Those Betrothal Gifts Were Simply Too Conspicuous

Madam Su: "Give you a little? Why should I give you any? This is Zhixia's betrothal gift; it's all going to be taken to her later!"

Concubine Zhao was extremely envious:

"That's too much! Eighty-eight loads of betrothal gifts to take back? How will the young couple possibly use them all?"

"Besides, your daughter married into a family like that, but my daughter might marry into royalty. What will we do if she doesn't have a dowry?"

This pile of betrothal gifts is simply too eye-catching.

It was all solid gold—bracelets, Yuanbao, jewelry—several heavy boxes filled with them.

Behind them were piles of jade stones, so translucent they seemed to drip water—materials rarely seen even by wealthy families in the capital.

Madam Su smiled and said, "I wouldn't know then. After all, not every family is as generous as my future in-laws."

Lord Su said with a sense of satisfaction, "Although this family is poor, the fact that they can come up with so much betrothal gift shows that they value our Zhixia quite a bit."

Madam Su said softly:

"I don't think they're necessarily bad at their core. Zhou Wanwan said that all her brothers in the family are treated equally."

It's rare to be able to produce even one portion, but to produce several portions is simply incredibly rare.

"You know, with just these three kids in our family, we might not be able to come up with such a generous dowry in the future."

Lord Su laughed heartily:

"Okay, okay, our daughter might not have a hard time in the future!"

You put all these things into the storeroom. We don't covet children's things in this family.

Madam Su sighed and said, "Since they've given us such a generous dowry, ours in return must be just as generous, otherwise we'll be a laughingstock."

Lord Su nodded and said, "I entrust all these matters to you. I trust you to handle things."

Zhou Wanwan took Liu Su'e home. Liu Su'e looked at her and said, "Wanwan, you don't live at home?"

Zhou Wanwan chuckled and said, "No, I have to go back to the Lu Family. I still have a lot of things to take care of!"

Zhou Qingyan coughed and said, "Um... Wanwan, several senior officials wish to see you."

Zhou Wanwan's lips twitched. "They're here? Where are they?"

"Kneel outside the study now and say that if you don't go to see them today, they won't go back."

Zhou Wanwan sighed, "It's over, it's over, just you wait! They'll definitely make me go back to take charge."

What kind of major situation can be managed in such a tiny place as a mountain stronghold?

As soon as Zhou Wanwan entered the study, she saw Zhao Muyuan kneeling respectfully on the ground, followed by several military officers.

Zhou Wanwan quickly said, "Grand Tutor Zhao, you're so old, don't kneel down so easily!"

Grand Tutor Zhao raised his head and looked at her, saying:

"My lord, as you know, this old minister has come to see how your studies are going lately."

It's normal for you to be playful at your young age, and we can understand that.

But those assignments still need to be done.

Zhou Wanwan quickly said, "It's all done. You can check if you don't believe me."

Grand Tutor Zhao then slowly stood up and walked into the study. The other military officers also stood up and followed him into the study.

Grand Tutor Zhao took out a book, flipped through it, and began to quiz the students. After half an hour, a satisfied smile appeared on his face, "Not bad, not bad at all! You've memorized all these books in such a short time. You're truly a genius!"

Zhou Wanwan nodded and sighed:

You have no idea how much I suffered to memorize these books.

I have to memorize it as soon as I wake up in the morning, and I don't even sleep before bed at night, I still have to practice so many characters.

I haven't dared to neglect any of the lessons you mentioned for even a single day.

I even won second place this time.

Grand Tutor Zhao sighed and said, "Based on your usual grades, you should have ranked first in the imperial examination!"

Zhou Wanwan looked at Gu Sinian standing beside her and said, "Gu Sinian topped the list this time; I'm still a bit lacking."

Grand Tutor Zhao stroked his beard and said, "Oh! He's the top scholar? That explains it."

Gu Sinian's teacher was Chen Shouyi, the highest official of the Imperial Academy in the previous dynasty, who was in charge of education and the imperial examinations. He was a master-level figure among scholars.

Chen Shouyi laughed heartily and said, "Our Sinian is quite capable."

Grand Tutor Zhao chuckled and said, "Our mistress is quite capable. She still has to study the art of governing a country, so being able to get second place is already very impressive."

Chen Shouyi said:

"Yes, that's for sure. The children in our mountain village are all very talented."

Twenty-six were correct in total, not bad at all.

Grand Tutor Zhao was very satisfied; they had come today specifically for this matter.

Grand Tutor Zhao looked at Zhou Wanwan and asked, "Aren't you planning to go back anytime soon?"

Zhou Wanwan coughed and said:

"Something's happened, something important. I have to go to the Lu Family in a bit. The Lu Family is trying to cause trouble for our mountain stronghold."

I'm also thinking of giving their house a good tidying up.

She was also curious about how the Lu Family planned to treat her, so she had to go back and see.

Grand Tutor Zhao frowned and said, "Then please be careful. Once you've settled things with the Lu Family, will you return to the mountain stronghold?"

Zhou Wanwan coughed and said:

"We still need to go to the Zhou Family; several groups of people have already come to Zhou Family Village."

My father meant that now that he had passed the imperial examination and become a scholar, he should go back home.

To put it bluntly, it's just showing off.

Zhou Wanwan naturally wanted to show off a bit, because the people of Zhou Family Village had driven her whole family out, and she hadn't even gotten her revenge yet!

The best way to get revenge is to return home in glory.

Grand Tutor Zhao nodded and said, "You still need to study. We'll head back in a bit and wait for you at the mountain stronghold."

Zhou Wanwan nodded quickly, and the old men sat on the tree man and left.

Now, for convenience, there are dozens of tree people in the mountains who work as sedan chair carriers.

These old men only need to tell the tree people where they want to go.

The tree people will also protect them secretly.

Moreover, the tree people are faster than the carriages, and they all have a treehouse on their bodies, which, although small, is very comfortable to sit in.

After they left, Zhou Wanwan went to the Lu Family Lu Family, which was very quiet at the time.

Zhou Wanwan stood in the yard for a while, and then she heard a lot of noise coming from inside.

A weeping crabapple tree spoke first, sounding quite agitated. "Sigh, this matter has blown up way too much today!"

A banana plant nearby stretched out its broad leaves and chimed in:

"Who says otherwise? Tonight was supposed to be a banquet to find a husband for Lu Lan, the eldest daughter of the Lu Family, but it was all ruined."

That young lady is now locked up in the ancestral hall to reflect on her actions; she's got no Ruyi husbands!

The Chunhua in the corner also came over and whispered:

"Have you heard? The Lu Family has announced that they're going to deal with that Zhou Wanwan!"

Who exactly is Zhou Wanwan this Zhou Wanwan? I think she's amazing!

The weeping crabapple tree proudly swayed its branches and said:

"That's the girl who stunned everyone at the banquet today!"

Hey! Look, isn't she here? Instead of sleeping in the middle of the night, she's still wandering around outside. She's so carefree."