Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!-Chapter 1162: Suicide

Marquis Rong’s Residence, Rong Enqing helped his wife to her feet, truly overjoyed. He was to become a father again; he had thought that he would only ever have one son in his lifetime. He carefully said, "Whether it’s a boy or a girl, it is a treasure bestowed upon us by the heavens."

Yao Yao had been in a daze, and now could hardly believe it. Her husband had confessed to her that he was poisoned, and now, "I’m really pregnant?"

"Yes, you are already more than two months along. You started having pregnancy trouble this time; you need to rest in bed and recuperate."

Yao Yao clung to her husband’s hand, "I still want to investigate my mother’s death. My brother became a monk for my sake; I promised to take good care of him."

Rong Enqing sighed. Becoming a monk meant a lifetime away, a chance to keep alive. Without taking the vows, there might not have been a chance to live at all. This was the only thing he could do for his wife.

Thankfully, the child was clear-headed and had become a monk decisively.

At the Palace, the Emperor was aware of what Rong Enqing had done and inquired, "Is Young Master Yao’s body truly ruined? Has the medicine been administered?"

"Yes, his very foundation has been destroyed. Even if we stop the weakening medication, his body will not recover, and his life will be short. The medicine to ensure the end of his lineage was also administered without his noticing."

The Emperor said, "Leave someone at the monastery to keep an eye on him. Since he has become a monk, there is no need for him to come out again."

As the Emperor saw the people out, he twirled his prayer beads in his hand, "I want to see just how far this Yao Yao can go. After some time has passed, give the cause of Lady Bai’s death and the evidence to Mrs. Hou." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Eunuch Liu bowed his head, "Yes."

At the Zhou family estate, Zhulan held in her hands the blueprints of the residence that the Emperor had awarded to the Zhou family. This was the final draft; the divisions of the Rong family property had been dealt with in the last few days, and the gates of each courtyard had been sealed.

From the blueprints, Zhulan could clearly see the portion allocated to the Zhou family, complete with a large man-made lake; the architecture was designed following the style of Jiangnan.

Xue Mei stood by her mother’s side, "Mother, this residence is too large."

Zhulan chuckled gleefully, "Yes, it’s huge. For now, we can only look at the blueprints, and we’ll have to wait a few more months before we can actually visit."

Xue Mei felt that the winding corridors shown on the blueprints were too many; without guidance, she truly might get lost, "Building such a residence must cost tens of thousands of taels at least."

Zhulan rejoiced, "Yes, and that’s with some materials only costing their basic price. If the Emperor hadn’t covered all the expenses, our family couldn’t afford to build it."

The Emperor had taken too much from the Rong clan, yet he had not skimped on the Silver. The Emperor still cared about his reputation.

After helping her mother roll up the blueprints and putting them away, Xue Mei said, "Mother, have you heard? The price of glass has come down. I’m thinking of replacing all our windows at home with glass."

Naturally, Zhulan had heard. Economic prosperity promoted development. The technology for glass in foreign lands was already advanced. The dynasty had also improved its technology, continually experimenting. As the technology matured and production volumes grew, the price of glass naturally decreased.

Thinking of the new residence, Zhou Shuren had mentioned that the windows there should also be changed to glass. She was quite looking forward to moving into the new home.

At the home of Zhang Jinghong, Yao Xin finally got in touch with her mother, but her mother did not wish to come out. Reading the letters from her mother, the tears kept falling; her mother did not want to become a burden to her.

Yao Xin sobbed and hiccupped as she hastily wrote a reply; she was not afraid of the burden.

Zhang Jinghong returned and upon seeing the letter, his heart skipped a beat. His mother-in-law didn’t simply want to relieve his wife of the burden. She also didn’t want his wife to have any connection with the Yao Marquis Residence. Clutching the letter, he finally said, "Your mother was determined to die. With her here, you still have ties to the Marquis Residence. Only with her gone can you completely sever them."

