Zhulan took the letter. “Only one letter?”

Steward Ding replied, “The messenger said he was Wú Dàrén’s personal servant, and he’s waiting outside to see the Mistress.”

Zhulan wasn’t in a hurry to read the letter. Wu Ming always sent New Year’s gifts by hand, never by escort. The fact that he sent a personal servant today meant something was amiss. “Please bring him in.”

Li Xu Shi Shi stood up, feeling it wasn’t appropriate for her to stay any longer. “I’m going for a walk; I’ll come back later.”

Zhulan rose to see her off. “Alright.”

Li Xu Shi left, and Steward Ding brought the servant in. Zhulan recognized the servant; he was Wu Ming’s first servant and had lived with Zhulan and the others for a while. “Did Wu Ming send you here because something happened?”

The servant respectfully replied, “The old lady and the old master passed away a few days ago.”

Zhulan paused for a moment to recover. Wu Li Shi had passed away? “How could someone so healthy suddenly be gone?”

She clearly remembered that Wu Li Shi was in good health.

The young servant lowered his head, feeling that this was a family disgrace, but since his family’s dàrén was the Zhou family’s adopted son, he also felt there was no harm in saying it. “My family’s dàrén’s dàbó used my family’s dàrén’s reputation to handle matters, causing dàrén quite a lot of trouble. The old master was already ill to begin with, and after learning of it, a surge of anger rose up in him, and he failed to pull through. The old madam was overcome with grief and soon passed away as well.”

Zhulan felt terrible. During the New Year’s gifts, Wu Li Shi even had Wu Ning write a letter to her, and now, just a few months later, they were gone. Zhulan’s eyes reddened with sadness. “Is your master alright?”

The young servant thought to himself that dàrén was doing very badly. After the old master and old madam were laid to rest, dàrén had changed. In the past, no matter who mocked dàrén for being the most unpromising zhuàngyuánláng, dàrén never got angry and would even laugh along cheerfully. But the present dàrén no longer smiled at all.

Seeing that the servant didn’t reply, Zhulan sighed. She had asked unnecessarily. She opened the letter Wu Ming had written. Wu Ming wrote: “Godmother and godfather, I am well. Recently, my family has experienced some changes. I was supposed to return to my ancestral home to observe a year of mourning for my grandparents, but my petition was rejected. I cannot return to my ancestral home to observe mourning, so I plan to observe three years of mourning for my grandparents. Because of the three-year mourning period, there will be no female head of the household. My younger sister is of marriageable age, and due to some reasons, I am afraid that her marriage will be affected. Therefore, I can only ask for your help, Godmother.”

Zhulan thought to herself, according to the current dynasty’s mourning system, children mourn for three years after their parents’ deaths, while grandchildren only need to observe one year. Wu Ming couldn’t return to his ancestral home, which was why he planned to observe three years of mourning.

Wu Ming was not favored by the Emperor, and naturally, his superiors would not favor him either. Now that the petition for mourning had been rejected, Wu Ming would not have to endure many years of mental discipline this time; this year will be enough.

Zhulan said to the servant, “Go and rest first. I’ll arrange for someone to go back with you.”

The servant respectfully replied, “Yes.”

After the servant left, Zhulan decided to have her eldest son pick up Wu Ning. As the eldest son, he could represent Zhou Shuren and also escort the Li family back.

Half an hour later, Li Xu Shi and Li Cong arrived together. Li Xu Shi had seen the contract and understood that Li Cong was the one who needed to sign it, so she came along.

Zhulan took out the contract and said, “The cooperation I’m proposing is this: I want to buy two estates in the autumn. I don’t trust others to manage them, so I want to entrust them to my in-laws. They will look after the two estates, and I will give them 15% of the grain each year.”

Zhulan had done the math. Even after paying taxes and giving to the Li family, she could still earn a considerable amount each year. After handing over the land to the Li family, she would not only feel at ease but also save herself the trouble. The 15% grain payment would be well worth it.

