Chapter 405 Death

Zhulan took the letter and asked, "Only one letter?"

Steward Ding, "The messenger said it was Master Wu's personal servant, and he is waiting outside to see the mistress."

Zhulan was not in a hurry to read the letter. Wu Ming always sent New Year gifts by hand, and never sent anyone to escort them. This time he sent a trusted personal servant, so it seemed that he had something to say. "Please come in."

Li Xu stood up and said, "I'm going to go out for a walk and come back later."

Zhulan stood up to see him off, "Okay."

Li Xu left, and Steward Ding came in with a servant. Zhulan recognized the servant, Wu Ming's first servant, who had lived with Zhulan and others for a period of time. "Wu Ming sent you here, but what happened?"

The servant replied respectfully, "The old lady and the old man passed away a few days ago."

Zhulan paused for a moment before coming to her senses. Wu Li had passed away? "How could such a healthy person suddenly pass away?"

She clearly remembered that Mrs. Wu Li was in good health.

The servant lowered his head and thought it was a family disgrace, but his master was the adopted son of the Zhou family, so he thought it was okay to say it. "Your master's uncle used my master's reputation to get things done, which caused a lot of trouble for you. The old man was already ill and got so angry when he found out that he couldn't get over it. The old lady was too sad and passed away soon after."

Zhulan felt very upset. Every year, Mrs. Wu Li sent her a New Year gift, and she even asked Wu Ning to write a letter to her. But she passed away just a few months later. Zhulan's eyes were red with sadness. "Is your master okay?"

The servant thought that the master was a very bad person. After the old master and the old lady were buried, the master changed. In the past, no matter who ridiculed the master for being the most useless top scholar, the master would not get angry at all and would be cheerful. Now the master doesn't even smile.

Zhulan sighed when she saw that the servant didn't reply. She really asked unnecessary questions. She opened the letter written by Wu Ming. Wu Ming wrote: "My godmother and godfather are all well. My family has had a change recently. I should have returned to my hometown to mourn for my grandparents for a year, but my letter was rejected and I can't go back to my hometown to mourn. So I plan to mourn for my grandparents for three years. Because they didn't marry for three years, there is no mistress in the family. My younger sister is now at the age to get married. For some reasons of mine, I am afraid that my younger sister's marriage will be affected, so I can only ask for help from my godmother."

Zhulan thought that according to the Dingyou system of this dynasty, when parents die, children need to observe Dingyou for three years, and grandchildren only need to observe Dingyou for one year. Wu Ming could not return to his hometown, so he planned to observe Dingyou for three years.

Wu Ming is not favored by the emperor, so naturally his superiors will not favor him much either. Now all the requests to Ding You have been rejected. This time Wu Ming does not have to endure many years to train his mind. This year is enough for him to train his mind.

Zhulan said to the servant, "Go down and rest first, I will arrange for someone to go back with you."

The servant said respectfully, "Yes."

Zhulan waited for the servant to go downstairs, and she decided to let the eldest son go to pick up Wu Ning. The eldest son was the eldest son and could represent Zhou Shuren, and it would also be a good opportunity to send the Li family back.

Half an hour later, Li Xu and Li Cong came together. This was because Li Xu saw the contract and realized that Li Cong had to sign it, so she came together.

Zhulan took out the deed and said, "This is what I mean by cooperation. In the fall, I want to buy two farms. I am not confident leaving the farms to others to manage, so I want to entrust them to my in-laws. They will take care of the two farms, and I will give them 15% of the grain every year."

Zhulan did some calculations and found that after deducting the taxes paid to the Li family, she could still earn a lot in a year. In the future, she would hand over the land to the Li family. Not only would she feel at ease, but she would also have less worries. The 15% food income was well worth it.

Li Xu didn't know how big a manor was. She only knew that according to her in-laws' character, they would definitely not treat the Li family unfairly. But, "Why didn't your in-laws give it to your eldest son-in-law?"

Zhu Lan explained, "Jiang Sheng is a teacher at the clan school, he doesn't have that much energy."

Moreover, Jiang Sheng will still have to continue taking exams in the future. She thinks that for now, it is most appropriate for Jiang Sheng to be a stable teacher. Not only can he concentrate on his studies, but he can also have time to look after Xuemei and the children.

Li Cong rubbed his hands and said, "Mother-in-law, we are in-laws, it is our duty to help take care of the family, forget about the reward."

Zhu Lan smiled and said, "If it's just a few dozen acres, I won't bother with the remuneration. My dear, I plan to buy a big manor, at least one manor of 300 acres. When the time comes, I can hire people and do all kinds of things, so you don't have to do anything else. The remuneration must be paid."

Li Cong was a little dazed. Li Xu smiled and said, "Although we brothers have made clear the bill, 15% is still a bit too much. 10%, what do you think, mother-in-law?"

Zhulan really likes the Li family. This is the first time she has negotiated cooperation with someone and the other party has been constantly lowering the price. She pressed Li Xu's hand and said, "This is not just one or two years. Mother-in-law, just do as I say."

Li Xu thought of her sons and grandchildren, and swallowed the words on her lips, "Then I will shamelessly thank my mother-in-law."

Afterwards, the Li family signed their names, and the three copies of the deed were kept with Zhulan first, and would be given to the Li family after the farm was purchased.

Li Xu did not stay long and went back to pack her luggage. Li Xu gained a lot in Lizhou City. Zhulan bought a lot of cloth and food that Li and the eldest brother gave her as a gift, and the Yang family also gave some. Li Xu came with two carriages, and she had two more when she left.

Two days later, Li Xu left. This time she no longer rented a carriage, but followed the convoy.

Zhou Laoda had just left for two days when Zhou Laoer came back with a lot of mountain products from Northeast China. Zhou Laoer explained, "My parents like mountain products from my hometown, so I thought it was a rare trip back home, so I stayed a few more days to collect some mountain products."

Zhulan looked at the list. She didn't know how much money Zhou Laoer took away, but the two fifty-year-old ginsengs on the list were worth a lot of money. This list was wrong. "Did you buy the ginseng too?"

Zhou Laoer said, "Mom, the list you are looking at is the one given by the Qian family, and the mountain products I bought are from the list below."

Zhulan didn't look carefully at first, but she saw that there were indeed two lists. She thought Zhou Laoer accepted the gift and put it on his own list. The gift list given by the Qian family was a token of gratitude. Zhulan asked, "You went to the Qian family. Is everything okay there?"

Zhou Laoer was so embarrassed. He really didn't expect his mother-in-law to be so cruel that she sold almost all the valuable antiques of the Qian family. He thought the silver in his mother-in-law's hand was the Qian family's cash. He was impressed that the Qian family had silver. But when he arrived at the Qian family, he found out the truth. He returned the silver, and the Qian family looked better. "It's good. Before I left, Mr. Qian told me to say thank you for them."

Zhulan looked at Zhou Laoer, hoping that he would remember this lesson for the rest of his life, but she still wanted to warn him, "You only have one chance."

Zhou Laoer had always remembered what his father had said about succession. Now it was a knife hanging over his head. He had really learned his lesson and would not dare to do it again. "Mom, I will not dare to do it again."

Zhulan hummed, "Pack up and go to Chuanzhou tomorrow."

Zhou Laoer was afraid to see his father. Ever since he saw his father's other side, he had nightmares at night. He was either kicked out by his father or lived a miserable life after his father's death. He was always awakened by fear, "Mom, I'm going to go back and pack up now."

(End of this chapter)