Chapter 1689 Secret

Just as Zhulan guessed, the newly established newspapers allow submission of storybooks, but will not pay any fees. For those who submit storybooks, they want to be famous more and do not care about the fees.

Zhou Shuren couldn't help but propose the serialization and it was accepted. Because of the newly established newspaper, there were several more positions. The one to be managed was a seventh-rank official, and there were several other people who were not in the same rank. Although their official positions were small and rare, there were still many of them. They all used these positions as stepping stones, hoping to be in charge of a regular newspaper in the future.

In recent years, the newspaper industry has been thriving, and many people are keeping an eye on it, but unfortunately, competition is not allowed. The emperor has a tight grip on the Propaganda Department, and the entire department is staffed by the emperor's people.

On this day, Xuemei finally returned to Beijing. Zhulan said, "I thought you would come back in autumn."

Xuemei felt guilty, "Oh, my grandson is so clingy, I can't bear to let him go."

So the date was postponed again and again, and her grandson must be very angry when she returned to Beijing. It made her feel sad just thinking about it.

Zhulan understands that the older generation is close to each other. Xuemei and her husband used to be so carefree and could leave at any time, but now they can't bear to leave their grandson. "Every time Jiang Lei comes, he complains that you are reluctant to come back."

Xuemei felt even more guilty, "I won't leave Beijing in the next few years."

"Um?"

Xuemei said, "My parents-in-law have aged a lot this time. My husband wants to stay at home and spend more time with them."

Zhulan hasn't seen her in-laws for a long time. "You really should spend more time with them."

Xuemei continued, "My father-in-law asked my husband to send someone back to his hometown to choose a place."

Zhulan understood immediately and said, "Please take good care of me."

Xuemei nodded, "Yes, my husband wants to bring my eldest uncle's grandson to Beijing as well."

"What do you think?"

"I agreed. This time when I came back and saw my father-in-law's old appearance, I felt a lot. Of course, I can accept grandchildren, but I can't accept my eldest uncle's son."

She agreed to bring a child to Beijing to accompany her parents-in-law to avoid any regrets for the old couple. She would not cause trouble for herself.

Xuemei stayed for dinner and said she would come back in the evening. After dinner she went home as she had many things to deal with at home.

Zhulan distributed the gifts that Xuemei brought back to each room, including some fine wood and embroidery.

In the afternoon, Li came to the main courtyard and asked, "Mom, is father-in-law's birthday going to be a big event this year?"

Zhulan: "No."

Li also talked about several large expenditures in the palace recently. Zhulan sighed, "If you want to live a decent life, you can't save money on various expenses."

There are many servants in the family, and each servant has a monthly salary. There are twelve months in a year, and the number of happy events in the family doubles. The various food, clothing and other expenses require a large sum of money for the servants alone, and the masters require even more. Add to that the social interactions, and it would be suffocating without a strong family background.

Li’s housekeeper has a better understanding of this. “We don’t host many banquets, which saves us a lot of money.”

Zhu Lan smiled and said, "It is indeed a saving."

Li said, "Life is hard without a family fortune."

She now goes out for social events on behalf of her mother and sees more people, so she admires her mother-in-law the most. The Zhou family's wealth was accumulated by her mother-in-law.

Zhulan suddenly asked, "Has Minghui not been out recently?"

Li was very concerned about Minghui, and this concern had been cultivated over the years. "You also find it strange? Your daughter-in-law is wondering!"

Zhulan, "It's not like him to be so quiet."

Li nodded in agreement. "My husband tried it, but found nothing. I watched him stay in the study for two days."

Zhulan did not continue asking. Her grandson had grown up and had his own ideas. She just asked a question out of curiosity.

However, Li became more concerned and talked with her mother-in-law for a while before leaving. She did not return to her own yard but went to see Minghui instead. Li could not help but sigh as she walked through the garden. The Rong family's land was really large back then. The emperor divided it in two and gave half to his father-in-law, so the Zhou Hou Mansion still occupied a large area.

Every child in the family had his or her own yard, and because each room had no concubines, there were many empty yards in the mansion.

When Li arrived at Minghui's courtyard, the servant came forward and said, "Madam, you are here."

Li, "Why are you spreading the news so loudly?"

The boy lowered his head and said, "I don't dare."

Li snorted. She didn't believe it. Minghui came out and said, "Mother, how can you find time to come and see your son when you are so busy?"

Li took a few quick steps, squeezed past her son and entered the study. She looked around but found nothing. There was someone writing on the desk. She asked suspiciously, "What did you hide?"

Minghui said, "Mom, you don't feel at ease when your son is at home. How about your son go out more often tomorrow?"

Li glared at him, "Let me know what bad things you have done, and I will let your father beat you."

Minghui, "I really didn't do anything bad!"

Li reluctantly believed it. She was busy and had no time to compete with her son. Although she couldn't win the fight, she snorted and left with her men.

The next day, Tao brought her daughter-in-law Lin to visit. Zhulan smiled and asked Lin, "I haven't seen you for several years. How are you doing out there?"

Lin replied, "I'm sorry to have missed you. Everything is fine outside."

She has always had a good impression of Aunt Yang, but unfortunately she never met a good mother-in-law like Aunt Yang. She is grateful that her aunt has influenced her mother-in-law. Since her mother-in-law and aunt have become friends, her life has become better.

Tao said, "She brought you a gift. See if you like it."

Zhulan had noticed it a long time ago, "I feel bad that you still miss me after coming back."

Lin took the box and said, "You like painting. Here are the dyes I found. I hope you like them."

Zhulan likes it. "Thank you, I like it very much."

Tao, "As long as you like it."

The subsequent topics revolved around some gossip in the capital, or Zhulan's inquiries about interesting things in the south.

Tao suddenly said, "By the way, the place where the daughter of the Luo family married far away is exactly the state where my eldest son works."

When Zhulan heard this, she asked, "The third daughter of the Luo family?"

Tao nodded, "Yeah."

"What a coincidence."

Mrs. Tao looked at her daughter-in-law, and Mrs. Lin said, "Miss Luo San died a long time ago. Since last year, the Ji family has been in trouble."

Zhulan was surprised, "He died?"

Lin, "It's been five years since she passed away. The Ji family has remarried. I don't know what happened last year. The new wife of the Ji family fell ill. This year, Miss Ji returned to Beijing, and the Luo family sent someone to pick her up."

Tao added: "The third daughter of the Luo family gave birth to a daughter."

Zhulan can already think of the fight in her head, "He is not someone who can be easily bullied."

She didn't mention the name, but everyone in the room knew who she was talking about. That Miss Ji was a resourceful person.

As soon as Tao and Lin left, Yuwen came with a note, "Grandma, the eldest princess invites her granddaughter to go horse racing."

Zhulan, "Pay attention to safety."

Several granddaughters can ride horses and they all learned it at the manor. Yudie is the best at horse riding, but Yuwen doesn't like to exercise and has never seen her ride a horse many times, so she is really worried.

Yuwen didn't want to go, but she had to go. Who made her the head of Anhe County? She had to go because of the invitation of the eldest princess. "Linxi is the happiest."

Zhulan laughed out loud, "She is indeed the happiest. She has been under house arrest recently!"

Since Rongchuan is not busy, he has spoiled Linxi to the sky. The father and daughter teamed up to compete with Xuehan for wits, but this time Xuehan got angry and both of them were confined to their homes.

Her grandson Ze'er came to see her and revealed that Rongchuan was forced to sleep in the study!

(End of this chapter)