Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 475 Soreness_1

Chapter 475: Chapter 475 Soreness_1

Mrs. Tao looked at Xuan Xuan with heartache. This girl lost her parents at six, and the Emperor, remembering her cousin-in-law’s merits, granted her the title of Magistrate, even though it was in name only. Life was truly hard for an orphaned girl. Having grown up like this, she rarely saw comfortable days. Mrs. Tao was afraid that the girl’s determination would ruin her own life.

"Don’t worry," Mrs. Tao comforted, "Mrs. Zhou is not someone to be trifled with either. According to my understanding of Mrs. Yang, she’s quite fond of you."

Su Xuan blinked her eyes, "Really?"

Mrs. Tao rarely saw the outspoken girl lack confidence and smiled, "Of course, it’s true. Your reputation is not all that matters. The Zhou family has raised someone whose reputation is even worse than yours. The Zhou family has never been averse to that, which shows how virtuous the Zhou family is."

Of course, the Zhou family’s virtue was indeed virtue, but the Zhou family was also full of cunning folks.

However, she had a good impression of the Zhou family, knowing that there was a Miss Wu in their house. One could pretend for a while, but not for a lifetime. So after learning about Xuan Xuan’s wishes, even though it was a bit presumptuous, she enthusiastically helped because the Zhou family truly was not bad.

In all of Jinzhou Province, if you counted every family of officials, Scholar Zhou’s household was the most harmonious in the back courtyard, with no chaotic entanglements whatsoever. Of course, the most important thing was that not to mention concubines, the Zhou family did not even have any minor wives.

No need to mention Scholar Zhou’s deep love for Mrs. Yang; they had the detailed news. As for the few sons of the Zhou family, they each stayed true to only their first wives. It was said that the Zhou family had a policy against taking concubines.

Even without counting Scholar Zhou as the Emperor’s confidant, just the family’s style and policy against concubines made the fourth son of the Zhou family a highly sought-after son-in-law in many families’ eyes.

Mrs. Tao thought, if it weren’t for her daughter already being betrothed, she herself might have been interested.

Su Xuan looked at her aunt’s mind wandering elsewhere, but after hearing her aunt’s words, she felt much more confident. Then she giggled foolishly, happy with her keen eye. It wasn’t easy to find and she had picked a good family. Ah, it had been a long time since she saw Scholar Zhou. Suppressing her curiosity, she decided it was better to behave well recently to avoid making a bad impression on the Zhou family.

That evening, Zhulan spoke with Zhou Shuren and then said, "Check up on Magistrate An He for me. If there’s really no problem, I’ll give Mrs. Tao a hint. It’s better to settle these things earlier rather than later to avoid complications."

Zhou Shuren was also troubled, "Today I met Mr. Ran and Mr. Min, both of whom mentioned Chang Zhi. You’re right; it’s better to settle things early. These people believe in the idea that if they can’t have it, no one else should either."

Zhulan, "That’s exactly what I’m afraid of."

Zhou Shuren embraced his son, "I won’t disturb you any longer. Continue going over the accounts."

Zhulan watched Zhou Shuren, not letting go of his son, and put down her writing brush, "I’ve found that ever since we had our son, my place in your heart has declined."

First thing Zhou Shuren does when he comes home is to hold the son, eats dinner and goes to teach Shi Qing, then comes back to holding the son again. His attention towards his wife is not as strong anymore.

Zhou Shuren felt wronged, "I’m looking after our son more because I feel sorry for you, so that the little guy doesn’t always cling to you."

He had long noticed that their son was especially attached to his wife, eyes and heart full of mother, especially at night when she needed to coax him to sleep.

Zhulan hummed, knowing Zhou Shuren was telling the truth and sighed, "I’ve just calculated our family fortune. We have a substantial amount, but Chang Zhi’s wedding expenses are also going to be considerable."

Zhou Shuren leaned over to have a look, "With the promotion in rank, marrying off children now costs more silver. Chang Lian’s wedding only cost a few hundred taels, but if Chang Zhi truly marries the Magistrate, the betrothal gift alone might cost tens of thousands."

Zhulan, "What did you expect? Even if it’s not Magistrate An He, for daughters of other officials’ families, you would still need to offer a similar betrothal gift."

She had sent people to inquire in the afternoon. Furs, fabrics, various exotic goods, plus actual silver—marrying a daughter-in-law in Jinzhou was really expensive, generally costing several thousand taels, and in some cases, tens of thousands.

She lacked experience but calculated that even if they couldn’t give the best betrothal gift, they needed to offer something close. The Zhou family could not be looked down upon.

Zhou Shuren felt extremely distressed, "Chang Zhi is finished; next will be Xue Han’s wedding, followed by Mingyun. We can’t possibly accumulate silver fast enough to cover these weddings."

Zhulan chuckled, "You just count your blessings that your daughter got betrothed to Rongchuan early. We can decide how much dowry to give based on our own wishes. If she were marrying into a great clan, a single daughter’s dowry would drain our entire family fortune."

In the end, the Zhou family lacked depth and didn’t have much to offer; their foundation was still too weak.

Zhulan knew but was restless once she started calculating. She had wanted to enjoy a few years of leisure—bah, such a laborious destiny.

Zhou Shuren wasn’t amusing the child anymore, "We still can’t divide the household just yet, not until everything that needs cleaning up is done. Who knows how many years that will be. Look, every branch already has its own fortune. Let the branches save their own for the next couple of years. Once Xue Han is married, we’ll set a fair amount for future weddings, for grandsons and granddaughters. How much more they want to add is up to each branch."

Zhulan, "Indeed, that’s a good plan."

When you get down to it, marrying off a daughter in ancient times was actually profitable. You gave a betrothal gift for the wife, but she also brought a dowry. No matter how high the betrothal gift was, the dowry wouldn’t be less, and later the dowry would also be passed on to the descendants.

Zhulan thought of the Magistrate’s attire and laughed, "I realize that Chang Zhi is truly lucky."

Zhou Shuren thought to himself that the young man was indeed fortunate to have such a good marital match.

Early the next day, Zhulan closed her doors to visitors on the pretense of seeing Wu Ning off to her home. Zhulan was thoroughly prepared; the young servants and coachman skilled in martial arts were all Zhou family people. Upon arriving in Jinzhou, Zhou Shuren entrusted Wu Chun to find some skillful house servants. Now, the Zhou family’s servants numbered a significant amount.

Zhulan also hired an escort guard for the journey, in addition to the gifts being brought back, requiring four horse-drawn carriages—sufficiently grand.

After seeing off Wu Ning, Zhulan just waited for the news Zhou Shuren would find out.

Zhou Shuren had quietly cultivated some talents as well. He had capable people on hand, and he was best at using borrowed power. Zhulan was aware that Zhou Shuren, with nothing better to do, would ponder who was the Emperor’s man.

By noon, Zhulan had acquired complete information. The more she read, the more pleased she became, for the Magistrate had a good hand at managing the family finances.

Zhulan’s eyes brightened as she read, how had she not thought of it before? The Magistrate had given her quite the hint!