Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!-Chapter 1293: Stinking Show-off

Time flies swiftly, and, in the blink of an eye, summer arrives. This year’s summer begins with high temperatures, but luckily, there is no drought, as the rainfall is plentiful.

With the onset of summer, the harem received two Zhaoyi Consorts and two lower-ranking concubines. Among them, Consort Wang, who holds the highest status, is the daughter of the Vice Minister of Revenue.

This has drawn significant attention to her since her entry into the palace. With this Zhaoyi Consort’s arrival, rumors have surfaced that Lord Wang could be the next Minister of Revenue.

Zhulan seldom attends banquets now, and the invitations sent to the Zhou family are mostly for Zhao’s daughters, among whom Su Xuan is the most popular.

Having returned from the Wen family, Su Xuan attended the birthday banquet of the Wen family’s eldest daughter-in-law today.

While Zhulan is teaching the children their studies, Su Xuan arrives, and Zhulan signals the children that they can take a break. Once the children go out to play, Zhulan utters, "You’re back."

Su Xuan, having cooled herself with a chilled tea to dispel the heat from her body, says, "Yes, it’s really too hot; I hardly feel like moving."

In summer, her preference is to cool off with ice basins rather than attending stuffy banquets.

With this knowledge, Zhulan suspects that Su Xuan wouldn’t come back directly to her courtyard unless there was something amiss, "What’s the matter?"

Su Xuan says, "Today, everyone keeps whispering in my ear that the Deputy Minister Wang is favored by the Emperor and might become the next Minister of Revenue."

She merely chuckled and stayed silent, knowing those words were purposely spoken into her ear, but she couldn’t help but worry they were true, hence feeling somewhat frustrated and irritable.

Zhulan can’t help but laugh, "Your father-in-law would wish for the rumors to be true."

Su Xuan exclaims, "Ah?"

Without elaborating further, Zhulan says, "The rumors are false. If they were truly grooming the next Minister of Revenue, it certainly wouldn’t be someone related to the palace."

The Emperor desires a tranquil harem; he wouldn’t allow the family of harem women to occupy important positions. Being the Minister of Revenue is not for just anyone; it requires an individual solely loyal and unselfish towards the Emperor.

Su Xuan blinks, then smiles sheepishly, "It seems I still have a narrow perspective."

"You’re already doing well. Oh, I thought it was something serious. It’s scorchingly hot today; you should go back and change into something cool and rest."

Indeed, regardless of how light and appropriate her current attire is, it remains uncomfortable.

Indeed desiring to bathe, Su Xuan says, "Mother, then I’ll head back first."

"Hmm."

Only after Su Xuan departs does Zhulan call Qing Xue and the others back in to inquire, "How long has Chang Zhong been out?"

Qing Xue reports, "Already for two hours."

Zhulan muses, "I’ll never understand boys’ interests—braving such sweltering heat for the racetracks."

Qing Xue, with a chuckle, replies, "The young masters like Yang Qing enjoy horses."

Zhulan hums a response and then instructs Qing Xue to replenish the ice. The weather this year is unprecedentedly warm, and the ice is melting too quickly. Nonetheless, the Zhou family isn’t concerned, for Zhulan enjoys stockpiling.

From her eldest and second brother’s families, several grandsons have come—excluding the particularly young ones—comprising three of them. The eldest, Yang Qing is fourteen, Yang Yu is eleven, and the youngest, Yang Shu, is eight this year.

Among the three children, Yang Qing will join the Navy next year; arrangements have already been made, not by Li Zhao this time, but by Rongchuan himself, who personally escorted Yang Qing to meet General Hou.

General Hou suggested that at fifteen, Yang Qing should join the Navy, though he should now familiarize himself more with ships and the sea.

As for Yang Yu and Yang Shu, who are younger, their purpose in coming to the capital is to broaden their horizons.

The capital’s racetrack, even under the blazing summer heat, cannot dampen the passion for horse racing. The hotter it is, the more fervent the atmosphere.

Chang Zhong has become a regular at the racetrack; ever since receiving the passcard from his father, he has taken a liking to this place, though he always comes here with Ming Teng.

Yang Qing’s temperament was straightforward, and his voice particularly loud, "We won, we won."

Chang Zhong had grown accustomed to Yang Qing. Compared to Yang Wen, Yang Qing was rough around the edges, but his eyes were sharp, especially when it came to judging horses, "You really are impressive; the horse you pick always comes out on top."

