After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 410 What if we demolished the Zhu family's house?

Su Chuan and Su Zhan exchanged a glance and said carefully, "The two gentlemen parted ways when they arrived in Moshi Town. Mr. Chu went to Shenjiazhuang, while Mr. Xi came back to Dongmen Village with us. Dongmen Village is not as wealthy as Shenjiazhuang, but fortunately, Uncle Village Chief set a good example. All the children in my brother-in-law's family were sent to the village school, as were our family and my second uncle's family. Seeing this, the villagers all gritted their teeth and sent their children to the village school. Every household has children studying, at least one, and at most three or four."

Mr. Xi is finding it difficult to cope, and we are trying to find a new partner to help him share the burden.

Shenjiazhuang has done a very good job in this regard; they now have two husbands, the other of whom was found by the brother-in-law after a year of searching.

"It's not easy!" Liu Laosan sighed, but his smile deepened. "There are some things I can't say to you too bluntly, but I can give you a heads-up: if you have the ability, let your children study hard and learn diligently. It's not enough to just be able to recognize and write characters superficially, understand?"

Song Yongnian raised an eyebrow and tentatively asked, "Uncle Liu, is there some explanation?"

Liu Laosan gave him an approving look, then lowered his voice a few decibels, "This matter is somewhat related to the Sixth Prince's concubine."

"Huh?" Shen Dagou suddenly became interested.

Liu Laosan then explained in detail, "My goddaughter-in-law came to stay for a few months before, and I don't know what she said to the Sixth Prince's concubine, but the concubine has been thinking about her ever since."

When the concubine gave birth to the emperor's grandson, I went to visit her. The girl insisted on seeing me, though of course, through a screen.

I remember that the maid said that the emperor was overjoyed because she gave birth to a son, and made a promise to her, asking me what she should ask for.

At the time, I just thought she was insecure and had no one to consult with, so she mentioned gold and silver jewelry or even finding a job for her family members, which was reasonable!
But the girl said these were all minor benefits, and she didn't need them, nor did the Shen family. She asked me to think about it again for her.

Honestly, at the time I thought that girl was too carefree and I was about to remind her a couple of things, but I didn't expect her to bring up Xiaotai and say a few words about the court.

I was genuinely frightened, but thankfully the girl only hinted at it briefly, essentially saying that she hoped the emperor would give commoners a chance to enter officialdom.

Sigh! To be honest, after hearing her request, I felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, I thought that girl was too presumptuous, but on the other hand, I was pleased that she was kind-hearted and didn't only think of herself.

This request is really... I bet outsiders would say she's ungrateful, but I'm stubborn and want to go against the grain and give it a try.

So, the Sixth Prince and I went to the palace together and brought it up with the Emperor. The Sixth Prince obviously already knew what that girl was thinking and had made thorough preparations. The Emperor listened to him and said he would think it over carefully.

This matter involves a wide range of issues, and it would take three days and three nights to explain all the intricacies. But since the Emperor has taken it to heart, he will surely implement it. As for the timing, no one knows.

Innovation always requires overcoming numerous obstacles. It may take three to five years, or even thirty to fifty years; no one can guarantee that. But I am certain that this matter will definitely move forward.

It's never wrong to let children study hard! But they shouldn't forget to do chores while studying, lest they end up not only failing their studies but also becoming useless good-for-nothings.

Liu Laosan originally didn't want to say so much, but he wanted to help these good young men who had saved his life.

Although the group hadn't quite figured it out yet, they firmly believed that Liu Laosan wouldn't harm them, so they solemnly stood up and thanked him.

Before leaving, the butler hurried over and handed over a thick ledger, his face full of flattery, "These are the seafood reservations I made. Please take a look."

Su Chuan immediately took the book, and after flipping through only two pages, he was astonished: "The Wang family has ordered 500 servings of sashimi, 300 large yellow croakers, 1,000 pomfret, 1,000 red snapper, and 1,000 catties of prawns."

He read it for a while, then doubted that he had read it wrong, so he went through it all over again.

Looking at the butler in disbelief, he said, "No, no, the amount you gave is outrageous! And it's so thick! What are we going to do?" The butler patted Su Chuan's shoulder meaningfully, "Young people should keep busy so they can relax when they get old. I've already sent someone to Lizhou at full speed. You should hurry back now and make another trip. You can rest in the spring and start working again when the strawberry jam comes out. Isn't that perfect?"

Su Chuan's face fell. "Even a donkey wouldn't do that!"

Butler: "These are all connections!"

Su Chuan paused for a moment, then, remembering what Liu Laosan had said, nodded emphatically, “You’re right, we can’t afford to mess with money. It’s only right that we make another trip!”

The caravan set off.

On New Year's Eve, while the caravan was still on its way back, Zhaohua County in Lizhou was already filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year, except for the area of ​​houses next to the county government that had been dug out.

Shen Yi and Lu Tong had just finished discussing tomorrow's arrangements when they walked out of the county government office and found the surrounding area very deserted, which made them feel a little dazed.

“Now that the market has moved to the outskirts of the city, I’m really not used to it!” Lu Tong sighed twice. After descending two steps, he looked in the direction of the Zhu residence, his eyes darkening. “Shen Yi, do you think that if we dig up the Zhu residence next year, Master Zhu will cooperate with the relocation?”

The Zhu family spared no expense in welcoming their new bride, buying and expanding the house, and building pavilions and towers, all exquisitely designed.

If they are forced to relocate, the county government will at most allocate them a plot of land of the same size and provide them with a certain amount of compensation according to the standard. That's all.

The Zhu family suffered a huge loss.

Given Master Zhu's shrewd nature, he would most likely make a scene, or at least drag things out, or even bring in his daughter-in-law's family to put pressure on them.

Thinking of this, Lu Tong frowned and turned to look at Shen Yi, "Do you have any news about Zhu Yixuan?"

Shen Yi shook his head. "Isn't he in exile with his wife? The Cen family is powerful on the border, so the chances of him coming back are extremely slim."

Lu Tong breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that they're not coming back. It saves me from having to do things in a restricted manner. I've been busy for months, it's time to go home and have a proper New Year."

"Lord Lu, that's right too!" Shen Yi bowed, bid farewell to Lu Tong, quickly mounted his horse, went to the market outside the city and bought a lot of snacks and candied hawthorns, then braved the wind and snow to hurry home.

As soon as he arrived at the village entrance, he discovered that the entire Shenjiazhuang village had been enclosed by a wall. The wall, which was half a meter high, stretched along the grove of trees and seemed to have no end.

Following the wall, we arrived at the village gate.

The gate was about two zhang wide and one zhang high, with two lions standing beside it.

Shen Yi looked around carefully several times, walked a distance into the village, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar houses. Full of doubt, he returned home.

Shen Yuezhang opened the door.

The little girl was overjoyed to see her father return and rushed forward to help him carry his things.

"Father, Mother said you would definitely come back today. We've been waiting for you since early this morning."