Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 7 The Thread in a Loving Mother's Hand

At noon, the Sheng family prepared a sumptuous lunch to entertain the Zhou family.

Zhou An also met the other members of the Sheng family, Sheng Wei's wife, Li, and Sheng Changwu.

Sheng Changwu is only twelve or thirteen years old, but he is quite robust.

As for Shulan and Pinlan, they were not seen, which is normal. Unless the two families already had a private relationship, it is unlikely that they would meet before entering the bridal chamber.

Zhou An was still somewhat regretful that he couldn't see his future wife, but that was the proper etiquette, and there was nothing he could do about it.

After the meal, they chatted for a while before Zhou Li took his leave.

Sheng Wei politely asked them to stay a moment longer, then personally escorted the Zhou family to the door and arranged for two carriages to accompany them.

Zhou Li expressed his gratitude, and then the four of them got into the carriage. Liu the matchmaker was a woman, so she could only have a carriage by herself, while Zhou An, his father, and Lu Wang squeezed into one carriage.

The coachman took them there, and Zhou An gave them some reward money. They thanked him and drove away in the carriage.

After dinner, Hao kept staring at the courtyard gate. Even though she knew that the fact that he hadn't returned for so long meant that the relationship had definitely succeeded, she still couldn't help feeling nervous.

Seeing Zhou Li and the others return, they quickly came forward and asked Zhou Li, "Did it work?"

"Miss Hao, Master Sheng is very satisfied with your eldest son, and with me involved, how could it not work out?"

Seeing that many neighbors were craning their necks to watch, Matchmaker Liu recounted her journey to propose marriage to the Sheng family with a beaming smile.

Of course, she played a very important role in her words.

The tone made it seem as if the marriage couldn't happen without her.

However, the Zhou family didn't care. Liu the matchmaker just wanted fame; the gifts for the matchmaker had already been agreed upon beforehand.

"Huai De, it's getting late, I'll head back to the county town now," Lu Wang said.

"Your Excellency, please go inside and have some tea and rest. Wait until you've sobered up before you leave," Zhou An advised.

"I'm not drunk."

Lu Wang laughed and said, "When you mentioned tea, I remembered you said you'd bring some for me!"

"Please come inside, Instructor. I'll get it for you!" Zhou An said.

Zhou Li also tried to persuade him, and Lu Wang finally agreed.

Upon arriving at the main hall, Zhou An asked his mother to make tea for Lu Wang, while he went to fetch tea leaves for Lu Wang.

He had roasted a lot of tea leaves last year, but now there weren't many left. Zhou An got him about two jin (1 kg).

"Your Excellency, the new tea harvest hasn't come yet. I'll go to the mountain to pick tea later and bring you some!" Zhou An said.

"Don't forget what I told you before," Lu Wang reminded him.

"The students seem to have forgotten about that."

Zhou An then realized that he still had to go to Jinling, so it seemed that this year's new tea could not be processed and the Hao family would have to process it.

His mother could also make it, but her skills were far inferior.

"It's alright, this much is enough for me to drink for a while," Lu Wang said with a smile.

Zhou An, however, understood Lu Wang's implication: he wouldn't give this tea to anyone else.

It is said that old age brings wisdom, and Lu Wang had already guessed some things.

Zhou An breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this; he had been wondering how to tell Lu Wang about it.

Tea and salt were both state-run enterprises. All tea gardens were controlled by the government, and merchants could only buy tea from the government and sell it to outsiders.

Logically speaking, even if the method of frying tea gets out, it won't have much of an impact.

However, the Great Zhou Dynasty has been established for a hundred years, and now not only is private salt rampant, but private tea is also quite common.

If the method of tea processing is exposed, those tea merchants who own private tea gardens will know what they might do for their own profit.

Tea is different from performance; this stuff needs to be grown in a specific place and can't be hidden away at all.

The identity of someone who dares to run a private tea garden is quite obvious.

This is why Zhou An only dared to drink it himself and didn't dare to take it out.

Lu Wang drank a cup of tea, then took his leave, and Zhou An escorted him to the edge of town. Lu Wang instructed Zhou An to settle his affairs at home as soon as possible and then go to see him.

When he got home, Zhou An took out the wooden box that Sheng Changsong had given him and told his parents what he had said.

"Isn't that the same as marrying into another family?" Zhou Li's face darkened upon hearing this.

The goals of those wealthy and powerful families were far removed from those of ordinary people like Zhou Li.

He couldn't understand the situation. When he heard that they would get married in the house provided by the woman and live there afterward, he immediately became unhappy.

"Yes, although our family is not as good as the Sheng family, we can't possibly live in a house provided by the Sheng family!" Hao Shi echoed.

Zhou Anhao had to explain before his parents reluctantly accepted it.

Even so, the parents still didn't look too good.

Zhou An sighed helplessly. Although reading can transcend social classes, there are still gaps in knowledge and understanding between different classes.

No wonder they say that nobles emerge after three generations.

He had actually considered all of these things, and his decision to marry Shulan was partly due to these considerations.

Even though he has now passed the imperial examination with flying colors, he still prefers to marry Shulan.

Putting aside the external benefits, the class gap between the Sheng family's main branch and the Zhou family is not particularly large.

He couldn't stand marrying a woman from a wealthy family who constantly complained about his parents.

He didn't have a soul transmigration; he was just born with memories of his previous life.

Zhou An didn't know if he had been reborn into an infant's body or if Meng Po had been lazy.

But he still has very deep feelings for his parents who raised him with great difficulty and supported his education.

Seeing his parents' reaction, he felt even more grateful for his choice.

The Sheng family didn't mean anything by it, but even this one action was unacceptable to their parents.

If the gap between the two companies widens, there will be even more things they will find unacceptable.

Zhou An had originally wanted his parents to rent out all their land and move to Qinghe County, but he had to give up that idea for the time being.

That evening, when he returned to his room, he opened the wooden box and found not only the house deed but also several indentures.

Even the servants were prepared in advance; Shengwei really thought things through thoroughly.

Zhou An glanced at the indenture; it belonged to a family of four: a couple in their early forties and their children.

My son is just twenty years old, and my daughter is only fifteen.

It's hard to say about that couple, but their child was definitely born out of wedlock.

With a contract of indenture and being part of the same family, it's very reassuring to use them.

Even if someone is sold into slavery, it's not impossible for them to commit murder and escape if they harbor evil intentions.

These days, there are no photos, and as long as you have money, it's easy to get a legal identity.

But with family members tied down, it wouldn't be easy to run away, so naturally I felt at ease.

As for whether the Sheng family arranged for them, Zhou An wasn't worried. The servants only cared about who held the indenture.

Holding the contract of indenture means holding the life and death of their entire family in his hands.

Zhou An looked at the property deed again; it was a three-courtyard house covering several acres.

Even in a small county town, it would probably be worth over a thousand taels.

.........

The next day, after having breakfast, Zhou An talked to his parents about going to study in Jinling.

Zhou An had already told them about this before, and since he was going to go anyway, he figured he might as well go sooner rather than later.

Anyway, he's staying at home now, and there's nothing for him to do.

Although Zhou Li and Hao Shi were reluctant, they agreed.

"The weather is getting warmer now, so I made you two lighter outfits. There's one more that's not finished yet, so let's stay a couple more days before you leave," said Madam Hao.