Patriarch Zhou sat on a chair, looking at the spacious classroom, feeling very proud. The Zhou family was a well-known clan school in the surrounding area, thanks to Shuren, who had bought a lot of land for the clan school over the years. The expansion was all made from the money earned from the land. As for the books, "We have a lot of books in the Zhou family, and they were all left by your father."
Changzhi has also understood the family's investment in the clan school these past two days. Apart from the land, books are the most important thing. "I have also looked at the collection of books in the clan school. It is not bad, but it is still a little small. These children cannot go out to broaden their horizons and can only get information from books. I will memorize a few books they need before I leave. I will look for the rest when I return to Beijing."
Patriarch Zhou said, "I don't know what to say. I will remember your family's great kindness for these children."
Chang Zhi smiled and said, "Patriarch Grandpa, don't say that. Our family is also a member of the Zhou clan."
Patriarch Zhou looked at Chang Zhi and felt deeply moved. He thought that the environment had a huge impact on people. The more he interacted with Chang Zhi, the more he felt that this child would definitely enter the official career in the future.
In the pavilion of the Duke's Mansion, the Duke's wife had already asked all the young ladies to disperse, leaving only the two girls from the Zhou family, the main one being Xue Han, with Yu Shuang being a by-product.
The Duke's wife kept saying, "Okay, okay."
She liked the girl's behavior towards Miss Liu just now. Their Ning family was born of military generals, so they liked people who were generous.
Xue Han was really embarrassed. The Duke's wife just kept saying yes and she didn't know how to respond!
Ning Ting looked at Zhou Xuehan. She was not a beauty and was not as good as her niece. But her grandmother just valued Miss Zhou, and she was increasingly confused.
Yu Shuang also widened her eyes, feeling very nervous, her aunt was already engaged!
The Duke's wife had seen enough before she said, "I heard that you have been managing the household for a few years and you have done a good job."
Xue Han said modestly: "It's all because of my mother's good teaching."
The Duke's wife said, "Your mother did teach well and knows how to raise children. However, you are also a smart person. This housekeeper has a lot of twists and turns."
Xue Han joked, "The Zhou family's population is relatively simple."
So there really weren't any twists and turns. She only needed to take care of the account books and the servants. With her mother in charge, her sisters-in-law didn't engage in so much intrigue, so her job as housekeeper was pretty easy.
At noon, in the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren, Lord Qiu, and the Crown Prince were having lunch at the same table. Lord Qiu was particularly reserved.
Zhou Shuren was much more comfortable. Perhaps he had seen more of the prince. The prince's image in his mind was somewhat broken. Instead, he felt that the prince could be down-to-earth. He even greeted him, "The chef of the Ministry of Revenue came from the palace. He knows that the prince is in the Ministry of Revenue, so he cooked a lot of dishes that suit your taste."
After saying this, Zhou Shuren became depressed. When the prince came, all the dishes were according to his preferences. The prince was young and the royal family paid attention to health preservation, so the dishes were particularly light. For someone like Zhou Shuren who prefers salty food, it was a bit painful to eat.
The prince looked at the dishes on the table. There were not many that he really liked. Most of them were fake. The cook knew that he was pretending to like them. He took a few bites and said, "Master Zhou, why do you only eat rice and vegetables?"
Zhou Shuren picked up a piece of emerald green vegetable with chopsticks. There was only some light soup on it. This kind of dish that tasted the original flavor of the food was really not his favorite. He just liked strong flavors.
The prince knew a lot about Zhou Shuren. "Master Zhou, you are also at the age of maintaining good health. It is better to eat more light food. I will set the diet for the next few days. Master Zhou should also take good care of yourself."
Zhou Shuren, “… .”
No, from the sound of it, it seems that the prince will have to stay in the Ministry of Revenue for quite some time
Zhou Shuren was very depressed. Bah, he didn't want to keep healthy. He thought his taste was pretty good and he really didn't want to be sold to the royal family all his life. What about keeping healthy? Just listening to it made his back cold.
Qiu Yan's eyes felt dark, he was afraid that he would also join the prince's party. Why was it so difficult to not be involved with anyone
Zhulan got on the carriage to go home. Yushuang was so anxious that she was sweating on her forehead. She kept holding it in until she got home. Yushuang couldn't help but said, "Grandma, the Duke's wife gave aunt a pair of bracelets, saying that they were her dowry. The Duke's wife took the bracelets off her wrists. Grandma, what does the Duke's wife mean?"
Zhulan took her daughter's hand and said, "Is this warm jade? This is so precious."
Xue Han went from being dazed to calm now, "Mom, the Duke's wife likes my daughter very much."
"I gave you the priceless jade. It's more than just love. You can tell from the looks of it that this pair of jade is meant to be worn all the time."
It seems that Rongchuan really looks like the deceased eldest son of the Ning family, otherwise, the Duke's wife would not have transferred her affection to Rongchuan, and would not have liked Xuehan so much because of her love for Rongchuan.
Xue Han's heart moved, "Mom, this time the Duke's wife gave Nuanyu to you, is she going to recognize Rongchuan?"
Zhulan nodded, "Yes, I greeted your father two days ago."
Xue Han said, "Rongchuan didn't come back all night, and he had dinner with the Marquis yesterday, so my daughter guessed it."
Yu Shuang was a little confused, "So, Uncle Rong Chuan is the son of the Duke's Mansion?"
So that's how it is. This makes sense. No wonder my aunt was so calm.
Zhulan said to her eldest granddaughter, "Don't tell anyone yet."
Yu Shuang nodded, "Granddaughter knows."
Then she became excited. Her aunt had been recognized by the Ningguo Mansion, and her aunt's marriage would not change. She was happy for her aunt.
At Ningguo Mansion, the old lady returned to the courtyard. Ning Ting hurried to find her grandmother. She was horrified that her great-grandmother had actually given all the warm jade bracelets to Miss Zhou. They were a pair!
The Crown Prince's wife frowned, "Where are your rules?"
Ning Ting saw that only her grandmother's maid was in the room. After greeting her, she said, "Grandma, the great grandmother gave the warm jade bracelet she had been wearing to Miss Zhou."
The wife of the Crown Prince lost her grip on the teacup and dropped it on the table. "Can you say that again?"
Ning Ting repeated the story again, "My granddaughter saw it with her own eyes."
The Crown Prince's wife was confused. She knew that the pair of warm jade bracelets were her mother-in-law's dowry. There was only one pair. She had thought about it, but later her husband told her not to think about it, because her mother-in-law was going to give the pair of jade bracelets to her eldest daughter-in-law, and she would not give it to her even if her eldest brother was gone.
But now she has given it to an outsider, how could she not be overwhelmed with emotions
The wife of the prince was angry. She served her parents-in-law and had worked hard even if she had no credit, but her mother-in-law didn't give her any credit. She stood up and said, "I'm going to ask the old lady."
The old woman hurriedly stopped her, "Madam, don't be anxious. This matter is suspicious. Why don't you go ask the prince first?"
It was the first time Ning Ting saw her grandmother get so angry. She was a little scared and said quickly, "Grandma, great-grandmother attaches great importance to Miss Zhou."
Mrs. Du calmed down. It seemed that her eunuch had signaled her husband to hold this flower banquet because of the Zhou family. She thought of the joke her sister-in-law had made. Her sister-in-law said that Ning Xu treated Zhang Rongchuan like his son. It sounded like a joke at the time, but now she felt that she seemed to have guessed the truth. She could not stay any longer and went straight to her husband to confirm.