Chapter 260 Not Good

Zhulan digested the news and asked, "Do the found Yun family servants know where the housekeeper is?"

Zhao was in a daze. After hearing her mother-in-law's question, she came back to her senses from the news that her mother had remarried. She clutched the handkerchief in her hand and waited for her father-in-law's reply.

Zhou Shuren said, "Butler Qian is a native of Pingzhou. After the Yun family left, Butler Qian took his family back to his hometown, Qianjia Village, which is about an hour's drive from Pingzhou."

Zhulan was surprised, she thought it would take a lot of trouble to find someone, but she never expected that with Zhao Bo's help, it only took two days to find the person so easily. Zhulan couldn't help but think that he was probably not the protagonist, so there wouldn't be so many twists and turns to go through.

Zhulan saw that Zhao was still in a daze, and asked Changyi, "I didn't expect to find someone so quickly. When do you plan to go to Qianjia Village?"

Zhou Laoer considered various possibilities, but he really didn't consider that his mother-in-law would remarry. This disrupted the plan a little. He and his wife had discussed saving money to redeem the woman, and then renting a small yard for his mother-in-law to live in. Now there is a cheap father-in-law. Oh, no, according to what my father said, the cheap father-in-law has a big family, and my mother-in-law has become someone else's stepmother!

Zhou Laoer looked at his wife. Well, his wife hasn't digested the news yet. She's been in a daze for a long time. It will probably take her a while to accept it.

Zhou Laoer supported his wife and said, "Dad, Mom, let's go back and discuss it first, and come back later."

Zhulan, "Go back!"

Zhao is a thoughtful person, so he needs to think about it for a while.

Zhulan waited for Zhou Laoer and his wife to leave and said, "There must be other news. Now that they are gone, we can tell you."

Zhou Shuren knew that he couldn't hide it from Zhulan, "There is indeed news. Ahem, Zhao's mother came into the mansion pregnant and gave birth to a boy, who is three years old this year. In addition, the Qian family is quite large, with three sons. It's not easy to be a stepmother, especially since the stepsons are all grown up. Zhao's mother doesn't have a family, so her life is probably not going to be very good."

Zhulan calculated the age of Zhao's mother. Zhao is 22 this year, so Zhao's mother should be about 37 or 38 years old. She gave birth to a boy three years ago, which was considered an advanced age for a woman to give birth in ancient times. "Zhao's mother has given birth to another child. Is she okay?"

Zhou Shuren, "Zhao Bo didn't mention it, so it should be fine."

Zhulan sighed, "Zhao's mother's fate is really bad. Her first husband sold her out, and her second husband has a large family, and her son is still young. Her life is really hard."

"It's better than being sold as a slave and having your life held in the hands of others."

Zhulan thought so too, and then became worried again, "Zhao's mother married the butler Qian. I guess the butler fell in love with her at first sight, so he didn't bring her back to the mansion. Zhao's mother was sold at the age of more than 30, but she still has a charming look. It is conceivable that Zhao would not be a bad girl as a concubine. The Qian family is a mess, and those who can be butlers are all very smart. It may not be a good thing to recognize her as a relative."

Zhou Shuren naturally thought of it, "Wait and see what Changyi says."

He also wanted to test the second brother to see if he could think of this.

Zhulan rolled her eyes and curled her lips, "I do have a plan."

Zhou Shuren raised his eyebrows and asked, "What can we do?"

He really had no choice, mainly because he was a scholar. If he was a groom, he could also control his cheap in-laws. However, borrowing power is not a common thing. It is more reliable to have ability yourself.

Zhu Lan said mysteriously, "Keep it a secret."

After a while, Zhou Laoer came by himself and said, "Dad, I have discussed with Zhao, I will go to Qianjia Village first to see if my mother-in-law is doing well, we will wait for Dad to get pregnant and then meet her."

He also thought that Changlian and Changzhi both passed the exam to become scholars, making it a complete mess of three scholars in one subject. Changlian and Changzhi were young and very impressive, but he did not have much confidence that his two younger brothers could pass the exam. Relatively speaking, he believed that his father could pass the exam.

