Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 393 - Seeing the words as seeing the person_1

Chapter 393: 393 Chapter Seeing the words as seeing the person_1

Zhulan unfolded the two "fortune" characters on red paper, finding no other marks or stamps beside the two simple characters. They could not be more plain, but after all, they were written by the Emperor himself, and she needed to carefully preserve them as authentic works of the Emperor.

Zhou Shuren had also finished reading the Zhezi and immediately noticed the "fortune" character. "Generally, it is written for second-rank officials and frontier ministers, but this year they included me as well. Now in the eyes of all the ministers, I have completely become a confidant of the Emperor," he said.

Zhulan put down the fortune characters in her hand. "Being a confidant has its perks, but the downsides are there, too. When imperial power changes hands, the new Emperor will promote his own confidants. By then, you will become a thorn in the new Emperor’s side."

Zhou Shuren laughed, "Our current Emperor seems like he will enjoy a long reign; a change in power won’t be happening anytime soon. By the time it does, I’ll have everything arranged and will be ready to enjoy my old age. I’m not power-hungry anyway."

Just one year as an official had exhausted him, even though it was his first year and he lacked experience. No matter what position he held in the future, there would always be fierce rivalries and new intrigues, which would sap his energy. He definitely didn’t want to cling to power; he wished to live a few more years!

Zhulan looked at the Zhezi. "What did the Emperor write to you?" she asked.

Zhou Shuren handed the Zhezi to Zhulan. "It contains some words of encouragement; it should have been written by the Crown Prince," he said.

Zhulan skimmed it quickly, noticing the affirmation of Zhou Shuren on the Zhezi, along with encouragement for him to keep up the good work. Closing the Zhezi, she said, "They say seeing one’s writing is like seeing the person. Are you sure it was written by the Crown Prince? Why don’t I see even a trace of the Crown Prince’s character in these words?"

Zhou Shuren pulled Zhulan to sit down and said, "The Zhezi given specifically to me, you see, is different from the ’fortune’ character; it must have been written by the Crown Prince. This demonstrates even more the Emperor’s vast favor, intended to make me serve the imperial power wholeheartedly."

Zhou Shuren paused and continued, "As for why you can’t discern the character, let me tell you, I have met the Crown Prince in person and I haven’t been able to figure out his character either. If you think he’s reserved, he still has his own bearing. Standing next to the Emperor, the Crown Prince doesn’t fade into the background at all. But if you say he isn’t reserved, he rarely speaks out. Plus, with today’s writing, our Crown Prince’s tactics are no less shrewd than the Emperor’s."

Zhulan frowned, "You said you think the Emperor is likely to live a long life. Wouldn’t that be tragic for the Crown Prince?"

Zhou Shuren laughed, "Have you forgotten how old the Emperor was when he married? And how old is the Crown Prince now? The Crown Prince is only in his twenties this year."

Zhulan thought about it and realized that was true. The Emperor had married late, and the princes were all still young.

The Zhou family had received "fortune" characters bestowed by the Emperor, and it did not take long for Mr. Chen and Mr. He to find out.

Mr. Chen’s wife, Lady Hua, clutched her handkerchief and complained discontentedly, "I admit that Mr. Zhou is indeed talented, but haven’t you also contributed a lot? How come only Mr. Zhou’s family received the bestowed character?"

It was an immense honor. The master had also toiled for a year, but in the end, it seemed all the glory went to Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Chen himself felt a bit sour inside but considering that without Mr. Zhou, the Chen family could have been ransacked, he suppressed his bitterness. "Enough, don’t grumble," he said. "Mr. Zhou is the Emperor’s confidant, provided nothing unexpected happens, and whether or not one is bestowed with a character is a show of the Emperor’s grace. As his ministers, gratitude is what we should express."

Lady Hua was still annoyed and, huffing audibly, she turned and walked out.

Mr. He did not feel bitter, only envious, envious of Mr. Zhou’s promising future. He knew he could not compare, and perhaps in the future, he might even need Mr. Zhou’s help. Mr. He and Lady Miao began to consider what gifts to bring when they paid their New Year’s visit.

At noon, Zhulan’s family had always had stew for several years, and this year was no different. After lunch, it was time to pay New Year’s visits.

