Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 66 Shulan's Longing

Zhoujia, Qinghe County.

Inside the main hall of the left courtyard, Yu Jie'er sat upright at the table, holding a pen in her hand, writing on a piece of paper.

Shulan sat on a soft couch to the side, holding a needle and thread and a piece of clothing in her hands, doing needlework.

She seemed lost in thought, her head bowed, the needle in her hand remaining motionless.

"Sister-in-law, I've finished writing!"

Yu Jie'er filled the paper with writing, put down her pen, and said happily.

Shulan was startled by the sudden sound and stabbed her finger with a needle.

"Hiss~"

"Young Madam, are you alright?" the maid Liu Xu asked anxiously.

"fine!"

Shulan put down her needle and thread and pressed her bleeding fingers with a handkerchief.

"Sister-in-law, did I scare you just now?" Yu Jie'er ran over with a guilty look on her face.

"It has nothing to do with you. I was just lost in thought while I was doing my work."

Shulan smiled and said, "You should learn from my mistake. You must be serious about everything you do and not get distracted."

"I see."

Yu Jie lowered her head somewhat embarrassed, thinking that she had been caught slacking off.

Shulan removed the handkerchief and saw that the bleeding from her finger had stopped. She looked at Yu Jie'er and asked, "Have you finished your homework for today?"

"It's done."

Yu Jie nodded, then turned to the maid and instructed, "Lihua, quickly go and bring it to your sister-in-law for inspection."

The young maid was chosen by Shulan from the estate that was part of Yu Jie'er's dowry. She was Yu Jie'er's personal maid and was even a little younger than her.

Behind the Zhou family's house in Youyang, there was a pear tree. Every time it bloomed, it was the happiest time for Yu Jie'er.

This meant that pears would be available in a few months, so she named the little maid Pear Blossom.

Upon hearing this, the maidservant hurriedly went to the desk and brought over a sheet of paper covered with horizontal strokes.

Shulan took a look and said, "The first few were well-written and straightforward, but the later ones got worse and worse."

"My hands are getting a little sore in the back," Yu Jie'er whispered.

"If your hand gets tired, take a break before writing again!"

Shulan pulled her aside and said seriously, "There are methods and approaches to everything. Sometimes doing it well is more important than finishing it."

"I understand!" Sister Yu nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Alright, go have fun."

Shulan didn't say much. The principles had to be taught little by little. It was unrealistic to expect her to understand them all at once.

"Um!"

Yu Jie nodded happily and left with her little maid, Li Hua.

Not long after Yu Jie'er left, Mama Shen came in and bowed, saying, "Young Madam, the shop has been agreed upon, for a total of six hundred and twenty taels."

"That shop isn't small, and the price isn't too expensive. Let's have Butler Chu come and get the money tomorrow and buy the shop," Shulan said after thinking for a moment.

"Shouldn't we tell the master about this?" Mrs. Shen suggested.

Shulan thought for a moment and said, "If I ask my father-in-law, he definitely won't agree. It's rare to find a suitable one, so let's buy it. When my husband comes back, I'll have him tell my father-in-law that he won't agree. Renting it out will also bring in some income."

Mrs. Shen said, "Judging by the days, the son-in-law should be back by now."

"Yes." A hint of longing flashed in Shulan's eyes.

During dinner that evening, Mrs. Hao brought up the matter again.

"I heard from people who came from Tongzhou that the county examination will be held on the same day as usual this year. They should be back in the next couple of days. Why hasn't Dalang come home yet?" Hao said with some worry.

Shulan comforted her, "Mother, when the master goes to take the provincial examination, he will inevitably make friends with some scholars, which will inevitably delay him for a few days. It's normal for him to be a few days late."

"Your daughter-in-law is right, so don't worry unnecessarily!" Zhou Li said.

Hao rolled her eyes at him: "You're quite carefree, going to the teahouse to drink tea and listen to storytelling every day."

Zhou Li said helplessly, "Didn't I tell you? I saw that the teahouse business was pretty good and I wanted to open one. I went to listen to the storytelling only to learn how to run one."

"You've been learning for almost a month now, have you made any progress yet?" Hao asked rhetorically.

"Doing business isn't that simple. You definitely need to do a lot of research, otherwise what if you lose money after opening the business?"

Zhou Li was too embarrassed to say that he was actually already looking for a shop.

Unfortunately, he had limited funds and was reluctant to ask his daughter-in-law for money.

He looked for several shops, but the rents all exceeded his expectations, and the locations that were suitable weren't very good.

"Do whatever you want!"

Hao didn't continue the conversation. That's how it is with ordinary couples; when they chat about anything, they tend to speak quite loudly.

It's just normal conversation; that's how people in the countryside talk. They shout to calm people down when they're working.

But to those wealthy families, it looked like an argument.

"Shulan, eat more. You've worked hard teaching Yujie to read and do math these past few days."

Hao took a clean pair of chopsticks and served Shulan some of her favorite dishes.

"Thank you, Mother."

Shulan smiled and said, "Yu'er is very well-behaved; even my younger sister isn't as sensible as her!"

As the eldest sister, she had to shoulder the responsibility of disciplining her younger siblings when her parents were busy from a young age.

Pinlan has a rather carefree personality, and she feels that teaching Yujie is much easier than teaching Pinlan.

"Mother, look, even my sister-in-law can see my good points, but you're always finding fault with me," Yu-jie said irritably.

"Who's complaining about you? I'm just worried that you're being too playful and might upset your sister-in-law!" Madam Hao rolled her eyes at her.

"No way!"

Yu Jie made a face and then lowered her head to eat her meal.

"This child!" Mrs. Hao was both annoyed and amused.

After the family finished their meal, it got dark.

After chatting for a while, they went back to their rooms.

Shulan strolled around the courtyard corridor for a while before returning to her room to wash up and rest.

After lying down, I had some trouble sleeping because I missed Zhou An.

Only a few months after their marriage, when the young couple was enjoying their honeymoon, Zhou An left home to participate in the provincial examination.

She was gone for more than a month. She had trouble sleeping for the first few days, but she gradually got used to it.

Now that Zhou An is about to return, he misses him again.

I tossed and turned until late at night before finally drifting off to sleep.

The next day, after waking up, she went to greet her parents-in-law, had breakfast with them, and took Yu-jie back to the courtyard, where she taught her to read as usual.

After Zhou An left, she taught Yu Jie'er etiquette for a period of time, and then began to teach her to read and write.

Typically, students learn to read in the morning, and in the afternoon they first learn etiquette and posture, and then practice writing strokes.

Although it has been a short time, Yu Jie'er has already learned some characters.

"Young Madam!"

Just as Shulan was teaching Yujie to read, a maid rushed in and said urgently, "Third Miss has arrived with several women, crying and sobbing, and has already been taken to the main hall."

"I see!"

Shulan frowned slightly, instructed Yu Jie'er to review the few words she had just taught her, and then went to the main hall.

Before even entering, one could hear bursts of weeping coming from the main hall; the sound was so loud that one might mistake it for a funeral.

"Don't cry, my family can't help you. Go back and think of a solution yourselves," said Madam Hao.

"Third son's wife, we're blood relatives! If you don't help me, my daughters will be divorced, and I won't live like that!"

Shulan entered the main hall and saw Zhou sitting slumped on the ground, seemingly contemplating suicide, and Hao couldn't pull her up no matter what she tried.

Three haggard-looking women stood nearby, heads bowed and silent.