To be honest, she didn’t particularly like it. She was only stockpiling dowries for her daughter and granddaughter. She had two granddaughters already, and who knew how many more there might be in the future? Even if the family separated, she, as the grandmother, couldn’t show favoritism, so she tried to stockpile as much as possible.

Therefore, after the child was born, she still needed to work hard to earn money. Being an elder wasn’t easy sometimes; it was all about money.

Seeing her qīnjiā mǔ looking at the furs, Fang Shi asked, “Does my qīnjiā mǔ like it?”

Zhulan replied, “Yes, I like it. My qīnjiā mǔ has gone to so much trouble.”

Fang Shi wasn’t afraid of spending money. After begging and pleading for the past six months, she had completely understood that having money was useless; she still had to rely on the Zhou family. But she was anxious. The Zhou family didn’t like her anymore, and there was no going back. She could only try to appease them. She didn’t dare disturb her qīnjiā mǔ and could only urge her daughter.

Zhao Shi entered at this moment. Fang Shi felt uncomfortable seeing Zhao Shi. Why didn’t her daughter say a word for Keqi? She had been so good to her daughter before; why didn’t her daughter help her?

Zhulan gestured for Zhao Shi to sit down, and without waiting for Fang Shi to speak, said directly, “I understand why you’ve come, qīnjiā mǔ. I’ve spoken to the Master about the academy; he can go, but his household registration needs to be changed to Lizhou City.”

Fang Shi was overjoyed; she was eager to change her registration, since her in-laws lived in Lizhou City. “Okay, okay, I’ll change it,”

Zhulan said with a smile. “Tomorrow, qīnjiā mǔ, bring Keqi, and Changlian will take him to the academy.”

Fang Shi hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly and stood up excitedly. “Thank you, qīnjiā mǔ, thank you, qīnjiā mǔ.”

Zhulan smiled and said, “You’re welcome.”

Zhao Shi was also stunned; she hadn’t expected her mother-in-law to resolve the issue. Zhao Shi’s eyes reddened; she felt that her mother-in-law must have done this to avoid putting her in a difficult position.

After seeing Fang Shi off, Zhulan noticed Zhao’s red eyes. “Why are you crying?”

She felt it had been a long time since she had seen Zhao Shi cry. Zhulan looked at Zhao Shi; Zhao Shi was getting older and had gained a lot of weight. Plus, she was deliberately wearing dark clothes—hmm, she wasn’t as beautiful as she used to be.

Zhao Shi sniffled, “Mother, thank you. I shouldn’t have done that before.”

Zhulan realized her mistake; she felt a little guilty about the thank you. She had only thanked Fang Shi for keeping her in Lizhou City. Once the Zhou family left, Fang Shi and Zhao Shi, being smart, would realize what was going on.

A few days after Second Zhou left, Lizhou City was hit by a heavy snowfall. It was the first snowfall of the year, and the snow reached up to their calves overnight.

Fortunately, all the apples in Lizhou City had been picked and sold; otherwise, it would have caused considerable losses.

When Zhulan got up, the snow in the yard had been cleared, but it was still snowing lightly.

Zhulan wrapped her cloak tighter. “I hope the snow stops.”

Too much snow was also bad, especially in ancient times, as it not only made transportation inconvenient but also caused the most suffering for the common people.

Zhou Shuren said, “I might be back a little late today.”

“Take care to keep warm.”

Zhou Shuren smiled. “Okay.”

Fortunately, the snow stopped around noon, preventing a snow disaster. However, Zhou Shuren’s return wasn’t optimistic. “It’s said that it’s been snowing heavily for two days outside the border. Last year there wasn’t this much snow. I’m most afraid that some small tribes will take the risk and steal food. The border is now under martial law.”

Zhulan asked, “Is it snowing this heavily outside the border?”

“Although the snowflakes aren’t as heavy as in Lizhou City, two days of continuous snowfall is still a snow disaster. Even if they cripple the foreign tribes, people will still take risks if they have no food.”

Zhulan said, “I hope the snow outside the border stops soon and doesn’t disrupt the hard-won peace on the border.”

Zhou Shuren clasped Zhulan’s hand. “Mm.”

Zhulan had been keeping a close eye on the news from outside the border. The good news was that the snow had stopped, but the troops stationed in Lizhou City remained tense and dared not relax.

Not only the troops, but even the common people rarely went out.

(End of Chapter)

---