Zhou Shuren arrived and motioned for Gu Zhuomin to sit down, "Don't be shy."
Gu Zhuomin was nervous. This was his first time in Zhou Mansion since arriving in Beijing. "Yes."
Zhou Shuren saw that Gu Zhuomin was still very nervous. His tone was very kind and he didn't put on airs at all. "I heard from Liu Feng that you are going back to worship your ancestors?"
Gu Zhuomin quickly replied, "Liu Feng was adopted, but he hasn't been offered sacrifices to the ancestors yet, so I took Liu Feng back to offer sacrifices to the ancestors."
By the way, let Liu Feng better understand the character of his former family to prevent him from being deceived in the future.
Zhou Shuren nodded, if it wasn't for Liu Feng, he wouldn't have easily met Gu Zhuomin. Gu Zhuomin was eager to meet him right after his day off, partly because he wanted to be closer to the Zhou family, and partly because of Wang Ju. Wang Ju knew everything she needed to know about going to the Ministry of Rites, and Gu Zhuomin also hoped that he could say a few good words in front of Wang Ju.
Gu Zhuomin drank his tea carefully. There were too many rumors about Lord Zhou in the capital, so he was more careful for fear of displeasing Lord Zhou.
A quarter of an hour later, Zhu Lan saw Zhou Shuren coming back and asked in surprise, "Why did you come back so soon?"
Zhou Shuren rubbed his hands and warmed them by the fire. "Gu Zhuomin spoke very carefully. There were many things he didn't dare to say. When there was nothing to talk about, he replied."
Zhulan, "His cautiousness is ingrained in his bones."
Zhou Shuren nodded. Gu Zhuomin had suffered too many losses and learned too many lessons. He would think over every word he said. "I mentioned some of Wang Ju's preferences to him. He was very happy and replied happily."
Zhulan smiled and said, "Well, it's not easy for him either."
Zhou Shuren's hands were no longer cold. He looked for the puppy in the house. No, it couldn't be called a puppy. The dog grew fast and was already quite big. "Did Yudie and Yuyi take the dog away again?"
"Well, I have only touched this gift of yours a few times. Every time, your granddaughter secretly took it away."
The two little girls cooperated with each other, one attracted her attention and the other secretly took the child away.
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "She is your granddaughter too. If you don't spoil her, will they take her away every time?"
"Zhao and Dong said they wanted to raise one, but I refused. One is enough for the family. If we raise too many, the maids won't be so rare."
She is becoming more and more experienced in educating children.
This year, the Zhou family has seen a lot more changes than last year. The children are one year older and understand more. Xue Han got married, and the entire Zhou family is living better and better.
On New Year's Eve, the family reunited. The Zhou family is large, so the New Year is still celebrated in a lively manner. The children are happy, and the adults have more expectations for the future.
On the second day of the Chinese New Year, Xuehan and Rongchuan returned.
Zhou Shuren looked at Rongchuan's purse, which was controlled by his daughter. He had no money to win, so he could only look at his sons and said, "Let's go, let's play cards."
The smiles of Zhou Lao Da and his friends froze. They had started playing cards on New Year's Eve and played for another day on New Year's Day. Their pockets were empty, but they still had no choice but to play with their father.
Chang Yi was rich and powerful. After the gems were sold, he had a lot of money in his pocket. He had been away for a year and now he just wanted to make his parents happy. He smiled and said, "Okay."
Chang Lian touched his purse. It was going to be empty again today. He could not compare with his second brother.
Changzhi was the worst off. He and his mother had already taken out half a year's salary in advance.
Rongchuan drank his tea slowly. He had no money. He immediately gave the New Year's money to his wife. Thinking of the money, he always lost in the past. This time, "Dad, I want to play too."
Jiang Sheng couldn't afford to play, so he just sat aside and said nothing.
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "Okay."
Boss Zhou and his companions had a bad feeling.
On Zhulan's side, Li was pregnant, so Zhulan asked Li to go back and rest first. Then Zhao and others also went back. Zhao had something to ask Xuemei, so Xuemei also went to the second room.
Xue Han was the only one left in the room, and she said, "Mother, on the first day of the new year, my husband and I went to the palace and stayed in the palace for dinner."
Zhulan was not surprised, "How many princes are you with?"
Xue Han shook her head, "No, only the prince's family came to eat. A few princes left the palace after paying New Year's greetings."
That's why she was puzzled. Rongchuan was just the Empress's nephew, but he was actually having dinner with the Emperor and the Empress. If it was just New Year's greetings, she wouldn't think it was a big deal, but since it was only the Prince's family, she didn't understand.
Zhulan thought to herself that it was fortunate that Rongchuan did not look like the emperor or empress, "The empress has always loved Rongchuan very much."
Xue Han didn't have many doubts in her mind. She thought about it again. Rong Chuan often came to the palace, so it was nothing for him to stay for dinner. "Mom, several princes and emperors didn't stay for dinner. Wouldn't it be too eye-catching if they only stayed for us?"
"You guys are eye-catching enough."
Xue Han smiled. That’s right. It doesn’t matter just this once. On second thought, this would be good for both Ninghou Mansion and Rongchuan.
At night, Zhou Shuren sat at the table and counted the silver. There was a lot of small change, and copper coins. He felt sorry after counting them all. "Rongchuan got married, and the large silver notes are gone. Here are a total of 120 taels and 90 wen. Please exchange 100 taels for silver notes for me."
Zhulan took the 100 taels of silver and said, "That's enough. If you keep playing like this, the elders will cry."
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "They are already crying. The eldest has lost all his pocket money for this year, and the fourth is even worse off. I am actually doing this for their own good. I want them to know how to cherish their money."
Zhulan was too lazy to argue with Zhou Shuren, as Zhou Shuren's face became thicker with each passing year.
Zhulan asked, "When are you going to talk to Changyi?"
Zhou Shuren took the banknote and put it in his purse. "No hurry, wait for the Ministry of Rites to take action after the New Year."
"Just keep it in mind."
Time passed quickly, Zhou Shuren's rest day was over, and he returned to the Ministry of Revenue, where he had to face a few more money-eating beasts.
There wasn't much snow this winter. The weather was dry and cold. After the New Year, the weather remained gloomy. There were two snowfalls in just a few days, and both were fairly heavy.
Zhou Shuren was worried, fearing that there would be a snowstorm at the beginning of the year. This would not be a good start to the new year, as everyone was waiting for money!
At Zhou's house, Zhulan looked at her little girl. It was good to be close to home. Xuehan came with news, "Mom, Song gave birth to another son, but the child was not raised well and was born weak."
Zhu Lan asked, "Why don't you go to the Duke's Mansion to take a look?"
"I've already gone. Mrs. Song is feeling very upset because of the child, so I can't stay any longer. Grandma is also angry about the child, so I'll take a detour back to stay for a while and send you a message."
Zhulan has a good relationship with the Song family. "I will go and take a look tomorrow."
Xue Han nodded, "Then I'll go there tomorrow too."
After a pause, Xue Han continued, "The Du family is having a hard time again this time."
Zhu Lan nodded, "It is indeed Mrs. Du's fault that this child is weak, and it is reasonable for the Duke's wife to be angry."
Xue Han thought for a moment and lowered her voice, "When I went to the Duke's Mansion, grandma expressed her dissatisfaction with Madam Du several times, worrying that there would be no one to take care of Madam Du after she died. I don't know if I am being too suspicious, but why do I feel like grandma has some plans?"