Boss Zhou knew that the eunuch had come to announce the decree. His father had asked them to get ready this morning before he had eaten. “Go to each room and notify them to go to the front yard to receive the decree.”

After giving his instructions, Boss Zhou went to the main house. The door of his parents’ room was open. His mother was writing and he knocked on the door. “Mom, the officials, and the eunuch have come from the palace to announce the imperial decree.”

Zhulan put down her pen and her eyes fell on the small wooden box at hand. She pursed her lips and was not happy. She had three houses and held the small box. “Let’s go.”

Zhulan took two steps and paused. “Wait a minute.”

Boss Zhou watched his mother take out fifty taels of silver from her purse and stuffed it into the purse. She handed the purse to Boss Zhou. “Give the purse to your father later.”

Boss Zhou took the purse. “Ok.”

This was for the eunuch. He took a breath of cold air in his heart. Fifty taels!

Zhulan took Li Shi and others who were waiting in the backyard to the front yard. Zhou Shuren and the eunuch had been chatting for a while in the front yard. Because Zhou Shuren was the first to be summoned by the Emperor yesterday, the eunuch was particularly polite to Zhou Shuren.

The eunuch saw that everyone had arrived, took the imperial decree, and Zhou Shuren, along with his entire family, knelt down to receive it. The eunuch then proclaimed:
“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Yang Shi, wife of the Zhizhou of Lizhou Prefecture, is hereby granted the title of Yiren. This decree is issued on the sixteenth day of the fourth month in the fourteenth year of Yongzhi.”

Zhulan was really stunned. She just glanced at the official carrying something, which was obviously Zhou Shuren’s official uniform. She always thought that Zhou Shuren told her that there would be an imperial edict for Zhou Shuren, but she didn’t expect it to be an imperial edict for her. She was also given an imperial edict, and she would be able to receive a salary in the future.

Zhulan followed Zhou Shuren to thank him, and soon she understood that the Emperor was shameless and took away three houses, so he took the initiative to give her the imperial edict. Zhou Shuren guessed it, so he was not surprised at all. No wonder he looked like she would know when the time came when he told her.

Zhou Shuren helped Zhulan up. He cursed the dog Emperor a lot in his heart yesterday, but he was much more relaxed today. The official handed them his official uniform and Zhulan’s imperial edict uniform. Zhou Shuren took out his purse and stuffed it into the eunuch’s hand, “Thank you for your hard work today.”

The eunuch who announced the edict pinched it lightly and smiled more deeply, “Zhou dàrén, you are too polite.”

Zhou Shuren saw that the eunuch had no intention of leaving after the announcing the edict, and his mood became bad again. He was waiting for the house deed!

Zhulan cursed in her heart but smiled as she took the box and handed it to Zhou Shuren. Zhou Shuren handed it to the eunuch, who smiled even more, “I’m going back to the palace to report.”

Zhou Shuren stood up to see him off. He didn’t look at the eunuch with tinted glasses. If it wasn’t for the poor family, who would be willing to enter the palace to be a eunuch? Besides, the Emperor was very quiet when he said he wanted to change houses. Although the young eunuch was young, he must be the Emperor’s confidant. There was nothing wrong with sending him off in person.

The eunuch was very pleased and thought to himself that Zhōu dàrén was indeed a smart man as Eunuch Liu said, “Zhōu dàrén, please stay.”

Zhou Shuren stood at the gate, “Please, eunuch.”

Zhou Shuren waited for the officials and the eunuch to leave before returning to the yard. He saw Zhulan touching the imperial robe, but there were too many people at home, so some things were hard to say.

Zhulan liked the imperial robes very much. She just took a look at the size and it was her size. Zhulan was speechless. The size must have been found in the clothing shop. The Emperor must have had his eyes on the house for a long time, so the imperial robes were prepared. He really calculated people to the core. No wonder the Emperor was able to stabilize the government so quickly after he became Emperor. With this plan, she sympathized with the princes.

Li Shi’s hands were eager to touch the imperial robes several times. Zhulan saw her fat hand’s hand stretched out and then retracted from the corner of her eye, and her eyes were full of smiles, “Touch it if you want.”

Li Shi’s hands were quicker than her mind, and she touched it with both hands, “Mom, this is the imperial dress, so gorgeous and beautiful.”

It was the most beautiful dress she had seen so far.

Zhulan also found it beautiful, but the attire was too complicated and could only be worn when entering the palace.

She was momentarily stunned—oh, that’s right! Now that she held an imperial decree, she was allowed to enter the palace.

Her knees!

Fortunately, she was only a Yiren and not high-ranking enough to enter the palace to pay respects to the Empress.

For now, her knees were safe!

Li Shi didn’t dare to touch it more, and took her hand back in surprise, “I don’t have a chance in this life.”

Boss Zhou, “.”

His wife always hurt him in the heart!

Zhulan laughed, “You still have a chance. The imperial decree is not only for the wife, but also for the mother. You can wait for Mingyun to ask for the title for you.”

Li Shi’s dim eyes brightened again, “Yes, I can still count on my son.”

After saying that, she looked at the head of the family with some disgust in her eyes.

Boss Zhou, “.”

He didn’t know if he should say this, the son was also his, without him, could Li Shi have given birth to him?

Zhou Shuren’s head still hurts a little. His official uniform was nothing good. As for the imperial edict given to him, it was already clear in the court yesterday. Thinking of the content of the imperial edict, well, he said he forgot something, oh no!

Because the imperial edict was issued, those who went to the various states to announce the edict had already left the capital yesterday, and they only had seven days to prepare for the Jinshi of this session. After seven days, they had to set off for the place of appointment. They were not even given time to go back to worship their ancestors!

Zhou Shuren’s head, which was already a little aching, was now throbbing with pain, and his face was particularly ugly. Well, it was a pit, yes, he drank too much yesterday, and there were still some names of people and places that he hadn’t sorted out. The more his head hurt, it seemed that he couldn’t remember some of them.

Zhou Shuren was even more upset when he saw the mess in the room, “Okay, you guys go do what you should do.”

The lively room suddenly became quiet, and then everyone went about their business.

Zhulan and the others had all left, and she pulled Zhou Shuren over to sit down, “Your head hurts.”

Zhou Shuren, “Yeah.”

He had a lot of things to do, and felt that time was not enough, so he said to Zhulan, “Pack your luggage, we’ll leave for Lizhou City in seven days.”

Zhulan, “.”

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Author’s Note: The imperial edict was divided into Shèngzhǐ, Zhì, Chì, Zhào – these are proclamations to the world. “Chì” carries a sense of admonition. Promotions and titles are given with a “Chì,” which means a warning not to become arrogant due to favoritism, and so on.

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(End of this chapter)