In the afternoon, Duke Ning's family left. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were both exhausted. After seeing off the people from the Duke's Mansion, Zhulan and her husband went back to their room to rest. As for the thank-you gifts, they didn't have the energy to look at them. Anyway, they wouldn't lose them, so rest was the most important thing.
Zhou Shuren changed his clothes and lay down comfortably. "Although we didn't talk about government affairs, Duke Ning and Lord Ning asked a lot of questions."
It’s too tiring for him to face five men from the Ning family alone!
Zhulan was feeling better, and she only needed to accompany the wife of the Duke of Ning. Later, the wife of the Duke of Ning was tired and went to rest. She only needed to deal with Mrs. Du. "What can I say about this wife of the prince? She actually tried to trick me. Fortunately, our daughter is marrying into the Marquis's Mansion, and Mrs. Du doesn't dare to interfere."
Don't be fooled by Mrs. Du's gentle appearance. She has talked to her a lot and has a certain understanding of her. She knows that this is not a generous person.
Zhou Shuren turned over and said, "Let's not talk about them anymore."
Zhulan also closed her eyes, "Yeah."
In the first room, Li fanned herself with a fan, muttering, "Fortunately, the meal was not wrong. I was always worried."
She had been on high alert today, fearing that someone from the Zhou family would be lost during her time as housekeeper and that the Ningguo Mansion would look down on her. Now that she had finally sent the person away, she felt a little exhausted.
Yu Lu took the fan from her mother's hand and said, "Mom, let me fan you."
Li felt relieved, and her daughter loved her very much. She asked her daughter with some uncertainty, "Is mother's performance today okay?"
Yu Lu's eyes were filled with smiles. Under pressure, her mother had made great progress. She nodded and said, "Very good. She has the demeanor of an eldest daughter-in-law."
Li grinned, "My daughter must be telling the truth."
Yu Lu thought her mother was so cute, "Mom, is Dad coming back soon?"
Li felt empty inside, "Well, it's time to set off back."
In the second room, Zhao was a little dazed. Yu Shuang sat over and thought her mother was being bullied. "Mom, did you hear something bad?"
Zhao came back to her senses, picked up her little daughter Yudie, and said with a smile: "No one said anything bad, mother just felt like it was a dream."
Although Song and Yu were indifferent to her, they were still polite. She was the granddaughter-in-law of the Ningguo Duke!
Who could have thought that she was bullied as a child, and when she grew up, she was always prepared for death due to a drought. Now, she not only has a son and a daughter, but everyone calls her the Second Madam when she goes out. She is really afraid that it is all a dream.
Yu Shuang held her mother's hand. Her mother had been through too much and was worried about gains and losses. "Mom, this is not a dream."
Zhao smiled and said, "Mother knows that you are tired too. Go back and rest for a while."
Yu Shuang stood up and said, "Mom, take a rest too."
As he said this, he picked up his little sister and took her back to his room.
As for the third wife, Dong also had some feelings, but not as much as the first and second wives, because at present, only Chang Lian had entered the official career in the Zhou family, and there were many invitations to Dong, and he had seen a lot of things. The only thing Dong felt sorry for was her sister-in-law, and she didn't think much about anything else.
Su Xuan’s thoughts were even simpler; as long as it was good for the Zhou family, that was all.
In Qingzhou, Chang Yi calculated the time. In five days, he would be able to reach the capital. On the way back, he bought a lot of things, so although he was in a hurry, he did not drive too fast. Now he was finally going home.
Chang Yi was sitting in the carriage, wondering whether he should travel overnight. Outside the carriage, Dong Mo rode up to the window on horseback and said, "Second Master, Qiangzi, who went ahead, is back. Someone is trying to steal my daughter."
Dong Mo has followed the Second Master for many years. He is just reporting. He knows better than anyone that the Second Master is not a nosy person.
Chang Yi lifted the carriage curtain and asked in a low voice, "We have walked this road several times. Why do I remember that this side is far from the village? But am I wrong?"
Dong Mo said: "It is indeed far from the village."
