Chapter 56: Disrupting The Plan

While dinner was not ready, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren asked their Eldest to carry Daqian, and the group went to the house of the Patriarch of the Zhou clan first.

Patriarch Zhou was a wonderful person, he didn’t even ask what he was doing when he saw the material of the clothes, he knew he was going to Zhang Datie’s house. He followed him neatly and even asked his son to invite the Zhang clan’s patriarch and Zhang clan’s elders.

Zhulan had memories of interacting with the patriarch’s family, but when she actually met him, it was like meeting a familiar stranger. No wonder in the novel, when the Zhou family encountered trouble, no one from the Zhou clan came forward to help.

Zhang Datie’s house was on the other side of the village, and Zhou Shuren and his party went to Zhang’s house together with Patriarch Zhang and his party.

The news had already spread throughout the village, but patriarch Zhang didn’t expect Zhou Shuren to call patriarch Zhou, and no one said a word when they met at the door, and went straight into the yard.

Zhang Datie and his wife thought about not admitting their debts. Seeing Daqian being carried in by Eldest Zhou, they panicked. The patriarchs have come. They must lose money!

The patriarch of the Zhou family found a place to sit down first and looked at Zhou Shuren without saying a word. He came here to be a mascot, and Zhou Shuren was given the chance to speak.

With a cold face, Zhou Shuren asked Eldest Zhou to put down Daqian. After the fever, he was a little weak, his face was bloodless, and he closed his eyes tightly as if he was about to die at any time.

Zhu shi screamed, “We have no money, whoever caused the trouble go to him.”
Zhulan pointed to Daqian, “Daqian has no money on him. We came to you two for help. The doctor said he needs to be carefully treated for a hundred days, and we will need to take good care of him in the future. Stop talking nonsense and give us twenty taels of silver.”

If it weren’t for the fear of exaggerating her injuries and affecting her daughter’s reputation, she would have wanted to demand more money harshly. Although she would definitely have to move away in the future, she was still afraid that enemies might come looking for her daughter and cause trouble, so it’s better to be cautious.

Zhu covered her chest in pain and couldn’t breathe. She was desperate for money, saying, ‘Twenty taels? Why don’t you just rob someone?

Zhou Shuren’s eardrums hurt, and he didn’t want to waste time listening to Zhu shi’s words. So he stared at Zhang Datie coldly, Don’t even think about using your child to pay off your debt. The medical bills for your serious injury are already up to five taels of silver. Even after treatment, he cannot engage in heavy labor, or it will affect his lifespan. Today, we’re both living in the same village, so I’ve brought the two family’s heads over to reconcile. If you don’t agree, the in-law’s family will come to talk to you tomorrow.”

Zhang Datie, ” … “

He is not afraid of the Zhou family. It is no secret that the Zhou family was not harmonious with the Zhou clan in the village, but he is afraid of the Yang family. He had been a slave before he knew that the lives of lower-class people were the least valuable, and he was aware of the methods used by people from all walks of life. The Yang family had many friends who operated under the radar, and he was afraid of them.

The head of the Zhou family looked at Zhou Shuren with surprise. “Oh, my, the old Zhou Shuren used to be such an honest and straightforward person. Now he’s learned how to threaten people. He’s learned bad habits,” he thought to himself. He stroked his beard and thought that he didn’t mind his clan member having a few more thoughts, but he didn’t want him to become too cold-hearted in the future.

Patriarch Zhou thought about it and said to Patriarch Zhang: ” Our two surnames have been intermarrying for generations, and most of us are related in some way. We don’t want to cause any bad blood between us. However, we must be accountable to the Datie family for this matter. How about this? Datie’s family will give five taels of silver as payment for the doctor’s fees and medicine, and once the child recovers, he will slowly repay the remaining debt to the Shuren family. This way, we can settle this matter. What do you think?”

Zhulan thought to herself, ‘What a shrewd person the patriarch is. Zhou Shuren hasn’t even made up his mind yet, but the patriarch had already guessed the general idea. Being a patriarch is not an easy job.”

Patriarch Zhang was in a daze for a while, confirming that it was Chief Zhou who spoke, twitching at the corner of his mouth. What kind of play was this? However, in his heart, he was calculating whether the Zhou family and the Zhou clan had reconciled. If that were the case, they could no longer be bullied. The Zhou clan had produced two xiucai(1) in the past two years, while the Zhang clan had only produced one tongsheng (2). He envied the Zhou clan for having more people and began to think.

Zhang Datie rolled his eyes. He was smart. If he hadn’t been smart, he would have died instead of just breaking his leg. Hearing what Patriarch Zhou said, he instantly understood that Zhou Shuren’s main purpose was to have the child!

Zhou Shuren had calculated many possibilities, but he didn’t expect that Patriarch Zhou would no longer play the role of a mascot and instead offer to help. From the Patriarch’s perspective, the Zhou family was stronger than the Zhang family. Zhou Shuren was straightforward about his purpose, and he watched Zhang Datie’s eyes darting around in confusion. He couldn’t help but sneer in his heart. With the Patriarch’s change in attitude, he no longer needed to calculate, and Patriarch Zhang could only hold back his thoughts.

Zhang Datie thought about it for a while but didn’t understand what was so good about Daqian. The only thing he thought about was that the girl from the Zhou family was seriously injured, so they wanted Daqian to be completely responsible for her and become a Yang Tongfu (3). But why give the Zhou family a child he had raised so far for nothing.”

Zhou Shuren ignored Zhang Datie, looked at Patriarch Zhou, and left the idea to him.

Patriarch Zhou understood the meaning and didn’t feel that his recklessness disrupted Zhou Shuren’s plan. He believed in his intuition and always felt that Zhou Shuren had changed. He motioned at Zhou Shuren to leave the matter to him.

Xiucai were successful candidates who had passed the college exam. This was the second exam of the imperial exam system.Tongsheng were successful candidates who had passed the county/prefecture exam which was the first exam of the imperial exam system.Fostered child groom.