Chapter 291 The Two Children Ran Away
The emperor stayed at Zhou Ruiyuan's residence for half a month.
Du Wanchun and Mianmian were also at the county government office, but they had not seen Madam Yue since the last time.
I heard from the eunuch accompanying the emperor that the emperor had sent someone to escort Lady Yue back to the capital.
However, Du Wanchun did not see any carriage heading to the capital, presumably it had been abandoned in some unknown corner.
Seeing that they had stayed for a while longer, the emperor decided to stay a few more nights before continuing his journey south.
Zhou Ruiyuan was in a good mood when he saw that he would be leaving in a few days, and asked the kitchen to add two dishes at noon.
The emperor, who was used to eating delicacies, found the simple food served at the small county government office to be quite delicious.
After he finished eating, he looked around the room, left and right. "Lord Zhou, why haven't I seen your daughter today?"
Zhou Ruiyuan poured him a cup of tea. "She went to a nearby village with her mother."
"Do you own a manor?" the emperor asked, puzzled.
Zhou Ruiyuan nodded. "Yes, it was arranged by my wife."
The emperor stroked his beard and said, "Lord Zhou's wife is truly capable. Not only does she own a rice shop, a perfume shop, and a rouge shop, but she also has her own estate."
Zhou Ruiyuan said politely, "This is all thanks to the Emperor's favor; otherwise, our Zhou family would not have had such a smooth and successful life."
The emperor was very pleased with these words, and he smiled with narrowed eyes, "You Zhou family members are really clever."
As he spoke, he suddenly thought of Zhou Feng, "Your brother is the same. I heard that he recently bought more than ten shops in the north of Beijing."
Zhou Ruiyuan was not surprised, as Zhou Feng had just sent a letter a few days ago.
Since Du Wanchun opened her rice shop, the shop in the capital and Du Wanchun's shop have been separate.
Now, Zhou Feng not only runs his previous incense shop, but also opened his own herbal medicine shop. With the money he had before, he bought more than ten shops.
He didn't use these shops for business, but rather for collecting rent.
Now, he can earn a considerable amount of money every month just by collecting rent.
Actually, this method was taught to him by Du Wanchun.
Let him keep the money he earns from the shop there and use it to buy more shops and estates.
Zhou Feng listened to his sister-in-law's advice and actually did as she said.
The emperor's close relationship with the Zhou family wasn't really because they seemed friendly; it was mainly because of the Zhou family's wealth.
In the past, the wealthy merchants in the capital included the Fang family and several other prominent families.
However, their roots were too deep for the emperor to penetrate, so he turned to the Zhou family, who had only recently risen to power.
They were thinking that once they became successful, they could control them and extract some money for the national treasury.
Du Wanchun understood all this, so she distributed all the money in the house among different people, not putting it all in one basket.
Even if the emperor can control Zhou Feng in the future, he won't be able to control her.
Du Wanchun was with Xiao Mianmian in the village.
It's early summer now, and the weather is a little muggy in the afternoon.
However, the village was very cool. Du Wanchun made some refreshing pastries for Xiao Mianmian, and the mother and daughter sat in front of the door, enjoying the cool breeze and taking a nap.
Behind the estate lived three old women and two servants, all handpicked by Aunt Zhou to look after the estate.
Normally, whenever Du Wanchun comes here, they will stay quietly in the backyard and not disturb her.
While things were quiet here, things were getting noisy in Changliu Village.
At home, Zhou Da Niang, Yi'er, and Yu'er secretly boarded Wei Xun's carriage to Cheng'an County and followed him to the county town.
These two young men can walk now, and once they learn to walk, they'll be flying centipedes.
After searching the house and not finding them, Aunt Zhou roughly knew where they had gone.
Madam Wu came out and said, "Aunt Zhou, don't worry, my husband is with them, they'll be fine."
Aunt Zhou was eager to go to Cheng'an County to find them, but the Third Prince stopped her. "Madam Wu is right. We'll wait at home now. Maybe Xiao Wei will bring the children back soon."
After hearing this, Aunt Zhou nodded. "I'm not afraid they'll get lost, I'm just afraid they'll run into that person at the county government office."
The Third Prince smiled slowly and said, "There's no need to rush. Don't worry, even if the two of them stood in front of him, he wouldn't recognize them."
After thinking about it carefully, Aunt Zhou realized that it made sense.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