Yao Xin panicked, "What should we do, what should we do?"

Zhang Jinghong looked at the sky, "I’ll send a young servant to keep watch at the Yao Marquis Residence."

Yao Xin collapsed to the ground. The letter had been delivered several hours ago, yet she hadn’t noticed. She fell to the ground and sobbed bitterly.

Time ticked by slowly, and the young servant soon returned with the news of the concubine’s death.

Yao Xin said, "I just wanted to bring mother here. I didn’t want to push her to death. I wanted her to live well."

Zhang Jinghong hugged his wife, but a mother doesn’t always think the same way. The Yao Marquis Residence was a sinking ship, and the concubine didn’t want to drag her daughter down with it when the ship sank. The concubine’s suicide was also her maternal love, "Your mother hoped that you could live peacefully."

Yao Xin, not understanding before, murmured, "When I was young, I was particularly unruly. I looked down on the concubine’s status. I’m not good, I didn’t deserve her to die for me. I’m not good, I’m not good."

Zhang Jinghong tightened his grip on his wife, "You are good. You’ve taken care of mother for these past years. She knew that; you are good."

But Yao Xin was engulfed in endless guilt. She was not a good daughter, and in the end, she became the cause of her mother’s death.

At the Zhou family, Zhou Shuren said, "Today, foreign diplomats presented the Emperor with a self-ringing clock made in the style of the Jiangnan scenery."

Zhulan asked softly, "Now that the Emperor has used it, that’s the best endorsement. Just watch, tomorrow the foreign merchants’ stores will be out of self-ringing clocks."

Zhou Shuren said, "It’s too expensive. I asked around; the cheaper ones cost over a thousand taels, and the expensive ones several thousand. Speaking of which, it was the Chinese who first invented clocks. I remember that in the Northern Song Dynasty, Su Song created the first mechanical timekeeping device, which was used more than three hundred years earlier than in the West. There’s another name I’ve forgotten, but the invention of mechanical clocks also predates the West by over eighty years."

Zhulan said, "The previous dynasties and the current one may be fiction, history has turned a corner, but the history of the Northern Song Dynasty exists. We could ask the Ministry of Works to search for materials and make our own. I’m not planning to buy from the West now; it’s too expensive. If I’m going to buy, I’ll buy domestic products."

Zhou Shuren chuckled, "It’s been a while since I’ve heard ’buy domestic.’ I miss it. You’re right; let’s buy domestic. I’ll go talk to Mr. Fang about it tomorrow, and if need be, cough cough, we’ll imitate it. We could buy some and take them apart."

Zhulan smiled, "Hmm."

The next day, Zhulan still couldn’t contain her curiosity. She wasn’t going to buy, she was only going to look at the foreigner’s shop, and she brought her young son along as a kind of holiday for him. Of course, she also had her own ulterior motive: she hoped her son would be exposed to more and be able to accept more foreign things better.

When the carriage arrived, the foreign merchant’s store was indeed crowded. The employees inside were all locals from the capital, and the shopkeeper spoke foreign languages. Rows and rows of self-ringing clocks were continuously brought out for display and sale.

Chang Zhong’s eyes were wide with astonishment due to the prices. He touched the Silver Coin in his purse; what he had saved wouldn’t be enough to buy even a leg of one clock.

Zhulan had to admit, they were all works of art. In the end, hearing the shopkeeper’s prices, her sinful hand, eager to spend Silver, withdrew. It was too expensive. She took her son and left without buying anything.

Mother and son detoured to the glass store and bought some glass cups before returning to the carriage.

Zhulan asked her son, "What are your thoughts?"

Chang Zhong had many thoughts, "Mother, I think if we controlled the technology, the foreigners wouldn’t be able to charge sky-high prices. Things are precious because they are rare. If they are no longer scarce, the prices will come down."

Zhulan stroked her son’s head, "You’re right. Do you have any other thoughts?"