Seeing his mother was alright; Eldest Zhou was relieved. Then he noticed her staring at the harbor as if looking for someone. “Mother, are you looking for Second Brother?”

Zhulan blinked. “I think I just saw Wang Ru.”

Eldest Zhou had a deep impression of Wang Ru; he couldn’t forget her even if he wanted to. Many of the things he used and ate were related to her. “Mother, wasn’t she kidnapped?”

He had always thought Wang Ru was dead. He wasn’t stupid; Wang Ru had too many secrets, and people with too many secrets usually died quickly.

Zhulan naturally remembered her, too. “I just saw her; she seemed disfigured.”

There was a long scar on her face. If Zhulan hadn’t been so focused on Wang Ru, she wouldn’t have recognized her. She just didn’t know how she got the scar.

Eldest Zhou looked at the distance between the deck and the harbor market. “Mother, are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

Didn’t they say that eyesight gets worse with age? Mother must be mistaken.

Zhulan withdrew her searching gaze. “Maybe.”

Eldest Zhou thought his mother was mistaken; he didn’t believe it was such a coincidence. Besides, his mother hadn’t seen Wang Ru in a long time; how could she recognize her?

Zhulan’s intuition, however, told her it was Wang Ru. She didn’t know what Wang Ru had been through or how she had escaped, but from what she saw, she knew Wang Ru was truly intelligent. Besides Wang Ru, there was a boy about four or five years older than her. The two of them, carrying bamboo baskets, were chatting and laughing as they selected homespun cloth. She could see the boy’s basket was full of heavy items, while Wang Ru’s was full of fabric.

Wang Ru’s smile was unlike anything she’d ever seen before—a genuine, unpretentious smile.

Zhulan thought, if she hadn’t mistaken her for someone else, that was good enough. As long as Wang Ru was content with a simple life and lived intelligently in the future, the Zhou family and Wang Ru would no longer be involved.

The ship’s docking time ended, and Second Zhou brought up a lot of fruit. “Mother, I tasted some bananas, and they were quite sweet, so I bought some to bring back. You should try some.”

Zhulan saw that the bananas were ripe; these ripe bananas were sold off by the fruit merchants on the ship. Zhulan broke off one. “You all have some too.”

Two days later, Zhulan disembarked. She had been on the ship for seven days and finally set foot on land.

Zhulan had bought a lot of things. She had traveled by four horse-drawn carriages on the way there and hired two more for the return trip.

The further north she went, the colder the weather became. Zhulan put on a cotton-padded coat and cloak. Many of the pears and other fruits she brought back were frozen. Some of Zhulan’s university classmates were from the north, where frozen pears were available; even if the pears thawed, they were still edible.

Many of the vegetables had spoiled due to the freezing, so she had to hurry back to the city.

Zhulan continued her journey. In the imperial palace in the capital, the Emperor drank his medicine while listening to the Crown Prince read reports from various places. He reviewed these reports every year at the end of the year, which included information on officials of all ranks in each prefecture.

The Crown Prince, suppressing his burning desire upon first encountering this information, known only to the Emperor. This compiled information contained all the details of officials’ illegal and disorderly conduct across the land. He dared not guess or even consider why his father had allowed him access. Yet, he couldn’t control his heart. Wasn’t his father afraid that, knowing the weaknesses of local officials, the Crown Prince would secretly use this information to win over other ministers?

The Emperor slowly sipped his medicine, seemingly nonchalant, but he kept a close eye on the Crown Prince. He concealed the deeper meaning in his eyes, and when he read the name of Zhou Shuren from Lizhou, the Emperor nearly swallowed the water he used to rinse his mouth.

The Crown Prince carefully read it again; he hadn’t misread it.

The Emperor held out his hand. “Let me see it.”

The Crown Prince handed it to his father, thinking to himself, “I’m truly impressed by Lord Zhou.”

