Chapter 301 - 299: A Cunning Mind

Chapter 301: Chapter 299: A Cunning Mind

"Aunt Zhou, please don’t laugh at me along with Eldest Young Madam and Shengnan. The beautiful ladies of the Capital City are all as lovely as flowers and exceptionally graceful. How could a country girl like me possibly compare? Besides, it’s just a shell, after all. A beautiful face today, a pile of bones tomorrow." Zhou Lian gently stepped forward to support Mrs. Ping, speaking with an air of indifference.

Shaking her head slightly, Mrs. Ping patted the hand Zhou Lian was using to support her and said warmly, "You silly girl. You’re not modest when you should be, but now that you shouldn’t be, you’re acting all humble. Beautiful is beautiful, what’s there to deny? Yes, there are many beautiful and graceful girls in the Capital City, but compared to them, you stand out even more!"

"Alright, Aunt Zhou, let’s not talk about this anymore. Would you like to stroll in the garden, or head back inside?" Zhou Lian didn’t continue to argue with Mrs. Ping, gently changing the subject.

Mrs. Ping glanced at her, then at the others scattered around them. "Let’s go back inside," she said softly. "It’s getting a little cold. We wouldn’t want Shengnan to catch a chill!"

The group returned indoors, took off their coats, and sat on the sofa. The Eldest Young Madam quickly prepared tea and brought it over. Mrs. Ping lifted her cup, looked at it, and smiled. She said to her eldest daughter-in-law, "This must be the recipe Jin Chen gave you!"

"Yes, the day after Shengnan came back, Jin Chen gave me a notebook. It details everything a pregnant woman should pay attention to, from her clothes and food to her daily life and travel!" The Eldest Young Madam couldn’t help but find it amusing as she recalled the contents of the notebook. ’That Li Jincheng really does everything to the extreme!’

Mrs. Ping nodded and said, "Keep it safe. You can pass it down as a family heirloom in the future. Just look at this girl here to know how valuable that notebook is. Zhou Lian, you’re thirty this year, aren’t you?"

"I’m thirty-one. I’m a year older than Ping’an!"

"See? Does she look thirty-one? She’s had two children, but she still looks like a young girl herself. That notebook in your hands is the real hero!" Mrs. Ping said teasingly. When Zhou Lian was giving birth to Yanyan, she had visited several times and had seen with her own eyes how Li Xiu helped her recuperate.

Smiling, Zhou Lian replied with a touch of embarrassment, "It was indeed a kind gesture from Jin Chen. I was frail in my youth, with a weak spleen and stomach. Jin Chen scoured medical books and had doctors verify his findings. It really is very good for one’s health!"

Zhou Lian looked at Mrs. Ping and her daughter-in-law, then decided not to continue the previous topic. She said gently, "It just snowed and the weather is so cold. Aunt Ping, why did you come over? If you needed something, you could have just called us to the Imperial Palace. Why did you have to come in person?"

"Oh, I just wanted to get out for a stroll and thought I’d come see you all. When is Jin Chen coming back?" Mrs. Ping asked with a smile.

With a barely perceptible frown, Zhou Lian smiled and said, "It will be a while. His grandmother is getting on in years. We’ve been so busy with our own affairs these past few years that we haven’t paid her much mind. His grandmother raised Jin Chen since he was little, and with the two children there now, she was missing them terribly. So I told Jin Chen to stay at home a little longer with the children to be with her and show his filial piety. Better that than to one day face the regret of wanting to care for a parent who is no longer there."

"That’s true. The elderly in the family just long for the company of their children," Mrs. Ping said with a soft sigh.

Lowering her eyes, Zhou Lian took a delicate sip of the red date, longan, goji berry, and lotus seed tea prepared by the Eldest Young Madam. She said in a calm, unhurried tone, "Indeed. Jin Chen has always had a shallow fate with his own parents, so he feels a deep bond with the grandmother and great-aunt who raised him, as well as his third aunt who always protected him. That man never forgets a kindness, but he never forgets a grudge either."

