Chapter 224: Falling into the Trap

Zhou Shuren opened the box, which was filled with neatly stacked silver ingots. He pointed at the box and said, "There are a total of 120 taels of silver in the box. The bracelets I have at home are not of good quality, so the price has been reduced a lot."

Zhulan closed the box and counted the money. "Chang Lian's family paid 300 taels of betrothal gifts, and there are more than 460 taels of silver left. The male protagonist later gave two more, and Wang Ru and Shi Qing gave another one. Not counting the money from selling the gold, I just counted the family assets, and there are a total of 490 taels left. Now add the 120 taels from selling the gold, and the family has a total of 610 taels of silver."

With more than six hundred taels of silver, Zhulan felt secure this time. At least she would not be short of money after buying the Zheng family's house. She would also have money left over to hold the wedding banquet and support the family expenses. There were many students in the family, and the paper used every month cost a lot of money!

Zhou Shuren felt that the family had very little money. Now they had only bought land, not even a farm. The family had almost no money left. He calculated all the family assets in his mind and found that it was not enough to buy a house in the capital. They were still poor!

Zhou Shuren heard Li calling for dinner, so he closed the box and pushed it into a corner, "Don't worry about the money, let's go out and eat!"

"good."

The next day, they went to look at the land. Boss Zhou drove, and Zhulan and Zhou Shuren went together. Zhou Shuren went to look at the land, while Zhulan was in charge of looking at the house. It was her first visit, so Zhulan brought cakes and cloth, which was not embarrassing. The Zheng family would not be short of cloth in the future, so it was better to bring some snacks.

Zheng's family, the Zheng family, is quite prosperous. Zheng is the youngest in the family. Her brothers are all very old and have grandchildren. After more than 40 years of development, they have become a large family. Their house is not built like a farmer's house, but is surrounded by a high wall outside and is divided into several courtyards inside, which do not interfere with each other but are connected.

If Zhulan had no one to lead the way as soon as she entered the house, she would have easily felt dizzy. It was obvious that a lot of thought had been put into its construction. When they arrived at the main courtyard, Zheng's parents were still alive. Probably because they were military commanders, they were still in good health.

Mr. Zheng laughed and said, "I thought the people would arrive soon. They arrived just as I said that."

Zhou Shuren and Zhulan greeted each other. They were the younger generation, and Zhou Shuren said, "It's my first visit, so I don't have anything good to bring, so I just brought some cakes for the children."

Master Zheng is not just a military general. Back then, his father was stubborn and insisted on staying to prove his innocence. It was he who reached out and knocked his father unconscious. Later, God helped the Zheng family. The heavy snowstorm helped to conceal their identities. After they settled down, the old man was no longer angry with him. After all, it was his credit that the whole family escaped intact.

Mr. Zheng smiled amiably, "My nephew, you are too polite. Stop standing and sit down."

Zhulan looked at Master Zheng. She originally thought that Zheng looked like his mother, but now she realized that he looked like his father. Master Zheng was very thin and did not look like a military commander at all. Instead, he looked more like a scholar.

The Zheng family was in no hurry to discuss the land and the house. Zhulan realized why Zheng's sister-in-law came to Zheng to talk about selling the land, and why the Zheng family only told Zheng about the sale of the land but did not announce it themselves. It turned out that the buyer the Zheng family was looking for was their family.

I just don't know whether Zheng knew about her family's plan to buy land from the clan leader's family, or whether it was planned in advance. I don't know whether Zheng knew about her family's plan.

Zhou Shuren was not in a hurry to ask about the land. He drank his tea leisurely, laughing in his heart. Who was telling him that military generals were all straightforward? Who should he be angry with? Then he thought again, the Zheng family was really straightforward and must have died out long ago. How could they settle down in Lijia Village?

Zhulan was talking to Old Lady Zheng. The old lady had lived in the countryside for more than 40 years, but she still had a good upbringing and her every move was full of charm. Zheng's calligraphy and painting must have been taught by the old lady.

