Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 789: Favors_1

Chapter 789: Chapter 789: Favors_1

Zhou Shuren suddenly remembered that he had not told his wife about the manor, "I earned a meritorious deed today, and the Emperor rewarded me with a manor, eighty mu in Jingnan, originally belonging to the Crown Prince. Before I left, I secretly asked the Crown Prince, and the manor has hot springs."

In the end, the Crown Prince told him to take more baths in the hot springs for health benefits, but he disregarded it.

Zhulan was delighted, "Really?"

"Really, truer than gold."

Zhulan was so happy she could hardly contain herself, "I told you, I especially liked the two manors I saw today, and had them on my mind. Now we have a manor, one that was formerly the Crown Prince’s, it must be excellent."

Zhou Shuren watched his wife’s joyous expression and felt that no matter how difficult, it was worth it, "This winter, we’ll stay at the manor for some time."

Just as Zhulan was about to nod her head, she halted and said, "Will you be able to get time off?"

Zhou Shuren hmphed, "Yes, I definitely will."

Inside the Palace, after the Princes and the Crown Prince had dinner, the Emperor was playing chess with the Crown Prince. The Emperor asked, "Who do you think should be sent to Jianghuai?"

The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes, "Lord Zhou possesses a pair of discerning eyes, but your son is reluctant to send him away."

If something went wrong, he would grieve; he was still counting on Zhou Shuren to live many more years, at least until he ascended the throne and took control of the court.

The Emperor also knew that Zhou Shuren was very suitable, but he was even more reluctant to send him away than the Crown Prince. He was getting old and needed capable assistants. Zhou Shuren rarely spoke up, but whenever he did, he resolved major issues.

He had only been in the capital for a short while and had already solved the Ministry of Revenue’s silver issue, had come up with a strategy to purchase grain, and had discovered problems with the salt tax.

Zhou Shuren had helped him too much; otherwise, he would still be worrying about silver and grain instead of being able to calmly make arrangements like now, "Do you have any other suitable candidates in mind?"

As the Crown Prince placed a chess piece down, the Emperor looked down and saw that he had lost a significant area. Narrowing his eyes, over the years, whenever he played chess with his son, the boy always played defensively. This was the first time he had taken the offensive.

The Crown Prince said with a smile, "Your son believes that the fourth and fifth brothers are the most suitable."

The Emperor laughed, proud of the child he was most satisfied with—he was on the same page as himself. The fourth son currently had no specific duties, and now that he did, even though he knew the salt tax was tricky, to not be outdone by his second and third brothers, he would surely apply himself.

Moreover, the third son’s maternal grandfather was from the Qi family, which had its roots in the Jianghuai region; the fourth son taking on the third was a perfect matchup. Among his several sons, the fourth one was the most ruthless.

As for Zhang Jinghong, only by sending him out of the capital could those hiding in the shadows contact him without reservations.

The Emperor looked at his eldest son and sighed, "I really am getting old."

The Crown Prince was startled and almost knelt, but the Emperor steadied him with a hand.

The Emperor laughed heartily; he truly wasn’t concerned about aging. He simply wanted to put the court in order for the Crown Prince. These past years, he had grown weary; it was only in these last couple of years that he could relax a bit, "Alright, after we finish this game, you should head back too!"

Listening carefully to the Emperor’s tone, the Crown Prince was reassured by its steadiness. As he exhaled, he was just glad it wasn’t meant to scare him.

The next day, in the morning, Zhulan received the deed to the manor and also the one sent by the Crown Prince. She really wanted to go see the manor in Jingnan herself, but she held back for the sake of the Zhou family’s reputation, and instead sent the old maid Song and steward Wang to take care of the handover.

With the addition of the manor, the household needed to hire more servants, so she called for Lady Li, "A broker will bring people over later; you and the second elder’s family pick servants together today."

For a few manors, Zhulan planned to send old hands from the Zhou estate, filling up the gaps within the residence with newly purchased maids and young servants.

Lady Li had seen her mother-in-law purchase servants several times and had always remembered her words. She had been managing household affairs for some days now and had picked up quite a bit of experience. She felt confident in her ability to handle things steadily. "Mother, I will go and inform my sister-in-law right away."

