Chapter 991: A Wise Ruler
Zhu Lan turned her body to the side, "I think we can find a way to get Chang Lian out next year."
Zhou Shuren felt a little sleepy. "We'll talk about it later. There's no rush now."
Zhu Lan then asked, "By the way, the Emperor is going to celebrate his birthday, is it going to be a big deal?"
Zhou Shuren shook his head, "The Emperor has long said that he won't hold a big birthday party. Actually, the Emperor has never held a big birthday party since he ascended the throne."
"To be honest, the emperor is truly a rare wise ruler."
"Yes, I have not been confused at the moment, but it is not easy to be the emperor, especially when there are noble families involved and you have to balance government affairs. It is already remarkable that you have been able to clean up and consolidate the imperial power to the current level."
Zhu Lan said in a gloomy voice, "A wise ruler must sacrifice many ministers, such as Ran Zheng."
Zhou Shuren said, "When I studied history before, I didn't feel much, at most I could only sigh a few words. Now that I am in the situation, I know how difficult it is to manage a country, especially the complicated situation in ancient times."
"Yes, history is only a few sentences, how can it be explained clearly?"
The couple had a lot of feelings today, so they both went to bed late and got up a little late.
Today we are going to Marquis Shen's Mansion, and Zhulan doesn't have any special clothes to choose from. They are all heavy-duty, dark-colored clothes. They look good, but after seeing them too much, the feeling is gone.
Zhulan could only admire the lady's clothes. The lady's clothes were really beautiful. She now especially liked dressing up her own daughter.
The Shen Marquis Mansion did not invite many people, and today's tea tasting was hosted by the wife of Master Shen.
Zhulan looked at the people invited today, they were all neutral people. Tao was also there today, and the two of them sat together.
Tao held the tea bowl in front of her and said, "The Shen family is passing on the message through today's tea tasting. Is the Shen family neutral?"
"It should be, but I don't know what happened to force the Shen family to make a statement."
Tao put down the tea bowl and rubbed her neck. "I don't know. But, isn't the wife of Master Shen from Jinzhou? Why is she back? And she's personally hosting the tea tasting?"
Zhulan had a bold guess, "Could it be that Master Shen is going back to the capital?"
The more Tao thought about it, the more she thought it was possible. "So the Shen family passed on the news first, to avoid trouble when Master Shen returned to Beijing."
Zhulan saw that most people had arrived, so she held up the tea bowl and said, "Today's tea is pretty good."
Tao almost laughed out loud, "I heard from our master that Mr. Zhou doesn't know anything about tea, but he can say anything is good about tea."
"Yeah, they're all good."
Mrs. Tao laughed even louder. Mrs. Yang was forced to learn how to make tea. This female member of the family was either tasting tea or appreciating flowers, and she spent more time tasting tea.
Xue Han has started chatting with the young ladies of the Shen family. She is going to get married in more than two months. She can clearly feel that these young ladies are very polite to her.
This was not the case the last time she came to the Shen family. Rongchuan was the only child, a future marquis, and the third place in the imperial examination. Her status rose along with Rongchuan.
The youngest daughter of Master Shen was filled with emotion. When they were in Jinzhou, she was polite to Zhou Xuehan but he didn't take her kindness seriously. Who could have thought that so many unexpected events would happen in the meantime and that Lord Zhou would become the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
Shen Shuang said, "I will not leave this time when I return to Beijing. When you get married, can I help you with your makeup?"
Xue Han and Shen Shuang were friends for the sake of appearance. She would have to have her own social life in the future, and friends for the sake of appearance were also friends. She responded, "Okay, by the way, I remember you said that you would get married after you reached the age of 15. Have you set a date?"
Shen Shuang nodded, "It's settled, next summer, you must come then."
"As long as you invite me, I will come. Don't forget to write the invitation when the time comes."
Shen Shuang curled his lips, "I won't forget."
Xue Han is surrounded by several people of similar status. Her circle of friends changes again and again, and it will change again after she gets married.
After more than an hour, they left the Shen family one after another.
Xue Han told her mother the information she had received, "Shen Shuang said she would not leave the capital. Mother, is Master Shen going back to the capital?"
"It should be, it looks like."
Xue Han tilted her ears and listened, "Mom, why don't you say anything?"
"Nothing."
Xue Han felt that her mother had something to say. What did she want to say? Xue Han frowned and thought.
Zhulan smiled when she saw her daughter thinking about it. The emperor wanted to trap the Shen family in the capital. It seemed that the emperor was preventing any accidents, and a big net was slowly covering the capital.
A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and the jewelry Zhulan ordered was ready. She planned to go to the jewelry shop to pick it up in person, and also buy some jewelry for her granddaughter to wear when she got married.
At the end of the autumn harvest, she had some money in her hands, and there were several more large sums to come, so Zhulan decided to buy, buy, and buy.
The Zhou family was not the only one that had money deposited into the account. Many of the women in the jewelry shop had money deposited into the account.
Zhulan arrived early. It rained yesterday and the weather was a bit cool. Zhulan stopped halfway up the stairs and asked the shopkeeper, "Is the shopkeeper's staircase new?"
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Shu Ren seldom comes to the store. She has been replaced for more than a month."
Zhulan liked the old stairs very much. Although there were some bumps in them, she felt safe walking on them. The new stairs are too flat. She always feels that she will slip if she doesn't step on them properly, although it's just a psychological feeling.
When they got upstairs, the shopkeeper took out the custom-made jewelry and checked it carefully to make sure it was fine. Zhulan put it aside and said, "I want to choose a few more pieces of headwear."
The shopkeeper knew the ages of the young ladies in the Zhou residence and said with a smile, "There are indeed a few new ones. I'll bring them to you."
"good."
The shopkeeper came back quickly, bringing a few pieces of headgear. As he was examining them carefully, he heard Yao Xin's voice. He turned his head and saw that it was indeed Yao Xin coming up.
Yao Xin came over and asked, "Shuren, are you here to choose jewelry too?"
"Ah, I'm here to get some headgear and buy some jewelry for my granddaughters. What about you?"
Since Yao Xin became pregnant, she has been extra careful. She even came to Zhou's house, so why did she come out today?
Yao Xin replied, "I also ordered jewelry and came to pick it up today."
Zhulan motioned to Yao Xin to sit down as there were quite a few people upstairs, so they should avoid bumping into each other.
The shopkeeper quickly took out Yao Xin's jewelry. Yao Xin touched the jewelry. This was the first time she ordered jewelry this year. It was not because their family was short of money, but they wanted to be inconspicuous and low-key. If she had not attended Miss Zhou's wedding, she would not have ordered it.
This shop would not deliver the money to her door, because her husband's identity was questionable. She could only go to the shop to pick it up herself, and after checking that there was no problem, she gave the money.
Zhulan's custom-made jewellery has been put on, and Yao Xin is asking her maid to put it on.
"Wait, I want this headdress."
Zhulan frowned. This was a custom-made headdress. She turned her head to see who said it. She didn't know who it was. She wore a woman's headdress. She knew most of the officials' wives in the capital. No one could speak so arrogantly!
Yao Xin recognized it and her expression suddenly changed. "This is a custom-made headpiece. I don't sell it."
Qiao Wei held the maid's hand, "Who did I think she was? It turns out you are the third daughter of Yao Houfu. No, you are no longer a daughter of Yao Houfu. I heard that she was married off. Now you are wearing really shabby clothes. You can't even afford new fabrics. Sell your headgear to me and I will give you some more money."
(End of this chapter)