The New Year’s greetings had changed this year.

Lady Li and the eldest Zhou brother had clearly done their homework, and Lady Li mentioned every matter related to government service.

Zhou’s second brother exchanged a look with Chang Lian; both of their faces fell. Never mind, it was better not to argue with a pregnant woman.

Zhulan handed out red envelopes with a beaming smile. This year’s red envelopes had increased in size, ten taels of silver for adults and five for children.

Lady Li’s eyes lit up as she received the red envelopes. With three children in the first wife’s household, she had received a total of fifteen taels.

The second wife also has two children, ten taels of silver.

It has been two years since the third wife married and she has not consummated the marriage, so naturally, there are no children.

Zhulan looked at Lady Dong. Lady Dong had grown taller these past two years, but people in the Dong family were not tall to begin with. It was already good that Lady Dong could reach a height of one meter sixty.

Lady Dong’s face had also matured. The childishness was gone. She looked very different from Lady Dadong and more like Lady Lin.

Once everyone had finished offering New Year’s greetings, the children gathered around to play. No matter how much they studied, children would be children. Mingyun took her siblings to the garden to play.

Lady Dong watched her running nieces and nephews with envy. Without having consummated her marriage, she always felt uneasy. Sadly, it would be another year. The only consolation was that her husband was still reasonably good to her.

Zhulan was sitting with a few daughters-in-law. The year had come to an end, and Zhou Shuren had taken the eldest Zhou and a few others to the front yard.

Lady Li had finally tasted bananas, which she had been craving for a while. "Mother, bananas are really delicious. It’s just that there are too few; not enough to go around."

Zhulan looked at the plate of sliced bananas and indeed, there were too few. "Next year, let’s buy some more for our home."

Lady Zhao handed the peeled pine nuts to mother, feeling envious of her elder sister-in-law. She also liked to eat them but didn’t have the same confidence to say so.

She had heard that the elder sister-in-law’s recipe was about to be sold and that her husband said it would sell for a lot of silver coins.

Previously, the main house was the one most lacking in silver coins. Now it was the second house that was at the bottom. Lady Zhao comforted herself, lucky that her mother-in-law had put her husband in charge of the family business. Thinking of the family business, she was genuinely surprised at how many assets her mother-in-law owned.

Lady Li blinked her eyes and seeing that her mother-in-law was in a particularly good mood today, said, "Mother, may I ask you for a favor?"

Zhulan became curious and said, "Speak."

Lady Li took out a purse from her bosom, "Mother, this is all the silver coin from our main house. You know that my husband and I are not very smart. I was thinking of asking you to help me buy some shops so that in the future, our main house could also have its own income."

Zhulan was very surprised that Lady Li would discuss such a matter in front of Lady Zhao and Lady Dong. Zhulan, looking into Lady Li’s completely trusting eyes, felt at ease. "As long as you trust me, I will certainly pick out the best for you."

Ever since her husband returned, Lady Li had been contemplating this matter, "Thank you, Mother."

She had made up her mind that in the future, once the main house had silver coins, she would ask her mother-in-law to help purchase estates. She truly admired her mother-in-law’s ability to manage silver. If she couldn’t be like her mother-in-law, then why not ask for her help!

Lady Zhao wanted to speak up too, but swallowed her words at the last moment. She knew her mother-in-law was formidable, as her husband often said in their chats, but handing over her own silver coins to her mother-in-law was still something she couldn’t feel at ease about. She preferred to keep the silver coins in her own hands.

Lady Dong already had her own shop and land income. Glancing at her second sister-in-law, she knew their situations were different. What she could do now was hold on to her mother-in-law tightly, "Mother, I also have some silver here, and I’d like to do the same as my elder sister-in-law and entrust it to you."

Zhulan smiled, "As long as you trust me, I will take care of it for you too."

Lady Dong smiled and said, "Thank you, Mother."

Lady Zhao opened her mouth again, but in the end, remained silent.

Zhou Shuren returned and the daughters-in-law went back to their own affairs. Zhulan mentioned Lady Li’s proposal to him.

Zhou Shuren said, "As long as you’re happy, just don’t overburden yourself."