Chapter 1529 Calculation
The next day at Zhou's residence, the Zhao family did not arrive early. Zhao Bo's wife, He, knew all about the Zhou family's prosperity. He brought her children and followed the housekeeper to the main courtyard. She did not dare to look around and could only estimate the distance to the main courtyard in her mind.
The more He walked, the more emotion she felt. Who could have thought that Zhou Shuren would become the Marquis Zhou today? This house was so huge. Now was the season when flowers were in full bloom. Flowers were blooming everywhere along the way, and there were many treasures. He couldn't help but glance at the lady beside her, calmed her mind, collected her emotions, and stopped thinking about it.
In the main courtyard, Zhulan and Li were chatting when Butler Ding came in to report. Zhulan sat down and gestured for someone to come in.
He took a deep breath before entering the house, "I've seen the old lady. She's fine."
The two children, the girl also spoke in a crisp voice, but the boy was indeed a little weaker and his voice was timid.
Zhu Lan smiled faintly, "You have worked hard all the way to Beijing, please take a seat."
He also signaled Qingxue to deliver the gift prepared for the child. The gift was expensive, but had no special meaning.
He took her children to express her gratitude again, then took them to sit down. She was disappointed in her heart. The old lady was too indifferent to her, and the good relationship between the two families was gone.
Li's eyes fell on the little girl and she smiled and said, "You are so lucky to have your children grow up well."
He was in a good mood. Her greatest pride was that she had given birth to several good-looking children, especially her daughters. They were all beauties, big and small, and many people were interested in them. If it weren't for the Zhou Marquis Mansion, her husband would not have been able to keep her daughters and would have engaged them early.
He said, "They are just more regular-looking."
Li's smile faded, she didn't like overly humble people, she thought such people were insincere. She had seen many young ladies in the capital, including many beauties, and the Zhao family's appearance could be ranked high. Although she could not compare with some young ladies in the capital, the Zhao family's girl was very attractive, and this kind of person was easy to be liked by others.
He said again, "Madam, my husband has been thinking about the Marquis at home, so he asked me to come and say hello in person."
"Everything is fine. I'm sorry that Master Zhao was concerned about me."
He twitched the corners of her mouth. The word "Lord Zhao" pulled away all the distance between them. She felt as if her thoughts were seen through. She had heard her husband regret many times, and he often said that Marquis Zhou was a sentimental person. They had proposed marriage in the past, but unfortunately everything was ruined. She had brought her daughter to the capital on purpose, and she would not be willing to give up without giving it a try.
Her daughter was beautiful, so naturally she had to marry into a good family, and one that was good to the Zhao family. Fortunately, she had a backup plan. If she failed the exam to marry into the Zhou family, she could find another family after entering Beijing.
The conversation that followed was more normal. Zhulan asked about the boy's condition and knew that it was a disease that he had been carrying around since his mother's womb.
The Zhao family used the pretext of medical treatment to find a husband for Zhao Tian. They did not want to find relatives in the place where they worked. To put it bluntly, they still wanted to marry into a rich family.
Li waited for He to leave and said, "There is no shortage of beauties in the capital, and it is not easy to climb high branches."
Zhulan smiled, "You see through it all."
"I have been by your side for so many years, and I know everything I need to know. I saw through He's plan at a glance at my daughter-in-law. Alas, my daughter's marriage has become a calculation. In the future, the one who will suffer is Zhao Tian."
Zhulan, "Don't make a conclusion about whether you will have a hard time in the future. Some people are lucky."
Zhao Tian is a pretty girl, but she is not the type with a strong offensive beauty. If she were smarter, she would be able to plan for herself.
Zhulan thought about it and decided to send people to keep an eye on the He family.
A few days later, Qingxue reported, "He and Concubine Wang Hui's family have verbally agreed on the marriage."
"Is the news accurate?"
"We have been sending people to follow them. The Wang family showed their goodwill first, and He wanted to climb up the social ladder, so we accepted it. We are just waiting for an expedited letter to be delivered to Lord Zhao, and for Lord Zhao's reply."
Zhu Lan snorted, "The Wang family has been keeping an eye on our mansion!"
The Wang family was dealing with the Zhao family, and they knew that He had come to the Marquis' Mansion. After checking the past, and knowing that Zhao Bo was indeed a capable person, they became interested.
Su Xuan said, "Mom, please don't be angry. It's not worth getting angry about these things."
"I'm not angry. The Wang family has two princes, which gives them confidence!"
Su Xuan motioned for the maids to go down, "The Wang family has suffered a lot these days, and the Qi family is blaming the Wang family for their anger."
Zhulan smiled. Shuren had a good plan. "Forget it. You don't have to see He when he comes to visit in the future."
Su Xuan, "My daughter-in-law will go out and tell Steward Ding later."
"Um."
Zhulan stopped paying attention, but Suxuan paid attention for a few days. She came back and said that the young master of the Wang family fell in love with Zhao Tian at first sight. Zhulan thought it would be strange if he didn't like her.
The Zhou family did not stop the Zhao family from marrying up the social ladder. Zhou Shuren knew about this and without saying anything extra, the Zhao family married the Wang family.
After Zhou Shuren knew that the engagement was official, he said, "I will write a letter to Zhao Bo, and we will sever our relationship from now on."
He would continue to suffer the consequences, and he didn't want to be involved in the marriage between Zhao Bo and the Wang family.
Zhulan, "Today, He brought people to visit me. I didn't let them in, and I asked the housekeeper to reply, meaning that they don't need to come in the future."
"Yeah, it's good."
He turned around and talked with Wang Yi again. They were both smart people. As long as the Wang family was not stupid, they would not hold on to the Zhou family.
Zhou Shuren asked again: "Boss bought a house in the capital?"
This is the benefit brought by status. The eldest son will be the future Marquis of Zhou, so there is no need to mention him. His brothers are not easy to mess with either. If the eldest son wants to buy a house, the title deed will be delivered to him for him to choose.
Zhu Lan nodded, "Didn't he take some children from the clan to the capital? The clan collected some money and gave it to the eldest brother, so that he could buy a house in the capital. This will be the foundation of the Zhou family in the capital in the future."
Zhou Shuren: "Very good."
He had never thought about giving houses to his clan members. He gave what he should give and had no intention of expanding the clan members' resources. Now that his clan members have raised money to buy houses, he is very pleased.
Zhu Lan smiled and said, "Ming Qing is a good clan leader."
"Um."
The head of a clan must shoulder the burden of the family, which was indeed true in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The next day, Zhulan received an urgent letter from Zhangzhou. After seeing the letter, she immediately went to find Li. Li came over in a hurry and asked, "Mom, what happened to you?"
Zhu Lan smiled and said, "Liu Jia may be pregnant, but it's too early in the pregnancy to be confirmed. She said we need to wait another half a month to confirm."
Li counted the days, "He is in such a hurry to write back without confirming anything. I don't know what he is thinking. I am afraid that he will make the family unhappy for nothing."
Zhulan, "They have many experienced maids around them, so they should be right."
Li had just calculated Liu Jia's menstrual period and said with a smile, "Liu Jia's menstrual period has always been very regular. Now it is seven days late. We will know in half a month."
"You still keep track of your daughter-in-law's menstrual cycle?"
This really doesn't seem like something careless like Li Shiqian's!