The Emperor skimmed through it. “I think our Lord Zhou is being wasted in Lizhou. He swindled 20,000 taels of silver with just a few words. What a talent!”

The Crown Prince also thought he was a talented man. He was short of money as Crown Prince, despite his fine clothes, all provided by the palace, and his antique furnishings, though gifts, he couldn’t sell. He couldn’t use the Crown Princess’s dowry; he couldn’t bear the humiliation. His meager income was barely enough to get by.

The money he currently had was all obtained from Yao Zheyu. His father was ruthless towards Yao Zheyu, so he didn’t need to be polite either. The Yao family was like a gold mine; he couldn’t resist taking some. But compared to Lord Zhou, Yao Zheyu paled in comparison. He felt Lord Zhou was far more adept at swindling money!

The Emperor, seeing the jade he had bestowed carved into jewelry by Zhou Shuren, muttered “wasteful” to himself, but also thought such a person was quite good. From his investigation, Zhou Shuren truly loved his wife; he trusted people more when they had weaknesses.

In Zhoujia Village, the New Year’s gifts that Zhulan had sent to her hometown had arrived. Ma Eryue didn’t go back to the house in Lijia Village to see her parents first; instead, she went directly to the old house to see the Eldest Young Lady.

After reading the instructions in her mother’s letter, Xuemei hurriedly asked, “Are Father and Mother alright?”

Eryue respectfully replied, “Master and Mistress are both well.”

Xuemei trusted that Ma Eryue wouldn’t lie to her, and without even looking at the clothes and jewelry her mother had given her, she noticed it was getting late. “Are you staying to rest or going back to the house in Lijia Village?”

Ma Eryue said, “I’m going back to the house in Lijia Village to see Father and Mother. I’ll come over first thing tomorrow morning.”

Xuemei said, “Then I won’t keep you any longer.”

“Yes.”

After Ma Eryue left, Xuemei asked her daughter to look after her two younger brothers. The New Year’s gifts her mother had prepared were individually packed for each family, and Ma Eryue had moved them all into the house.

Xuemei touched the silver in the box. She had originally planned to look at the land for building a house after the New Year, and her mother had sent money for it. She was even thinking of selling one or two pieces of jewelry if it wasn’t enough.

Xuemei missed her mother even more. Although her mother wasn’t in their hometown, she always thought of them. The New Year’s money she received was really just a subsidy.

Xuemei took out some apples; some were frostbitten. She planned to eat them later that evening, since even frostbitten apples were edible. She took out the best apples and warmed them in the house before giving them to the children.

After Xuemei finished unpacking, Jiang Sheng returned with his son.

Jiang Sheng saw the carriage in the yard. “Mother sent New Year’s gifts?”

Xuemei smiled and nodded. “Yes, they were escorted back in the second lunar month. I’ve already unpacked ours. The rest are for the clan head’s family, my eldest and second sister-in-law’s families, my third brother’s wife’s family, and your family.”

Jiang Sheng was stunned but quickly recovered. He held his wife’s hand. His mother-in-law always considered his wife’s needs; this year’s New Year’s gifts from the Jiang family were only because of his wife.

After his father-in-law became an official, the New Year’s gifts took on a different meaning. Receiving them not only acknowledged the marriage alliance but also provided the Jiang family with a degree of protection; the surrounding villages wouldn’t bully them out of respect for the Jiang family’s in-laws.

As for whether the Jiang family would use his father-in-law’s reputation for evil, Jiang Sheng knew he didn’t need to worry after hearing his wife mention the New Year’s gifts for the Jiang family; his mother-in-law had considered everything.

Jiang Sheng felt that his parents’ greatest love for him was for him to marry Xuemei. “Thank you,” he said. Xue Mei smiled. “My parents are also your parents; no need to thank me.”

Time passed quickly, and Zhulan had already passed through Chuanzhou and entered Lizhou. Zhulan sent someone ahead to inform the mansion.

(End of Chapter)

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