Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!-Chapter 557: Seeking Refuge_1

Zhou Shuren reminisced about Scholar Deng. Back when he had come to the capital to buy a residence, Scholar Deng had been a great help. A friend of Zhao Bo, yes, he remembered that Scholar Deng had a brother-in-law who was a Vice Minister of Revenue, was it the left or the right, he couldn’t quite recall. Not long ago, a house had just been raided, the Vice Minister had been beheaded, and his family was demoted to their ancestral land, forbidden from taking the imperial exam for three generations.

Jinyin led people in, and Zhou Shuren almost didn’t recognize Scholar Deng. The Scholar Deng of the past dressed appropriately, with the appearance of a young master holding a fan. Now in coarse cloth clothing, the hairpin on his head had been replaced with a wooden one, and he had aged considerably.

So, Zhou Shuren understood, it was Scholar Deng’s brother-in-law’s house that had been raided. That’s right; back then, Scholar Deng’s brother-in-law had some influence in the capital, all thanks to his connections. From the beginning to the end, there had always been issues with Scholar Deng’s brother-in-law.

Scholar Deng stirred his sleeve, the temperature in the room was quite warm. The warmth made his numb fingertips start to itch slightly, and his eyes revealed some unease, "My, my lord."

Zhou Shuren averted his gaze, so relying on oneself is better than relying on others. The greater one’s glory when backed by power, the more desolate one becomes when it falls, "Scholar Deng, we are old acquaintances after all, please sit."

Seeing that this was not just a courtesy, Scholar Deng carefully took a seat, "Thank you, my lord."

Zhou Shuren did not ask how he had fallen into such a state; he could guess. Initially, Scholar Deng’s family was not peaceful, and when the backing collapsed, the family naturally fell apart, "Have some tea."

Scholar Deng had a sip of tea. How long had it been since he had tasted such fine tea? Thinking of his current home situation, only he and his son remained. His parents had passed away, his wife had left him, taking their daughter with her—ah, the daughter was beautiful, so she went with her mother while the young son stayed with him.

Zhou Shuren’s eyes landed on Scholar Deng’s feet, noticing only a pair of cloth shoes. He sighed, Scholar Deng had earned quite a bit of silver, but without a backer, that became a disaster, "Why not leave?"

Scholar Deng gripped the teacup tightly. Why not leave? Because he was not willing to give up, "What good would returning do? Stuck on ancestral lands, not knowing when one can leave."

He didn’t want to leave because he knew that once he left the capital, it would be very difficult to return.

Zhou Shuren saw the reluctance in Scholar Deng’s eyes, "Have you been waiting for me all this time?"

He couldn’t think of anyone else who Scholar Deng might be placing his hopes in.

Scholar Deng’s heart lifted, and he became nervous. He truly was gambling, although he had been bullied and barely survived without starving to death, he had his underlying resources and could still collect information. Lord Zhou, the more he enquired, the more hope he held, "Yes."

Zhou Shuren recognized Scholar Deng’s abilities; he had a knack for dealing with all kinds of people, "You’re coming to seek refuge with me?" fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

Frankly, under unbalanced circumstances, there was no need to beat around the bush.

Scholar Deng slowed his breathing to calm himself down. He needed to be composed, "Yes, I am willing to serve you, my lord."

Zhou Shuren had climbed his way up, taking in many people and going through a lot, with only a few leaving a lasting impression, one of whom was before him now. Now that he had fallen on hard times, his resolve had only strengthened, "Then show me what you can do."

Joy erupted in Scholar Deng’s eyes, he hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly, so smoothly that he almost couldn’t believe it, "My lord, won’t you investigate first?"

Zhou Shuren smiled, "What I mean is, show me what you can do. There will be a probationary period, those who qualify can stay, those who don’t will leave."

Scholar Deng chided himself; how could someone who had climbed to the position of the Prefect of Jinzhou Province so easily trust him? But, he truly hadn’t sought refuge with anyone else, his gaze was firm, "I will prove it."

