Meeting in a chaotic world is fate. Several families traveled south together, supporting each other and developing a strong bond of kinship, especially the Zhou and Wu families, who were the closest.

Zhou Yu spoke first, holding a wine glass. “It’s fate that we’re gathered together. The journey hasn’t been easy. A new year, a new beginning. I wish everyone peace and prosperity.”

Third Yang chimed in, “Peace and prosperity.”

Wu Shan smiled, enjoying the new year and new beginning. “Prosperity.”

Zhou Yu sat down and said, “Brother Wu, please say a few words.”

Wu Shan, seeing everyone looking at him, became a little nervous, took a deep breath, and stood up. “I’m just an old farmer; I don’t know much, but I’ll say something practical. We’re outsiders who settled south, and the locals are hostile to outsiders. We have a bond from our journey south, and I hope our families can unite. We won’t bully others, but we can’t let others bully us either!”

Old Zhao glanced at Zhou Xiānsheng, seeing that his smile hadn’t changed, and felt relieved. He was afraid of being separated after settling down. He had witnessed Zhou Xiānsheng’s prowess along the way and only felt at ease by Zhou Xiānsheng’s side.

Old Zhao hurriedly chimed in, “Brother Wu is right.”

Ye Shun also chimed in, “I may not have many other skills, but I’m best at gathering information by going door-to-door. If you need my help in the future, just let me know.”

Yang Xi raised an eyebrow. Having gotten to know the Zhao and Ye families, she found them to be good people. She wasn’t against forming a group; on the contrary, she supported it. Several families had long planned to band together!

After everyone had spoken, the children were starving. They had prepared eight dishes for the New Year—six meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. Not only were the children, but even the adults were drooling.

In the New Year, Wu Shan, having drunk too much, mumbled incoherently until his eyes reddened. “I never expected to be able to settle down again. Now we have wine and meat. Zhou Xiānsheng, we have no way to repay your great kindness.”

Zhou Yu had also drunk quite a bit. He was unusually relaxed and happy. “Brother Wu also risked his life to help our family a lot.”

Back in the capital, without Wu Shan’s help, their family wouldn’t have been able to leave the capital so smoothly. The Wu family was repaying their kindness in their own way. The Wu family was a family that valued relationships.

Wu Shan wiped away his tears. “That was all something I should have done. Gongzi saved my life first.”

When Yang Xi heard the word “gongzi”, she realized he had let it slip after drinking too much.

Third Yang already knew about the Zhou family’s situation but knew nothing about the Zhao and Ye families. Hearing the word “Gongzi”, he had a guess in his mind. No wonder the master knew so much; his background wasn’t simple.

Wu Shan also realized he’d said something he shouldn’t have, and in the end, he just kept wiping away his tears.

Yang Xi, “…”

The contrast was quite striking. She really hadn’t expected Wu Shan to cry so much, despite his serious face!

They needed to keep watch that night, so those who had drunk too much went back to rest. Yang Xi was quite pregnant, so she didn’t need to clean the table; Li Shi and the others did it.

Everyone stayed up late on New Year’s Eve, each family keeping watch at their own place. Before nightfall, Yang Xi and Zhou Yu returned to rest. Zhou Yu, despite drinking quite a bit, wasn’t sleepy at all. He hugged his wife tightly, saying, “We’re not only alive, but we’ve also safely arrived in Ruizhou. I’m almost unsure if it’s real.”

Yang Xi pinched Zhou Yu’s face hard. “Is it real now?”

Zhou Yu winced in pain. “Can’t I even express my feelings?”

Yang Xi yawned. “Your son and I are sleepy; we’re going to bed.”

Zhou Yu raised his hand to touch his wife’s pregnant belly, a smile playing on his lips. The baby had survived, too. He carefully touched the baby, trying to feel it, but the little one was indeed sleepy and didn’t move at all.

The next day, New Year’s Day, several families exchanged New Year’s greetings. Third Yang had already finalized the price of horses with the Wu family. There wasn’t a single horse on the market. He had heard the news six months ago, and there wasn’t a single horse left.

