Yang Xi calculated a sum for Wu Shan: the household registration fee was five taels of silver. The two children were both under seven years old, so together their head tax came to one tael of silver, while the adults cost ten taels. Altogether, they needed to pay sixteen taels in one go!

What did sixteen taels mean? Even if a large family neither ate nor drank nor paid taxes, they could at most save seven or six taels a year—and that was under the condition that they owned farmland themselves. To save up sixteen taels would require several years of going without food or drink!

The Wu family had not followed their family south. If they came to the south, relying only on themselves, they could only become refugees fleeing disaster. Without household registration, they would never obtain even a shred of stability. In the end, they would either become hidden households, exploited and controlled by others, or the able-bodied laborers would be seized and forced into hard labor.

Only by registering could they receive local acceptance and protection; the registration fee was unavoidable.

Yang Xi asked, “How much silver do you have left, brother?”

Wu Shan rubbed his stiff face. “We spent quite a bit of silver on the journey, and we still have a little over five taels left. Our most valuable possessions are our donkey and horse, and the horse is thanks to you guys.”

He paused and continued, “Once we’ve chosen a place to settle, I plan to sell the horse. We’ve reached our destination, and we must stay and settle down.”

Zhou Yu poured Wu Shan a cup of water. “There are still two days until the New Year. Brother, you can inquire about the prices of horses and donkeys so you’ll know what to expect when you sell the horse.”

“I’ll inquire tomorrow, hoping to sell it for more money so I can buy some land.”

Wu Shan didn’t want to become a tenant farmer; life as a tenant farmer was too hard. Thinking about the house his family needed, Wu Shan’s head ached even more.

After Wu Shan left, Yang Xi said, “We won’t sell our horse.”

Donkeys and horses that can pull carts are scarce resources, and for easy travel, they must be kept.

Zhou Yu thought so too. “I’ll tell Third Yang later. That kid has always wanted to buy Li Zheng a horse, but he’s never had the chance. Now the opportunity has come.”

“Mm.”

Yang Xi was tired and got up to go back to bed for a while. She directed Zhou Yu to put the blankets away, then lay down, supporting her belly. “Comfortable.”

“Let me massage your legs.”

“Okay.”

Zhou Yu massaged his wife’s legs while talking about taxes. “When the court was first established, taxes were not high to allow the people to recuperate. All the taxes combined only accounted for one-twentieth of the people’s income. Now, not only have many taxes been added, but the original taxes have doubled, and the people are under a heavy burden.”

Yang Xi stretched out her hand and counted how many kinds of taxes there were. Starting next year, as long as there is no great chaos in the world, they will have to pay them every year. “Next year, we will have to pay the poll tax and the land tax. The land tax is newly added. As long as you have a house, you have to pay for it. It’s not a one-time transaction. It costs fifty coins every year!”

Including the other taxes, Yang Xi couldn’t count them all on both hands!

Zhou Yu calculated, “Our family has to pay two and a half taels of tax every year. Including the money for corvée labor, it’s easily over ten taels a year.”

Yang Xi’s tone was heavy. “The money ordinary people earn from the land, after deducting the grain tax, isn’t enough to pay other taxes. In the end, they either become tenant farmers and are exploited or they work for nothing all year and have to sell their children.”

At this point, Yang Xi thought of the hidden land and sneered. The most exploited were always the common people.

Zhou Yu sighed. “It’s a pity my scholarly degree is gone. My younger brother and I can no longer continue taking the imperial examinations either. If one of us had become a xiùcái, we wouldn’t have had to pay taxes and would even have been exempt from corvée labor.”

Yang Xi also regretted that the first stage of the imperial examination required strict verification of household registration and their registration was fake. “Before the chaos, it’s best to avoid corvée labor if possible. What if they don’t allow us to use silver to pay for it?”

Zhou Yu, “Hmm.”

Yang Xi regretted that Third Yang couldn’t take the exam either and suddenly sat up. “Yan Bing can take it.”

Yan Bing’s assumed identity was genuine, so there was no fear of being investigated!

Zhou Yu smiled as well. “The imperial court stipulates that a xiùcái may exempt two households from corvée labor. Very good indeed.”

Yang Xi also smiled. “Yan Bing is a separate household; if he doesn’t want to perform corvée labor, he must take the exam.”

The couple’s heavy mood instantly lifted, and they discussed what dishes to cook for the New Year.

At dinner that evening, Zhou Yu mentioned the scholar’s exam and said to Yan Bing, “Before your portrait arrives, you should take the scholar’s exam and come back.”

Ruizhou was far too distant from Bozhou. Right now, King Jiang still had to deal with the emperor’s suspicions. After discovering that Yan Bing had faked his death, finding him would not be easy either. Once Yan Bing passed the xiùcái examination, he could simply disfigure his face. Then, wandering about everywhere with a ruined face to blur his original appearance, he could lie low for two or three years. By then, the realm would probably already be in great chaos, and it would become even harder for King Jiang to find Yan Bing.

Zhou Yu explained his analysis, concluding, “Don’t worry, the court won’t revoke your academic achievements because of disfigurement.”

His father, when he was alive, had told him many stories of the sordid dealings among scholars, how many talented but poor students had been schemed against and disfigured, thus ruining their futures.

Yan Bing raised his hand to touch his face. So, he couldn’t escape the fate of disfigurement after all?

Yang Xi cleared her throat. “It’s not real disfigurement; makeup can create the illusion. You’ll see once you try it.”

Yan Bing let out a sigh of relief. “I’ll have to trouble you then, Sǎozi.”

After dinner, Yang Xi used cosmetics to fake disfigurement. After finishing, she said with some regret, “I didn’t have enough rouge and powder, so the effect isn’t very good.”

Third Yang reached out and touched the fake wounds, exclaiming in amazement, “Jie, you’re amazing!”

Yan Bing carefully observed himself in the bronze mirror; the disfigurement was truly convincing.

Third Yang said, “Jie, I’m starting to suspect you know how to disguise yourself.”

Yang Xi snorted, “You’re talking about human skin masks. I don’t know how to make human skin masks.”

After finally deciding that Yan Bing would take the imperial examination, Third Yang kept insisting on learning makeup.

The next day, Third Yang, being a man of action, went out and bought all the rouge and powder available in the market, determined to learn makeup.

Yang Xi stared at Third Yang’s face, thinking it was good for him to learn, as it would be a way to protect himself in the future. She took the rouge and powder and examined them one by one, then personally mixed the colors and applied makeup to Third Yang, giving him an old man’s look. As she did so, she explained, “Don’t just focus on your face; you also need to pay attention to the exposed skin, especially your palms. You’re going to be wielding weapons; the calluses on your hands won’t lie. You need to find a way to blur them out.”

Third Yang listened very attentively. By the time they arrived in Ruizhou, he already had a plan, just waiting for his family to settle.

Seeing how seriously Third Yang was learning, Yang Xi felt quite a sense of accomplishment. As for why she knew how to do makeup, in her modern life, her second jiùjiu’s son had been a makeup artist. Her biǎogē loved posting videos teaching transformation makeup techniques. He could even dress himself up as a woman, and not the slightest trace of a man could be seen—it was astonishingly impressive!

She was just a tool for recording videos; having listened so much, and with her strong practical skills, she had learned quite a bit herself.

Yang Xi felt a pang of longing for her family in the modern world. She shook her head, suppressing the sadness in her heart.

Before she knew it, the New Year arrived, and the families gathered for a meal.

(End of Chapter)

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