Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 43 Looking at someone with eyes gouged out

The concept of marrying someone of equal social standing still exists in later generations, and it is not the dross that many people think it is, but rather the unique wisdom of our ancestors.

A person's social standing and background determine their vision and ability, although it is not absolute, it is definitely a certainty in general.

A few isolated cases do not represent the entire group.

Minglan is strong in every way, right?

But her intelligence was secondary; it was Old Madam Sheng's teachings that were truly crucial.

If Wei Xiaoniang hadn't died, Minglan wouldn't have been hiding her talents; she would have truly been unskilled.

Zhou An's willingness to marry Shulan was largely due to his own family's circumstances.

He needs someone who can get along well with his family and whose background isn't too low.

To be honest, Zhou An didn't have high expectations for Shulan's abilities.

But Shulan's words were reasonable and well-founded, which changed Zhou An's perception of her.

"If you and I don't tell anyone, who will know about this?"

Madam Zhou said, "This will also benefit your husband. You're not reluctant to part with it, are you?"

Shulan glanced at Hao Shi, seeing that she looked normal, and then glanced at Zhou An.

Zhou's words were provocative, and she was worried that Hao and Zhou An would overthink it.

Zhou An smiled slightly and gave her an encouraging look.

Shulan immediately understood and said, "It's not that I'm unwilling to part with a little money. My cousin has already given up on the imperial examinations, but my husband is still young and wants to participate in the examinations. Naturally, we can't take any risks."

"This doesn't prevent Dalang from taking the imperial examination!" Zhou said, frowning.

"On the surface, it doesn't seem to cause any problems, but if word gets out, who would be willing to vouch for the official?"

Shulan shook her head and said, "Grandma, you should think of another way yourself!"

"Then have your family lend me some money. The Sheng family is so rich, I don't need to lend too much, just three or five hundred taels will do!" Zhou said.

Shulan never expected that Zhou would be so shameless as to ask the Sheng family to lend her money.

She and Zhou An had been married for less than half a month when she took her husband's relatives to borrow money from her own family. How could she face people if word got out?

"Auntie has such a big face!"

Hao could no longer contain herself. Pointing at Zhou, she angrily shouted, "You're making three or five hundred taels sound like three or five copper coins! You borrowed a total of 11 taels and three hundred copper coins from my family several times before, and you haven't paid that back. I won't lend you a single copper coin!"

"Is that how you talk to your elders?"

Zhou stood up angrily and shouted inside, "Zhou Li, you come out here! Now that your branch of the family has become successful, you look down on us poor relatives, don't you?"

"I already told you he's not home!" Mrs. Hao said irritably.

"Alright, I'll wait here and see how long he can hide."

Zhou sat down and snorted coldly, "I'm going to ask him face to face whether he still acknowledges me as his elder!"

"The New Year is just around the corner. If you want to spend it on the road, then you can wait!" Hao sneered.

"This…"

Mrs. Zhou was dumbfounded; she had been so angry that she had forgotten about this.

She would need a few days to go back to her husband's home. If Zhou Lizheng was hiding outside and would only come back close to the New Year, she couldn't possibly stay at Zhou's house for the New Year, could she?

She might not care, but it wouldn't sound good if word got out.

"Don't think this is the end of it. I'll come again after the New Year, and I'll invite the rest of the Zhou family to come too!"

After finishing her sentence, Zhou stormed out.

"You old fool, who do you think you are? No one else in the Zhou family has come to borrow money, and you, an aunt who is almost five generations removed from the family, have the nerve to come? You have no shame at all!" Madam Hao cursed.

"Mother-in-law, please calm down!"

Shulan quickly stepped forward to pat Hao's back and said, "If you really make a scene, it will be bad for your husband's reputation, and that would be quite troublesome."

"She dares!"

Madam Hao glared and said, "If she dares to do that, I'll tear her mouth apart!"

"Mother-in-law, if my aunt really does it, it will be too late."

Shulan thought for a moment and said, "I think we should strike first. Mother-in-law, spread the news first, then no one will believe anything you say!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Madam Hao nodded quickly: "Eldest son, your father and I will go back to Youyang this afternoon."

"I'll go with you," Zhou An said.

"No need," Hao said, shaking her head. "Those women in the countryside gossip endlessly, and you hate that the most."

Zhou An didn't insist, and asked, "By the way, where's Father?"

He didn't see his father and assumed he was hiding.

It's not that his father was cowardly, but rather that Zhou was utterly shameless.

Although I didn't know her family's situation when I lent her money the previous times, the Zhou family wasn't exactly wealthy. They wouldn't continue lending money if the money was just going to be borrowed and not repaid.

When Zhou Li refused to lend the money, Zhou not only made a scene at the Zhou family's door, but also tried to kneel down to Zhou Li in front of the neighbors when they came to watch the commotion.

This put Zhou Li in a difficult position, and he had no choice but to lend her some money to get rid of her.

"Your father went out. He's thinking of seeing if he can find a shop to do some small business," Hao said.

Upon learning that living separately from his son would affect his son's reputation, Zhou Li abandoned the idea.

However, it is seven or eight miles away from Youyang, and it would be inconvenient to farm if one lived in the city.

So Zhou Li discussed with his wife the idea of ​​renting out all their farmland and setting up a shop in the city to do some small business.

This way, they can find something to do and won't have to rely entirely on their daughter-in-law's dowry to support them.

Zhou An opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't try to persuade them. His parents were used to doing some work, and they wouldn't be used to a life where they could just stay at home all day and be waited on.

If you keep it bottled up for too long, you might even get sick.

Anyway, there's no rule in the Great Zhou Dynasty that prohibits the offspring of merchants from taking the imperial examinations, so let them be.

After chatting with his mother for a while, the couple went home.

"Why are you staring at me like that, my lord?"

After leaving the house, Shulan noticed that Zhou An kept looking at her and asked him something.

"I just think my wife is amazing. Marrying you is my blessing!" Zhou An said with a smile.

Shulan's handling of his great-aunt and the ideas she came up with afterwards impressed him greatly.

Shulan said somewhat shyly, "It's all thanks to my mother-in-law and husband's support that I have the confidence."

"That's because my wife is clever!" Zhou An laughed.

Hearing Shulan's words, he realized what was going on. Shulan's gentle nature was based on the fact that Sun Zhigao and his mother were both scoundrels, not because she was truly incapable.

Although the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism had not yet emerged, it was not as harsh on women.

But if a woman's parents-in-law and husband don't support her, no matter how capable she is, it's useless.

However, Shulan's behavior went far beyond her tone, making Zhou An feel like he had struck gold.

When Zhou Li returned and learned of this, he was so angry that he cursed loudly. After lunch, he and Hao Shi took a carriage back to Youyang and did not return until evening.

Zhou An learned from them that the other members of the Zhou family were very supportive of them.

In fact, no member of the Zhou family who was related to the Zhou clan was not annoyed by the Zhou family.

Almost every family with slightly better financial means had lent money to Zhou An, and now that Zhou An had achieved official rank, they were too busy trying to curry favor with him.

They didn't get any benefit from it; one of them, who had already married out, was even trying to get something in return.