Zhou Shuren did not expect Zhulan to guess it so quickly, “Yes, it is the male protagonist you have been talking about, Yao Zheyu, he is fourteen years old this year, the legitimate son of the Hou family.”

Zhulan was surprised that he guessed it right, but No, in her few memories, it would be at least two years before the daughter would meet the hero. Now it was almost two years earlier. As for how they met, well, she couldn’t remember. There weren’t many in the first place. The impression becomes increasingly blurry as time goes by.

If she hadn’t just learned about time travel and stimulated her memory, she would probably remember even less.

Zhulan was very curious about the male protagonist. To be a male protagonist, his IQ had to be more than average, especially since the male protagonist’s scheming was indispensable. Although she traveled through the book, Zhulan knew that this was the real world, and everyone had their own abilities. Independent thinking couldn’t be described clearly in just a few sentences. “You met him today. What impression do you have of him?”

Zhou Shuren changed his clothes and got on the kang. He took Zhulan’s fan and fanned Zhulan. Feng, “In appearance, Yao Zheyu is on par with Shi Qing, but a little more masculine than Shi Qing. He must have practiced martial arts since he was a child. Although he is only fourteen, he is about 1.7 meters tall. In terms of knowledge, by the way, the Yao family, their ancestral home is in Pingzhou. Although the Yao family isn’t a major clan in Pingzhou, with the Marquis’s residence supporting them, nobody dares to provoke them in Pingzhou. Yao Zheyu came back this time to prepare for the tóngshì examination next year, so he returned six months early to avoid any delays.”

Zhulan got tired from sitting, so she lay down on Zhou Shuren’s lap and said faintly: “The plot has completely changed. I seem to remember that Yao Zheyu took the tóngshì examination two years later. Speaking of which, the Marquis’s family rose through military achievements. To prevent their descendants from being viewed with suspicion, they turned towards a literary path. Yao Zheyu, as the male lead, should have been well-educated and stable enough to do good in the imperial examinations. How did he end up being snatched away by Wang Ru? A prestigious family like theirs should not have produced someone with a loose screw in the head!”

She didn’t believe that nobles under pure ancient royal power could really be in love.

Zhou Shuren lowered his head and kissed Zhulan on the forehead. Seeing Zhulan’s eyes, he said seriously, “I accompanied the county magistrate to see Yao Gongzi off. The county magistrate told me something he knew about the situation in the Marquis Mansion. The Marquis’s residence has been influential for two dynasties. The old Marquis was a capable man who managed to retain the family status in the new dynasty, maintaining the title for three generations. The male lead was raised by the old Marquis since his mother passed away early. The Marquis remarried, and the previous legitimate son was no longer favored. The Marquis’s residence is full of intrigue; the male lead, raised in a political environment, is definitely not a simple character.”

Zhulanropped herself up and squinted her eyes, “If we don’t look at it from a plot perspective but from a realistic angle, can’t we consider that Yao Zheyu, like Shi Qing, also sees value in Wang Ru? The male lead, in order to secure his position as the Marquis, has upped the stakes for himself. This time, he came early because of Wang Ru.”

Zhulan suddenly paused and continued: “Due to the presence of the two of us, Wang Ru had to rely on Shi Qing. Shi Qing kept squeezing Wang Ru dry. Look, in the past six months, Wang Ru has produced a lot of things. It is no longer just about eating. The furniture has come out, and a lot of fruit wine has been made. These novelty things must be popular in the capital, so Yao Zheyu noticed it and returned to Pingzhou two years in advance.”

Zhou Shuren nodded while waving the fan, continuing, “Due to our unexpected arrival, Wang Ru lost her autonomy. She can’t leisurely come up with ideas at Shi Qing’s pace, and Wang Ru’s two years of growth have been cut short. Everything has been accelerated.”

Zhulan nodded, “Exactly. Looking at it this way, it’s indeed reality and not fiction. It explains the gap I couldn’t understand. How could they be together despite such a significant difference? It’s all for the sake of interests. If that’s the case, Wang Ru’s calculations are in vain. Yao Zheyu won’t marry her; there’s too much room for manipulation in this supposed true love.”

Zhou Shuren thought even more deeply, squinting his eyes, “The old Marquis, able to maintain the wealth and glory of the Marquis’s residence in the new dynasty, can’t be a simple person. Naturally, someone personally educated by him won’t be ordinary either. It gets interesting. Without us, without Wang Ru, Chang Zhi would be someone ignorant of family matters, no matter how good he is at studying, he wouldn’t go far. As a girl, even with the connection through Wu Ming still existing, without blood ties, how much help could she provide by marrying into the Marquis’s residence? As for true love, I don’t believe in it.”¹

Zhulan thought for a moment, “Maybe the Marquis was afraid of being jealous, so he had to hide and marry someone low on purpose!”