Li Xu Shi did not know how large an estate really was, but she did know that, judging by her qīnjiā’s character, they certainly would not mistreat the Li family. Still, she asked, “Qīnjiā, why not leave it to your eldest nǚxù?”

Zhulan explained, “Jiang Sheng is a teacher at the clan school, so he doesn’t have that much energy.”

Besides, Jiang Sheng still needed to take the exams in the future, so she felt that it was most suitable for him to stay as a teacher for now. He could not only concentrate on his studies but also have time to take care of Xue Mei and the children.

Li Cong rubbed his hands together and said, “Qīnjiāmǔ, we are relatives by marriage. Helping look after things is only proper, so there’s no need to speak of payment.”

Zhulan smiled. “If it were only a few dozen mǔ, naturally I would not bring up payment. Qīnjiā, what I plan to buy are large estates – each estate will be at least three hundred mǔ. By then, with hiring workers and handling all sorts of matters, qīnjiā will not have time for other work. Payment must definitely be given.”

Li Cong was a little confused. Li Xu Shi’s wife smiled and said, “Although even close brothers should keep clear accounts, 15% is still a bit much. How about 10%?”

Zhulan really liked the Li family. This was the first time she had negotiated a partnership with someone who kept lowering the price. She pressed Li Xu Shi’s hand. “This isn’t a matter of a year or two, so qīnjiāmǔ, just do as I say.”

Thinking of her sons and sūnzi, Xu Shi swallowed back the words at the tip of her tongue. “Then I’ll shamelessly thank qīnjiāmǔ.”

The Li family then signed their names, and three copies of the contract were kept with Zhulan until the estate was purchased.

Li Xu Shi did not stay long and returned to pack her luggage. Xu Shi had gained quite a lot from this trip to Lizhou City. There were the fabrics and food that Li Shi and Eldest Zhou had shown filial respect with; Zhulan had bought quite a lot as well, and the Yang family had also gifted some things. Xu Shi had arrived with two carriages, but when returning, there were two more added.

Two days later, Li Xu Shi left. This time, she didn’t just rent carriages; she traveled with a caravan.

Two days after Boss Zhou left, Second Zhou returned with a lot of mountain products from Northeast China. Second Zhou explained, “My parents like the mountain products from our hometown, and I figured since I rarely get to go back, I’d stay a few more days to collect some.”

Zhulan looked at the list. She didn’t know how much silver Second Zhou had taken with him, but the two fifty-year-old ginseng roots on the list were worth a lot of money. This list didn’t seem right. “Did you buy the ginseng too?”

Second Zhou said, “Mother, the list you’re looking at is from the Qian family. The list of the mountain products I collected is below.”

Zhulan hadn’t looked carefully before, but when she looked, there really were two lists. She assumed Second Zhou had included the gifts he received in his own list. The Qian family’s gift list was a token of gratitude. Zhulan asked, “When you went to the Qian family, was everything alright?”

Second Zhou was embarrassed. He really hadn’t expected his mother-in-law to be so ruthless, actually taking away almost all of the Qian family’s valuable antiques. He had been sold, assuming the money in his mother-in-law’s possession was cash from the Qian family. He had even remarked on the Qian family’s wealth, only to discover the truth upon arriving at their home. After returning the money, the Qian family’s expression softened. “It’s all good. Before I left, Eldest Qian repeatedly instructed me to convey their gratitude.”

Zhulan looked at Second Zhou, hoping he would remember this lesson for life, but still warned him, “You only get one chance.”

Second Zhou had always remembered his father’s adoption threat, and now it was a knife hanging over his head. He truly wouldn’t learn his lesson again. “Mother, your son won’t dare.”

Zhulan hummed in agreement. “Pack your things, you are going to Chuanzhou tomorrow.”

Second Zhou dared not see his father again. Ever since witnessing his father’s other side, he had been having nightmares every night, either being kicked out by his father or living a miserable life after being adopted out. He would wake up terrified each time. “Mother, I’ll go back and pack now.”

(End of Chapter)

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