory manner.

Then both wanted to show off their own daughters, keen to perform in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Unfortunately, there were no musical instruments or chess in Zhulan’s house. Writing and painting, however, did not intimidate Xue Han. Xue Han had been self-disciplined from a young age, never missing a day of practicing her characters, and her calligraphy had long developed its own distinctive style.

As for painting, Zhulan loved to paint and often pulled her daughter along to practice with her. With frequent practice came proficiency, not to mention that Xue Han had some talent as well.

Lady Hua and Lady Miao were incredibly frustrated, resolving to personally teach their daughters at home. Xue Han had also incited enough jealousy among Mr. Guan’s daughters.

Xue Han was destined not to become friends with the daughters of the two families.

The banquet consisted of sixteen impeccable dishes, not leaving anyone a reason to complain. Lady Hua dryly said, "Zhou Yiren was thoughtful and went to great lengths."

Zhulan politely replied, "It was only proper, please, Hua Yiren."

Everyone at the meal had their own thoughts. Today’s events had revealed Zhulan’s shrewdness. From now on, no one would underestimate her. They didn’t dare look down on the Yang family as vulgar behind their backs any longer.

After the banquet ended, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren saw off the guests. Once everyone had left, the couple looked at each other and smiled.

Aboard the Chen family’s carriage, Lady Hua recounted the happenings in the backyard, "Zhou Prefect’s wife is very astute. I’ve been angry the whole day."

Chen Chen clutched his chest, hoping to ease the pain in his heart with his wife’s comfort, but now it felt even worse.

Upon seeing her husband’s condition, Lady Hua sighed. "In the future, let’s just live in peace with the prefect’s family."

Chen Chen pursed his lips, "Mm."

On the He family’s carriage, He Yun recounted the events from the front courtyard while Lady Miao shared the highlights of the backyard. The couple exchanged a look, realizing that both husband and wife of the Zhou family should not be provoked!

After one banquet, everyone knew who Zhulan was, and the unpleasant rumors about her disappeared.

Zhulan began to receive many invitations, excluding those whose official ranks were too low; she received them all from the sixth rank and above.

In the following month, Zhulan attended events every few days and thoroughly integrated into the officials’ wives circle of Lizhou City, bringing along Wu Chun’s wife as well.

Zhulan, during a month among the officials’ wives of Lizhou City, found the relationships to be merely superficial; none of the ladies caught her eye. However, Xue Han did make friends, including Zheng Hong’s daughter from the Zheng family, whom she met on a visit to the Yang family. The girl from Zheng Hong’s family was a year younger than Xue Han, and while Zheng’s sons were all well-trained in martial arts, the daughters were pampered.

Zhengran, Zheng Hong’s eldest daughter, though a year younger than Xue Han, was much more composed than her because she was the eldest.

Time flew, and before they knew it, August had arrived. The weather in August was truly hot. The only thing that made Zhulan happy was that the watermelons and melons they had planted were about to ripen, although they were grown from seeds and would mature later, around September.

Not only did Zhulan’s family plant watermelons in Lizhou City, but the Yang family also followed suit, and some other wealthy families joined in as well. There was indeed an abundance of watermelon and melon in Lizhou City.

Over the past two months, Zhou Shuren made full use of manpower: roads were repaired, ponds were dug, and some dangerous homes in farmers’ villages were pushed down and rebuilt.

All the villages near Lizhou City had been transformed. Although the government office was no longer hiring people, with the high-yield crops of sweet potatoes and potatoes ready to be harvested soon, the smiles never left the villagers’ faces, and Zhou Shuren’s prestige escalated.

The people who participated in the employment earned some Silver Coin. In these two months, the number of merchants in Lizhou City increased. Not only were restaurants opened, but also inns, and occasionally foreign traders visited Lizhou City. The price of the shops Zhulan bought also rose.

When Zhou Shuren returned home in the evening, he saw Zhulan sitting at a table writing, "What are you writing that’s got you so engrossed?"

Zhulan was so focused that she jumped a little, then after calming herself down, she said, "With the watermelon and melons about to ripen, I’m thinking of writing some promotional flyers to let the neighboring Prefecture Cities know that we in Lizhou City have late-season watermelons and melons."

Zhou Shuren bit into a piece of watermelon in his hand. The watermelons they ate at home were bought from Chuanzhou City. Calculating the days, Zhou Shuren said, "Are the watermelons from Chuanzhou nearing the end of their season?"

Zhulan nodded, "Chuanzhou plants seedlings directly into fields and planted them ten days earlier than us. I had the eldest son go and check; soon there won’t be any more watermelons for sale in the fields."

After eating the watermelon and washing his hands, Zhou Shuren asked, "Are our apples about to ripen as well?"

Zhulan smiled, "We need to wait a bit longer, around late October."

Zhulan went to the orchard herself and found that the heavy price paid for the fruit farmers was worth it. The fruit trees were well cared for, and the fruit was not bad. Although the ancient varieties meant the fruit wasn’t large, there were still quite a few, and Zhulan couldn’t help but calculate how much Silver Coin they could earn this year.

Zhou Shuren picked up the promotional phrases Zhulan wrote, "Do you plan to have someone distribute these near the inns in various states?"

Zhulan nodded, "Foreign merchants are wealthy, and they concentrate around inns. They are also well-informed. We can’t eat so many late-season watermelons and melons ourselves, so naturally, they’ll inform their colleagues. The foreign merchants’ movements are watched by our own, naturally attracting more merchants to Lizhou. Just take the merchants to the fields and they’ll see the orchard; well before the fruits ripen, merchants will come to buy."

In ancient times, fruits were valuable and yields were low; only few would complain about there being too little fruit, never too much.

Zhou Shuren smiled, "With your promotion, you’ve saved the government office a lot of trouble."

Zhulan smiled, "The government office also has much to do. You’ll need to promote the plan of turning Lizhou City into the Apple State more broadly, letting people know and attracting more fruit traders to come."

Zhou Shuren nodded, ready to speak, when Steward Ding knocked and said, "My lord, madam."

Zhou Shuren asked, "What is it?"

It was almost dark now; surely no one should be coming at this hour!