Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 834 - Sharpening the Knife

Chapter 834: 834 Chapter Sharpening the Knife

Before one knew it, the day of Mrs. Bai’s funeral from the Yao Hou Residence was upon them. Zhulan thought of Mrs. Liu from Jinzhou Province, who had passed away before the Min Residence had met with disaster, and now rested in peace after death.

Those who survived from the Min Residence who were of age all died, and those alive were enslaved; the women’s fate was even more tragic. Those with courage could take their own lives, those without could only struggle to survive.

Zhulan sighed at the cruelty of ancient systems. One person’s mistake implicated the whole family, and in serious cases, the entire clan. Combined with the strict hierarchy of the ancient food chain, surviving in ancient times was truly difficult.

Xue Han was accompanying her mother and had already heard her sigh several times. "Mother, what makes you so reflective?" she asked.

Zhulan looked at the handkerchief her daughter was embroidering. "Mother is just struck by how quickly time passes. Birth, aging, sickness, and death seem to happen in the blink of an eye; a person’s life is too fleeting," she said.

Xue Han was startled by these words. "Mother, don’t talk like that. You and father should live to a ripe old age," she said.

Xue Han felt certain that Mrs. Bai’s death from the Yao Hou Residence had frightened her mother. Indeed, Mrs. Bai was not very old; how could it be that she was suddenly gone?

Zhulan also wished to live a long and full life, but sadly, it was only a wish. Even reaching a hundred years of age was difficult in modern times, let alone in the past. "In the blink of an eye, you will be married off. Mother remembers just a few years ago, you were still a child who loved to cuddle in her arms," she said.

Xue Han’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. "Mother, please, no more reflections. You’re scaring your daughter," she said.

Zhulan looked at her daughter’s frightened little eyes and laughed, changing the subject. "What gift did Rongchuan bring you yesterday?" she asked.

Xue Han’s cheeks reddened—she thought her relationship with Rongchuan was very secretive, yet her mother knew. "A bracelet," she replied.

Zhulan thought to herself that ever since Rongchuan had more silver, the boy had not stopped buying gifts for her daughter, sending something four or five times a month was considered few; new jewelry from the jewelry store, travel journals, paintings, and other things her daughter liked, making her envious.

She had even told Zhou Shuren about it, and Zhou Shuren had lost this round.

Zhou Shuren couldn’t compete with Rongchuan, who had plenty of Silver Coin; the boy was incredibly wealthy!

In the imperial court, within the government hall, only Shi Qing was present. The Emperor inquired about the situation in the Yao Hou Residence, "I hear your wife is unwell. You may ask the Imperial Physician to take a look."

Shi Qing dared not lift his head, but his heart was full of gratitude. He had no status or background; the Emperor used him as a tool, and without the Emperor’s favor, it was very difficult for him to climb up by himself. His status limited him, but the Emperor was always direct with him and never acted behind his back. He trusted that asking the Imperial Physician would be safe, and his voice trembled with emotion as he said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

The Emperor allowing the Imperial Physician to see his wife implied that the child was safe.

The Emperor hummed in acknowledgment and dismissed Shi Qing.

After Shi Qing had left, the Crown Prince stepped out from behind a screen. The Emperor asked, "Do you understand why I did that?"

The Crown Prince nodded. "Your Majesty is using the child to test Shi Qing. Shi Qing’s choice has put Your Majesty at ease because, with the child unborn, Shi Qing is under pressure. He must work hard and be devoted. With some favor from Your Majesty, he will be forever grateful," he said.

Basically, Your Majesty is personally sharpening the knife. Whether the knife can be used for long is the result of repeated sharpening.

Your Majesty’s approach with Shi Qing is always a mix of truth and deception. Shi Qing thinks he has seen through some of it, but he has never fully understood.

Given Shi Qing’s background, he can only rely on Your Majesty, who is very confident in using him. This is where he differs from Yao Zheyu. Your Majesty seems to use Yao Zheyu as a tool but does not intend to use him in the long term nor personally sharpen him. Once Yao Zheyu’s value is gone, he is discarded.

Yao Zheyu’s current position at the Ministry of War is proof of this. Now he doesn’t even have the chance to attend court; without being summoned, he cannot enter the palace.

Meanwhile, Shi Qing is slowly coming into contact with deeper matters.

