Zhulan understood clearly in her heart, but she was still angry. She had just arrived in Lizhou City and had just become an official. It was terrible to have concubines in ancient times.

Boss Zhou’s face was also dark. If his mother hadn’t said it clearly, he would not have thought about it. He also believed that Yazi was considerate enough to know that the family was short of people and sent a few older people.

Boss Zhou pursed his lips. Mother followed father through all the ups and downs. Weren’t these people poking mother’s heart? Wait, Father cares about Mother so much. Dad will definitely remember what happened today!

Yazi knew that it was useless to apologize. He had to go back and tell the boss and wait for the boss to come. Anyway, he was just following orders.

Li Shi followed her mother into the house. She now disliked even the maids. Previously, she’d been so happy about her change of status that she’d never considered the risks that came with it. “Mother, can’t we just have no maids?”

Zhulan laughed. “Don’t worry, no one’s interested in the eldest son right now.”

Besides being the eldest son, he wasn’t good at anything else. If it were the third son, Chang Lian, or the youngest son, Chang Zhi, someone might have noticed them.

Li Shi’s heart tightened. “Mother, what do you mean by ‘not interested in the eldest son right now’?”

“That depends on your father’s official rank.”

With a high rank, even if the eldest son, Zhou, was completely useless, there would still be plenty of people watching him.

Li Shi was anxious. “Mother, what should I do? I’m not pretty, I have a loud voice, I’m overweight, and I can’t do anything except cook. Will the head of the household already dislike me?”

No wonder the head of the household had been falling asleep lately and hadn’t had a proper conversation with her in ages. In her anxiety, she had completely forgotten about the family’s lack of staff. Boss Zhou took on the responsibility of three people on his own and was simply exhausted and had no energy.

Zhulan, “…”

Li Shi really understood herself, but she did need to resolve the issue. Today it was Zhou Shuren, and in the future it would be her sons.

When Boss Zhou came in to get the silver, he heard Li Shi talking about himself. Hearing Li Shi’s fearful voice, he felt uncomfortable. He was just an ordinary person. He had never thought that his father’s status had changed. He had become the boss and would despise Li Shi. She had given birth to his children, and he was a man with a conscience. He made a note to have a good talk with Li Shi that night.

Boss Zhou knocked on the door, “Mom, I’m here to get the silver.”

Zhulan was interrupted by Li Shi and forgot to take out the silver. She took out two silver notes and handed them to Boss Zhou. Although she didn’t ask the price, the yazi didn’t dare to cheat the officials. This silver was enough. “When you come back after exchanging the deeds, ask if there are any land and mountain lands for sale nearby. Mom wants to buy some land and mountain land.”

Boss Zhou took the silver notes, “Mom, I’ve made a note of it.”

Zhulan waited for Boss Zhou to leave. She wanted to comfort Li Shi, “Don’t scare yourself. I’m saying this. There is no such thing as taking concubines in our family. Whoever dares to take a concubine, I will let your father break his legs and kick him out of the Zhou family.”

Li Shi was spinning in circles anxiously and stopped immediately, “Mom, really?”

“When have I ever broken my promise?”

Li Shi grinned. Her mother-in-law always kept her word. As long as her mother-in-law’s words were there, she wouldn’t be afraid of the head of the family having other intentions. “Mom, you’re so kind.”

Zhulan liked Li Shi. Look, she was happy so quickly. “Don’t accompany me. You can choose a few dishes for lunch and send them to the government office when the eldest son comes back.”

Li Shi was a little embarrassed. “Mom, we only have bacon and sausages at home. We don’t have any other vegetables. The head of the family wanted to go to the market this morning to see if there were any vegetables, but there was no one in the market.”

Zhulan said, “There are more servants at home now. Let Eryue take people to Chuanzhou to buy some tomorrow.”

Li Shi was no longer worried, “Mom, then I’ll go cook.”

“Wait a minute, kill two more hens, and I’ll get you ginseng. Send one of the chickens to the yamen to make ginseng chicken soup, and the remaining one to make chicken stewed with mushrooms, and we’ll eat it ourselves.”

Li Shi was hungry for everything. It was too hard on the way. She had been thinking about the hens, but she didn’t dare to mention it until her mother-in-law said something. Now that her mother-in-law wanted to eat, her mouth was watering, and she responded loudly, “Ok.”

Xuehan waited for her sister-in-law to leave, then silently walked to her mother and hugged her waist, “Mom, don’t be angry.”

Zhulan smiled. Her daughter was still thoughtful, “I’m not angry anymore.”

What happened today was just too sudden, and she couldn’t control her emotions for a while.

Xuehan bit her lip. Third Sao’s father had a concubine, but the concubine had no children. She nestled in her mother’s arms. “Mother,” she asked, “Will Father also change?”

“No,”

Zhulan said firmly, not only because she and Zhou Shuren were tied together, but also because she trusted him.

Xuehan listened to her mother’s heartbeat, gradually feeling reassured. Dad and Mom had such a close relationship that there wouldn’t be anyone else. She hugged her mother’s waist tightly, “Yeah.”

Zhulan patted Xuehan’s back, and after a moment, she saw the girl asleep in her arms. Touching Xuehan’s small face, she saw she was exhausted from the long journey. The baby fat had faded, and her features had blossomed. Luckily, the ten-year-old wasn’t too heavy, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to hold her. She laid Xuehan on the kang and covered her with a small quilt. The little girl slept soundly.

Zhulan’s lips curled. Raising a child felt really good.

Zhulan still had work to do. She counted the money at home. She had bought two houses in the capital, and bought some jewelry and lumber, spending 5,500 taels, which was recorded in the account. She also sold 40 mu of land in Pinggang for 4,000 taels, and sold the house in Nancheng for 6,000 taels, bringing in 10,000 taels.

The expenses for coming to Lizhou City were 1,000 taels for a house, 400 taels for a carriage, food, etc., and 200 taels for the eldest son. The family still had 12,600 taels of silver left in total, and more than 50 taels of small change.

Zhulan put the account book aside. This money looked like a lot, and she would have to spend some more in the future. The money was really not enough to spend. The family still had too little silver!

When Boss Zhou came back, Zhulan gestured for her to speak more quietly. Boss Zhou saw that his sister was sleeping in his parents’ room, and thought to himself that only his sister could get this treatment. He whispered, “Mom, this is the servant’s indenture. The yazi gave the lowest price to express his apology. Together with the silver for exchanging the indenture, it only cost one hundred and fifty taels, and there are fifty taels left.”

Zhulan hummed, “Have you heard about the land?”

Boss Zhou said, “There are many people selling land nearby. Most of them are selling one or two acres of land to make a living. The large tracts of land near the state capital have been bought up, but no one wants the mountain land. There are quite a few mountain lands, and the price is very cheap, one tael of silver per acre. If you buy fifty acres, you will get ten acres of wasteland for free.”

Zhulan wondered if the free wasteland was counted as part of the two hundred acres of land. She would wait for Zhou Shuren to come back and ask, “Thanks for letting me know. You can go and do your work.”

(End of this chapter)