"Hmm."

At noon, the Crown Prince was in a good mood. As he sat down to eat, he noticed, "Mr. Qiu is not here?"

Zhou Shuren’s mouth twitched, "Mr. Qiu took a leave today."

The Crown Prince had a decent understanding of Qiu Yan. The man was competent; otherwise, he wouldn’t have climbed to the position of Vice Minister of Revenue. His notable trait was his contentment with his lot, and after Zhou Shuren joined the Ministry of Revenue, there really weren’t too many outstanding aspects to note about him.

He didn’t know how to evaluate Qiu Yan anymore, but this was fine, too. The court needed people who were content with their lot.

The Crown Prince spoke, "I remember, back in the day, Minister Zhou even accepted a Top scorer as his godson."

Zhou Shuren calmly set down his bowl, "Yes, I did accept a foster son back then."

"I remember his name seemed to be Wu Ming."

"Yes."

The Crown Prince knew Wu Ming, and it was because of Zhou Shuren that Wu Ming had truly displeased the Emperor back then. Now he was able to be promoted, and while he indeed had contributions, the Emperor was looking more at Zhou Shuren’s face.

The Crown Prince said with a smile, "For a person to be acknowledged by Minister Zhou, it’s clear that he possesses real ability."

Zhou Shuren knew all too well that having ability also required being noticed by those above. Especially given the vast number of officials throughout the nation, only by having the Crown Prince and the Emperor remember one’s name could one have a smoother path ahead. He had come up this way himself and said, "I admire this youngster, Wu Ming. I was not his equal back then."

This was the truth; Wu Ming was a true genius, a true big shot. Back in the day, he couldn’t compare, but now, he had more experience and had been through more trials than Wu Ming.

The Crown Prince picked up on the earnestness in Zhou Shuren’s tone. Initially, he was just making conversation, but now he got serious. The more he understood Zhou Shuren’s abilities, the more he wanted to delve into them. Admitting inferiority to someone like Wu Ming, who had won the title of Top scorer at such a young age, showed that he indeed had real skill. The Crown Prince decided he needed to look into this person more thoroughly once he returned.

Zhou Shuren continued to eat. He had said enough; saying too much could backfire. He thought to himself, isn’t it said that having connections at the top makes a difference? Look, the Crown Prince and the Prince are actually listening to what he says.

Zhou Shuren was in a good mood. It would take some years for Wu Ming to climb up. By then, he would be old, and Wu Ming would be just the right person to succeed him. As for Chang Lian, he had a measure of the man. Chang Lian mimicked him in everything, which meant he was destined never to reach the highest peak, whereas Wu Ming could.

When he returned home, he would write to Wu Ming. He had to inform him of today’s events; it was a matter of favor, and as for favors, he did not find them burdensome at all.

At the Duke Residence, Lady Yu had taken her medicine, and Ning Zhixiang was sitting by her side, "It’s not that I want to criticize you, but you need to stop dwelling on these thoughts."

Lady Yu wiped her tears with a handkerchief, "How can I not think about it? In the future, my elder brother will inherit the Duke Residence, Zhang Rongchuan will inherit the Hou Residence, and we will have nothing. We’ll have to depend on my elder brother and Zhang Rongchuan to live."

Ning Zhixiang felt a heaviness in his chest, "Don’t worry, our parents will make arrangements for us."

Lady Yu was agitated inside. What she wanted was power and influence. She was accustomed to being above others. Once her elder brother inherited the Duke Residence, and they had to move out, she didn’t want to be looked down upon.

Ning Zhixiang stood up; he couldn’t reason with Lady Yu. Sighing, he thought it better to spend more time teaching his son instead. His own son was smarter than the children in his big brother’s family; this was the hope of their branch of the family.

He had figured it all out. Rongchuan was a Third-rank Scholar, and he wanted to acknowledge him formally again. He planned to ask for his father’s and uncle’s agreement to let Rongchuan tutor his son. He felt sure his father and uncle would agree.