Chapter 44: Black Heart

Wang Ru pinched her palms, her heart felt like it was burning. Things had never gone smoothly since ancient times. She had clearly read that the female time traveler in novels was always the protagonist, but she had always been unlucky. She couldn't just sit there and wait for death, so after much deliberation she decided on the Zhou family.

Wang Ru pinched herself, tears welling up in her eyes from the pain, and her wolfish face looked pitiful. "Grandma Zhou, my grandma is afraid of you. You are the only one in the village who can save me. Please have mercy on me, save me, my grandma wants to beat me to death."

Zhu Lan pulled the corner of her mouth. Don't think she didn't see Wang Ru's little trick. She can pretend, too. "Don't cry, kid. Although Wang Zhang is worse than a beast, he dare not kill anyone. Killing someone not only means paying with his life, but also affects the reputation of the entire Wang family. For the sake of reputation, Wang Zhang dare not do that."

Even though Wang Zhang beat and scolded the maids, she would not actually kill them. The grandsons of the Wang family were all getting married, and several of the granddaughters were also getting married. Even if Wang Zhang was being naughty, she would not dare to kill anyone openly.

Wang Ru quickly glanced at Zhou Yangshi. Is this what a simple-minded person would say? Her heart sank and she knelt down, "Grandma Zhou, my grandma doesn't dare to beat me to death, but she dares to starve me to death. As long as she is not discovered, no one can do anything to her. Please be kind enough to save me."

Zhulan's heart skipped a beat. Now that Wang Ru had knelt before her, she would become the person she hated the most. As long as Wang Ru became successful, she would definitely not want to face her who had knelt before her. She felt upset. She did not provoke others, but they insisted on approaching her. Her face turned cold, and she pulled Wang Ru up, "Look at you, child, you are talking nonsense. The whole village knows that San Ya has grown up and made a lot of money. Your grandmother is the smartest. How could she starve you to death? Look at you, poor Jin, you scared yourself!"

Zhu Lan quickly interrupted Wang Ru and called out to the second brother who was chopping wood for the fire, "Second brother, go call Wang Lao Si. I don't know how Wang Lao Si is a father. Look how scared San Ya is."

Zhou Laoer had been listening for a long time. San Ya was just a trouble. He was really afraid that his mother would give in soon. He quickly threw away the axe and said, "I'll go right away."

Wang Ru was pulled to the point of hatred in her heart. She could see that the Zhou family was full of treachery, so she had no more worries when she plotted. "Grandma Zhou, Xue Han is my friend. You are Xue Han's mother and the kindest person. You also know that I make money. As long as you help me, I will give you the recipe and we can work together. The Zhou family will take 70% and I will take 30%."

Zhu Lan sneered, "When your friend really gets sick in his eighth life, he will be sick." She let go of Wang Ru and said calmly, "San Ya, there are three scholars in our Zhou family. The Zhou family doesn't know how to do business. Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, San Ya doesn't understand. Grandma Zhou doesn't blame you, but don't say such nonsense in the future."

Zhou Shuren supplemented the laws of the fictional dynasty and also gave Zhulan a lot of popular science. This fictional dynasty had clear regulations that merchants and their descendants were not allowed to take the imperial examinations, unless they donated 90% of their property and returned to their hometown to farm for three generations. Farmers who sold the produce from their own land were not considered merchants, even if it was a grain store registered under the name of a landlord, because the produce was from their own land.

However, anyone who does other things is considered a businessman, even if it is a small-scale business, such as a peddler walking on the street is a businessman.

The reason why the imperial examination was so strict could be traced back to the source. It was because the emperor suffered a lot of losses from merchants when he rebelled. The merchants' pursuit of profit indirectly killed many soldiers. In addition, at the end of the previous dynasty, there was a phenomenon of merchants buying official positions and making huge amounts of money, which accelerated the chaos and made people's lives miserable. When the dynasty was established, a group of merchants were severely dealt with. It can be seen that the emperor hated merchants and never stopped suppressing them.

Zhulan didn't think that Wang Ru didn't know. She knew that Wang Ru had been asking around in the past few days. This person was so cruel that he wanted to cut off the Zhou family's path to study!

"Mom, mom, I did it, haha, mom."