Beijing, Zhou Family. Zhulan knew exactly when her daughter left the house, so when she saw her daughter coming back, she was stunned for a moment, "You're back so early?"
She didn't believe that Rongchuan had no other preparations. She had to admit that Rongchuan was becoming more and more romantic. This was love!
Xue Han couldn't help laughing. In fact, she had been laughing all the way. "Mom, Rongchuan and I saw Dad. Dad asked me to come back."
Zhulan: "... This is such a coincidence."
Xue Han pouted, "So, Rongchuan has to try very hard to please daddy recently. Mom, I'm going back first."
"Ah good."
Xue Han walked away happily holding the glass lamp. She had been carrying the gift from Rongchuan all the way and did not allow anyone to touch it. She thought about her wedding dress as she walked. She had already embroidered quite a few. The bright red wedding dress was like her cheeks now. She felt sweet in her heart and her steps became lighter.
In Zhoujia Village, the twins hugged each other, their heads huddled together, trying to keep each other warm. They were a little afraid of their parents. It was the first time their parents beat them like this and treated them so harshly.
Jiang Sheng held a wooden ruler in his hand, his face dark as ink. "You two are so young and you're already telling lies. You lied about not going to the clan school, and you even learned to leave home. Put your hands out."
Jiang Sheng wanted to beat himself up even more. This was all because of his behavior. He did not have high expectations for the twins. The children were young and playful, and would not go to the clan school if they did not want to. Now he regretted it very much. If he had strictly required the two children from a young age, they would not be so bold.
The twins have stubborn tempers. The two children hugged each other tightly. They are twins, so they seem to have some telepathy. They can know each other's thoughts even without communicating verbally. They just keep their heads down and remain silent.
This action angered Jiang Sheng, so he stopped using the wooden ruler and took off his shoes, spread his two sons apart, and then he held one down and spanked him, with each spank being extremely loud.
Xuemei sat aside and watched. She has calmed down now. After the older child's impulse, she felt a pain in her heart when she heard the child crying. It was the first time the twins cried like this.
The old couple from the Jiang family who were outside the house were turning around anxiously. They wanted to push the door but held back.
Old Master Jiang knew that his son and daughter-in-law had the final say in this family. They were educating the children, and he was afraid that if he stopped them, the two children would learn bad things in the future and his father-in-law would blame him. He said to his wife, "It's getting late, you should go and prepare dinner!"
Xuemei's mother-in-law wiped her tears and said, "Okay."
Jiang Miao has been living independently and is taking care of her younger brother. Even though she is worried, there is nothing she can do. She is just scared. This is the first time she has seen her father so angry.
The next day at noon, Zhou Shuren saw Rongchuan, "Why are you here?"
Rongchuan observed his uncle carefully. He didn't chase him away. His uncle must have calmed down. He grinned and said, "Uncle, what are you looking at? I've been hearing you talk about this painting. I found it."
He really didn't expect that when he was looking through his father's family assets, he would find the painting his uncle had mentioned. It was a real surprise.
Zhou Shuren tried to hold back, but couldn't help himself when he saw the opened painting. He carefully reached out and took it, examining it carefully. He couldn't move his eyes away. "It's an authentic work, it's indeed an authentic work."
The one he saw last time was a fake, this one was the real thing, he wanted to own it, he wanted to let it go so he couldn't accept the bribe from the brat, but his hands just wouldn't let go.
Rong Chuan smiled. Although he was constantly scolded by his father last night and was angry and snorted at him this morning, he was now intent on pleasing his future father-in-law. "Uncle, I told my father that he gave me the painting. I will give it to you now."
Zhou Shuren was struggling internally. He wanted to say that he was not so easily bribed, but he wanted this painting so badly that it could become a family heirloom. He also felt deeply that the Ning family had so many things, so he lowered his head and wanted to roll up the things with dignity.
Rongchuan grew up with his uncle and knew him well. He really wanted it, so he was lucky. When he saw the painting, he felt confident. "Uncle, if you don't want it now, this will be your gift on your birthday."
There is only one meaning: I just want to be filial to you.
Zhou Shuren thought to himself that the kid he raised was really cunning. He took a step back and rolled up carefully. "Hmph, I'll be on leave in half a month. Come to my house. I want to test you, kid."
Rong Chuan grinned, "Okay."
Ning Xu rarely took the initiative to enter the palace, but he came today because of his father's jealousy, "Your Majesty, my father can be a family heirloom, Rong Chuan just gave it away to please his father-in-law."
Even though he didn't know much about painting, he didn't know what was precious. When he thought of Zhou Shuren's personality, which was that he only took in things but never gave out, he felt pain.
The emperor knew the whole process. He felt sad, but more comfortable. God knows how much he wanted to beat Ning Xu when he saw the deep affection between Ning Xu and his son. Now Ning Xu was depressed and lost a lot of money. There were only two words to describe him: comfortable.
Ning Xu felt relieved when he saw the emperor was happy. The emperor's temper was getting deeper and deeper, and he didn't want the emperor to remember it every day, so he felt really painful today, but his mind was still working fast.
The emperor nodded, "Zhang Jinghong's injury has almost healed. He should report to the Ministry of Revenue."
Ning Xu heard that the emperor had already found the hidden official and wanted to contact Zhang Jinghong before the fourth prince returned to Beijing, "I will go back and tell my father."
The emperor thought to himself that he was very wary of his father-in-law. Even though he felt guilty towards the Ning family, he never felt at ease with his father-in-law. Fortunately, his father-in-law knew what he wanted. From the choice of Ning Hui's wife, he knew what his father-in-law wanted to express.
Time flies, and ten days have passed in the blink of an eye. Zhang Jinghong, who has always been the center of attention, finally has a result today.
In the court, Zhou Shuren looked at Lord Qi and several high-ranking background figures. Well, not all high-ranking people like to speak in the court. Those who are not in positions of real power are more likely to serve as background figures.
Today, all these background people spoke up in order to let Zhang Jinghong go. They said something about showing the emperor's benevolence and broad-mindedness. Although there were not many of them, they kept silent, but they left. At the beginning, there were people who refuted, but they kept silent after turning their backs on them.
Zhou Shuren thought of the news received from the Ministry of Revenue that the team transporting silver would soon arrive in the capital.
Zhou Shuren knew the result of today's court session, but he didn't care. He cared about the emperor's reward to him. There were two boxes, and he was worried that the emperor would not be petty and choose the smallest box. He had been thinking about this for the past few days.
After the court session, they walked together in twos and threes. It was a rare occasion that Mr. Wang came over today. Even though Mr. Wang and Zhou Shuren always attended court, they had never walked together.
Zhou Shuren looked at the old man. Li Zhao, who was about to walk over, stopped. All the relatives of the Zhou family knew that the Wang family was an absolutely neutral family. Old man Wang would never take the initiative to walk with Zhou Shuren. They would just say hello when they met.
Zhou Shuren thought to himself that the old man must have something to talk to him about.