All the civil and military officials were looking at Yao Wenqi. Yao Wenqi felt his blood rushing backwards. The emperor really knew everything. The laughter of his elders was still flashing in his mind. The days of being suppressed by the Rong family were finally over. He spat out the last mouthful of blood, and with a thud, he fell straight onto the floor tiles in the hall.
Zhou Shuren felt pain on his face. The floor tiles of the hall were blue bricks, and it hurt even if he kneeled with a little force. He fell straight down and hissed.
No one went to help Yao Wenqi, as if no one saw him fall.
The emperor sneered. He didn't care whether Yao Wenqi was really fainted or pretending. He wanted to keep Yao Wenqi for now. It was fun to cut the meat with a soft knife one by one, and it would be delicious if it was roasted slowly.
The emperor signaled to the guards to ask Yao Wenqi to go down, which meant he really asked for it, without any dignity at all.
Zhou Shuren saw clearly that there was blood on Yao Wenqi's face.
A big drama ended with Yao Wenqi fainting. Afterwards, everyone reported the situation absent-mindedly, and the eunuch who was going to Zhou Mansion and Shi Family to announce the decree left first.
Yu Yun was old and knew many people, and with Eunuch Liu seeing him off, no one came forward. Only Zhou Shuren was left, and everyone came over to him.
Xiao Qing patted Zhou Shuren on the shoulder and said, "I will go back to the Ministry of Revenue first."
Zhou Shuren, "... ...Aren't you going to take me with you?"
Xiao Qing looked at the official who was catching up with him, his face wooden, "I can't take him with me."
After saying this, he walked away quickly, fearing that he and Zhou Shuren would be left behind.
Zhou Shuren, “… … ..”
The King of Qi came over and said, "Master Zhou, no, should I call you cousin instead?"
Zhou Shuren felt happy to hear this, but he didn't dare to acknowledge him. The emperor only acknowledged his mother, but didn't call him cousin. "I don't deserve it."
The King of Qi cursed the old fox in his heart. He had tried to talk to him several times, but the old fox kept silent. "We will be proper relatives in the future, so we must get along well. This Rong Garden, no, it is now divided into three parts. Although the blueprint for the construction of the Rong family has been changed, I have also contributed. Lord Zhou, please treat me to a drink."
Zhou Shuren agreed, "Of course, of course."
The King of Chu felt complicated, "Congratulations, Lord Zhou."
He couldn't bring himself to call him by any other name. Just as he had targeted Zhou Shuren in the past, he felt just as aggrieved now. It was not like Zhou Shuren was targeting him, but he felt indescribably depressed.
King Liang snorted and turned away quickly. He was the first one to know about it. The King of Qi and the King of Chu had often ridiculed him because of his attitude towards Zhou Shuren. He and Zhou Shuren had too many grievances, so there was no need to step forward.
Then the officials congratulated him. Li Zhao patted the revenue's shoulder with his big hand and said, "Very good. You are now an earl. Earl Zhou, you must inform me of the moving date."
Zhou Shuren's back hurt. Li Zhao must be jealous, and he took revenge in a blatant way, "Take your hand away."
Li Zhao laughed and said, "I won't bother you anymore. I'm leaving now."
The Minister of Rites was worried that Zhou Shuren was related to the royal family and he had just plotted against Zhou Shuren not long ago. He should be nicer to Zhou Changyi in the future. "Congratulations, Lord Zhou."
Zhou Shuren returned the greeting, "Thank you."
Poor little Wang Ju had no sense of existence in front of the big guys. She didn't even dare to go forward. She could only stand on the periphery and watch her father's face smiling like a bun with so many wrinkles. The old man must be crazy happy today.
At the Zhou family, Zhulan was very calm when she heard the housekeeper say that the imperial edict was coming. She asked the maid to go to each room to inform them of the imperial edict, and then changed her clothes before going to the front yard. When each room arrived, they did not say a word even if they had doubts in their hearts, and accepted the imperial edict promptly.
After the eunuch who announced the decree left, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren had the same idea. They never expected that there would be such a big surprise.
Steward Ding grinned, "Madam, should our Zhou Mansion be renamed the Earl's Mansion?"
Zhulan came back to her senses. Now that she had a title, there were indeed many changes. "Changyi is in the Ministry of Rites. If you go there, Changyi will know what to do."
Butler Ding clapped his hands and said, "Yes."
Zhulan arranged everything one by one before she had time to talk to her two daughters-in-law.
The two daughters-in-law were still dazed. Zhu Lan laughed and said, "I've come back to my senses."
Zhao's mind was spinning for a while, "Mom, our family is really related to the Rong family!"
Zhu Lan nodded, "The elders all know about it, but they can't tell anyone else. Now that the emperor has cleared the name of the Rong family, there's nothing to hide."
When Zhao heard this, she realized that the head of the family had known about it for a long time. She was confused and uneasy, but now she was completely relieved and happy. "Mom, our family is an earl's mansion?"
Zhulan nodded, "Yes, the Earl's Mansion."
Although there were many people with titles in the capital because of the establishment of the new dynasty, there were no princes of the opposite sex. The highest rank was the duke, but the titles were also divided into different levels. Even though the Zhou family was only an earl, Zhou Shuren held the power of the Ministry of Revenue, the Zhou family was related to the royal family, and his sons were also very ambitious. Therefore, the earl Zhou Shuren was more shunned than most marquises.
Su Xuan was the most confused. When she first married into the Zhou family, all the young ladies she knew thought she was crazy. Later, her father-in-law was very powerful, and the whole family moved to Beijing. Her father-in-law held all the power, and her mother-in-law didn't care about the affairs of the individual rooms. She heard a lot of sour words.
Now they are surprised, this time they are actually jealous of her, no, if their husband gets the second place, they will have no idea how many handkerchiefs they will tear into pieces.
Zhulan heard Su Xuan laugh out loud, which was indeed a happy thing, so she also laughed and said to Mrs. Song, "Double the monthly salary this month."
Speaking of monthly allowance, Zhulan was stunned. The Zhou Mansion paid a lot of monthly allowance every month. She was giving a thumbs up to herself and also to her old man. They accumulated it bit by bit. She knew that many officials in the court lived in the outer city, and the maids didn't dare to buy more.
Speaking of salaries, the emperor increased the salaries of officials last year because of the drought. The salaries of officials in this dynasty are half more than those in the previous dynasty. They are not extravagant and do not keep many concubines, but in fact, they are enough to support a family.
Zhulan thought too much. There were few officials who didn't have concubines in their backyards. Liufeng's uncle, Jin, was so powerful, but he also had concubines.
Shi Huai and Shi Jia sat on the ground motionless after the eunuch who announced the imperial edict left. They looked distraught and particularly old.
Yao Yao's mind went blank. She knelt stiffly on the ground, motionless like a sculpture.
The only sober person was Shi Qing. In fact, Shi Qing was also half-conscious. When he came to his senses, he quickly gave money to his father-in-law, then leaned on the housekeeper and motioned for him to bring a chair.
He also needed to slow down and wait for his father and wife to come to their senses. He was worried if he wasn't here.
Then he signaled the maid to take his son back to the backyard first. The housekeeper and the maid were so excited that they were incoherent. They didn't care whether they were servants of the Shi family or not. They only knew to follow the young master. Now that the young master had become a marquis or a heir of a family like the Rong family, they could hold their heads high when they went out, instead of keeping their heads down and giving in to other housekeepers and servants even if the young master became an official.