Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were in the carriage. Zhulan asked, "Will you come home with us?"
Zhou Shuren finally took the opportunity to slip away. He didn't want to go back to find the prince. "It's okay. The prince didn't send anyone to follow me. He probably guessed that I would go home with you."
Zhulan heard this and asked, "So you didn't come out to do business, but came out with the prince?"
Zhou Shuren nodded without saying anything more. Mrs. Song couldn't bring up the Ministry of Rites anymore, so she changed the subject, "Why are you guys out on the street?"
Zhulan smiled and said, "It's because your daughters wanted to buy materials for carving seals, and I also wanted to go shopping, so I took them out for a stroll, but I didn't expect anything to go wrong."
Zhou Shuren said, "Bring two more servants with you when you go out in the future. Servants are more useful than maids when you are out."
Zhulan was still frightened. Fortunately, she was not hit today. Otherwise, if she was hit and trampled, she would be disabled if not dead. "I'll remember this."
Zhou Shuren was also a little scared. What would he do if something happened to Zhulan? He held his wife's hand tightly and thought to himself that if Shenxing stayed at home in the future and he went out with Zhulan, he would feel more at ease.
Inside the prince's carriage, the prince rolled his eyes in his heart. He didn't stop him, and Zhou Shuren really slipped away. This guy was really slippery and ruthless.
He originally wanted to take Zhou Shuren to see Tang Yan, but forget it. He was not in a hurry and signaled the coachman to return home.
Outside the palace, Ning Xu did not go in with his father, but waited outside. He thought his father would come out soon, but he didn't expect to wait for two hours.
Finally seeing his father coming out, Ning Xu quickly jumped off the carriage to help him, "Dad."
Duke Ningguo hadn't walked for such a long time, and his forehead was covered with sweat. "Get in the carriage first."
Ning Xu glanced inside the palace gate and could see a sedan chair. This was prepared by the emperor for his father, but his father didn't want to sit in it, which made him feel uncomfortable. His father was already this old, and he still had to take care of the Ning family. So he carefully helped his father onto the carriage.
Duke Ningguo drank tea and wiped his sweat. The carriage drove for a while before he recovered. He pounded his weak legs and said, "I didn't think the palace was that big before, but today it feels like it has been expanded."
Ning Xu stretched out his hand to rub his father's legs, "Dad, you have worked hard. I am an unfilial son. I shouldn't let you worry about Rongchuan's surname. I should have entered the palace instead."
Duke Ning was enjoying his youngest son's filial piety. Although he was physically tired, he was happy in his heart. He was desperate when his youngest son didn't come back. Now he was physically tired but mentally healthy. "The emperor originally planned to give Rongchuan the surname Zhang because of his appearance. Actually, this makes sense, but I, your father, am unwilling to do so. Even if Rongchuan only has the surname Ning for a while, it will have a different meaning for the Ning family. After all, Rongchuan has had the surname Ning. When Rongchuan regains his status in the future, he will take extra care of the Ning family."
Ning Xu's throat tightened a little. He knew too well how stubborn the emperor was in his ideas. "Dad, the emperor must have guessed your plan. The emperor doesn't want Rong Chuan to change his surname. On the one hand, he loves his own son, but he also doesn't want to take care of the Ning family too much."
As long as the prince ascends the throne, the Ning family's wealth and prosperity will be secure for generations. Their generation will not have any thoughts about it, but there is no guarantee that future generations will not have any thoughts. The emperor has always been a person who plans ahead, and he has really spent all his efforts on the prince, so he is still on guard against the Ning family.
Duke Ningguo smiled and said, "Fortunately, I have your elder brother's kindness. Since I am half buried in the ground, the emperor finally agreed to change his surname."
Ning Xu felt even more upset. Dad said it lightly. If it was really easy, Dad would not have stayed in the palace for two hours, and Dad would not have insisted on leaving the palace. In the final analysis, the emperor was unhappy. "Dad, you have worked hard."
Duke Ningguo grinned and said, "It's not bitter, not bitter at all. Only when Rongchuan changed his last name to Ning did I really feel that your elder brother was back."
At Zhou's house, when Zhulan arrived home, the servant had already invited a doctor to the house and he examined Yushuang's feet directly.
Zhulan asked, "Doctor, is my granddaughter's foot okay?"
The doctor heaved a sigh of relief after seeing it, and said with a smile: "It's nothing serious, just a slight sprain. Go to the clinic and get some medicated oil to rub it on, it will be healed in seven days."
Zhulan breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad she was alright. "Thank you, doctor."
Zhao asked, "Doctor, do you need to take any medicine?"
The doctor said, "No need, medicated oil will do."
This time, Zhao was completely relieved.
After the doctor left, Zhulan returned to the main courtyard. Zhou Shuren had already changed his clothes and was sitting on a recliner reading a book and eating grapes.
Zhou Shuren asked, "How are Yushuang's feet?"
"It's okay now. I'll go change my clothes first."
"Um."
When Zhulan changed her clothes and came out, Zhou Shuren had already eaten half a plate of grapes. He sent the maids and servants out and asked, "Aren't you in the Ministry of Rites with the prince? Why are you on the street?"
Zhou Shuren briefly explained what happened in the Ministry of Rites, "I don't want to get involved, so I took the opportunity to come back and have some free time."
Lord Xiao said that he was taking a vacation with the prince and he would not go back to the Ministry of Revenue.
Just as Zhulan was about to speak, Changzhong ran in, "Dad, you actually came home!"
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "Why didn't you learn to read? Why did you come back?"
"My son misses his father. He is finally at home, so naturally he wants to accompany him. Besides, I have memorized all the characters that the teacher taught me. If I hadn't been waiting for Minghui, I would have asked the teacher to teach me new characters a long time ago."
Zhou Shuren knew his son was smart. He knew how to recognize characters but not how to write them. He stood up and said, "Dad will test you. If you make a mistake in writing a character, you will have to write a long character as punishment."
Even though the little guy is small and doesn't have much strength in his hands, he can still write.
Changzhong was full of confidence. He had been learning so smoothly recently that he felt he could do everything. "Okay."
Zhulan smiled but said nothing. Zhou Shuren wanted to teach his son a lesson, to help him remember it, and it was better for him to learn knowledge in a down-to-earth way.
Zhulan hadn't written for a long time. She could recognize Chinese characters, but sometimes she would make mistakes. Traditional Chinese characters were really sad. She guessed how many large characters her son could write.
In the Hu family, Jin couldn't bear to scold her daughter, so she naturally doted on her younger daughter. She coaxed her daughter and looked at her husband's eldest sister. If she wasn't her husband's biological sister, she would have driven her away long ago.
Hu had returned home for many years with a two-year-old son. She had the opportunity to remarry, but she returned part of the dowry to her parents' home just to take her son with her and not remarry. She knew in her heart that if she did not remarry, her son would have a mother. Of course, she was also afraid to get married, fearing that she would not marry a good man. She gave up on marriage and was determined to raise her son well.
For so many years, she had endured it all for her son. Next year would be the examination for the position of Tongsheng, and she just had to get through it. But she didn't expect something to happen today.
Jin was furious. She had to pay more than sixty taels of silver today, but that was only a few cents off her husband's annual salary. The family could get by just fine, and it was not covered by her dowry. This girl had paid out some of her dowry back then, and had never received a large sum of money since. She felt contempt when she thought of her dowry. The Hu family's dowry was really small.