Third Yang gave the market price: retired horses cost thirty taels of silver. And there was no horse available.

The horses that Second Master Qian gave them were all good; they were so valuable that they would be snapped up for forty taels of silver each on the market. In the end, Third Yang bought them, along with the carriage, for forty taels. Wu Shan thought forty taels was too much, while Third Yang thought it was too little, so they compromised, and each paid forty taels.

Now that the New Year was over, Third Yang took Li Zheng out to gather information, and Zhou Yu also sent his younger brother, Zhou Xiaodi, along. Wu Shan saw this and told Third Wu and Fourth Wu to go along.

Zhou Yu trusted Third Yang; the boy had good judgment and would choose a good place to settle.

While Third Yang was out, Zhou Yu and his wife weren’t idle, either. They went to bookshops one after another, looking for the gazetteer of Ruizhou and the recent reports from Ruizhou’s prefectural government.

The gazetteer wasn’t cheap, costing five taels of silver per copy, but they had to spend the money, even if it hurt.

After buying the gazetteer and the prefectural government report, the couple stayed in their room and drew a map of Ruizhou based on the descriptions in the gazetteer. They drew a rough map and marked the families they had learned about on it. Although it was a simplified map, this inscription was quite valuable.

The couple then consulted the local gazette to learn about the officials and major events in Ruizhou. However, the gazette only contained good news and court policies, nothing about people’s livelihoods. They realized then that the officials in Ruizhou were not truly benevolent.

Now that their lives were no longer in danger in Ruizhou, Yang Xi and his wife became even busier. They even went to a seed shop to inquire about crops like corn and potatoes.

They traveled south, asking around, but unfortunately, they couldn’t find any seeds.

Corn had been introduced before the maritime ban and had been domesticated and adapted to the land, but the people didn’t trust it. The newly established court was vigorously developing agriculture, and while domestication took time, the court hadn’t promoted it extensively. Inland, no one grew it, and with the maritime ban and corn not being a designated grain, its cultivation was even less. They didn’t know if anyone was growing it along the coast.

The South had two rice harvests a year, with rice as the staple food. Rice was cheaper in the south than in the north, but Yang Xi still loved the rice that was harvested only once a year.

The seed shop didn’t have the corn seeds the couple had inquired about, but Yang Xi did buy a lot of spice seeds.

Five days later, Third Yang and his group returned. Several families gathered around Third Yang, waiting for news. Third Yang’s face was beaming with smiles, indicating that the chosen location was excellent.

Wu Shan was impatient. “You rascal, hurry up and tell us!”

Third Yang said, “Let me have some water.”

Though Ziheng was still little, he immediately offered his own cup forward. “Jiùjiu, drink some water.”

Third Yang picked up Zi Heng. “Zi Heng still loves me the most.”

Zhou Yu gave him a look, and Third Yang became obedient. He drank the water and said, “We traveled through three counties, carefully inquiring about places to live. Finally, we chose to settle in Yang Town under the county seat. Yang Town is near a river, so it doesn’t lack water. The terrain is good, and it hasn’t suffered any natural disasters for a hundred years. The feng shui there is excellent.”

Yang Xi looked at Wu Shan, who was nodding repeatedly. The ancients believed in feng shui the most. The fact that it hadn’t suffered any natural disasters for a hundred years was very attractive.

Third Yang continued, “The xiànlìng of Xiang County is one of the rare officials in Ruizhou who truly gets things done. He just repaired the roads the year before last, and most importantly, he’s willing to accept southern migrants and let them settle there.”

Zhou Xiaodi chimed in, “The county we went to, Dan County, is extremely xenophobic. For example, they wouldn’t allow our families to settle together; otherwise, we’d be scattered. The conditions for settling there are extremely harsh.”

Yang Xi looked at Third Yang, who then dropped another bombshell: “I said the xiànlìng of Xiang County is truly capable. He’s not only willing to accept the migrants from the south, but he also allows land reclamation. Each family can cultivate two mu of land. Once the land is cultivated, you only need to pay for the land deed, and the land is yours.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Xi knew that the Wu Shan families had confirmed their settlement in Yang Town.

(End of Chapter)