Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 903

Chapter 903: 903

Zhou Lao Da felt sorry for his son; how old was the boy, already having to face the wolves outside the residence? He watched his eldest son with concern, "Drink slowly."

Mingyun quenched his thirst with tea and said, "Mother, I can’t not drink. If I refuse, it will only lead to more reasons to drink. It’s better to take initiative from the start. This is what Grandma said. Besides, I’m not foolish. I pretended to be drunk and left early, so they couldn’t figure out how much I can really handle."

Lady Li was relieved, "Your grandfather had foresight, grooming you all these years to handle your drink."

Mingyun nodded, cursing the grandsons of the Phang family in his heart. Today’s drink was strong, but luckily he had a natural capacity for alcohol, which, coupled with drinking appropriately over the past two years, kept him from overindulging.

Thinking of the Jade Pendant, Mingyun took it out from his sleeve and handed it to his mother, "Mother, this Jade Pendant is nice, but it’s more suitable for a young man. I’ll trade it for something you and Father will like."

Lady Li eyed the fine-quality Jade Pendant, "Where did you get this?"

Mingyun recounted the events at Lau’s residence, "It’s Lau Qi’s Jade Pendant. It’s not good for me to keep it, so it’s better to trade it."

Zhou Lao Da nodded in approval, his eldest son was careful in his dealings, "As long as you have a plan."

Days passed quickly, and Zhou Shuren truly hated to see them go, "The holiday is too short."

Zhulan got up early in the dark, helping to tidy up his uniform while saying, "This year’s holidays were already quite long, last year you didn’t have this many days off."

Zhou Shuren snorted, "That’s what I deserve. Last year I was as tired as a dead dog, naturally, I should have more days of rest during the New Year."

Zhulan let go and said, "Alright then."

Zhou Shuren grumbled unwillingly, "I shouldn’t be attending court this month. Why does the new year’s rotation start with me? I’ve calculated carefully, last winter, I was the one attending the morning court all the time!"

Zhulan replied, "You should ask yourself."

Zhou Shuren, "...."

Alright, it was his own doing. When he attended court, Grand Master Xiao could enjoy his leisure. When Qiu Yan attended, Xiao had to follow. With winter not yet passed, Xiao also did not want to suffer, so of course, he would have Zhou Shuren rotate in first!

Zhulan yawned and went back to catch up on sleep; getting up to accompany her husband was true love, but now the warm bed was the truest love of all!

Zhou Shuren stood at the door, watching his wife fall asleep in seconds, and felt extremely envious!

Actually, the various ministries of the capital had already started working. Zhou Shuren’s days off were plentiful because they were specially approved by the Grand Master of Writing. The grand New Year’s court meeting had already taken place.

Zhou Shuren stood at his familiar spot, hunched his neck, and upon feeling the Emperor’s gaze, he straightened up and stood properly.

The Emperor had an intimate knowledge of how Zhou Shuren spent his rest days, and it was precisely this understanding that fueled his envy. Look at how Zhou Shuren enjoyed his time off!

Zhou Shuren thought to himself, surely the Emperor wasn’t still dwelling on the matter of him bullying Rongchuan? That was several days ago!

The Emperor withdrew his gaze, his peripheral vision scanning his sons, who were becoming increasingly worrisome. His eyes fell onto his hands, noticing the wrinkles had multiplied; the court must think him old.

The Crown Prince also observed his younger brothers, the fourth brother was restless, while the second and third refused to be outdone. On the surface, the New Year was a happy family time, but beneath it all, no one had been idle. His brothers’ maneuvers also kept their father on edge. In the past, his father had used his power smartly, but now the Qi family had weakened, Ning Residence laid low, leaving only the Phang and Chen families active - the latter currently with no significant moves.

Zhou Shuren intended to slack off, but that didn’t mean he would lose heart when attending court. In this new year, the court was particularly tense. Now, as the year began, Zhou Shuren’s eyes roved amongst the officials who had spoken, contemplating, and ready to stoke the flames.

After the court session, Zhou Shuren quickened his pace, yet he still couldn’t outrun Mr. Li Zhao, whom he hadn’t seen for a while.

