Chapter 44: Black Hearted

Wang Ru squeezed her palms, feeling like she was being burned by fire.
Since coming to these ancient times, she never had a smooth experience.
She had read novels about time-traveling women being the main characters, but she had been facing setbacks all along.
She couldn’t just sit and wait for death, so she thought it over and decided to start with the Zhou family.

Wang Ru pinched herself, tears in her sore eyes, with a pitiful little face, “Grandma Zhou, my nǎinǎi (1) is afraid of you, only you can save me in the village, please pity me.
Help me, my nǎinǎi is going to beat me to death.”

Zhulan twitched the corners of her mouth, don’t think she didn’t see Wang Ru’s little tricks, and pretended she would, “Don’t cry, you child, although Wang Zhang shi is not as good as a beast, she doesn’t dare to kill people.
Killing someone not only means paying with life but also affects the reputation of the entire Wang family.
For the sake of the Wang family, Wang Zhang shi would not dare to kill.”

Don’t look at Wang Zhang’s scolding and beating of a few girls, but it was never so severe that it can kill anyone.
The grandson of the Wang family was about to get married, and several granddaughters needed to be married off.
Even Wang Zhang shi who behaved like a demon at times, wouldn’t dare to commit such a heinous act openly.

Wang Ru quickly glanced at Zhou Yang, is this what a simple-minded person would say? She felt her heart sink and immediately knelt with a “plop”, “Grandma Zhou, my grandma doesn’t dare to beat me to death, but she dares to starve me to death.
As long as she is not found, no one can do anything about her.
Please, have a kind heart and save me.”

Zhu Lan’s heart skipped a beat.
Now Wang Ru was kneeling to her, and her most hated person would change to her.
As long as Wang Ru became successful, she would not want to face her, to whom she had knelt before.
Feeling uneasy, she turned cold and pulled Wang Ru up, “Look at you, saying such foolish things.
The whole village knows that San Ya has a talent for making big money.
Your grandmother is the most astute.
How could she starve you? You are just scaring yourself with your pitiful appearance!”

Zhulan quickly interrupted Wang Ru and called out to the second son who was chopping firewood, “The Second son, hurry up and call Fourth Wang, I don’t know how Fourth Wang became a father, look how scared Sanya is.”
Second Zhou had been listening for a long time and felt that Sanya was a troublemaker.
He was really afraid that his mother will be soft-hearted and quickly lose the axe, “I’ll go right now.”

Wang Ru’s hatred in her heart was pulled, she could see it, the simple and honest Zhou family members were all hidden traitors, so she didn’t have any burden in her heart, “Grandma Zhou, Xuehan is my friend, you are Xuehan’s mother.
You are the kindest, and you also know that I make money, as long as you help me, I will take out the recipe and work together.
The Zhou family gets 70% and I will keep 30%.”

Zhulan sneered, she let go of Wang Ru and said indifferently, “Sanya, there are three scholars in our Zhou family, the Zhou family will not do business.
We follow the rule of scholars, farmers, and artisans not doing business.
Understandably, you don’t know this; so Grandma Zhou doesn’t blame you.
But in the future don’t talk this nonsense.”

Zhou Shuren studied the laws of the fictional dynasty they were in diligently and also gave some explanations to Zhulan.
According to the laws of this fictional dynasty, merchants and their offspring were not allowed to take the imperial examinations, unless they donated 90% of their wealth and returned to their ancestral home to farm for three generations.
Farmers who sold their produce from their land were not considered merchants, even if they were listed as the owners of grain stores because they sold products that were produced by them.

But if you run something else, you are considered a businessman.
Even if you run a small business, like a street peddler, you were considered to be a businessman.

Being so strict with the imperial examinations, there is a root cause that can be traced.
It is all because the Emperor suffered a lot of losses from merchants when he rebelled.
The merchants’ pursuit of profit indirectly killed many soldiers.
In addition, in the late period of the previous dynasty, there was a phenomenon of merchants buying officials to make money.
The accelerated chaos made life difficult for the people.
When the dynasty was established, a group of merchants were ruthlessly cleaned up.
It can be seen that the Emperor hated the merchants and never stopped suppressing the merchants.

The new dynasty was effective from the top to the bottom.
Some businessmen and farmers have blurred boundaries.
As long as they are blurred and directly judged to be businessmen, they will not be given the opportunity to explain, so that those who have books at home will not dare to touch them.

Zhulan doesn’t think Wang Ru doesn’t know, but she does know that Wang Ru has been asking around a few days ago.
This person had a black heart and wanted to cut off the Zhou family’s way of studying!

“Mother, mother, I made it, haha, mother.”