The Zhou family was not idle either. They sent out New Year gifts to various places one by one. According to the replies, seafood is a rare commodity in the mainland, but it is loved by relatives, so they prepared a lot more this year.
Especially fish and shrimp. This year, the Zhou family’s own fishery has income, and the Zhou family no longer purchases seafood. With their own fishery and Su Xuan’s fishing boat, the Zhou family has saved a lot of money.
The Li family's food was also delivered. This time, the father-in-law did not come with him. It was Li's two brothers who came instead. Because they were afraid of heavy snow, they delivered the food and silver and hurried back.
Zhulan was also afraid of heavy snow, and Tao kept saying that snow disasters in the city were different from those in the countryside. Families with little charcoal could really freeze to death, and coupled with the lack of food, they would really suffer a disaster.
There had been a snowstorm a few years ago, Zhulan remembered, but she didn't think much of it because she had made all the necessary preparations at home. However, Tao's memory of it was particularly deep.
Therefore, Zhulan asked the eldest and second sons to buy a lot of meat and keep it in reserve.
In the capital, the prince exchanged all the silver allocated to him by his father for storage of supplies. Finally, he went to check it personally and sealed the warehouse.
This matter was not hidden from anyone. When the prince led his men out of the warehouse, he met his younger brothers.
The second prince's tone was sour, and one could smell it from a distance, "Father still loves eldest brother the most, so this good thing was given directly to eldest brother."
Regardless of whether there is a disaster or not, the presence of these prepared supplies can also make the people feel at ease. Look at these days, wherever he goes, he can hear people talking about how benevolent the prince is and how good the prince is. It makes him angry just thinking about it.
The prince smiled and said, "Even if my second brother doesn't mention it, I know that my father treats me best."
The second prince: "... ..."
You are trying to make him angry on purpose. He is thinking of stabbing someone in his heart.
The Third Prince was also feeling anxious, "Brother Crown Prince, we'd better keep a close eye on this storehouse. Even though the snow hasn't melted yet, it would be terrible if there was a fire."
The fourth prince looked at the third brother dimly. The third brother had spoken out of turn. He was really jealous. Well, he was also extremely jealous. "Third brother, if you say this, you will be highly suspected if something really happens."
The third prince retorted, "Just don't let me take the blame. I've taken a lot of blame for you, brother. People should learn to stop when they have enough."
The fourth prince narrowed his eyes and said, "Bah, damn third brother, why didn't he say anything when he was trying to pass the blame on others?"
The Fifth Prince looked at the Crown Prince who was walking away, then looked at his third and fourth brothers who were fighting, and finally looked at the warehouse, with his fingertips hooked on his palms. He also had someone to take the blame!
The capital was not on fire, but Zhou Shuren's place was on fire. In the middle of the night, Zhou Shuren was woken up by Shenxing. Zhulan stood up and asked, "What happened?"
Zhou Shuren put on his shoes and said, "Someone set fire to the warehouse and they caught him."
Zhulan sat up suddenly. She knew how much money the supplies cost, and how much thought Zhou Shuren put into it. "Is the warehouse okay?"
Zhou Shuren, "Fortunately, I sent a lot of people to watch over it. Some of the fire in the cotton storage room has been put out."
Zhulan breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm glad you're okay."
If everything was really ruined, she would definitely think that Zhou Shuren was involved.
Zhou Shuren put on his clothes and said, "You should have a rest. I won't be back tonight."
"Okay, be careful."
"Um."
Zhou Shuren arrived at the warehouse and checked the losses first. Fortunately, not many bags of cotton were lost. He had been preparing spare cold-proof supplies since the capital and several other states had also prepared for this day. He indirectly helped the emperor improve his popularity for the sake of the people, and also attracted a lot of hatred for himself!
Jinyan stood at one side, looking at the outermost layer of cotton in the room. All the cotton was wet and would be sprayed with water tomorrow. It was really difficult to light it, and the person who came to set the fire could not carry an oil can with him. However, he still admired the adults for thinking it through.
Zhou Shuren went to see the three masked firefighters who had been captured. One of them was dead, and the remaining two had sieve cloth in their mouths, staring at him!
Jin Yan stood on one side with a sword in hand to protect him. Zhou Shuren smiled brightly and said, "Feed them a knockout drug."
He doesn't interrogate these two people himself, and he doesn't have the ability to find out anything. It's better to hand these two people over to the emperor's people.
The next day, everyone in Jinzhou knew that the warehouse was almost burned down. Lord Wang came to the yamen and asked, "Do you need more people?"
"No."
Lord Wang asked again, "I heard that the man has been arrested. Do you plan to interrogate him personally?"
Zhou Shuren waved his hand, "The person has been sent away, we don't need to worry about this matter anymore."
After saying that, Zhou Shuren continued to look down at the newly drawn blueprint of Jinzhou City. His focus was on East City. The houses in East City were very old and messy. He then looked at North City. North City was even messier than East City. He sighed as he thought about the tax revenue in Jinzhou. He had saved and spent a lot of money since he came to Jinzhou. He had just spent another sum of money. Well, he could only hold it back and not worry.
Zhou Shuren looked up and asked, "Ah, why are you still here?"
Lord Wang twitched his mouth. Could he say that his liver hurt? After Lord Zhou came, his workload has been increasing. Seeing Lord Zhou's focused look just now, he was afraid. He always felt that Lord Zhou was holding back something big. He laughed dryly and said, "I'll leave now."
The Emperor knew about the Jinzhou incident. The Crown Prince blinked his eyes. Oh, he was thinking of using the inventory to fish, but who had the brains to plot against Lord Zhou first? This time, he could forget about fishing. No one dared to do anything for a while.
In the Mansion of Marquis Yao, Yao Wenqi felt that he would be angered to death sooner or later. Although he was annoyed that Zhou Shuren had been helping the royal family to improve their reputation, he never thought of plotting against Zhou Shuren first. His target was the warehouse in the capital, and he was waiting for an opportunity. The higher his reputation was now, the greater his hope would be when a snowstorm and fire really happened. He would not only cause trouble but also deceive the prince.
He tried to find a good person to take the blame, but his teammates ended up taking action on their own. Yao Wenqi had a gloomy face. His power was weakened a lot, and his teammates had other ideas. Did they no longer trust him
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it has been half a month. The arson incident has long passed, and Wu Yong, the second brother of Zhulan's Wu Ning, has arrived.
Zhu Lan looked at the young man in front of her. She didn't recognize him after not seeing him for many years. "Why did you come to save me by yourself? Where's Wu Ting? Why didn't he come with us?"
Wu Yong replied, "Wu Ting will come over after the New Year. My younger brother and I will send my younger sister off to get married. I came here first to buy a house. My eldest brother wants my younger brother and I to study at the academy in Jinzhou next year."
Zhu Lan didn't think that Wu Ming sent his two younger brothers here for no reason, so she said, "Why buy a house? There is room to live in the mansion. You can just live in the mansion. I can also take care of you for your eldest brother."
Wu Yong was grateful to the Zhou family, but he couldn't be shameless. His family had already sent his sister over, and they had troubled the Zhou family over the years. "Aunt, my brother and I are grown up. We can take care of ourselves. This is also a kind of training for us."
Seeing Wu Yong's firm attitude, Zhu Lan changed the subject, "I heard from Rong Chuan that you are engaged?"
Wu Yong blushed, "Yes, we are engaged, and we will be married at the end of next year."