The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 388

Yun Jin kept Dong Shu'er around for two reasons. First, to amuse herself. Second, Dong Rui, the prefect of Shaoxing, was wavering in his stance. Keeping Dong Shu'er around would keep Dong Rui in check. At least for the time being, Dong Rui was on Zhou Chu's side.

Often, those who have desires are the most useful and safest, while those who have no desires are the most dangerous.

A woman like Dong Shu'er wears her heart on her sleeve. Zhou Chu isn't afraid of her, and Yun Jin is even less afraid. They just treat her as a source of amusement.

As for what will happen afterward? Zhou Chu said from the beginning that this matter was inappropriate and might damage Dong Shu'er's reputation. Since Dong Rui and his daughter didn't care, Zhou Chu cared even less. There were countless officials like Dong Rui in the Ming Dynasty.

As long as it doesn't incur public wrath or involve obvious factionalism, Zhou Chu won't investigate Dong Rui for the time being. In fact, it wouldn't be out of the question to promote him when the time is right.

Dong Rui has political acumen, though his abilities may be average. But average abilities are never a problem; as long as he can complete the tasks assigned to him without fail, he is a useful person.

The Ming Dynasty's civil service examination system produced officials who were mostly incompetent; Dong Rui was just a microcosm of this.

Zhou Chu has a lot to do and has offended a lot of people. He will definitely have to deal with some and then deal with others. It's impossible for him to offend everyone.

People like Dong Rui, who are wavering and indecisive, are the ones that Zhou Chu and the emperor can win over.

So keeping Dong Shu'er to serve him was simply a way of showing that he accepted Dong Rui's intentions. During this time, Zhou Chu wanted to assess Dong Rui's abilities. If she proved capable, he would promote her and his request would be fulfilled.

As for Dong Shu'er, Dong Rui probably wouldn't care. Dong Shu'er might be sad, but nobody cares.

This is an exchange of interests in officialdom, and it is also Dong Rui's pledge of allegiance to Zhou Chu. Dong Rui understands that Zhou Chu is unlikely to be interested in his daughter, so he has prepared a way out for Dong Shu'er early on.

The only one who didn't understand from beginning to end was Dong Shu'er.

Looking at Dong Shu'er's slightly affected demeanor, Zhou Chu couldn't help but think of the "green tea" type from later generations, and found it somewhat amusing.

"will not."

Zhou Chu said casually.

At this time, Yun Jin was teaching Er Ya calligraphy. Yun Jin usually lived in the same room as Er Ya, and their relationship grew better and better as they spent time together. So Yun Jin thought about teaching Er Ya to read and write.

Under Yun Jin's guidance, Er Ya tried very hard to control the brush in her hand, but the brush seemed to have its own ideas and did not follow Er Ya's wishes at all. In the end, the characters she wrote could not be described as crooked and twisted. It took Yun Jin a long time to recognize what Er Ya had written.

"Sister Yun Jin, I didn't write well."

Er Ya seemed to know that her writing was not good. She looked at Yun Jin with a flushed face, her hands nervously clutching the hem of her clothes, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay, everyone's like this at the beginning. Take it slow, you'll get better and better."

Seeing Er Ya's appearance, Yun Jin said somewhat against her will.

"really?"

Er Ya's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this, and she looked at Yun Jin with anticipation, asking him a question.

"real."

Yun Jin patted Er Ya's head and comforted her.

"Sister, are you a powerful female general, like Mulan?"

Er Ya looked at Yun Jin with a face full of admiration.

"You also know about Mulan?"

Yun Jin said with some surprise.

"Yes, I know. My third grandfather told me about Mulan, who took her father's place in the army. She was amazing. Is my sister also a female general?"

Er Ya's eyebrows danced with excitement.

"Yes, didn't you see my armor in the room?"

Yun Jin smiled.

Er Ya's eyes lit up even more when she heard this.