Chang Yi's face was serious. "Turn around. We'll go back to the county town we just passed by tonight to stay overnight."
He had to be careful. The higher his father's official position, the more people would plot against the Zhou family. At the same time, he was very angry. He looked very honest, so why did they use the beauty trap on him? That's right, Chang Yi was certain that the people in the past were plotting against him.
After the carriage turned around, Chang Yi was still thinking that after returning to Beijing, he would select a few more capable people and would not spend money easily in the future.
After waiting for a long time but seeing no convoy, we had no choice but to send people to inquire, but there was no convoy at all, not even a single person in sight!
The convoy was about to reach the county town, and Qiangzi, who Changyi had specially left behind, also caught up with them, "Second Master, we had just left for a while when someone came to check us out furtively."
Chang Yi hummed, feeling more and more annoyed. He was about to arrive in the capital, but something bad happened to delay his journey. He wondered whether he should leave first.
In the capital, Zhou Shuren had no idea that his second son was being plotted against again. He and his wife were counting the thank-you gifts.
Zhulan looked at the gift list. There were five thousand taels of gold, fifty thousand taels of silver, and jewellery. Many of the jewellery had not been polished yet. They could be made into jewellery for the granddaughters or given as dowry to Xuehan. The books and calligraphy and paintings were for Zhou Shuren.
Zhou Shuren has already treasured them and put them away. The ornaments are interesting. Many of them are in pairs, and it is obvious that they are for dowry.
Most of the jewelry in the whole set is for her, and there is really a lot of jewelry.
Zhou Shuren said: "I'll go to the study first."
"good."
Zhulan sorted out the gold according to the silver borrowed from each family, and selected a few pieces of jewelry for each of her four daughters-in-law. She also did not leave out any granddaughters, and asked Mrs. Song to deliver them to each family.
Afterwards, he sealed up two thousand taels of gold as a treasure for his daughter's wedding, and put away the rest. He also selected some jewels. All the gifts from the Ning Mansion were rare and good things. He kept some of these for his granddaughters' weddings, and gave the rest to his daughter as a dowry.
After Zhulan finished sorting, Mrs. Song came back. Zhulan sighed and said, "These things look like a lot, but if you divide them up, they will be gone."
It hasn't been divided enough yet. There are many granddaughters in the family, all of whom are legitimate granddaughters. As a grandmother, she must treat them all equally and also leave a few more for the unborn granddaughters.
Mrs. Song thought to herself, so marrying into a wealthy family can really drain a family's wealth. If the Zhou family hadn't had this thank-you gift to make up for it, although the young lady's dowry was not small, it would still not be enough for her to marry into the Ning family.
Zhulan took a last look at the sealed box. If Rongchuan wasn’t the fifth prince and her daughter wasn’t the future fifth prince’s consort, why would she worry so much about her daughter’s dowry
Ning Hou Mansion, Ning Xu brought Rong Chuan back to the mansion and personally took Rong Chuan to the courtyard, "This courtyard has been renovated for a long time. Dad supervised the renovation. He knew that you don't like luxury, so he decorated it according to your preferences."
It turns out that Rongchuan and the prince have very similar preferences.
Rong Chuan stayed in the guest room last time, but this time it felt very different. This was his home, where he would live in the future. "Dad, is this yard too big?"
It is almost the same size as the main courtyard.
Ning Xu smiled and said, "It's better to have a bigger one. You are getting married soon, and a small place won't do."
Rong Chuan blushed, "Dad, my son is still young, there is no rush."
Ning Xu's eyes were full of amusement. He said, "No hurry." Humph, this kid never took his eyes off Miss Zhou. He was not in a hurry. "Since you said you are not in a hurry, and Master Zhou also wants to keep his daughter for two more years, then two years later?"
Rong Chuan was dumbfounded, then he saw his father's eyes were full of smiles, and reacted, "Dad, why are you teasing your son?"
"You said there's no rush, Dad was just going along with what you said."
Rongchuan's ears turned red, "My son likes this yard very much."
Ning Xu laughed, admitting that he was anxious!