Zhou Wenzhi glanced at his eldest daughter and sighed. He suddenly glanced at someone behind her and gestured with his hand. "Shu’er, come here."

The young woman obediently followed her father’s words, biting her lip under Zhou Anran’s intense gaze.

She sat down beside her sister and greeted them awkwardly. "Father, Elder Sister, you two haven’t gone to sleep..."

Zhou Wenzhi nodded. "I have something to tell you two today. I know you must have a lot of questions."

He leaned back slightly, but it didn’t diminish the sudden tense atmosphere at all. His hand reached out for the cold tea on the table, and he drank it to moisten his throat.

"Father, do you want me to change it to warm tea?" Zhou Anran couldn’t help but ask.

Upon seeing her father nodding, she got up and took the tea from the table. Fifteen minutes later, she came back with a new tea in the teapot.

"Please, try it, Father." Zhou Anran put the tray on the table.

"Let me do it, Elder Sister," Zhou Shuran gently took the teapot from her sister and poured down a glass for Zhou Wenzhi and Zhou Anran each.

The warmth from the tea dispelled the night’s coldness.

Zhou Wenzhi took a deep breath and opened his mouth. His two daughters straightened themselves in focus. "Our family used to be a noble family in the capital."

He pointed to the calligraphy and painting hanging on the wall. "These are the works of your great-grandfather."

The sisters studied calligraphy and painting on the wall. Even without prior knowledge on the related field, they knew that such exquisite works couldn’t have been drawn by an ordinary person.

It wasn’t that they looked down on ordinary people, but they simply didn’t have the means for it.

With just one look, they could see that their great-grandfather was really a noble. Only nobles had the privilege to learn such things. The lesser paper quality didn’t even ruin these works.

"He was the Minister of Revenue," Zhou Wenzhi paused. "But... because he offended the Crown Prince during that time, the latter made a trap for your great-grandfather. Your great-grandfather fell into the trap, and people began to impeach him for embezzling the national treasury."

"The Emperor punished your great-grandfather and the family with exile."

Zhou Wenzhi’s words made the two quite restless. Fortunately, the window and doors were closed tightly so no one could hear their discussion inside.

He continued telling them how the emperor at that time was a faint person, only caring about his own pleasure and neglected the people’s needs.

When the common people were suffering from famine and drought, he never paid them any mind. He even raised the taxes, putting more pressure on their shoulders.

He ultimately died in his own son’s hand, the Second Prince who had long held resentment toward this neglectful ruler.

The Emperor had sent the Second Prince’s birth mother to the cold palace just because of a few words of complaint from his new favorite concubine. The Second Prince’s mother ended up taking her own life.

By the time the Emperor had a new favorite, the Second Prince tried his luck to beg the Emperor to let her go. Alas, the old Emperor’s response had ignited his anger.

"Oh, did I really send her to the cold palace?"

He didn’t even remember there was such a woman.

In the heat of a moment, the Second Prince suddenly pulled a dagger and slashed it to the Emperor’s neck, killing him in an instant even before the eunuch and imperial guards could react.

Later, the Second Prince was beheaded for rebellion and the Crown Prince ascended the throne.

Unfortunately, this Crown Prince was the exact replica of the previous Emperor, and people continue to sink into despair, living in misery every day due to the natural disasters, famine, and drought.

The new Emperor ruled for many years, ignoring his ministers who were begging him to help alleviate the common people’s suffering.

So many people had been fed up with such incompetent ruler. Hence, rebellion often occurred. Still, it wasn’t easy to shake the behemoth that was the imperial family.

Until one day, the general under the emperor who couldn’t bear the people’s suffering anymore finally rebelled. After many sacrifices, he managed to seize the throne and became the emperor, changing the country’s name into the Great Yuan Dynasty.

Upon listening to the history of their country, Zhou Shuran and Zhou Anran were in trance for a moment.

"Your great-grandfather always advised us to lie low if the Crown Prince were to be the Emperor. His words really came true. Our family obediently stayed here as farmers." Zhou Wenzhi continued.

Except for a few troublemakers, they all who were scared at the Crown Prince’s new power as the Emperor, rarely made trouble. Fortunately, the new Emperor never paid them any mind again.

Finally, after a history lesson, Zhou Wenzhi revealed the source of the house and fields. "The fields and the house are from our relatives."

There was an uncle, the eldest son of the great-grandfather, who never had any kids, so they gave their inheritance to Zhou Wenzhi. For years, he never touched them.

It was also the wealth he never revealed to his wife, Chen Huayun, for fear she might do something to them like giving them away to her brothers or something. After all, it had happened before.

He didn’t want her to touch the main house of the Zhou family, the fruit of their struggle in exile. The Zhou family arrived in this county with nothing and they had to start from scratch.

Zhou Anran and Zhou Shuran fell silent for a moment after they heard their father’s words.

It was Zhou Shuran who broke the silence first. "I believe that what Father is doing is right."

After that, she lowered her head.

Zhou Wenzhi turned to his eldest daughter.

Sighing, Zhou Anran told him with a smile. "Father, you never made a decision without proper reason, so you must have thought about it thoroughly."

He suddenly let out a sigh, as if relieved. "Ran’er, I will hand over the key to this house to you."