Zhou Shuren was very satisfied with Zhou Laoer's consideration, "What if life is not going well?"

Zhou Laoer bowed, "We have considered it. Zhao wanted to have her face tattooed, but I did not agree. It is not because I dislike Zhao's disfigurement, but if I cannot protect my wife, I will feel incompetent. So I thought of a way. The daughters of Wang Laosi's family were getting prettier day by day. I have observed that several of them are good at makeup, so I thought about whether I could pretend to have disfigurement on Zhao's face."

Zhulan looked at Zhou Laoer. She really didn't expect that Zhou Laoer would observe the changes in Wang Ru and other maids, and come up with a solution based on the changes, which was the same solution she thought of.

Zhou Shuren saw Zhulan's reaction and knew that Zhulan was thinking the same thing. He asked Zhou Laoer, "Since you have a plan, why do you have to wait until the abortion to meet each other?"

Zhou Laoer explained, "My son wants to be the housekeeper, and he is also the housekeeper of the Shangjia family. He must be very scheming. He is better at keeping people in check."

Zhou Shuren was satisfied. It was great that Zhou Laoer could think of these things. He was previously confined to his hometown, but now that he was in the city, Zhou Laoer would get better experience. "Since you have an idea, just do it according to your wishes. If you need anything, come to me again."

Zhou Laoer could tell that his father was satisfied with him, and he felt relieved. He was really worried that his father still remembered what he had said. "Dad, I'll go to Qianjia Village to find out tomorrow."

"kindness."

Although the Zhou family didn't know about Zhao's search for her mother, they knew from Zhao's dazed look that something was wrong with the second house, but they didn't know what it was.

The next day, Zhou Laoer left without having breakfast. He had rented the carriage yesterday afternoon. Before he left, Zhao stuffed some cakes into his mouth, fearing that he might be hungry.

Zhao ate breakfast absent-mindedly. Li wanted to ask something but was stopped by Dong.

Zhulan glanced at Dong more. Dong had been very close to Li these days and had given Li a lot of advice in private. They were both daughters-in-law, and Dong's advice was sometimes much more useful than hers, because Li's understanding was different from their perspective.

The effect was significant. Li became much more stable at home and knew what to ask and what not to ask.

After dinner, Zhou Shuren went to stake out the spot. Today was Jiang Ming’s day off.

Zhulan was at home, and Wu Li brought Wu Ning home. Wu Li brought a lot of gifts, including two big fish and some meat in the basket.

Zhulan saw that the gift was heavy enough, so she knew that she had something to ask. "Auntie, if you have something to ask, just tell me. Why did you bring so many gifts?"

Wu Li was not surprised that Yang saw through it. She had actually wanted to come a long time ago, but she was a little embarrassed to come because she was so abrupt last time. That’s why she waited a few days until she forgot about it before coming. She pulled her granddaughter over and said, “Auntie, you do have something to ask of you. You know, I can only cook, so I can only teach my maid some cooking skills. As for needlework, I can only sew clothes, not embroider. I saw the purse that Han gave to Ningning, and then I knew that there was an embroiderer in your family. I hope you can give some advice to my maid, so I shamelessly came to your house.”

Zhu Lan smiled, "I thought it was something else, but it turned out to be guidance. This is not a big deal, but there are some things going on at home recently. Auntie, how about letting Wu Ning and Xue Han lay the foundation first, and then come to learn after the prefectural exam?"

Zhulan only agreed after seeing Zhao's barely perceptible nod. Otherwise, she would not have agreed so readily and would have definitely asked Zhao.

Mrs. Wu Li was delighted, "Of course it's good, Auntie has already thanked you."

Mrs. Wu Li sat for a while and then stood up to say goodbye. Although she no longer went out to help with the work, there was still a lot of work to do at home.

Zhulan sent Wu Li away and returned to the main room. She called Zhao, who was about to go back to her room, and said, "Wait a minute, I have something to tell you."

(End of this chapter)