Li Zhao caught hold of Zhou Shuren’s uniform, "Don’t walk so fast, let’s have a chat."

Zhou Shuren didn’t want to chat; he didn’t even need Mr. Li to speak to know what the conversation was about, "Mr. Li, Happy New Year."

Li Zhao hummed in his heart, "Mr. Zhou, could you explain to this official why we need to fill out forms to apply for silver?"

In Zhou Shuren’s mind, first was for the convenience of the Ministry of Revenue to improve the efficiency of their work, and second, of course, was to guard against embezzlement. Even if someone had the audacity to embezzle, they would not dare to report amounts as large as before. He chuckled awkwardly, "This is all by the Grand Master of Writing’s direction."

Li Zhao let out a scoff, "Who are you trying to fool? If Xiao Qing had that sort of brain, he would no longer be the Minister of Revenue."

Zhou Shuren, "... Mr. Li, it was approved by the Emperor."

Li Zhao choked, irritably grasping his sleeve, "Fine, forms it is, but why must we estimate the required silver for various needs ourselves?"

In the past, one would just apply for an amount, and if there was any excess, it would be kept; if not enough, one would simply ask for more. Now having to estimate, pah, it truly irritated him to death.

Zhou Shuren wanted to escape, but his clothing was still pinched in Mr. Li’s hand, "That is, all applications need to fill out forms."

It wasn’t targeted at the bigwigs of the Ministry of War, cough, rather, it was aimed at all the bigwigs.

The Minister of Personnel Mr. Wang stood by, listening for quite a while, patting Zhou Shuren’s shoulder with a smiling face, "This official supports you."

Zhou Shuren rolled his eyes inwardly. Of course, Mr. Wang was pleased since it would save him a great deal of trouble.

Li Zhao let go of his official robe, striding away in annoyance. He loathed Mr. Wang and didn’t want to continue being the butt of jokes.

Zhou Shuren heaved a sigh of relief. Heaven knows, he still wanted to add a few more steps to the application process; officials from the Ministry of Revenue were indeed few. Wait for him, cough, for the future, he intended to establish a complete procedure.

During the day at the Zhou residence, Zhulan was entertaining Mrs. Tao, "It’s nice for you to be in the capital."

Mrs. Tao came bearing news, "My old master is in the middle of a handover, and will be arriving in the capital in a few days."

Zhulan felt a bit guilty, all on account of Zhou Shuren’s intentions, "So soon?"

"It’s not soon. We received the imperial edict two days ago. Oh, I heard that the eldest of the Wu family, that would be Wu Ming, Mr. Wu is also coming to the capital?"

Zhulan was aware that the imperial edict had already left the capital, which was no secret in the city, "Mhm."

Mrs. Tao clapped her hands, "Since our relationship is so good and our two families are connected by marriage, I won’t beat around the bush: my family has suitable girls."

Zhulan hurriedly interrupted, "Precisely because our families are so close, I’ll be straight with you; Wu Ming’s marriage arrangement has already been decided, just waiting for Wu Ming to enter the capital and finalize the engagement."

Mrs. Tao was stunned; she thought she had gotten ahead of others, "Someone got there before me?"

Zhulan smiled without a word. Much earlier than you.

Mrs. Tao was not content, "Such a good match for a son-in-law. Though my family doesn’t have any notable men, having a good son-in-law would be nice, "Indeed, everyone has their eye on gold, and I won’t ask you to say which family it is, nor will I make things difficult for you."

Zhulan mentally rolled her eyes, "Backing off as a way to advance doesn’t work on me."

Mrs. Tao laughed heartily, "I genuinely want to know which family has such good foresight."

After she had mentioned it to her mother-in-law, who had in turn spoken to her father-in-law, he had urged her to act quickly. She had specifically chosen an auspicious day to come, but it was still too late.

In the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren’s first day back at work after the New Year began with a visit to Minister Xiao. Upon entering the room, he found Minister Xiao drinking tea and humming a tune, so leisurely. Then looking at himself, wrapped up tight in his cloak, dressed like a bear, why did his heart feel so out of sorts?