Chapter 378: Absolutely Unacceptable

Zhulan nodded, "Two fourteen-year-old servants, Dongzhi and Xiaohan, will follow Changyi and Changlian respectively. Ding's youngest son Xiazhi will follow Rongchuan in the future, Ma Eryue's youngest son Chunfen will still follow Mingyun, and there are two little girls, the eight-year-old girl Qiufen will follow Yushuang, the ten-year-old Liqiu and the six-year-old little one will still follow Xinghua in the sewing room, what do you think of my arrangement?"

Of the two little girls in the sewing room, the six-year-old one was left to Yu Lu in the future, and the ten-year-old Li Qiu was the best at learning sewing, so she stayed in the sewing room from now on.

Zhou Shuren thought about it carefully and said, "Your arrangement is quite good. Dongzhi is active and fits in with the second child, while Xiaohan is more honest and kind, which is quite suitable for Changlian."

Zhulan smiled and said, "As for Lady Wan Jiu's wife, Jinhua, who is by Li's side, now that Li is pregnant, she will continue to stay with Li, and help take care of the child after it is born. Zhao and Dong can't say anything."

Zhou Shuren laughed. Zhulan was obviously biased. But it was okay. It was a good opportunity to test Zhao and Dong and give them a warning. "In our family, you have the final say."

Zhulan narrowed her eyes. This was the advantage of being a mistress. No one in this family dared to contradict her!

After breakfast the next day, Zhulan told the arrangements to the other rooms. Without giving the second and third rooms a chance to react, Zhulan continued, "The names of the servants and maids can be changed. Don't worry about me. Changzhi's servant was changed to Qimo, Mingteng's was changed to Yinmo, Xuehan's eldest maid was changed to Liuli, and the second maid was changed to Liujin. I think they're all good."

Zhou Laoer thought for a moment and said, "Mom, Dongzhi will be renamed Dongmo."

Chang Lian also hurriedly followed, "Mom, Xiaohan changed his name to Fenmo."

Zhulan looked up at the sky in silence. They all sounded nice. She was really not suitable for naming. She looked at Rongchuan. Rongchuan narrowed his eyes and said, "Auntie, Ding Xiazhi will be renamed Ding Xiamo."

Yu Shuang saw her grandmother looking at her. She didn't want to be like her aunt, fearing that it would be difficult to distinguish them in the future. She had also been learning to recognize Chinese characters. After thinking for a while, she said, "Grandma, my daughter's name begins with the character Autumn. I will change the character for Autumn Equinox to Qiu Nian."

Zhulan was immediately shrugged. "The names are all good. Just report to Steward Ding after changing them. By the way, your grandpa has caught a cold these days. I will take you to Yang Mansion when he is better. Changlian will go to Meng Mansion today, and the second brother will take Zhao to stroll around the city. There are many shops of the tribes outside Lizhou City, and there are many rare things."

When Zhao heard this, she wanted to stay even more. She was really anxious. She didn't say a few words to her mother-in-law, and the words she said were all to make her mother-in-law unhappy. "Mom, I won't go."

Zhulan looked at Zhao, she really meant well, "If you don't want to go, then don't go. It just so happens that your sister-in-law is pregnant, so the kitchen work is handed over to you. From now on, you will be responsible for what to eat and what to buy for three meals a day."

For Zhao, it is better to find more work. With more work, he won’t have to think too much.

Zhao was really worried enough. She didn't want to care about it at all. Then she thought that this was the right given by her mother-in-law. Her mother said that if you have some power in the mansion, the servants will respect you more. "Mom, then I'll go to the kitchen to take a look."

Zhulan, "Go ahead."

Dong looked at her second sister-in-law with her remaining eyes, lowering her eyelids. Was she not even better than her second sister-in-law? She thought she would have maids to serve her when she got home, but unexpectedly, she got nothing except her husband's servant. Her mother-in-law said that the silk lady took care of her eldest sister-in-law, but to put it bluntly, it was her mother-in-law who was partial. It seemed that she had to hold on to her mother-in-law.

The eldest Zhou wanted to go to the orchard to check out the fruit trees as they needed to be taken care of in the winter. The second Zhou didn't want to go sightseeing in Lizhou City, so he followed them.

