Time flies, the temperature gradually rises, the traces of snow disappear, the earth is dressed in new green, and people are everywhere digging wild vegetables in the mountains outside the city.
The building of the private orphanage has been completed, and the children live according to a daily schedule. There are already more than 400 orphans in the village.
Everything is developing in a positive direction. Those who were waiting to see a joke did not see it, but instead witnessed with their own eyes that the private orphanage is getting better and better.
A big event in the capital, the imperial examination selected fifty talents, only five of them entered the Ministry of Commerce, ten people were assigned to other departments, and the remaining thirty-five were all on the list to go to the grassland.
The mood among the families has been very low recently, and no one wants to go to open up new land. They used all means during the selection, and now they are regretting it so much.
Zhulan received the items sent back by Mingteng, the most numerous of which were leather, and the most conspicuous one was wolf skin.
Li was terrified, "We have encountered a pack of wolves."
Zhulan had already read Mingteng's letter, "Well, the wolves are also very hungry in the early spring."
Zhao was very worried. "Wolves are the most vengeful. After killing so many wolves, they will take revenge sooner or later."
Zhulan was not worried about Mingteng, as Mingteng and Rongchuan had guards. "This kid also brought back two wild horses. It's hard to come across a herd of wild horses, so he was lucky."
Su Xuan's eyes lit up, "Mom, I'll go check on the two horses."
"Go ahead."
The smile on Liu Jia's face was forced. She had just finished reading the letter her husband sent her. She was lucky enough that her husband could come back in winter. She felt bad about separating after their wedding, even though she understood the situation.
Zhulan divided the things that Mingteng sent back. As soon as the Li family left, Jiang's mother-in-law came. Zhulan was surprised because the old lady seldom came.
Before Jiang Wang entered the house, she smiled and said, "Mother-in-law, I have good news for you."
Zhu Lan's heart was moved, "Is Jiang Du's wife pregnant?"
The old lady's smile froze, but soon she smiled again, "Jiang Miao, Jiang Miao is pregnant. This is the letter Jiang Miao wrote to my mother-in-law, and I brought it along as well."
Zhulan exclaimed, "It is indeed a happy event."
The old lady continued, "Yes, Jiang Miao married late. I have always been thinking about her, but now I feel relieved."
Zhulan thought, she wasn't really worried about Jiang Miao, her mother-in-law was really worried about Jiang Du, "The baby will come when it's time, you don't have to worry about it, just let it be."
Jiang Wangshi stopped talking. She was about to mention Jiang Du, but because of her elder sons, she didn't dare to say much for fear of upsetting her younger daughter-in-law. Even though she was getting angry, she had to endure it when facing her granddaughter-in-law. She came here today hoping that her mother-in-law would ask about it, and she also wanted to use her mother-in-law's words to put pressure on her granddaughter-in-law. Now her plan was in vain.
Zhu Lan ignored the stiffness on Jiang Wang's face and asked, "I heard from Jiang Du that the vegetables you grow in the greenhouse are selling well."
Jiang Wang's face was full of smiles. "Yes, I made a lot of money this year, and there are still a lot of vegetables in the greenhouse. After the vegetables are sold out in a few days, I plan to plant some watermelons. What do you think, mother-in-law?"
Zhulan nodded, "Very good."
In the imperial palace, Zhou Shuren and several ministers came out of the emperor's study. In order to make an example of someone, the states prepared to kill a group of prisoners and proposed several laws.
Zhou Shuren was in a bad mood. The emperor used severe punishment and wanted to kill one tenth of the people this time. If the prisoners were not needed for land reclamation, the emperor would have killed more people.
On his way out of the palace, Lord Qi suddenly spoke up, "Lord Zhou, I heard that the children in the private orphanage are all learning to read and write?"
Zhou Shuren stopped walking. In a bad mood, he directly retorted, "Don't use the word 'I heard'. Just say that you've been staring at me. Everyone knows who they are. Don't keep saying 'I heard'. Be sincere to each other."
Lord Qi's face darkened, "Marquis Zhou has a very hot temper."
Zhou Shuren rolled his eyes. These noble families were deceived by the emperor. Lord Qi's third son was among them. He thought he could join the Ministry of Commerce, but unexpectedly the emperor filled in the list of people going to the grassland and they set off three days later.
Now the noble families have reacted. The children in the royal orphanage can read and write, and the same is true for the private orphanages. The total number of people in the two orphanages is nearly 800.
Eight hundred people are nothing among the children studying nowadays, because the base of students in modern compulsory education is large. In ancient times, this was an incredible figure. Some academies and private schools in lower states may not even have as many as 800 students. This shows how difficult it was to study in ancient times.
These eight hundred people are only in the capital. Royal orphanages have been established in various states across the country. The specific data is in the hands of the emperor. It would be strange if the aristocratic families were in a good mood.
Zhou Shuren ignored Lord Qi. Lord Qi was very angry and annoyed. It was all because of Zhou Shuren's proposal that the Emperor established the Royal Orphanage and asked the royal family to run a private orphanage in the name of the Queen Mother. They didn't dare to find fault with the Emperor, so who else could they find but Zhou Shuren.
Lord Qi was about to speak, but Lord Wen coughed lightly. Lord Qi took a deep breath and glared at Zhou Shuren fiercely.
Zhou Shuren was thick-skinned and could not feel the glare. He continued walking without looking back. He was not afraid of being hated. The private orphanage was to train technical talents. It was positioned from the beginning and would not compete with the aristocratic families for resources. The royal orphanage belonged to the royal family. In the end, the aristocratic families' attention was still on the royal family. He and his wife had already planned it out. Who made the Zhou family unable to fight against all the aristocratic families
It would be better to let the royal family and the major families confront each other and wear each other down.
The next day, Yudie and the others followed Mingrui and the others out of the capital. Zhulan was worried and said, "Bring more servants with you and be more careful when hunting."
Mingrui said: "Grandma, I will take good care of my brothers and sisters."
Zhulan couldn't stop them from going, as the children had their own social activities. With the coming of age of all things, the young men in the capital had more entertainment options, and hunting became the first choice. Many of them went for the deer.
Zhulan was worried after the children left. She really disliked hunting. Archery was so dangerous. What if she shot one of her own
Yudie and others were very happy, even Yuwen followed.
This time, they are all familiar people. There is no need to mention the Second Young Master Liu and the Second Young Master Yu. They are already engaged to the Zhou family, so there is no need to be shy about it.
When they met at the city gate, Liu Yuanbo and Yu Yueyang were already waiting there, along with Shangguan Liu, neither of them were married.
Ran Xun was not invited because he had done some ridiculous things and had a bad reputation. This time he brought his sisters with him, so he had to consider his sisters and those with a bad reputation were not invited.
After leaving the capital, Liu Yuanbo drove his horse to the carriage of Yudie and the others, "I will definitely be the winner today, and all the prey I hunt will be yours."
He completely forgot that his mother told him that if he hunted a deer, he must bring it back.
Yu Yueyang looked at Liu Yuanbo's courtesy stupidly, pursed his lips, and turned his horse over, "I'm good at riding and shooting, and I'll give all the prey I catch to the fourth lady."
Yuyi burst out laughing. She was really surprised that Yu Yueyang knew how to hunt. "Okay, I'll wait."
Yu Yueyang was stunned. He didn’t react until the horse stopped and the carriage left. He caught up with Mingrui and asked, “Did you hear that?”
Ming Rui sneered, "You two are bragging. Let me see what you two can do when the time comes."
Yu Yueyang, "... .."
Liu Yuanbo, "... .."