Zhou Shuren went home from the government office without taking the reply letter. After dinner, he said, "I received a letter from Zhao Bo today."
Zhulan hummed, "What?"
The two families exchanged fewer and fewer letters, mainly because Shu Ren was unwilling to reply.
"His youngest son is ill, and his wife brought the child to the capital to see a doctor, saying that she would visit the Marquis's residence."
Zhulan still remembered what Zhao Bo had said when he joked about wanting to get married, "You should bring more than just your youngest son to the capital."
"Well, according to the date, we will soon arrive in the capital."
Zhulan smiled, "Changzhong is not at home, what a coincidence."
Zhou Shuren's smile deepened, "What a coincidence indeed."
Zhulan added: "By the way, the Wang family sent an invitation to Li today."
"I heard that the Liu family has also made a lot of moves. The Wang family is trying to win people over."
"Hey, I heard from Xue Han that the emperor has not been to any other place except the queen's bedroom recently. The emperor has done it so obviously, and he even allowed the news to be leaked. Doesn't the Wang family understand what it means?"
Zhou Shuren fanned his wife with a fan, "I understand, but as I said before, the emperor is in his prime, who can predict the future?"
Zhu Lan sighed, "The Wang family relies on having worked with you before, so they have to give you some face. Otherwise, I really don't want the Li family to go."
"Just go and sit there, follow the crowd and don't get picked on."
"Well, I know what's going on."
The next day, Boss Zhou did not leave the city. He had breakfast and came to the main courtyard early in the morning. Boss Zhou said, "Mom, I want to select a few more children from the family to come to Beijing."
Zhulan, "Didn't you bring back six people? Isn't that enough manpower?"
Zhou Laodao said, "My son brought back six people. My second brother liked three of them and took them away directly. So I don't have enough here."
"Is that so? It's good that you know this. However, don't bring too many children from the clan to the capital, as this will make them uneasy and stop them from studying well."
Mr. Zhou said, "Son, I'll remember that."
"Oh, by the way, the ducks you raised in the spring are getting bigger now, right?"
Boss Zhou smiled and said, "It is indeed not small anymore. We can eat it in a few days."
Zhulan wanted to eat roast duck. After saving money, she became more greedy. "Okay, let's eat roast duck when we can."
Boss Zhou nodded. He raised many chickens, ducks and geese on the farm, all for his family. Whenever his family ate the chickens, ducks and other food he asked them to raise, he felt very satisfied.
Zhou Laoda asked, "Mom, do you want a big birthday?"
Zhulan waved her hand, "Your father didn't do it, so I won't do it either. It's enough for the family to have a meal together."
Boss Zhou felt regretful but there was nothing he could do. Nowadays people value frugality and there were fewer banquets in the capital, because some adults in the capital were particularly good at showing off.
In the fourth room, Yujiao pulled her fifth sister who wanted to take a nap, "Fifth sister, it's cloudy today and not so hot, how about we go out to the street?"
Yuwen didn't want to go out, "Go find your third sister."
"My third sister and my elder sister are out."
Her elder sister disliked her for being too noisy and was afraid that if she took her out she would not be back for a while. No matter how much she begged, her elder sister just wouldn't agree to take her out!
Yuwen perked up a little, "Why didn't you go with me?"
Yu Jiao spread her hands, "My sister won't let me."
Otherwise, she would not have come to see her fifth sister. Her sister asked her to practice the piano at home, but she had already memorized the piece very well and did not want to practice. She wanted to go shopping.
Yu Wen pushed Yu Jiao's hand away, "No, I dare not take you out if Fourth Sister won't let me."
Su Xuan heard this when she came in. "I just want to go to the shop. Would you like to come with me?"
Yujiao was overjoyed, "Fourth Aunt is the best."
Su Xuan smiled, "You are the sweetest girl."
Yuwen: "... ...Mom, I didn't agree to go with you."
"Objection is useless, go change your clothes."
Su Xuan got angry when she saw her daughter's clothes. The girl wore very simple clothes in order to take a nap. Her daughter was thinking about how to be lazy.
It was already half an hour by the time they left the house. Su Xuan and her group went to the shop first. After meeting the manager, Su Xuan took the two girls shopping.
Yu Wen followed lazily all the way. Even though it was a cloudy day, the weather was a bit hot and humid. She hated shopping. She preferred to put a few basins of ice and then sleep under a thin blanket.
Yuwen felt that Yujiao was the right child for her mother. Yujiao and her mother were the two women in the family who loved shopping the most. Seeing the two of them walking from house to house, Yuwen really didn't want to move. "Mom, there's a tea shop up ahead. I'll wait for you there."
Su Xuan had Yu Jiao with her, so she let her listless daughter go and said, "Go ahead."
Yuwen arrived at the shop, chose a seat by the window, ordered some cold tea, and had a maid fan her. She felt comfortable and instantly much more energetic.
After a cup of tea, it started to rain heavily. Some pedestrians on the street held umbrellas, but most of them did not and had to find a place to shelter from the rain.
Yuwen was worried about her mother, but then she thought that her mother wouldn't get wet in the shop, so she sat down and waited with peace of mind.
"Ms. Zhou."
Yu Wen turned around, "Master Ning."
Very good, the two of them greeted each other and fell silent.
Ning Ming came in to avoid the rain. He did not sit at the same table with Miss Zhou, but chose a table next to them and ordered a pot of tea. Ning Ming frowned, but only when he saw that the snacks he bought were not wet did a little smile appear on his face.
Yuwen listened to the sound of rain, "Oh, it's very hypnotic."
The maid stood behind the young lady to block the view from behind, "Wait until the rain is lighter, and then we can go back home when the carriage comes to pick us up."
Yuwen: "Yeah."
The heavy rain came and went quickly. When the rain stopped, the Zhou family's carriage arrived and Su Xuan had already taken Yu Jiao on board.
Yu Wen stood up and nodded to Master Ning, then took the maid out, got on the carriage and left.
Ning Ming felt a headache when he thought about his mother's determination not to give up.
It rained several times in succession in the capital. The emperor had just finished muttering that the rainfall this year was good and there was no flood in the south, and that this year was a peaceful year. But the next day, an urgent report was sent to the capital that a locust plague had occurred in Jiaozhou.
The smile on the emperor's face disappeared. It was a locust plague. Not to mention the emperor, Zhou Shuren also sighed, hoping that the scale of the plague was not large.
When he got home at night, Zhou Shuren said, "Jiaozhou is a grain-producing state. It ranks among the top states in terms of grain production. The grain of the entire state, ah."
“It would be better if we had more chickens and ducks.”
Zhou Shuren, "Due to food shortages, most poultry have been killed. Not many are raised this year. Plus, it's impossible to raise them on a large scale right now, so even if every family has chickens and ducks, it's useless."
Zhulan, "I remember locusts are edible?"
"Um."
Zhulan, "Just catch them, dry them, and mix them with cornmeal. Even if you don't eat them, you can feed them to chickens, ducks, and other poultry."
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "I have already mentioned it to the emperor."
"Just mention it."
The couple was worried that the locust plague would spread to other states and they were somewhat helpless.
Fortunately, the situation in Jiaozhou was not too serious. Although grain production decreased, some grain was still saved. Of course, it may be that the good news was exaggerated.
One day, Zhulan saw Yu and was extremely surprised. She wondered why Yu came to her house in person when he was seriously ill.