The Emperor truly felt that he had nothing left to entrust to his eldest son. The child didn’t articulate his understanding, but he knew it in his heart. As he touched the desk, he thought of the Shen Residence, whose influence had diminished quite a bit over the past two years, yet it was still too much.

At the Zhou family, Lady Dong received a letter from her eldest brother. Since she had warned him before, he had been attentively monitoring his other brothers. After reading the eldest brother’s letter, it turned out that he had intercepted the second brother’s letter. The second brother and his wife were up to no good, setting their sights on Jiang Zhu, the eldest son of their eldest sister.

Lady Dong’s emotions fluctuated greatly during her pregnancy, and the letter only added to her anxiety. The second brother did have good taste, she thought, but not only would the eldest sister disagree, she disagreed as well.

She didn’t want endless trouble in the future. Having married into the Zhou family for so many years, her in-laws had always treated their children equally; daughters and sons alike. She recognized the high esteem in which her parents-in-law held her eldest sister the moment they provided a substantial dowry, simply giving away a great deal of Silver.

Although the eldest sister would share this wealth with her own children, it made no difference—it was as good as bestowing it upon the Jiang family. Her in-laws truly adored the eldest sister, and she, as a daughter-in-law, watched with envy. Yet she didn’t want to become overly involved and face constant conflicts in the future.

Lady Dong took the letter and prepared to write a response, clarifying the situation of her nephew and advising her eldest brother to keep a close eye and prevent any trouble. After careful inspection, she had the letter sent off.

Lady Dong, touching her belly, hoped that among all the women of the household, this pregnancy would result in a son.

At the Hanlin Academy, Chang Lian looked at Shi Qing, who had just returned from the palace. Shi Qing seldom showed joy after visiting the palace, so Chang Lian asked in a hushed voice, "Is there some good news?"

Knowing that everyone was looking at him, Shi Qing openly said, "I received a reward. My wife is unwell, so I used the reward to exchange for a favor, asking the Imperial Physician to give her a consultation."

This was something that could not be kept secret. He was only a Scholar and yet could not request the services of an Imperial Physician.

Chang Lian was quite worried about Shi Qing, remembering that Shi Qing’s wife was pregnant. It seemed that Shi Qing’s somber face these past few days was also due to worry over the child.

Chang Lian then glanced over at Shen Yang’s seat. Shen Yang had taken two days off, apparently due to illness.

Following his gaze, Shi Qing confirmed that indeed Shen Yang was sick, scaring himself ill, hiding at home, not daring to step outside.

In the afternoon at the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren finished the day’s workload and rubbed his shoulders, having not spent a full day writing for a long while, "Mr. Qiu, I’ll be leaving first."

Qiu Yan stared at Zhou Shuren’s desk, somewhat incredulous. His own workload was obviously larger; how was it possible to finish early, "Grand Master Zhou, your abacus skills have greatly improved."

Zhou Shuren, "I also think I’ve gotten a lot better."

Practice makes perfect. When he was the Magistrate, he didn’t manipulate an abacus daily, but ever since he came to the Ministry of Revenue, he dealt with it every day, and his hands became much faster at calculations.

Qiu Yan envied him, thinking his own arithmetic wasn’t bad, but compared to Grand Master Zhou, it felt like a significant difference. He had hoped that Grand Master Zhou would stay with him for a bit longer today and said somewhat deflatedly, "Grand Master, you go ahead, I’ll leave after I finish."

Zhou Shuren hummed a tune, thankful that he had been clever enough to return the Grand Master of Writing’s work; otherwise, he would have had to work overtime as well. As he walked out, he saw Hu Xia.

Zhou Shuren was about to pass by but stopped and turned, "Mr. Hu."

Hu Xia rushed over excitedly, "Grand Master, do you have any instructions for this subordinate?"

Zhou Shuren thought of his wife’s words, and the message he intended to pass on was no longer there, "No, it’s nothing."

Hu Xia felt disappointed inside. He had thought that as Grand Master Zhou was fond of his nephew, he would take extra care of him too. Hu Xia was not good at expressing himself and only knew how to work hard; it was not easy to garner the attention of a superior.

Zhou Shuren, feeling a bit hungry since he hadn’t enjoyed the Ministry’s food for a while, didn’t eat much as it was rather greasy today. Upon exiting the Ministry’s main gate, "Princely Heir Yao, what are you doing at the Ministry of Revenue’s entrance?"