Boss Zhou felt sorry for his wife. His wife was not smart to begin with, and now she had to get along with two shrewd dìmèi every day. He saw his third dìmèi cheating Li Shi more than once. Li Shi was in a bad mood because her mother-in-law had taught her not to be stupid anymore. Although she could not react at the time, his wife was able to react later.

Boss Zhou loved his wife, but he loved himself even more. His father was not at home, and he had to take care of his younger brothers. He was worried about them every day, especially since Chang Lian came home later and later. He waited for him anxiously every day. He was very tired these days. When he had to worry about this when his father was at home? Being mentally tired was the real tiredness.

Boss Zhou said quietly, “Next time when our parents leave, we will definitely follow them. If we two fools stay in this family, we will be bullied.”

Li Shi felt the same way. She was not happy with her third dìmèi. When her mother-in-law was not at home, her true colors were revealed. “Master, let’s not have children for now. Dad will take part in the xiāngshì and go to the capital next year. Mom will definitely go with him. We will follow them.”

Boss Zhou blinked his eyes, and was pleasantly surprised. “Well, Yu Lu isn’t that big, so there’s really no rush to have a child.”

Li Shi made up her mind that she would follow her mother-in-law wherever she went in the future. Her brain couldn’t keep up with Zhao Shi and Dong Shi, so she decided to be a good daughter-in-law who listened to her mother-in-law!

In the second room, Second Zhou and Zhao Shi were also thinking about their parents, and they both hoped that their parents would come back soon.

Chang Lian was very busy. He left early in the morning and came back after dark. He would think about where his parents were before going to bed.

Dong Shi didn’t miss her mother-in-law much. Her mother-in-law was not at home and her sister always called her to go to her home, so she lived a very comfortable life.

Chang Zhi lived in Xu Jinshi’s house and rarely returned to Zhou’s house. Xu Jinshi always kept him by his side. Except for the time when he was resting and thinking about his parents, he spent all his time in Xu’s study.

Rongchuan and Mingyun went to the academy to study every day, while Xuehan stayed at home every day, keeping in mind the situation at home.

Xuehan sighed in her heart. Without her parents around, each room had its own thoughts and she didn’t like it at all.

Time flew, and six days passed in the blink of an eye. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren finally saw the city gate of the capital. The guards at the city gate of the capital were different from those in the provincial capital, and there were two inspections.

Not only will they check your identity and household registration carefully, but they will also ask about famous places in your hometown based on your registered place of residence.

Zhulan’s eyes were opened. These inspecting officers and soldiers were all capable people. They knew something about the famous places in each state capital. When she heard the coachman mumbling that the rules were not so strict last year, Zhulan knew that troops were indeed going to be used, so martial law was imposed.

When the convoy arrived in the capital, the escort company still had to guard the cargo trucks to deliver the goods. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren insisted on staying with the convoy, so they left the team directly. They would find another convoy for the return trip once they got back to the prefecture city. Pingzhou City was an important transportation hub with many convoys passing through, so they were not worried about finding a convoy.

The coachman often came to the capital and was very familiar with the city. He sent Zhulan and Zhou Shuren to an inn with a good reputation, helped them move their luggage, and then drove the carriage back.

To thank the two coachmen for their care along the way, Zhou Shuren gave each of them two taels of silver as a reward. The coachmen happily accepted the reward and recommended a few escort companies with good reputations before leaving.

Zhulan wanted a superior room. A superior room in the capital city costs two taels of silver a day, which was very expensive. Zhulan still felt that it was expensive even with four thousand eight hundred taels in her arms. “It’s better to look for a house as soon as possible. The inn is too expensive.”

Zhou Shuren said, “There’s no rush. In the capital, you can find an official just about anywhere. Let’s first visit Brother Zhao Bo’s friend. With someone from the capital vouching for us, we can avoid being deceived by the brokers.”

Zhulan sighed, “Zhao Bo is a very kind person. He has helped us a lot in the past two years.”

Zhou Shuren nodded, “This person is indeed good.”

“Will you send the invitation tomorrow?”

Zhou Shuren nodded, “Yes, I’ll send a letter to visit him tomorrow.”

Zhulan pulled Zhou Shuren and said, “Go ask the waiter to bring two buckets of hot water. Let’s wash up and go out for a walk.”

They had arrived in the capital city, and they must have a good look around. It was the ancient capital city, the political center. Zhulan felt that all the hard work along the way was worth it.

Zhou Shuren laughed, “Okay, okay, I’ll go get some hot water.”

“Go quickly.”

Zhulan waited for Zhou Shuren to go out and found two sets of new clothes that she hadn’t worn yet. When you arrive in the capital, you should dress as well as possible to avoid a lot of trouble!

Half an hour later, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren took a bath, combed their hair, packed up, locked the door, and went out shopping.

The capital city was really big. West City was where the rich and powerful lived. People who lived in West City, if they didn’t have a title, were at least officials of the third rank or below. No outsiders would easily go to West City.

The inn where Zhulan and Zhou Shuren stayed was in South City. There were many merchants in South City, and the shops had a large flow of people, making it the most prosperous place in the capital.

The streets in the capital were twice as wide as those in the provincial capital, and the stalls set up by merchants on both sides of the streets did not interfere with the normal movement of horse-drawn carriages.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren arrived in the capital in the afternoon. It was already late when they got ready to go out on the street. Although the daytime had become longer in May, it was still a little dark, and Zhulan happened to catch the merchants closing their stalls.

Zhou Shuren looked at the sky and said, “We can’t go shopping today. Let’s find a restaurant to eat at first. I’ll accompany you around tomorrow after I send the invitation.”

Zhulan: “Okay.”

There were many restaurants in South City. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were not familiar with the capital, so they found a restaurant with the largest number of customers. The more people there were, the more likely it was to be there.

It was a pity that because there were too many people, we could only eat in the hall and couldn’t book a private room.

Zhulan ordered the restaurant’s signature dish, hand-shredded lamb, charcoal-roasted goose, vegetable soup, and two bowls of rice. “Okay, that’s all.”

The waiter said, “It’s two taels and one cent in total. Because there are so many customers, we’ll inevitably be careless. Please pay the bill first. I beg your forgiveness.”

Zhou Shuren took out some silver and said, “As you should. This is two taels and two cents. The remaining one cent is given to you as a reward.”

The waiter happily took the money and said, “Thank you, guests. I will make a pot of tea for you two right away.”

Zhulan waited for the waiter to leave, “Money makes the world go round. Money is really a good thing. Those who just ignored us got tips and free tea.”

“Everyone will get tired if they do something over and over again. This is normal.”

Zhulan thought so too. No matter who repeats the same thing every day, even the best mental state will be exhausted.

The food came quickly. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were already hungry. The signature dishes of this restaurant were really good. Zhulan had a rare good appetite and ended up eating too much.

The two of them walked out of the restaurant slowly to digest their food. The capital city was not bustling at night, so it was better to stay at home at that time. The dynasty had just been established for twelve years, and there were still many uneasy factors. In addition, other countries were eyeing them covetously, so there was a curfew in the capital city at night.

Zhulan’s room faced the street, and she could hear the sound of horse hooves and the collision of soldiers’ armor at night.

Zhulan estimated the time and calculated that the patrol came once every half an hour. She said to Zhou Shuren, “The defense of the capital is so strict. It seems that they are indeed going to use troops.”

Zhou Shuren felt better in his stomach. “Well, it’s getting late. Let’s go to bed!”

Zhulan was indeed sleepy, and said, “Yeah.”

(End of this chapter)

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