Old Madam Zheng smiled and said, "Try the snacks I brought from the Northwest. They have a different flavor. I just don't know if you are used to eating them."

Zhulan is a foodie, and mainly eats Northwestern dim sum and noodles. She likes Northwestern dim sum quite a lot nowadays. She picked up a piece, took a bite, and said, "It's delicious."

Seeing that Zhulan was not faking it, Mrs. Zheng smiled more sincerely, "It's delicious. Bring some back. It's hard to find Northwestern snacks in the Northeast."

Zhulan really likes to eat it. The pollution-free ones are much more delicious than the modern ones. "Then I won't be polite."

Mrs. Zheng asked casually, "I heard you were learning to paint?"

Zhulan thought that not only did they notice the Zheng family, but the Zheng family was also paying attention to them, and even asked about her painting. "We are now in-laws with the county lord's family. The county lord's wife invited me several times to discuss tea art or painting. I thought I couldn't embarrass the head of the family, so I gritted my teeth and learned it. I have been exploring on my own, and my sister-in-law has been guiding me recently."

Old Lady Zheng heard from her daughter that Yang was particularly talented in painting. "I heard what Xinyi said. After all, I was the one who taught your sister-in-law how to paint. I was thinking that I would have the time to teach you. But the plan didn't keep up with the changes. We are going to the northwest now. I guess we won't have the chance to see each other again in the future."

Speaking of this, Old Lady Zheng was very sad. Her young lady was in poor health and might die ahead of her. She would not have the chance to meet her again in the future.

Zhu Lan noticed that the old lady was in a low mood and said hurriedly, "You never know what fate is. Maybe we'll meet again in the future."

The old lady liked to hear this. "Auntie, we are very compatible. We are destined to be together. Auntie will not cheat on you. We are worried about selling the house to anyone else. We can only sell it to you. I am a Zhou family member, and you are relatives. In any case, we are relatives."

If it weren't for Xinyi's poor health, her son-in-law's old age, and her eldest grandson's mediocre academic talent and no chance of passing the imperial examination, they would have given up the idea of ​​leaving the house to their son-in-law's family to look after. They were afraid that it was too far away, and if their daughter passed away early, their grandson would not be able to keep the house and might suffer a disaster. They were thinking about how to deal with the house, which was the Zheng family's hidden escape route, when they got to know Zhou Shuren's family through their daughter, and after getting to know them, they found someone more suitable to take over.

Zhulan thought to herself, this house is designed with a certain skill. Why does she feel that the Zheng family came to their house just to take control of the house through them?

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren looked at each other. They were trying to find out about the other person, but ended up falling into his trap. They had to do it on their own initiative. It didn't feel good at all.

Zhulan could only keep smiling, "Yes, we are relatives after all."

Old Madam Zheng was even more satisfied. It was just as her daughter-in-law said. They were all smart people. Some things didn't need to be pointed out. People could guess them. However, they were indeed a little dishonest. They laid out the bait and waited for others to take the bait. To be honest, they didn't even tell her daughter-in-law about this plan. She was also involved in the plan. The old lady felt at ease again. She rubbed the bracelet on her hand. "I have worn this bracelet for some years. It is a top-quality jade bracelet. I heard from Xinyi that you also had a serious illness and have been recuperating. It is said that jade that has been worn for a long time has spirituality. This jade nurse gave it to you."

Zhulan wanted to withdraw her hand, but was silent. The old lady's hand was very strong, and the bracelet was already on her hand. The old lady said with satisfaction, "Look how well it suits you."

The old lady didn't feel sorry for them. When they escaped, the head of the family and the eldest uncle brought their sons to raid the house of the guard who wanted to harm the family in the middle of the night. No one was killed, but a lot of gold, silver and jewelry were taken away, so the Zheng family was not short of money.

The jade bracelets I give away now are just the ones I like. I still have quite a few at home, but I never wear them to keep a low profile.

Zhulan looked down at the jade bracelet, speechless. This bracelet must be worth a lot of money. Sure enough, her intuition was right. Their family was looking for someone to look after the house!

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