Chapter 1114: Gaining Knowledge

Time flies. With the end of the drought, time seems to have accelerated. I no longer feel sad every day. However, when the harvest season comes, I am not very happy. This year, the grain production in the whole country has decreased, but the court still issued food subsidies.

The fleet that bought grain never stopped, but most of the grain was shipped to the south, where a flood hit. Fortunately, doctors from all over the country were mobilized, and there were sufficient herbs and medicines for a rainy day, so there was no plague outbreak in the south.

The Zhou family's grain has been harvested. The fine grains are simply irrigated with water. They don't plant much, so most of them are coarse grains. This year they have some vegetables in their harvest. Although they still suffer losses, they have controlled the losses to one third, which is pretty good.

Boss Zhou held up the account book with the amount of coarse grains on it, "Mom, this year most of the crops grown in the country are coarse grains, with sweet potatoes being the most abundant. Do you think we should raise some chickens, ducks and geese on the farm?"

Zhulan closed the account book, "This is the advantage of having an official in the family. You don't have to worry about selling or being cheated."

Ordinary people would not dare to do such a thing.

Boss Zhou was stunned for a moment, "Our family is where we are today, all thanks to Dad."

Zhulan smiled and pushed the account book to the eldest brother, "You are in charge of the farm's affairs. You have managed it very well during the drought this year. Mother is very pleased."

Zhou Laoda was recognized and his voice became louder, "My son is what he is today because of the good teaching of his parents."

In the past, he didn’t even dare to enter the county town, let alone manage hundreds of people, and he sometimes stuttered when talking to the shopkeeper.

Zhulan took a sip of tea and said, "Tomorrow is the provincial examination. I wonder how your fourth brother is doing."

Zhou Laoda said, "Didn't my fourth brother write to me a few days ago? He has already left for Pingzhou. Mother, my fourth brother's wife is here. She will definitely take good care of him. Don't worry."

Zhulan put down her teacup, "The Changzhi County Examination is the last major event of the year. Come on, you can get busy too!"

Boss Zhou picked up the account book and said, "Mom, you take a rest then."

"Um."

In Pingzhou, Changzhi was lying on a rocking chair with a book on his head, swaying as he fell asleep.

Su Xuan came back and gently pushed him, "Hurry up and get up. It's windy outside. You have the provincial examination tomorrow. You must not catch a cold."

Changzhi took the book off his head and pressed his forehead, "You are back from Zhao's house."

Su Xuan took the book and held her husband's arm. "Well, if it wasn't for Dad, I really wouldn't want to go."

Changzhi patted his wife's hand and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

What could Su Xuan do? She could only endure it. The Zhao family had no bad intentions, but the family was so big that there were many concerns, and she was tired of dealing with them.

Changzhi stretched his waist lazily, "We will go back after the results come out."

Su Xuan missed her daughter and son, "Yeah."

In the capital, at the horse farm, Mingyun, Mingteng, Liu Feng, and a few others from the Ran family, seven of them came to ride horses together.

Ming Teng loves horse riding the most. There is a race going on in the distance at the racecourse and Ming Teng wants to go, but unfortunately he is ruthlessly suppressed by Ming Yun.

Mingyun said coldly, "Behave yourself."

Ming Teng was dispirited, especially when he heard shouts from afar. Ran Xun interrupted, "Brother Zhou, are you being too cautious?"

Mingyun said calmly, "I brought these few people out, so I must bring them back safely."

He saw it clearly just now. There were a lot of small moves in the competition. Some of them were poorly educated and very jerkish. They really dared to do it. If they really fell off the horse, the consequences would be disastrous.

Ran Xun was also a little scared of Zhou Mingyun, this man was too serious. He blinked at Ming Teng, meaning that he could not help.

Mingrui answered, "Brother, we have been out for a long time."

Mingyun counted the time and it was indeed two hours. "Okay, let's go home."

It was indeed getting late, and after leaving the racecourse, Mingyun and his friends separated from the Ran brothers, only taking Liu Feng with them to go back.

We went back by horse carriage. This horse ranch is a bit remote, and it took a while before it became lively, with vendors calling out their wares.

Ming Teng touched his purse and said, "Brother, please stop and buy some of the pastries that my uncle and my younger brother like to eat."

Mingyun agreed with a smile in his eyes. In the family, Mingteng was the only one who treated his uncle as his younger brother. The only ones who could get money from Mingteng were his uncle and his younger brother.

The carriage stopped. Ming Teng opened the curtain and listened with a frown to the cry for help from the woman blocking the carriage in front. There were also several servants who looked like thugs chasing after him from behind.

The woman was wearing a green dress and looked panic-stricken, which really aroused people's desire to protect her.

Ming Teng was watching with great interest, lazily lying by the carriage window, his eyes full of sarcasm. Qing Feng and the servant had already guarded the carriage.

Mingyun didn't move at all. He said to the puzzled Liu Feng, "Have some tea."

Liu Feng was stunned, picked up the teacup, looked at Ming Rui who had already squeezed over to watch the show, and whispered, "Don't care?"

Mingyun raised his eyebrows and said to Mingrui, "Make room for Liufeng."

Mingrui smiled and offered his seat to his future brother-in-law, "Liu Feng, come and sit."

Ming Teng heard his elder brother's voice. He was actually getting impatient and shouted at the thugs, "Hey, are you walking like a cat? You can't catch her even when she's so close. Let me count. Four thugs can't catch a weak woman. Interesting, interesting."

When Liu Feng heard this, he looked carefully and was completely stunned. Indeed, he was not stupid. Seeing that the woman's clothes were not messy at all, he pursed his lips and his cheeks were a little cold.

The thugs obviously didn't expect this result, and they actually blew the whistle to catch people. The crying girl widened her eyes.

Mingrui said to Qingfeng, "Catch them all, including that woman. This place is very close to the Dali Temple. Send them all to the Dali Temple. They raped a commoner woman, and they are still in the capital. They must be arrested."

Liu Feng is the emperor's man, and has been following Ming Yun ever since. The Zhou family has many servants who are very skilled. When the thugs saw that something was wrong, they tried to run away quickly, but it was a pity that it was useless.

The girl in green was completely stunned and tried to break free, but was held tightly by Qingfeng.

Ming Teng jumped off the carriage. His future father-in-law was at the Dali Temple, and he wanted to see him off in person. He waved his hand and said, "Brother, you go back first. I'll be back soon."

Mingyun hummed, ignoring the discussion outside, and said to the servant who drove the carriage, "Let's go."

Mingrui had already sat back down to drink tea, looking at his future brother-in-law with a smile, "It's good that you have more experience. My grandmother said that these are just petty calculations."

Liu Feng was a little confused, "Shu Ren is still talking about this?"

Mingrui nodded, "The key is my father. My father was plotted against several times, and my grandmother broke it into pieces and gave it to us. There are too many beautiful women with treacherous hearts."

Mingyun didn't take it seriously, but Liufeng was greatly shocked, especially since Mingrui wanted to teach Liufeng some knowledge and taught him many tricks of beauties to prevent Liufeng from being plotted against in the future. The one who was upset was the eldest sister.

The next day, Zhou Shuren came back and asked, "Guess what was the last name of the girl Mingteng sent yesterday?"