Zhulan understood what was going on, but she was still angry. She had just arrived in Lizhou City and had just become an official. The ancient times when concubines were legal were truly terrible.
Zhou Lao Da's face was also dark. If his mother hadn't said it clearly, he wouldn't have thought about it. He still thought that Yazi was thoughtful enough to know how many older people the family had sent.
Zhou Laoda pursed his lips. "Mom has been through all the ups and downs with Dad. Aren't these people poking at Mom's heart? Wait, Dad cares about Mom so much. Dad will definitely remember this today!"
Yazi realized that it was useless to apologize, so he decided to go back and tell his boss and wait for him to come. Anyway, he had to obey orders from the situation.
Li followed her mother into the house. She no longer liked the maids. She was happy about her changed status before, but never thought that there would be dangers after the change of status. "Mother, can't we not have maids in our family?"
Zhulan was happy, "Don't worry, no one likes the boss right now."
The eldest son is good at nothing except being the eldest son. If it were the third son Chang Lian or the eldest son Chang Zhi, someone would pay more attention to him.
Li's heart tightened, "Mother, what do you think you don't like at the moment?"
"It depends on what level your father's official position has been promoted to."
With his high official position, even though Boss Zhou was useless, there were still many people keeping an eye on him.
Li was anxious, "Mom, what should I do? I'm not pretty, I have a loud voice, I'm fat, and I can't do anything except cooking. Will the head of the family dislike me?"
No wonder the head of the family has been falling asleep recently. He hasn't had a good talk with her for a long time. When Li was nervous, she completely forgot that there was a shortage of people at home. Boss Zhou had to take on the responsibility of three people alone. He was simply too tired to have any energy left.
Zhulan, “… … ..”
Li really understands herself, but she does need to solve some problems. Today it is Zhou Shuren, and in the future it will be her sons.
When Boss Zhou came in to get the silver, he heard Li saying this about himself. Hearing Li's frightened voice, he felt very uncomfortable. He was just an ordinary person. He had never thought that his father's identity had changed. He despised Li because he became a master. Li gave birth to children for him, and he was a man with conscience. He made a note to have a good talk with Li in the evening.
Boss Zhou knocked on the door and said, "Mom, I'm here to get the money."
Zhulan forgot to take the silver when Li interrupted her. She took out two silver bills and handed them to the eldest brother. Although she didn't ask the price, the broker didn't dare to cheat the official. This silver was enough. "When you come back after exchanging the deed, ask if there is anyone selling land and mountains nearby. Mother wants to buy some land and mountains."
Boss Zhou took the banknote and said, "Mom, I'll take note of it."
Zhulan waited for Zhou Lao Da to leave. She also tried to comfort Li, "Don't scare yourself. I'm putting this here. There is no such thing as taking concubines in our family. If anyone dares to take a concubine, I'll ask your father to break his legs and kick him out of the Zhou family."
Li was spinning in a hurry and stopped immediately, "Mom, is it true?"
"When have I ever broken my word?"
Li grinned. Her mother-in-law always kept her word. As long as her mother-in-law's words were there, she would not be afraid that the head of the family would have other intentions. "Mom, you are so kind."
Zhulan likes Li. Look, she is happy so quickly. "Don't accompany me. Choose a few dishes for lunch and send them to the government office when the boss comes back."
Mrs. Li was a little embarrassed. "Mom, we only have bacon and sausages at home. We don't have any other vegetables. I wanted to go to the market this morning to see if there were any vegetables, but there was no one in the market."
Zhulan said, "Now we have more servants at home, let Eryue take people to Chuanzhou to buy tomorrow."
Li stopped worrying about it and said, "Mom, I'll go cook."
"Wait a minute, kill two hens, and I'll ask you to get some ginseng. One of the hens that will be sent to the government office will be made into ginseng chicken soup, and the other one will be made into chicken stewed with mushrooms, and we'll eat it ourselves."
Li was hungry. The journey was too hard. She had been thinking about the hen, but she didn't dare to mention it until her mother-in-law said so. Now that her mother-in-law wanted to eat, she drooled and responded loudly, "Hey."
Xue Han waited until her sister-in-law left, then quietly walked to her mother's side and hugged her waist, "Mom, don't be angry."
Zhulan smiled, and said, "I'm not angry anymore."
What happened today was just too sudden and she couldn't control her emotions for the moment.
Xue Han bit her lip. Third sister-in-law's father still had a concubine, but the concubine had no children. She nestled in her mother's arms, "Mom, will Dad change?"
"Won't."
Zhulan's tone was firm, not only because she and Zhou Shuren were tied together, but also because she believed in Zhou Shuren.
Xue Han listened to her mother's heartbeat and gradually felt relieved. Dad and Mom had such a good relationship, there would definitely not be anyone else. She hugged her mother's waist tightly and said, "Yeah."
Zhulan patted Xuehan's back, and after a while she saw that the girl had fallen asleep in her arms. She touched Xuehan's little face, and saw that the girl was exhausted from the days of traveling. The baby fat on her face was gone, and her facial features had become more mature. Fortunately, the ten-year-old girl was not too heavy, otherwise she would not be able to hold her. She put Xuehan on the bed and covered her with a small quilt.
Zhulan curled her lips and said, "It feels really good to raise a child."
Zhulan still had work to do. She counted the money in the family and bought two houses in the capital, some jewelry and wood, spending 5,500 taels, which was recorded in the account. She also sold 40 acres of land in Pinggang for 4,000 taels and a house in Nancheng for 6,000 taels, which brought in 10,000 taels.
The expenses for coming to Lizhou City included one thousand taels for a house, four hundred taels for a carriage and food, and two hundred taels for the eldest brother. The family had twelve thousand six hundred taels left in total, and more than fifty taels in small change.
Zhulan put her mind at ease with the account book. The money seemed to be a lot, and she could spend it like water.
When Zhou Laoda came back, Zhulan asked him to keep his voice down. Zhou Laoda saw that his sister was sleeping in the parents' room, and thought that only his sister could be treated like this. He said in a low voice: "Mother, this is the indenture of the servant. The broker gave the lowest price to express his apology. With the money for exchanging the indenture, the total cost was only 150 taels, and there is still 50 taels left."
Zhulan hummed, "Have you heard about the land?"
Zhou Laodao said: "There are many people selling land nearby, but most of them are selling one or two acres of land to exchange for silver to make a living. The large tracts of land near the state capital have been bought up, but no one is interested in mountain land. There are quite a few mountain lands, and the price is very cheap, one tael of silver per acre, and if you buy 50 acres, you will get 10 acres of wasteland for free."
Zhulan wondered if the wasteland she had been given was counted within the two hundred acres, so she waited for Zhou Shuren to come back and ask. "I know, you can get busy."