"Sister, can you teach me martial arts? I want to be Mulan someday."

Er Ya looked at Yun Jin and said.

"What's the point of being Mulan? Being Mulan is very hard. Fighting is not as fun as it is in the play. People die, many, many people die."

Yun Jin said with a hint of helplessness.

"Huh? People will die? Then I don't want to fight anymore, I don't want to be a female general."

Er Ya's dream of becoming Mulan was shattered by Yun Jin's few words before it even began.

"However, learning martial arts is a good idea. It can improve your health and help you protect yourself."

Yun Jin smiled.

Dong Shuer and Er Ya's mother lived in one room, while Zhang Damin and Da Zhu lived in another. In this way, they were finally able to find a place to live.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhang had no objections to this. In fact, the couple was full of expectations for the future. Although they did not know Zhou Chu’s specific identity, they could tell from the army stationed outside the village that Brother Chu’s identity was by no means ordinary.

Zhou Chu agreed to Zhang Damin's request to secure a future for Dazhu. The couple is now completely different from before, full of expectations for the future, and they are more willing to fulfill Zhou Chu's requests. In fact, Zhang Damin will do his best to do things even if Zhou Chu doesn't ask for them.

Originally, Dong Shu'er had planned to live in the same room as Zhou Chu, just with a bamboo bed. Since they had agreed to serve each other closely, Dong Shu'er naturally wanted to seize every opportunity. However, Zhou Chu wouldn't let this kind of woman get too close to him; one should always be wary of others.

Dong Shu'er slept on Zhang Damin's bed, but no matter how she tried, she felt uncomfortable. The difference between this bed and her own bed was too great. Dong Shu'er was a young lady from a wealthy family, and she had never suffered like this before. However, she knew that she shouldn't be too pretentious, otherwise she might displease Lord Zhou.

So he could only endure the discomfort and close his eyes to rest.

Just as dawn broke, the roosters in Zhangjia Village crowed incessantly, irritating Dong Shu'er, who had only recently fallen asleep. She felt an urge to get up and kill the crowing rooster.

Zhang Damin's wife gets up on time to work as soon as she hears the rooster crow. The mountain people have a very regular schedule; they get up when they hear the rooster crow and go to bed early at night.

Zhang Damin's wife dared not provoke Dong Shu'er, the daughter of the prefect. Seeing that Dong Shu'er was still sleeping, she dared not disturb her and could only try to make as little noise as possible, for fear of waking her up.

Dong Shu'er had been woken up by the rooster's crow long ago. Thinking that she should act diligently, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and get up. At this time, Dong Shu'er hadn't slept for long at all, and she was extremely sleepy and looked very unwell.

After she got dressed and washed up, she came to Zhou Chu. Zhou Chu had already gotten up by then. He used to practice his martial arts every day and get up at 5 a.m. sharp without fail, a habit he had long since formed.

At this moment, Zhou Chu was sitting at the door watching Da Zhu practice martial arts, Er Ya was standing in a solemn stance next to him, and Yun Jin was wielding a gun with great skill.

"My lord, I think it's better for a girl to be well-educated and reasonable. I don't know how to practice martial arts, I only know some needlework, but I have read some books."

Seeing Yun Jin's appearance, Dong Shu'er couldn't help but say something to Zhou Chu.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu glanced at her but said nothing.

Yun Jin, who was practicing martial arts, heard this and his spear, like a dragon, rushed straight for Dong Shu'er, grazing her hair as it pierced through. Dong Shu'er was terrified.

Yun Jin put away her gun and came to the two of them. Looking at Dong Shu'er, who looked terrified, she was full of disdain.

"You think your father is keeping you here for your own good? He's just after his own promotion and wealth. With my second brother's talent and status, why would he ever look at a self-righteous woman like you?"

Yun Jin smiled.

Upon hearing this, Dong Shu'er glanced at Zhou Chu's noncommittal expression and her face turned deathly pale.