Zhulan received Wuchun’s letter, which was written to Zhulan. Communication was inconvenient in ancient times, so this letter was a letter of safety written by Wuchun after he arrived in Lizhou.

As for the letter written by Yang Zhumu, it was estimated that by the time it could arrive in Lizhou, Wu Chun’s reply should still be on the way.

Zhulan and her elder brother opened the letter together. This time, furs came with the letter. She ignored the gift list in the letter and read the main text directly.

When Wu Chun arrived in Lizhou, he was still under Zheng Hong. Zheng Hong was in charge of the garrison of Lizhou and the soldiers there. Wu Chun was a powerful general who assisted him.

Wu Chun bought a large courtyard with three entrances in Lizhou City for only two hundred taels. The courtyard covered a large area. He specifically said that although Lizhou was a provincial capital, the conditions were very poor and the majority of merchants in the city were fur traders.

Although the war was over and refugees returned to Lizhou City one after another, the entire city was still very depressed. The people were extremely poor, and many of them sold their children.

Yang Zhumu was stunned. “How come this guy wrote so much about the lives of the people in Lizhou City? It’s three or four pages.”

Zhulan handed Zhou Shuren a few pages of letters about Lizhou City, “Written by Wuchun to Shuren.”

Zhou Shuren took it preciously. He asked Wu Chun to write this. He asked Wu Chun to write back to him everything he saw. This kid wrote in great detail. It seemed that he visited nearby villages many times. Wu Chun’s tone was very sad, especially when he wrote that there was no food to cook and some people even had to eat dirt.

Zhou Shuren’s heart sank. Although the environment in the Northeast was harsh in winter, the land was fertile and the weather had been good in recent years. As long as every household did not sell more grain to save money, they could have enough to eat. In recent years, those families in the Northeast with more land had enough money to dress themselves up.

This was also the reason why merchants have been traveling to the Northeast more frequently in recent years than before.

Even merchants were unwilling to go to Lizhou City, which showed how poor the local people were.

Zhulan also read the rest of the letter, which was all about Wuchun’s plans for settling down, and finally invited Zhulan and Zhou Shuren to visit Lizhou City if they had the chance.

Yang Zhumu felt depressed for a while, as he was not mentioned in the whole article!

Zhulan noticed her brother’s mood and laughed, “He doesn’t know you are here with me.”

“I wrote to him.”

Zhulan was speechless. “Brother, calculate how long it would take for you to receive Wu Chun’s letter and then reply to Lizhou City. When Wu Chun wrote to me, your letter hadn’t reached him yet! How did he know that you were also in the capital? Your reply should have arrived in a few days.”

Yang Zhumu calculated, “It’s true. The letter this kid wrote to me should be on the way to the capital.”

Zhulan received the letter and said, “I’m going to check out the gift my oldest nephew brought me.”

This was a New Year’s gift. Although it came a little late, it was already February and the imperial examination was going to be held in a few days.

Zhou Shuren took the letter and said, “I’ll go back and read first.”

Zhulan: “Okay.”

Zhulan and her elder brother went to see the gifts together. There were three boxes of things, two boxes of furs, and one box of dates. These dates were good things.

Zhulan gave some away and saved it for her mother to eat when she arrived in the capital.

Zhulan had just packed up the furs when Li Shi came back with Xinghua and a basket of vegetables. She rubbed her hands by the fire and said, “Mother, it’s really cold!”

Zhulan was worried. The imperial examination also had three sessions: the ninth, twelfth, and fifteenth day. One would enter the examination hall on the first day and exit on the next day.

Each examination room was still very small, five feet long, four feet wide, and eight feet high. After entering, they were searched first, and then each person was given three candles. After the examinees entered the room, the door was locked. The conditions were still very difficult!

Zhulan asked, “What kind of meat did you buy today? You look so happy.”

Li Shi smiled and said, “Mom, today’s mutton is fresh. I bought a few more pounds of mutton and will stew it for dinner.”

Zhulan nodded and said, “Buy more meat tomorrow and make more sausages for your father.”

“Ok!”

Time soon arrived on the eighth day of the New Year. Zhulan checked the things Zhou Shuren was going to take. This time, not only Zhulan checked several times, but even Zhou Shuren also checked twice.

Zhulan looked at Zhou Shuren’s nervousness, and she felt more relaxed. “It’s rare to see you so nervous about anything.”

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, “I’ve already taken ninety-nine steps, and now I only have one step left. How can I not be nervous?”

Zhulan held Zhou Shuren’s hand and said, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. We have come this far. Just let nature take its course.”

These days, Zhou Shuren had dreams every night. She could hear Zhou Shuren talking in his sleep, and he was reciting lessons in his dreams!

Zhou Shuren, “Yes.”

When Zhulan heard this, she agreed with him, but she definitely didn’t think so in her heart. Zhou Shuren always said that she was willing to take responsibility, and he was the same.

It was just that Zhou Shuren was narrow-minded and only took responsibility for her.

The capital city was really bustling in February, especially on the eighth day of the first lunar month. The streets were filled with horse-drawn carriages, and the traffic jams became more severe the further southwest one went.

Zhulan’s family arrived late, and their carriage was stuck behind, so they had to walk in the cold weather.

The situation on the street was similar. Not only Zhulan’s family was walking. Zhulan was willing to spend money, especially on Zhou Shuren, who was not cold because he was wrapped in a thick cloak.

You also needed to queue up to enter the examination room, which was the same process as the provincial examination.

Zhulan waited for Zhou Shuren to go in and stood on the street for a while without any intention of leaving.

Although Li Shi was fat, she was not the most resistant to cold. She rubbed her hands and said, “Mom, let’s go home!”

Zhulan came back to her senses and took one last look at the examination room. Zhou Shuren had fought for her. She curled her lips and said, “Yes, let’s go home.”

After returning home, Zhulan went back to her room and drew the scene of Zhou Shuren entering the examination room.

Li Shi stood aside and said, “Mom, you draw really well.”

Zhulan tilted her head, “Why did you follow me in?”

Li Shi’s eyes were filled with grievance, “Mom, I’ve always been following you.”

Zhulan knew that Li Shi was here to keep her company. She couldn’t help but stretch out her hand and pinch her chubby face, “It really feels good.”

Li Shi’s eyes widened, but she was so happy in her heart. Her mother pinched her. Her mother and the head of the family both loved her the most. Li Shi blushed when she thought of what the head of the family said.

Zhulan stared at Li Shi as she ran away. She just pinched her face. Why was Li Shi so shy?

Xue Han came in with her niece, “Mom, why did my sister-in-law run away?”

Zhulan, “Who knows what she is thinking.”

Xue Han was stunned when she saw her mother’s calm expression and not worried at all, “Mom, aren’t you worried about Dad?”

Her mother was always worried every time her father took an exam.

Zhulan waited for the ink to dry, put the painting away, and said, “I believe in your father.”

Xue Han was silent. She really envied the relationship between her father and mother. She also hoped that she could be like this with Rong Chuan in the future. Thinking of this, Xue Han’s face turned red. “Mom, I’m going back to the room.”

Zhulan blinked her eyes. What happened today? Why were they all shy? Was she no longer able to keep up with the train of thought? Was she really getting old?

Zhulan shuddered. The thought was terrifying. No, her real age was not even 30, and in ancient times, she was not even 40. She was not old, not old!

(End of this chapter)

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