"He’s a good boy. Anyone who is filial can’t be all that bad," Mrs. Ping said softly. ’I really underestimated this Zhou Lian. It’s a good thing that when Ping’an first befriended them, it was with true sincerity.’

Holding her cup, Zhou Lian flashed a brilliant smile at the three of them—mother-in-law and daughter-in-law—and said gently, "Yes. Perhaps even the worst person has a sliver of kindness in their heart. It’s just a matter of how much."

"You, why didn’t you wait for Jin Chen to come back before handling those matters? Why work so hard as a woman? You’ll just make Jin Chen worry about you!" Seeing how composed Zhou Lian was, Mrs. Ping decided to ask her directly. She understood now. This Zhou Lian’s skill at beating around the bush was truly formidable. She didn’t want to dance around the issue with her, lest their probing and testing affect their relationship.

Zhou Lian looked at Mrs. Ping with some confusion and said softly, "I’m not working hard, and I don’t need to be the one to step forward for these things. Jin Chen isn’t here, but isn’t Eldest Brother? Besides, Eldest Brother is far more reliable than Jin Chen. He’ll handle things much better."

"Sister, Mother knows you were the one who gave the order!" the Eldest Young Madam said, looking between her mother-in-law and Zhou Lian. She couldn’t help but sigh and press her forehead at Zhou Lian’s evasiveness and feigned ignorance.

Zhou Lian gave the Eldest Young Madam a curious look. "I never said I didn’t give the order. Aunt Zhou probably knew by last night. But I only said a few words. Isn’t Eldest Brother handling all these matters? Jin Chen never talks to me about such things. The scheming and backstabbing involved... that’s not something I can handle!"

"What made you decide to force Eldest Brother’s hand? We’ve all gotten used to how things were for so many years. How did you do it?" Perhaps it was due to Zhou Lian’s usual image, but Mrs. Ping didn’t quite grasp the meaning behind her words. She was simply curious. She knew all too well how stubborn her eldest son could be.

Suppressing her thoughts, Zhou Lian said lightly, "Eldest Brother was once the most celebrated young master of the Ping Family in the entire Capital City. Perhaps his time has simply come. I don’t have the kind of power Aunt Zhou credits me with! Besides, for the sake of the Ping Family, for Eldest Young Madam, and for Ping’an... Eldest Brother is a brilliant man. How could he not understand the current situation?"

"You little rascal!" Mrs. Ping pointed a finger at Zhou Lian from across the space and scolded with a laugh. They were all intelligent people. She instantly understood Zhou Lian’s meaning, but could only sigh. ’It was a matter of time and fate. How could she not know how stubborn her eldest son was? The credit for his resurgence now all belongs to Zhou Lian!’

Waving her hand gently, Zhou Lian said with a smile, "Actually, Aunt Zhou, you don’t need to worry. Eldest Brother’s mind and strategies are absolutely brilliant. He handles some things much better than Jin Chen does. After all, one is a professional, and the other is self-taught."

"You! How could Jin Chen be self-taught? When it comes to this, Yun Qi is the most orthodox authority there is. Jin Chen studied under Yun Qi; he’s no self-taught maverick!" Mrs. Ping said seriously. To put it bluntly, even Elder Ping could be considered half a student of Ge Yunqi. Since Jin Chen was his direct disciple, he was the most orthodox of them all.

Zhou Lian smiled and said, "Aunt Zhou, our master is the most brilliant, of course. But Aunt Zhou, you forget, Jin Chen and I grew up in the countryside. To put it bluntly, he has all the theory but none of the practical experience. A person’s environment has a huge impact on them. I know you all think very highly of Jin Chen, and I know how people outside talk him up as if he’s some kind of god. But no matter how capable he is, Jin Chen is still an ordinary person who spent over twenty years in the countryside. He’s a bit smarter than the average person, yes, but there’s a limit to how smart one can be!"