Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 507 Feeling Inferior_1

Chapter 507: Chapter 507 Feeling Inferior_1

Zhulan got up and put away the needlework in her hands, and when she came back, she glared, "Don’t tease our son like that. If he starts crying, you’ll have to comfort him."

Zhou Shuren never seems to learn!

Zhou Shuren watched his son flailing about like a little turtle, his eyes filled with amusement, "Don’t you think it’s fun? He’s all spread out like a little starfish."

Zhulan rolled her eyes internally. The boy might be easy to soothe, but when he got angry, he sure had a temper. Zhou Shuren continued to flip the child over, leaving Zhulan speechless, resolved not to be the one to soothe him later.

With a loud "wah," the little guy got angry, just lying there without moving, crying his heart out.

Zhou Shuren, on the other hand, laughed heartily. Now the little guy cried even harder. Zhou Shuren coughed, afraid the little stinker would hurt his throat from crying and picked him up, "Alright, Daddy won’t tease you anymore. No more crying, okay?"

Zhulan couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Zhou Shuren was flipping their son around and the baby’s diaper fell off. And there you have it—the little guy flooded Zhou Shuren with a deluge, nearly reaching his face.

Zhou Shuren was stunned, then, grinding his teeth, looked at the non-crying little stinker, "Is this revenge?"

He’s only so little!

Zhulan was laughing so hard her stomach hurt. She took the aggrieved little one into her arms, "You get up quickly. The bedding is all wet, and you need to change your clothes too."

Zhou Shuren got off the floor and tapped the child’s nose, "How many times have you wet our bedding at home now?"

The little one held back his tears, looking even more aggrieved, prompting Zhulan to give Zhou Shuren a stern look, "You’re still teasing him."

Zhou Shuren left, grinding his teeth. He needed to change his clothes and take a bath as well.

Liu Ya came in and changed the bedding. Zhulan also changed the little one’s clothes. With dry clothes and no more tears, the baby contentedly lay there playing by himself. Zhulan laughed helplessly—ever since the child was born, they’d made several extra sets of bedding. The child was too young to control himself and often wet the bed.

Time flew by. Zhulan didn’t know what Zhou Shuren was investigating, and she didn’t have time to ask, as Chang Zhi’s wedding day arrived before they knew it.

Wu Ning also came back before Chang Zhi’s wedding, bringing with him congratulatory gifts, and lots of presents for Zhulan and Zhou Shuren, all prepared by Wu Ming.

Considering Zhulan and Zhou Shuren’s ages in ancient times were not young, Wu Ming’s gifts were mostly medicinal herbs. Wu Ning wore a lot of jewelry bought by the Zhou family, so Wu Ming felt a bit embarrassed and made sure the ginseng and deer antler he sent were of top-notch quality.

The day before Chang Zhi’s wedding, it was time for the bride to present her dowry. The whole of Jinzhou Province was watching the Magistrate’s dowry. Everyone knew the Magistrate had silver—after all, the Su family had grown wealthy with the Emperor, and during the times of turmoil, they looted more than anybody could count. The only certainty was that the Su family was exceptionally well-off.

Even after giving a considerable portion of land to the Su clan, the wealth of the Su family still made others covetous.

Zhulan, along with her daughters-in-law, waited early. Zhulan did not expect the Magistrate to ostentatiously display all her riches to the public.

Lady Li was very curious: "Mother, how much dowry will the Magistrate bring?"

Zhulan, "We’ll know in a moment."

No sooner had she spoken than the first portion of the dowry was carried into the courtyard. Zhulan had not added any furniture to Chang Zhi’s house; all of that was for the Magistrate to prepare, who had taken measurements long ago.

Every piece of furniture, like the beds and cabinets, were made from the finest materials. But these were not the most impressive parts. The real spectacle was the representation of fields, houses, and shops, and the bridal jewelry was the most eye-catching—opening the chest, it was packed full.

Chang Zhi’s courtyard was not small, but it was still not enough to hold it all—88 loads of dowry in total.

Zhulan knew the Magistrate had a keen sense of propriety—not enough would be inappropriate, as the Su family’s wealth was common knowledge; too much would be showing off. As the Magistrate was of second rank, 88 loads were just right.

Out of these 88 loads, eight were additional dowry items, which was not an insignificant amount. The Wang family contributed two loads alone.

There were three copies of the dowry list—Zhulan had one, one was registered with the Government Office, and the Magistrate kept one herself.

The dowry was delivered, the furniture and bedding were all set up, the red curtains were hung, the bridal chamber was arranged, and then the dowry was locked away.

Zhulan returned to her courtyard with her three daughters-in-law. Once there were no outsiders, Lady Li, clutching her chest, exclaimed: "My goodness, 88 loads! I couldn’t even count all the shops and houses represented."

Lady Li was truly amazed. The jewelry from the dowry dazzled her eyes, and she was moved. The items in the Magistrate’s dowry would belong to the descendants of the four Su family branches—one generation won without even being born yet.

Lady Zhao was in a daze. This was just the publicly revealed dowry; who knew how much silver was privately transferred? Lady Zhao glanced surreptitiously at her sister-in-law, the String of Pearls on her wrist was a gift from the Magistrate!

Lady Zhao thought to herself, she wondered if her daughter would catch the Magistrate’s eye.

Lady Dong was feeling the pressure of having a Magistrate for a sister-in-law already, and now that she’d seen the dowry, the gap felt too vast; she hardly felt up to the challenge.

Xue Han was the most composed of all. She often visited the Wang residence, where the Magistrate handled the dowry list without excluding her, so she had some understanding of what to expect.

Zhulan reviewed the dowry list thoroughly. The list was detailed—there were five houses in total; one was a gift from the Emperor, another was a newly-purchased three-section residence. Both of these were in the capital. There was one house in Jinzhou Province that the Magistrate was currently occupying, and the other two were ancestral properties.

Even the smallest house had three sections in its courtyard.

There were even more shops—three in the capital, two in Jinzhou Province, two in Pinggang, and six on the ancestral lands.

As for the fields, there was one estate near the capital and a 150-acre estate in Pinggang; the rest were on the Su family’s ancestral lands.

Zhulan’s gaze lingered on the estate in Pinggang; the Magistrate’s investment instincts aligned perfectly with her own.

Skipping over the jewelry, Zhulan glanced roughly at the list and slowly closed the dowry document. She couldn’t afford to calculate it all too carefully. With a too-clear tally, she’d feel inadequate, oh, the Zhou family’s fortune still seemed too meager.