Chang Lian also went out, and Chang Zhi took his two nephews back home with a look of despair. Ming Yun and Rong Chuan were accustomed to the rules of the academy, and even when they returned home, they still studied on time.

Soon, Zhao also came back, with Zhulan three daughters-in-law, a concubine, and two granddaughters.

Zhulan was indeed very happy yesterday, but now she only has a headache. She has gotten used to being quiet, and she feels a little uneasy when there are too many people around.

Li said while eating an apple, "Mom, my dad sent me a letter saying that all my nephews who have grown up in my mother's family have married this year, and my dad asked me to thank my parents."

Zhulan has looked at the gift list. The Li family sent a lot of wild animals. The Li family spent a lot this year, but they were still able to save some wild animals to send. The Li family members are very grateful.

Zhulan said, "Your parents are just too polite. We still rely on your in-laws to take care of the house and land in our hometown."

Li waved her hands, "Mom, without you and Dad, my family would have a harder time. This is as it should be."

Zhulan was counting the days in her mind. It was only two months until the Chinese New Year. They had accepted things from the Li family, and it was time for the in-laws to give back gifts. Not only the Li family, but also the Jiang family. Zhulan had to give a gift as well for the eldest daughter, but she couldn't compare with the gifts from the Li family. Yes, there were also gifts from the Dong family and the Qian family.

Zhulan narrowed her eyes. As for the Qian family, she didn't even need to ask Zhou Laoer, she could tell from the gift list that the Qian family was just trying to please them. However, there was a science to returning the gifts this year. Manager Qian had a history of hiding his master's property, so she didn't trust him.

Zhao held the handkerchief tightly, and her mother almost leaned on her sister-in-law. She looked at her seat again and couldn't help but feel sour, "Sister-in-law, my aunt has aged a lot, and Uncle Li's back has become more bent. Most of the food was sold this year in order to get married."

Mrs. Li stopped smiling. She was not stupid. She knew that her parents only reported good news and not worries. She just didn't want to think too much about it. She knew that it was useless even if she thought about it because she was far away. She had already prepared to buy New Year gifts and send them back. She told her mother-in-law today mainly because she wanted to tell her that the Li family was honest and simple. She hoped that her mother-in-law would think of the Li family when she needed to hire someone in the future. The Li family had many young men who were very strong.

She knew that her two younger siblings were jealous of her. Even though they smiled at her, who knows what they were thinking about her in their hearts. But her second younger sibling loved her, which was a bit too much. Even though there were conflicts, she still protected her second younger sibling!

Zhao wanted to slap herself as soon as she finished speaking, but she couldn't take back the words she had said. She also knew that her sister-in-law was no longer the same sister-in-law she used to be. Even if she didn't bear a grudge, the rift had already existed. "Sister-in-law, I..."

Zhulan felt even more pain in her head. Even though she had anticipated the situation today, it was still disturbing when it really happened. She never expected her daughters-in-law to be as good to each other as real sisters. Even sisters have conflicts, let alone daughters-in-law who have no blood relationship but instead have conflicts of interest.

Zhulan has a clear mind, and it is precisely because of this clarity that she can see the reality more clearly. The reality is that she and Zhou Shuren cannot stereotype everyone even if they work themselves to death, because they are real people with their own thoughts and little ideas!

However, Zhulan's face turned cold, and she looked at Zhao and Dong with sharp eyes, "I know what you are thinking without thinking, but in front of me, you must remember that if anyone helps outsiders to harm their own family for their own interests in the future, I will never tolerate it."

Zhao and Dong were shocked. In the past, the mother-in-law was soft-hearted and sharp-tongued, but this was the first time she had shown her knife. The two hurriedly said, "Mother, we dare not."

Zhu Lan asked the two to stand up. "Every family has its own rules. You will all represent the Zhou family in the future. Remember my words. If you dare to step on your family members outside, I think you don't want to know what the consequences will be."

Zhulan was not biased this time. She had to say these rules. No matter whether the Zhou family was divided or not, in the officialdom the Zhou family was a whole. If anyone made a mistake, it was the problem of the entire Zhou family.

It was not easy for her and Zhou Shuren to get to this point. Only they themselves knew how much effort they had put in. So she was not in a hurry to go to Jiangnan. She had to do everything she needed to do.

(End of this chapter)