Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 376 Filial Piety_1

Chapter 376: 376 Filial Piety_1

Zhou La’er saw that his mother had stopped looking through the account book and knew she was satisfied with how he had handled things. He smiled and said, "Big sister also rode on father’s coattails this year. Not only did she buy three more mu of dry land, but her husband also started teaching at the clan school, earning four hundred wen a month. Jiang Zhu has also entered the clan school for enlightenment, and Jiang Miu now treasures her hair the most, not allowing anyone to touch it. The youngest twins can already walk, and though they are alike, they’re quite cunning."

Zhou La’er, seeing that his mother liked hearing it, spoke a bit more about the twins and their amusing ways.

Zhulan was reassured, knowing that her eldest daughter’s family was doing well. Now that her daughter had gradually built up some savings, her future life wouldn’t be too bad.

Zhulan looked at Chang Lian, "Having been in your hometown for the better part of the year, I see you’ve become much more grounded."

Chang Lian had done a lot of thinking in the past half year, addressing flaws he had never seriously considered before. His dedicated studies had helped him shed much of his impetuousness, "Mother, your son understands the lessons you’ve taught."

Zhulan nodded inwardly; having been observing Chang Lian all this while, she felt that now Chang Lian would make Graduate Meng proud, "Your teacher has been mentioning you often lately. Bring a gift with you and visit Meng Residence tomorrow to see your teacher!"

Chang Lian felt reassured, "Yes."

Zhulan saw the tiredness on the faces of her two sons. They had rushed here, fearing the snow would delay their journey. "Go back, take a bath, change clothes, and rest for now. We can talk more when your father returns this evening."

Zhou La’er and Chang Lian stood up, "Mother, we’ll head back first."

"Go on!"

After the two sons had left, Zhulan still had plenty to do. The gifts Zhou La’er had brought needed to be unpacked and stored in the storeroom. Zhulan called for Steward Ding and Liu Ya, and she checked each item against the list.

Books and paintings were set aside for Zhou Shuren to review when he returned. Other items like vases and antiques were inspected before being displayed or stored accordingly.

It took two hours to check everything. Zhulan then went to see the mountain goods Zhou La’er had brought. Zhou La’er had indeed collected plenty: fungus, mushrooms, lion’s mane mushrooms, fiddlehead ferns, daylilies, and more were all present.

Zhulan had Liu Ya take out some fiddlehead ferns and daylilies to the kitchen; they could add these to tonight’s dishes as they were tiring of radishes and potatoes.

Indeed, they had also had enough of lamb and pork.

As it turned out, cabbages and radishes in Lizhou Province’s Prefecture City were a bit more expensive than in the inland and northern regions. No matter how much the common people grew in their vegetable gardens, they could sell it all. Merchants from foreign clans often came to buy cabbages and radishes.

After Zhulan had finished checking everything, Wan Jiu, who had driven Zhou Shuren’s carriage, returned first. The carriage carried two buckets of fish.

Wan Jiu said, "These fish were given by the people who leased the fish ponds. The master couldn’t accept them, so in the end, he bought them all with silver coin. Madam, the master asked me to deliver these and then go back to pick him up. Madam, I’m off to fetch the master."

Zhulan, "Go on."

After Wan Jiu left, Zhulan circled the two buckets of fish. They weren’t small water pails for drawing water but large wooden buckets specifically for holding live fish. The fish in the buckets were sizable, each over two catties. Zhulan knew the fry from the ponds were caught from the river itself. The larger ones, three or four catties, were all sold directly, and those under two catties were raised all together. It was quite good if they could grow to over two catties in a few months.

There must have been around fifteen fish in those two buckets, adding up to more than thirty catties. Despite its poverty, everything in Lizhou Province’s Prefecture City became expensive in winter. Thirty catties of fish could sell for thirty wen per catty, nearly worth two silver taels.

Seeing Wan Jiu’s happy face, it seems the people leasing the ponds had also earned some silver coin.

Zhulan said with a smile, "We’ll have fish tonight. I’ll share three of them with you. Now that the family is all together, let’s make it lively."