Zhou Shuren uttered a sound of acknowledgment, then reached out to touch his money pouch, only to freeze. The silver in the pouch had been nearly spent, and it seemed there was not much left. If only he had saved some earlier. He would need to give some silver, considering the state of Scholar Deng’s attire and his dire straits, "You eat some pastries and rest here for a while."

Scholar Deng had been hungry for a while now, but he hadn’t dared to reach for food, "Yes."

After the lord had left, Scholar Deng felt exceptionally complex inside. He hadn’t taken their first meeting seriously; in their second encounter, Zhou Shuren had become the second-place scholar, someone he now had to look up to. Silently picking up a cake, it had been a long time since he had one—the pangs of hunger in his stomach became more insistent as he chuckled softly. So, one must climb up, right?

Zhou Shuren called for Jinyin and Shen Xing, "How much silver tael do you have on you now?"

Jinyin was startled, "A little over one thousand taels."

Shen Xing blinked, wondering what the adult was up to, his eyes slightly unfocused. When he hadn’t been following the adult, he had pocketed a significant nest egg by dealing in antiques, feeling conflicted now, "Five, five thousand Silver Taels."

Zhou Shuren went silent. Had he asked something terrible? These two really did have Silver! And it was Shen Xing who had hidden it the deepest!

Realizing he had exposed himself, Shen Xing grew nervous. Had he and Jin Yan done something foolish?

Zhou Shuren coughed, "Lend me one hundred taels of Silver. I need it for something. I’ll pay you back when we return to Jinzhou."

Jin Yan and Shen Xing fell silent, looking at Zhou Shuren, whose head was covered in metaphorical black lines, "So, you didn’t bring any Silver with you?"

Jin Yan chuckled dryly, "My lord, why would we need to bring Silver when we go out with you?"

Back then, they never had to spend their own Silver.

Shen Xing felt his purse and shook out less than one tael of broken Silver, "That’s all I’ve got."

Zhou Shuren felt like spitting blood out of frustration. How had he never noticed that these two were so stingy? Staring at the less than one tael of broken Silver, Zhou Shuren clenched his teeth, "Aren’t you afraid of not having Silver when you go out without it?"

Jin Yan looked up at the sky, "Ahem, well, my lord, there are still plenty of burglaries these days. We can manage to scrounge up some."

Shen Xing picked up the conversation, "Plus, with the government’s wanted notices out, we take on a job or two when we’re about to run out of coins."

Zhou Shuren, "...."

So they just didn’t want to spend a single coin of their own.

Grinding his teeth, Zhou Shuren faced the facts: he still needed to borrow Silver. What a pitfall. With few acquaintances in the capital, he couldn’t borrow from anyone. In the end, it was Lord Wang who came to the rescue, "Jin Yan, ahem, go to Lord Wang’s residence and tell him I want to borrow one hundred taels of Silver."

Jin Yan slipped away efficiently, "Yes."

Zhou Shuren returned to the hall, feeling extremely awkward. Who would have thought his purse would be empty of Silver? Seeing Scholar Deng looking at him, he asked, "Are there any other family members at home now?"

After having his fill of sweets, Scholar Deng spoke more confidently, "My son is with me, six years old."

Zhou Shuren frowned, "Where are you staying?"

With his head lowered, Scholar Deng replied, "A civilian area in Beicheng, I’ve rented a room."

"The child is at home alone?"

Scholar Deng pursed his lips. He wasn’t a good father—couldn’t cook, and made a six-year-old child take care of him, "Yes."

Zhou Shuren tapped the table, "Bring the child over. Tomorrow he’ll return to Jinzhou with me."

Scholar Deng understood that Zhou was not being kind but was instead holding his child as leverage, still not trusting him. However, his son would surely be well cared for at Zhou’s residence, "Yes."

Zhou Shuren called Shen Xing over and instructed him to accompany Scholar Deng to fetch the child and bring him back.

At the Zhou family residence in Jinzhou, the doctor had long since left. Zhulan, watching Su Xuan who was still trying to recover her senses, realized she wasn’t pregnant after all. She had really trapped herself!