Yang Yu curved her lips into a smile, "Second brother isn’t just lucky, it’s pure skill. When he was at home, he liked going to the horse market, and he was particularly close with some horse traders from the foreign clans, who taught him a lot of genuine tricks."

Yang Shu nodded, "I even received a pony from second brother once, a fine horse."

Hearing that, Yang Qing felt the pinch; all his younger brothers had conned him of all his silver. Saving up was not easy for him, especially since the biggest chunk came from following them to the capital, given by grandma.

After exchanging the winnings for silver, Chang Zhong really made a tidy profit today and waved his hand exuberantly, "It’s getting late. Come on, I’ll take you to eat roasted whole lamb."

Yang Shu twitched the corner of his mouth, "Roasted whole lamb in this scorching heat?"

He would definitely get oral ulcers from the heat tomorrow; no way he wanted that.

Chang Zhong wouldn’t say it was because he was reluctant to spend Silver Coin; with the three big eaters in front of him, he palpated his money pouch. Today he owed it to Yang Qing, so steeling his resolve and after a moment of silence, he said: "Then let’s go eat famous dishes from Jiangnan."

Yang Yu had more or less figured out this junior elder’s character. Their contact was limited the last time he came, but this time they interacted more, and she noticed he was somewhat stingy.

Chang Zhong was the shortest, yet he walked in front, drawing quite a bit of attention.

After arriving at the restaurant and securing a private room, Chang Zhong started to regret it. How to put it—this restaurant’s food was delicious and the plating extremely exquisite, the only downside being the small portions.

At the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren stopped Minister Wang, who was about to leave, "In the next few days, I will be resting. You and Qiu Yan should oversee things more closely."

Speaking so, Zhou Shuren rubbed his head; he was suffering from a bit of heatstroke and his head was really uncomfortable.

Since the rumor surfaced, Minister Wang had been extremely cautious in the Ministry of Revenue, trying not to speak too much with the other officials, fearing Zhou Shuren might overthink things. Hearing this, he was startled, thinking it was a test from the minister.

After looking carefully, he relaxed, "Minister, are you not feeling well?"

Zhou Shuren hummed in acknowledgment, "The Imperial Physician has already been called."

As they spoke, the Imperial Physician arrived, and Minister Wang didn’t leave, only to find out that Zhou Shuren was indeed ill and needed a few days to rest.

Zhou Shuren smiled as he dismissed the Imperial Physician, then quickly stood up to write a leave request, ready to send it off shortly. Nothing else needed arranging; the Ministry of Revenue had a complete system, and with Qiu Yan and Minister Wang around, his absence for a few days wouldn’t matter.

Minister Wang was taken aback by the speed at which Zhou Shuren wrote the leave request.

The Emperor in the palace had also received news of the illness, and he wasn’t cruel enough to exploit a sick person, instead paying attention to the leave request, "Many ministers have requested leave recently."

Eunuch Zhang replied, "Yes, several older ministers have taken sick leave, and a few have suffered from heatstroke."

The Emperor could feel the year’s heat even through the glass, "Is there enough ice in the palace?"

Eunuch Zhang said, "We’ve used more ice this year, requiring us to conserve." freewēbnoveℓ.com

The Retired Emperor’s harem had few concubines, so the palace didn’t consume much ice. After the Emperor had ascended the throne, he considered the use of ice and had stored more last year, but it still wasn’t enough. Additionally, with several young Princes and new Concubines added, the harem’s ice supply was tight.

The Emperor hummed, "Tell the Empress to start reducing the harem’s ice usage from today."

Eunuch Zhang acknowledged the order and left, preferring not to personally go unless he was seeing the Empress, muttering as he walked, "This year really is hot."

Zhou Shuren unexpectedly returned to his residence, and Zhulan could tell at a glance that her husband was unwell. She quickly signaled a maid to wring a towel, and as she helped him change, she asked, "Have you seen the Imperial Physician?"

"I’ve already consulted the Imperial Physician, and the medicine has been prescribed. Let’s start brewing it."

"Alright."

After changing, Zhou Shuren wiped his face with the towel, feeling much better, and after drinking the medicine, he began to feel drowsy.

Coincidentally, a letter from the Retired Emperor arrived along with some specialty products. Zhou Shuren looked at the letter, gritting his teeth, "Show off."