Liu Ya was overjoyed as she hadn’t eaten fish in a long time, "Alright, I’ll go to the kitchen right now."

"Off you go."

Zhulan’s servants all ate together, Zhulan’s household didn’t require anyone to serve meals. When the masters dined, they too would go to eat. The twenty-some servants split into three tables, and the three fish were just enough.

Zhulan returned to the courtyard, and Lady Li had just woken up, holding a purse. "Mother, this is my tribute to you."

Zhulan was stunned. She already knew about the one thousand taels, and she wondered if Lady Li would get carried away. Unexpectedly, she offered it to Zhulan first. Taking the light purse from her, Zhulan opened it under Lady Li’s expectant gaze. Inside was a silver note, a fifty silver notes note to be exact. Zhulan felt her heart swell, "For me?"

Lady Li still felt reluctant to give it away, but then thought of her mother-in-law’s kindness towards her and felt it was right to give. "I originally wanted to buy you some jewelry from the street, but I don’t trust my own taste. So, I had the head of the household exchange it for a silver note. Mother, it might not be much, but it’s a token of our filial piety, mine and the head of the household’s."

Zhulan grasped the purse. Lady Li used to fret about having too little silver, feeling powerless and thus becoming stingy. But on second thought, since Zhulan’s arrival to ancient times, Lady Li had always offered her tribute whenever she obtained silver, regardless of whether it was to curry favor or done sincerely, Lady Li always did this.

The other daughters-in-law also tried to please her, but none truly managed what Lady Li did, tending to talk more than act.

Zhulan pulled Lady Li’s hand closer, her chubby hand had thinned considerably and she could now wear the jade bracelet again. Don’t blame her for favoring Lady Li, people really do reciprocate one another’s feelings. She had felt Lady Li’s sincerity, and this time Lady Li was truly honoring her from the heart.

"Don’t stand there, come and sit."

Lady Li acknowledged with an "Ah," feeling the happiness of her mother-in-law, "Mother, buy whatever you like with it."

Zhulan was one to return kindness with even greater kindness. Whenever her daughters constantly had her in mind, she kept them in her thoughts as well. Lady Li showed her filial piety and Zhulan was not one to be petty, "I have a cloak that Mr. Chen’s wife gifted me. Although the color is a bit dark, the fur is of the best quality. It would suit you well with your fair complexion."

After she spoke, Zhulan signaled Liu Ya to bring the cloak. It really was a fine piece; she genuinely liked it but had always put it aside because of its color.

Liu Ya brought it over, and Zhulan draped it over Lady Li. Although the color was dark, it suited Lady Li’s fair skin. Her plumpness made her look younger, and the cloak didn’t seem like it had to be worn by someone of advanced age.

Lady Li was taken aback, "Mother..."

She hadn’t come to receive things.

Zhulan said with a smile, "That’s enough, take it back with you. It’s almost time for dinner, and I need to change my clothes."

Lady Li, feeling somewhat giddy, went back to her own courtyard with the new cloak. Zhou Shuren immediately saw the cloak on his wife and recognized it. That cloak had caused Lady Li to exclaim that the fur alone was worth dozens of silver!

Zhou Shuren, ".... Didn’t you go to pay your respects to Mother? How come you ended up bringing back a cloak instead?"

Touching the fur on the collar, Lady Li was silent for a moment before sitting down and saying: "Husband, Mother gave it to me."

Zhou Shuren glanced at the cloak, then fell silent, too, and couldn’t help but mock himself. His parents were incredibly shrewd, their sons’ thoughts transparent to them. Zhou Shuren had an epiphany; as the eldest, he should simply be filial and do his duty, "Today, my wife has taught me a lesson."

Lady Li, ".... Don’t be so pretentious, it feels strange to me."

Zhou Shuren laughed heartily, "Alright, no pretentiousness."

Zhou Shuren didn’t return until it was dark, but it wasn’t accurate to say it was dark, as the days were growing shorter anyway, and it was the same time as he usually arrived.