After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 682 - 676: All are Relatives

Mrs. Wang became talkative, mainly because the stories about her father-in-law and her uncle were too good to gossip about.

She pulled her daughter to sit down under the tree, and although she was restraining herself, she couldn’t hold back her excitement and said, "Your aunt and grandmother have a big age difference, and their relationship is quite good, but the reason our family interacts less with the Wang Family is because of your uncle."

Zhao Hanzhang humbly asked, "What happened to my uncle?"

Mrs. Wang sighed and said, "Oh, this uncle of yours is completely different from your grandfather."

This uncle was Wang Ji, and his own sister was Zhao Hanzhang’s actual grandmother.

It’s usually said that even if relations aren’t great between brothers-in-law, they don’t become too bad, but they were not like that.

Zhao Changyu was naturally frugal, but Wang Ji was naturally extravagant, taking two extremes.

To what extent? Wang Ji could throw money around for fun. He liked horseback riding, and at the time, Luoyang was prosperous, and land was expensive. But he would spend a lot of money to buy a big piece of land just to make a racetrack, and for visual enjoyment and showing off, he paved the road with money, walking the money path to the stables to lead the horses.

Zhao Hanzhang thought, if this were modern times, just this act could get him convicted for insulting money and locked up. With a hint of jealousy, she asked, "And then?"

"Your grandfather really disapproved of his extravagance, but your grandfather was broad-minded. Though he didn’t like it, he wouldn’t interfere in others’ lives."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. If it were her, she would just watch coldly as the other made a fool of himself. If she could get some money from him in the process, it would be even better.

For example...

Zhao Hanzhang pushed the image of the Seventh Ancestor out of her mind and quickly asked, "Then how did they become enemies?"

"Wasn’t it your uncle, your grandfather didn’t like him, and yet he insisted on provoking your grandfather."

Zhao Changyu was frugal—cough, cough—actually slightly stingy. He was stingy to himself and also stingy to others.

There was a plum tree planted in their family’s garden at the time. The fruits it bore were incredibly delicious, so delicious that even Emperor Jin Wu opened his mouth to request some from Zhao Changyu.

Zhao Changyu took a few dozen to Emperor Jin Wu and refused to give more.

If he treated Emperor Jin Wu like that, let alone this disliked little brother-in-law—Zhao Changyu would just offer him a few.

One day, Wang Ji took the chance when Zhao Changyu was not at home, brought along a bunch of young men, sneaked into his brother-in-law’s house, climbed the tree directly to eat to their fill, and after they were stuffed, they took the remaining branches, showed them off publicly.

The father-in-law and the uncle in the fifth generation are naturally closer to the father-in-law, so Mrs. Wang was also indignant and said, "Your uncle is truly rude."

Zhao Hanzhang’s smile faded, and with a furrowed brow she said, "Eating could be forgiven, but why did he break the branches and cut down the entire fruit tree? It was such a waste of a good plum tree, just for the sake of ego—it was so petty."

Mrs. Wang nodded repeatedly and whispered, "Your grandmother said the same thing, so she wouldn’t let your father get close to your uncle. In contrast, your grandfather didn’t say much, just tightened the household regulations from then on, not allowing anyone—even relatives—into the back garden without permission."

Such conflicts accumulated bit by bit, and since Zhao Hanzhang’s grandmother passed away early, they were even less close with the Wang Family.

Though the two families were relatives, they interacted very little.

Mrs. Wang whispered, "This time Wang Yu, who came with Shubo, is your uncle’s second son. So you take care; if he lacks talent, find an excuse to send him away. Don’t let familial ties prevent you from refusing.

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help but laugh and agreed, "Alright."

She asked, "Mother, is Wang Ji dead?"

Mrs. Wang looked around and nodded, then whispered, "You can’t call him by name directly. Although he had a bad relationship with your grandfather, he was still your elder, and if people hear it, they might speak ill of you."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded and wanted to ask more in detail when Mrs. Wang suddenly furrowed her brow and said, "Thinking over it, Wang Yu and Tinghan are somewhat related."

Zhao Hanzhang’s head buzzed. Do families always marry within their circles?

Can’t they choose other families?

Zhao Hanzhang humbly asked, "What relation do they have?"

"My uncle married Princess Changshan, who was Emperor Jin Wu’s daughter."

Oh, Fu Tinghan’s mother was also a princess, but she was Emperor Hui’s daughter, so Princess Changshan is Fu Tinghan’s aunt. Great, they’re not of a different generation; Fu Tinghan must call Wang Yu uncle.

Hahaha...

Zhao Hanzhang laughed skyward, exhaling as she said, "Alright, I will wait for them to come. When will they arrive?"

"I received a letter yesterday. Counting the days, they’ll probably arrive in two or three days."

Zhao Hanzhang then laughed and said, "Then I’ll stay a few extra days to wait for them."

Originally, she planned to go to Luoyang in a couple of days.

Thanks to Zhao Hanzhang dispatching troops to clear out bandits on the official roads, Zhao Ju now leads the Zhao Family Army to patrol back and forth along the border. Sometimes, upon hearing that merchant caravans entering Yu State were robbed by bandits on the road, he didn’t care about the boundary and took people to clean them out, collecting some spoils along the way.

No choice, Zhao Hanzhang is terribly short of money right now.

She can only let Zhao Ju patrol the borders, especially the junctions with Yangzhou and Jingzhou. Both places are wealthy, and while major wars don’t impact them, occasionally they fight among themselves, not to mention the many refugees, so there are many bandits on the roads.

Clearing the bandits from the official roads not only enriches her but also encourages commerce and trains soldiers, achieving three goals in one.

However, the number of times she is insulted and impeached has also increased.

In just two months, the impeachment notes transferred from Yun City to her already piled up a desk. Aside from initially returning a letter of defense, Zhao Hanzhang no longer replies.

And now, those people have seen Zhao Hanzhang’s shamelessness, knowing that impeaching her to the Emperor is useless, so some officials from Jingzhou and Yangzhou wrote directly to scold her.

Of course, while scolding her, they couldn’t help saying, "With her shamelessness, she might actually reclaim lost territories along with Gou Xi."

It’s simply outrageous. Not only did she let the Zhao Family Army cross the border to clear bandits, robbing everything from the bandits’ lairs, she even encouraged their state’s citizens to migrate to Yu State. Considering the recent loss of population, several County Magistrates are heartbroken.

But they couldn’t defeat Zhao Hanzhang.

Wei Jie couldn’t have imagined that the southern escape was so difficult while the northern return was so easy. After arriving at Lujiang, bandit attacks on their journey became rare.

Their group had only about ten people, moving quickly, but they traveled in constant fear since, during their southward journey, their group of several hundred was robbed.

Wang Yu slowed his horse’s speed, his hand on the hilt of his knife, vigilantly watching the woodland on both sides until they passed through and saw the open fields; only then did he slightly relax.

He rode to the side of the carriage and said to Wei Jie inside, "Strange, last time I passed through here, wasn’t there a large bandit encampment in these mountains? We had quite a fierce battle to get through then, so why didn’t they appear this time?"

Wei Jie pondered, "Perhaps the mountain bandits have already been cleared away."

"Does the Lujiang official have such ability?"