Chapter 591: Suppressed Hatred

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Zhou Laoer came forward with a tray and said, "Dad, your son wishes you good health and a long life."

Zhulan saw that Changzhong's jade horse and the birthday god's jade were made of the same material. The second son was really generous and this gift was not cheap.

Zhou Shuren was very happy on his birthday, "That's very thoughtful."

When Zhou Laoer saw that his father liked it, he felt relieved and thought that his time and effort in thinking about a gift was worth it.

What Chang Lian presented was a painting of calligraphy. The painting showed a pine tree, and there was also a poem he had composed next to it. Zhou Shuren read the poem and gave it a high evaluation.

The gift for the fourth room was prepared by Su Xuan, a unique copy of the book. It was rare that Chang Zhi didn't have a painful expression on his face.

Zhou Shuren had already put on Xue Han's gift. Changzhong had no gift to prepare, so he just recited a blessing speech.

Then came the gifts for the grandchildren. The Zhou family's children were not the kind to spend money recklessly, and each had their own little piggy bank. However, Mingyun and the others pooled their money together to prepare gifts, and there was no sense of competition in the gifts, which showed that there was a lot of love between the brothers.

Zhou Shuren stroked his beard and said to Mingyun, "Not bad."

Mingyun remembered his grandfather's teachings that the descendants of the Zhou family should be united at home and should only plot against outsiders. He straightened his back, thinking that the idea was his and he deserved his grandfather's praise.

Boss Zhou grinned foolishly. He was proud of being the eldest son in the family with many sons. Although he was not good at studying, he was still good at giving birth to a son. Look, his son got the praise from his father.

Boss Zhou looked at his other two sons with a smile on his face. He might be a little naughty, but it was pleasing to the eye. There were four grandsons standing in a row, three of whom were from the eldest son's family!

Zhou Laoer looked at Mingyun with greedy eyes, and then put his eyes on Mingrui. Fortunately, his son was not bad, otherwise he would be even more jealous. He looked at Changlian. The second wife at least had a son, but he didn't know about the third wife. No matter how he looked at it, the third wife was destined to be a concubine!

Chang Lian felt his second brother's gaze. What did it mean? It touched his heart. He just didn't believe it. He thought that when the third wife had a son, he would slap his second brother in the face.

Chang Zhi's eyes fell on his wife. It had been almost a year since they got married. They had worked hard and the baby should be here soon. He was also thinking that if he listened to his father and did not take the imperial examination, he would stay at home for three years in preparation for having two babies!

Su Xuan pinched Chang Zhi secretly, but the man was staring at her straight, and her sister-in-law had noticed it.

Chang Zhi hissed and looked away obediently.

The two granddaughters of the Zhou family also prepared gifts together, and these two girls copied scriptures.

Next came Wu Ning's gift. It couldn't be considered a gift prepared by Wu Ning. It was sent by Wu Ming, so it should be said to be a gift from the Wu family. Among them was Rongchuan's gift. The gifts from these two people were: Rongchuan's was a copied calligraphy and painting, and Wu Ming's was an antique bottle.

The gifts for his family had been delivered and the guests had arrived one after another. Zhou Shuren regretted that he had to wait until the evening to see Zhulan's gift, so he got up and took his sons to the front yard.

Zhulan is here to welcome the female family members. Fortunately, they did not bring their daughters and granddaughters, otherwise, the backyard would be too small to accommodate them. Today is Zhou Shuren's birthday, and the young people have all returned to their own yards.

Tao sat next to Zhulan, "It turns out that Liu is seriously ill."

Zhulan, "What do you mean?"

Ran answered, "If Liu wasn't seriously ill, he would definitely be there for this occasion."

Zhulan was silent, so the two of them always thought that Liu was pretending to be sick.

Tao smiled and said, "I can have a good meal today."

Ran waved her fan, "My ears are quiet now."

Zhulan smiled. In the fight between the Ran and Liu families, the Ran family was the winner. She heard from Shuren that the third prince was enthusiastic about Lord Ran again, and the Ran family was doing very well now.

Zhulan looked at Ran. Ran's personality was indeed good, not to mention Lord Ran. She had also heard from Mingyun that the grandsons of the Ran family were also outstanding. Zhulan picked up the teacup and drank tea, but she had something in mind. The Ran family was also linked to the prince. If Miss Ran only had a princess and no prince, the grandsons of the Ran family would be a rare and good son-in-law.

It's a pity that Zhou Shuren's official position is not as high as Lord Ran's, and the eldest and second sons are of poor status. When a rich family marries off their daughters, the granddaughters suffer.

Mrs. Tao was well-informed and whispered, "The Fifth Prince's mansion is decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. His wedding is very grand."

Ran covered her mouth with her fan and said, "It's all for my own face."

Otherwise, why would the Fifth Prince care so much about marrying a concubine's daughter? He just wanted to save face for himself.

Zhulan thought to herself, you can see it very clearly!

Yao Yao sat in her mother's room at the Yao Marquis's residence and picked up Yao Xin's dowry list. "Mom, isn't this too much? After all, I'm going to marry the Fifth Prince as his principal wife."

There were no expensive items on the dowry list, only some flashy and frivolous things, which made people think that the Yao Hou Mansion was down and out and had no money.

Bai took the dowry list and said, "Yao Xin's dowry was provided by the Marquis' Mansion. This dowry was given to me by your father. It's ridiculous that you want to pass it from my hands."

Over the years, she has taken on so much blame for her father and is becoming more and more exhausted.

Yao Yao narrowed her eyes. Dad used to be so close to the Fifth Prince. Now he was treating Yao Xin like this. How could he not be disgusted with the Fifth Prince? "Dad is so hurtful. If you look down on the Fifth Prince so much, why did you use me as a pawn?"

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Bai clenched her fists. To the old man, the three of them were just pawns. Her eyes were filled with suppressed hatred.

In the afternoon, the Zhou family's banquet was over. Zhou Shuren was forced to drink a lot. It was a rare opportunity so he was not afraid of being tricked by Zhou Shuren, so he drank too much.

Zhulan saw off the officials' families and counted the gifts that were sent. Many of the gifts on the gift list were sent by merchants from Jinzhou. The gifts had arrived, but the people could not come in.

The pile filled up half the room. Zhulan looked at it and said, "Celebrate your birthday and make a fortune."

If these things were sold, the revenue would almost equal the Zhou government's income for most of the previous year.

Mrs. Song said, "It still needs to be changed back."

"That's right, just transfer it from the left hand to the right hand."

Mrs. Song thought to herself, this is just gift-giving between officials. Once you enter the capital, there will be even more powerful families. If you don't go when they invite you, it's a disrespect to you. If you go, you have to give gifts. For some of the powerful families who made their fortunes through war, there are too many good things, and ordinary people really don't even look at them.

Zhulan classified and registered the gifts. It was almost dark. She stood up and rubbed her arms. She was getting old. It had only been a short time and her arms were already sore.

Back in the house, Zhou Shuren was washing his face. Zhulan asked, "Why didn't you rest for a while?"

Zhou Shuren's voice was hoarse, and he drank a few glasses of water before saying, "I miss your gift."

Zhulan laughed, "I'll take it out right now."

Zhou Shuren pressed his brows and sat on the chair waiting. No matter how brilliantly he smiled today, it was useless because these people kept trying to get him drunk. It was a headache.

Zhulan took out the paintings and showed them to Zhou Shuren one by one. "This is the gift. I will draw one every year on your birthday."

(End of this chapter)