Chapter 995 Is There Anyone Alive?

After dinner, Zhou Shuren kept Chang Lian and told him the choice given by the emperor, and asked, "Where do you want to go?"

Chang Lian carefully watched his father's expression. He was more nervous than excited about this news. His father must have made a choice in his mind and was testing him now. The two destinations did not depend on rank, but only on power and position. He was a man with ideas. He had been learning from his father for so many years, so naturally he hoped to follow the same path as his father, but he did not have his father's ability.

Chang Lian saw that his father was still drinking tea, and he could not help but look at his mother. His mother seemed not to hear the conversation and was drawing the patterns for embroidery. He did not get any hint.

Chang Lian lowered his head, then raised it again, "Dad, I will choose the person in charge."

Zhou Shuren put down his teacup and asked, "Tell me the reason?"

Chang Lian felt relieved when he heard this. He had known his father very well over the years. "My son needs training. The Maritime Affairs Department can give him better training."

Zhou Shuren was satisfied. "It's good that you think this way. It shows that you have indeed matured. I, your father, am here in Beijing. As long as you accumulate enough merits in the Maritime Affairs Department, you can be transferred and slowly gain experience. Your career will be smoother."

He had planned it out. He had helped with the achievements in the maritime affairs, and after Chang Lian had worked in the Maritime Affairs Department for a few years and had been promoted, he wanted to find a way to become the prefect of Sanzhou. He would use the prefecture of Sanzhou as a stepping stone and move up step by step, which would save him a lot of detours. Although he could not replicate his career path, he could greatly reduce the number of years it would take.

Chang Lian grinned. He knew his father had made plans for him. "I will never let you down."

Zhou Shuren stroked his beard and said, "Okay, it's getting late, you should go back and rest."

"Dad, Mom, you two should go to bed early."

Zhulan waited for Changlian to leave before saying, "If Changlian leaves, let Shenxing go with him. Although we have a few skilled people in our family, Shenxing is the one who knows everything."

Zhou Shuren said, "I learned how rare it is to find a master after I trained myself. You said the emperor is a little jealous of me, can I trick a few of them back?"

The only ones in this family whom he truly trusts are Jinyan and Shenxing. Jinyan follows him closely, while Shenxing mostly stays at home. He really does not have enough manpower. Changzhi will be returning to his hometown to take part in the provincial examination next year, so he needs someone reliable to be by his side.

Zhulan, "If you have the guts, go ahead and cheat. There are no secrets in the house anyway."

Zhou Shuren was really moved, "Let me think about it, let me think about it."

The next day, Wang Ju came over during the lunch break at the Ministry of Revenue. "I heard that you followed the prince to the Rong family yesterday?"

Zhou Shuren hummed, "You are slow in getting news."

Wang Ju rolled her eyes, "I was in the Ministry of Revenue all day, so I naturally didn't have much information. I only heard from my father when I got home that my old man said that the Rong family was coming back. You went to the ruins of the Rong family with the prince, did you hear any news?"

Zhou Shuren knew that this girl was here to get information, and thinking of how Master Wang had taught him, he held back his words and said to Wang Ju, "No one from the Rong family has returned."

Wang Ju was surprised, "Then why are they clearing the ruins? And it looks like they are going to rebuild. My father said that when the dynasty was founded, someone wanted to take over the Rong family's residence, and then you know what happened. The emperor was furious, and no one dared to take over since then. It has been abandoned for many years, and it was suddenly cleared. People speculated that the disappeared Rong family would come back."

Zhou Shuren, "The old man knows a lot."

Wang Ju said in a low voice: "We, the Wang family, have always been in the capital, so we naturally know a lot. I don't know much, and what I am saying now is what I heard from my father. My father said."

Zhou Shuren was listening when he saw Wang Ju stop talking. "Why don't you say anything?"

"It's just a little sad. Do you know how many people there are in a family over hundreds of years, including direct descendants, branches, distant relatives, and fellow clan members?"

Zhou Shuren could imagine that the Zhou family had developed well in recent years and already had hundreds of people, not to mention the aristocratic families.

Seeing Zhou Shuren was silent, Wang Ju said, "Take our Wang family for example. Including some of our clansmen, there are five lists. This is because many people died or were injured during the war. Otherwise, there would be more. But the prosperous Rong family was destroyed."

Zhou Shuren thought that the royal family of the previous dynasty must have been involved, otherwise the Rong family would not have been destroyed so easily. The dynasty was corrupt, but a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Coupled with some aristocratic families who had been eyeing the Rong family, the Rong family was doomed to fail.

Wang Ju asked, "Is it really not the Rong family who came back?"

"I just said that no one from the Rong family has returned."

Wang Ju believed it this time, "What about the emperor's actions?"

Zhou Shuren did not hide it either. Now everyone was guessing, and sooner or later they would know, "The emperor wants to build a garden, Rongyuan."

This time it was Wang Ju who remained silent. Rong Yuan and the Rong family lived in another way!

In the Ningguo Mansion, Ning Xu looked at his father, "Dad, do you think there is really no one left alive in the Rong family?"

For so many years, the emperor has not touched the ruins. He thought the emperor was waiting for the living members of the Rong family, but now it seems that is not the case.

Duke Ning's thoughts were a little far-fetched. The Ning family was not a family of the capital. The Ning family had occupied a region for generations. They didn't know much about the Rong family. What he knew was because of the emperor. "If the emperor hadn't built a garden, I would have forgotten about the Rong family. When the dynasty was just established, some people still mentioned it. It's been almost twenty years now."

Ning Xu, "Dad."

Duke Ning said, "I don't know much about what happened back then. As for whether anyone is still alive, they should be gone. If there was, they would have come out long ago. You have to know that the emperor has been on the throne for many years. No one has come out in all these years, so they should be dead."

Ning Xu sighed, "The emperor still cares about the Rong family."

Duke Ning doesn't care about the Rong family, the Rong family is a thing of the past. Instead, he is more concerned about Zhang Yang. "Is Zhang Yang's concubine really pregnant?"

Ning Xi said, "My son thinks this is strange. If she is pregnant, Zhang Yang should treasure her. Why would he let his concubine leave the house?"

Duke Ning also thought so, but he didn't know what the other princes thought.

At Zhou's house, Zhulan had already piled up a dozen notes on her desk. She pointed them out to her daughter-in-law and said, "These are all from people who want to get information."

Yesterday, Shu Ren went into the palace and stayed there for a long time, and then went to the Rong family's residence with the prince. She knew that her home was going to be lively again.

Xue Han asked, "Mom, is this the first time I've heard of the Rong family?"

Zhu Lan signaled the maid to take the post down. "This is the first time that mother has heard of the Rong family. Your father doesn't know much either. The only thing he knows is that the royal family is going to build the Rong Garden."

Xue Han made a note in her mind that she could ask Rong Chuan to find out. The Ning family should know a lot. "Mom, my eldest sister hasn't come since your birthday. Hasn't her family finished the autumn harvest yet?"

Zhulan, "She's done. She's been busy buying land these days."

"Big sister wants to buy land again?"

"Well, she thinks it's better to buy land than to keep the money. Even if she rents it out for a year, she can still make some money. She has been looking at land with her parents-in-law these days."

Mrs. Song came in at this time and whispered in Zhulan's ear. Zhulan's eyes widened, "Did Princess Qi go there in person?"

Mrs. Song nodded, "Yes."