Li Shi saw that her mother-in-law’s face was no longer red, but the look she gave her was a little creepy. Li Shi put down her fat hands, realizing that she had done something stupid again, and smiled flatteringly, “Mother.”

Zhulan snorted coldly, “You said I haven’t seen Zhao Shi and Dong Shi for a long time, and I miss them suddenly.”

Li Shi was in crisis, “Mom, what do you want to eat today?”

Zhulan kept smiling, “I want to eat you!”

Li Shi looked down at herself, stretched out her arm, and rolled up her sleeves in pain, “Mom, can you see the flesh on my arm?”

Zhulan rolled her eyes in her heart. Li Shi was really amazing. Now she could reply to her words. Zhulan was angry and tapped Li Shi’s forehead, “You have learned a lot!”

Li Shi smiled innocently, “Mother taught me well.”

Zhulan glared at Li Shi. Li Shi had a very good relationship with the young wife of the merchant family next door, and she had learned a lot from her!

Li Shi covered her forehead with her hands and saw her mother-in-law go out. She laughed and said that as long as her mother-in-law had her in her heart, Zhao Shi and Dong Shi should all stand aside!

Xinghua kept her head down. She used to think that the eldest wife was stupid, but now she felt that she was the smart one. Although the eldest wife was easily confused in other aspects, she knew how to please her mother-in-law. This aspect crushed the other two wives. No wonder the Madam only brought the eldest wife to the capital!

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. In those two days, Zhou Shuren recovered from his cold thanks to his strong physique, but Wu Ming’s condition got worse. Fortunately, the imperial examination was over and Wu Ming had plenty of time to recuperate. The results of this dynasty’s imperial examination would be announced in a month!

As for the palace examination, the time was not fixed, but it was always in April. Whether it was early April or mid-April depended entirely on the Emperor’s wishes.

Zhou Shuren recovered and wanted to meet Zhao Bo, but after sending the message, he received news that Zhao Bo also fell ill.

The heavy snowfall during this examination really screwed up the candidates. Well, Zhou Shuren wasn’t going anywhere and had to stay at home.

After waiting for another three days, Wu Ming’s condition improved a lot. He just needed to take two more doses of medicine and rest slowly in the future.

Wu Chun’s second letter also arrived, this time it was only a letter.

Yang Zhumu’s eyes turned red after reading it. Zhulan sat beside him and looked anxious. Yang Zhumu wiped the corner of the letter before handing it to the girl, “Take a look.”

Zhulan took the letter. There wasn’t much in it. It mainly talked about the family assets he had acquired in Lizhou City, and then asked about their well-being. The person mentioned the most was Wu He. After Wu He recovered, he was promoted to eighth-rank military officer, but he was no longer in Lizhou City; he was stationed in a county town.

Yang Zhumu lamented that his son had a hard time. He had spent all the money he was rewarded with. “When parents come, we should set off. I should also make preparations based on the date.”

“Brother, you do need to prepare. According to what Wu Chun said, Lizhou City is short of everything. Brother, please buy more seeds. You don’t need to prepare too many rice seeds. Buy more wheat and corn seeds. Oh, and buy more sweet potatoes and potatoes as well!”

Lizhou City was short of food, and sweet potatoes and potatoes were both good things.

Yang Zhumu’s heart was not as careful as her sister’s. “Please help me think about it. I’m afraid I’ll miss something.”

Zhulan said: “Okay.”

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren wrote the list, which was carefully checked before being handed over to Yang Zhumu for purchase.

In Zhulan’s memory, her original self didn’t know how much wealth the Yang family had. Based on the luggage brought by her eldest brother, Zhulan guessed that the Yang family’s wealth was not small.

As a daughter, Zhulan also bought clothes and other things for her parents.

Zhulan bought clothes for her parents and found that Li Shi was in a low mood. “What happened today? Did you get angry with the eldest brother?”

Li Shi shook her head, “Mom, the Xu family next door is moving away.”

Zhulan really didn’t know that in February, she was busy with Zhou Shuren first, and then helped her eldest brother buy things. Xu Shi from the neighboring family never came to visit again. “Their business in Beijing is quite prosperous, why are they moving away?”

Li Shi looked around and whispered, “Mom, Qi Shi’s father-in-law got the news that he was going to expand some port and so his family was going to move there to occupy the space in advance. He also said that they were going to start maritime trade in the future. Mom, what is maritime trade? Wasn’t the sea all water?”

Zhulan’s heart was soaring. Oh, this was really great news. She quickly pinched Li Shi and said, “You sort out the remaining fabrics!”

Li Shi touched her cheek and wondered why her mother-in-law was so happy.

Zhulan went back to the house to find Zhou Shuren, who was reading a book. Zhulan said excitedly, “Pinggang is expected to be expanded.”

Zhou Shuren put down the book and said, “This is big news. Where did you get the news?”

“The Xu family next door is moving away. Isn’t the Xu family’s daughter-in-law on good terms with Li Shi? Qi Shi secretly talked to her about this and even said their family wanted to start a maritime trade.”

Zhou Shuren thought that the imperial court was really short of money, and the people in the northwest and other places were all waiting for food to save their lives. “This is a good thing!”

Zhulan was calculating quickly in her mind, “Of course, it’s a good thing. Not only will the housing prices in Pinggang rise, but the land prices will also rise. We have 80 acres of land!”

After this investment, she planned to buy two or three farms to stabilize her annual income first, and then continue to invest the remaining money. As for shops, Zhulan has not thought about buying one yet. Investing to make money was the fastest way to make money, especially in this period when the court was constantly relaxing its policies towards merchants. As long as you seized the opportunity during this period, you could make a fortune.

Zhou Shuren stroked his beard and said, “Let Eryue take Lichun to Pinggang to get information first.”

“Yes, let them pay attention to the housing and land prices in Pinggang.”

Zhulan didn’t think of investing in Pinggang again. The well-informed businessmen all had backgrounds. Their family’s foundation in the capital was nothing. It would have been fine if they had invested early. But to rob now was simply because they thought their life was too peaceful. They would be courting death then!

Zhou Shuren sent Eryue and Lichun out to do some errands. Without two servants at home, many things became more difficult to do. Even Boss Zhou had gotten used to ordering Eryue around.

Zhou Shuren was also a little uncomfortable, and he and Zhulan sighed, “It’s easy to get into luxury, but suddenly I have no one to serve me. I feel uncomfortable. Let’s buy another family after the results are announced.”

Zhulan also felt that there were not enough people. She was going to buy a manor. The manor needed someone to manage things. People were needed everywhere. Zhulan sighed, “Our family needs a housekeeper, but a good housekeeper is hard to find!”

She observed Ma Eryue carefully and found that he was not smart enough and his abilities were limited. At best, he could be the manager of the Zhuangzi.

Zhou Shuren didn’t want Zhulan to worry about everything, but it was hard to find a good housekeeper, “Let’s not rush and just take our time!”

“True.”

Three days later, February came back with the beginning of spring. Although they didn’t get the exact news, judging from the housing prices and the gathering of merchants, the Xu family’s news was accurate.

Zhulan felt relieved, she just had to wait.

Time passed in the blink of an eye and it was already late March. On the day of the announcement of the results, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren went to wait in a carriage before dawn.

Many people had the same idea. Zhulan’s family’s carriage arrived late. There were many carriages in front of it, and many guards surrounded the carriages. Well, there was no need to go forward and they could only wait by the side.

Zhulan held Zhou Shuren’s hand tightly, “Do you think I should look forward to it?”

(End of this chapter)

---