Zhou Shuren couldn’t figure it out at the moment, “What you said makes sense. By the way, I won’t be going to the county tomorrow.”

“Not going?”

Zhou Shuren’s trip to the county wasn’t just for studying. Ever since Zhou Shuren revealed his exceptional computational skills, the County Lord kept him by his side to help. Seeing that the embankment was not yet completed, the County Lord was reluctant to let Zhou Shuren have any leisure time.

Zhou Shuren explained: “Yao Gōngzi wants to go around and has shown an interest in knowing me. I will accompany Yao Gōngzi to go everywhere.”

Zhulan curled up her lips, “He is interested in you because you are from Zhoujia Village, so Yao Zheyu can better check Wang Ru.”

After Zhulan finished speaking, she took the fan to fan Zhou Shuren and saw that Zhou Shuren was sweating all over.

Zhou Shuren lay down with his head resting on his hands, “I want to figure out how to get some money out of this Yao Gōngzi. I have always been worried about it.”

In the modern world, he had a hobby of checking his savings every once in a while. The more savings he had, the more at ease he felt. Being afraid of poverty, with expenses piling up these days, and expecting even larger expenses in Pingzhou, he had been thinking of accumulating more money before going to the capital. An opportunity had now presented itself, and he felt it would be unfair to the male lead who came knocking at his door if he didn’t calculate and plan well.

Zhulan, “.”

This was a powerful person. He even dares to scheme against the male protagonist! She should go take a bath!

Zhulan said: “You plan your plan slowly, I’m going to take a bath.”

Zhou Shuren, who had just managed to calm down his sweating, found himself breaking into a new sweat. Enduring it was quite painful, but just in case he won the bid, he had to continue enduring. Zhu Lan, feeling flustered under Zhou Shuren’s intense gaze, was also touched by his patience for her sake.

They had tiptoed around the issue for a long time, and with their husband and wife status, Zhulan was prepared for more intimate actions. However, Zhou Shuren was considerate of her well-being, truly placing her in his heart. Zhulan had her fears too, considering her parents’ failed marriage despite their love. She feared the possibility of the same fate with Zhou Shuren. However, she couldn’t let fear make her retreat. She wasn’t one to back down; instead, she preferred to invest her efforts wholeheartedly.

Zhulan took a bath first, and Zhou Shuren took a bath later. A bathing shed was built outside, which was convenient for the whole family.

The only bad thing was that the illumination of ancient oil lamps and candles was too low, so the visibility was low. If you didn’t light a few oil lamps or candles in the room, it would be like filming a horror story, which was quite scary.

Zhulan put a lot of thought into ensuring that Zhou Shuren’s nighttime reading wouldn’t strain his eyes. Originally, she wanted to cover the walls with white paper, but considering the high cost of paper in ancient times and the fact that even the best rice paper wasn’t pure white, she gave up on that idea to avoid extravagance. She also considered using white chalk, but unfortunately, she didn’t know how to go about it. She really wasn’t like the strong female leads in novels; after all, she became a science prodigy after crossing over.²

In the end, she used white cloth. Her excuse was that the earthen wall was dusty. To avoid hanging white cloth, she decorated it. Her efforts paid off, at least the house was a little brighter with candles at night.

Early the next morning, Li Shi wanted to go to the county with her. The rare cloudy day was still windy, and the weather was much cooler. Zhulan also thought about going to the county.

Zhulan looked at her little girl’s longing look and felt very distressed. This girl basically had no friends in the village. It wasn’t that Xuehan didn’t like the girls in the village, but that Xuehan’s friends unilaterally broke off their friendship with Xuehan gradually, and had no more contact with her.

As Xuehan delved into her studies, she no longer engaged in wild play and developed a love for reading. The gap widened, and the shared topics of conversation diminished. Gradually, the girls in the village became less willing to visit. Those who could be friends with Xuehan were generally well-behaved, and as for those with ulterior motives, Xuehan had never been polite in dealing with them.

In less than a year, Xuehan had managed to befriend every girl in the village, and not a single handkerchief remained unexchanged.

Handkerchief

When girls became friends, they exchanged handkerchief. Hence the term handkerchief friend, which is sort of BFF in our times.

(End of chapter)

Footnote

1. Ok, this needs some explanation I think. If the story had progressed as if our ML and FL was not there, then Zhou family was destroyed but Chang Zhi was able to become someone, which is why Wang Ru schemed against him when she saw she wasn’t getting close to Xuehan. Coming to Wu Ming, if you remember, she tried to help him when his relatives tried blackmailing him but Zhou Shuren and Zhulan thwarted it. So in the novel, she succeeded and Wu Ming was a supporter of her and helped her husband the novel’s ML to become the heir of the Marquis.
2. The author throwing shades into all female transmigrator bringing n number of modern things in ancient times novel.