In Wú Shān’s eyes, Zhōu Xiānsheng truly had never stopped training. Following Yáng Sān in practicing martial arts, his skills were fairly good, and his body could even be considered sturdy. But after all, Xiānsheng is a man of letters!

Zhou Yu trusted Wu Shan and told him about the deal with the lǐzhèng, “I will try my best to protect my Dage.”

Wu Shan was deeply moved. Such a secret had been revealed to him so readily. Zhōu Xiānsheng trusted him, and hearing that he would protect him, Wu Shan’s fear dissipated. “Xiānsheng, you are a great benefactor. Our family will listen to you from now on.”

Having already followed Zhōu Xiānsheng for a long time, now that he had formally spoken up, Wu Shan felt completely relieved. This was the feeling of having someone to rely on—it was truly wonderful!

Zhou Yu’s words were also a way to build trust. He smiled and said, “From now on, we’ll all be family.”

After his initial joy, Wu Shan asked, “Should we inform the Ye family?”

Zhou Yu replied, “Just tell them about the corvée labor. We’ll talk about my accounting duties after that.”

Wu Shan felt even better. Their family held a special place in Zhōu Xiānsheng’s heart. “Yes.”

Yang Xi saw everything clearly and thought to herself, “So innocent!”

Back in the courtyard of Yangzhen, Zhou Yu spoke to Old Man Zhao about the corvée labor. Old Man Zhao had just bought a new pipe and was puffing on it. Zhou Yu kept backing away until he was five meters away from Old Man Zhao. Only then did Old Man Zhao come to his senses and hurriedly put out his pipe, shooing the smoke away with his hand.

Zhou Yu waited until the smoke cleared before walking over again. “This time, we can’t use silver to pay for corvée labor.”

Old Zhao squatted down, his face wrinkled. “To be honest, sir, my eldest son once worked on the dike.”

Zhou Yu asked, “Someone died?”

Old Man Zhào’s voice sounded muffled. “Because my family had some savings thanks to my shūshu, Xiānsheng has also seen that our family possesses quite a bit of wealth. Back then, when my eldest son served corvée labor, we spent a great deal of silver just to exchange it for lighter work. That year was especially unfortunate as well—the torrential rains came before the dikes were even repaired, and many people were swept away.”

Zhou Yu felt heavy-hearted. In ancient times, labor was entirely dependent on people, and every great building that survived was stained with blood. “I heard from Liu Lǐzhèng that our Xiànlìng is benevolent.”

Old Man Zhào was stunned. He thought to himself that Zhōu Xiānsheng had adapted remarkably quickly—even now it was already “our Xiànlìng.” Then he asked, “Which member of Xiānsheng’s family will be going to serve corvée labor?”

The imperial court had decreed that servants were not allowed to perform corvée labor for their masters, and of course, very few ordinary people could afford servants.

Zhou Yu pointed to himself, “I’ll go.”

Old Zhao exclaimed, “What, why is it you?”

The Zhou family had plenty of able-bodied men now!

Zhōu Yù did not explain further. “It’s enough as long as you understand in your heart, Old Sir.”

That evening at dinner, Yang Xi noticed a conflict within the Zhao family—who would perform the corvée labor. Old Zhao couldn’t go; he was too old. The eldest son had worked on the dike, so this time it was the second son’s turn.

The second son was reluctant; they were unfamiliar with the area, and even bribery wouldn’t work. In the face of life and death, brotherly affection vanished.

Yang Xi listened to the Zhao family’s commotion while drinking his noodle soup. They finished their own dinner before the Zhao family started preparing theirs.

The Zhao family wouldn’t bother the Zhou family. Traveling south, the Zhou family’s abilities were awe-inspiring, so their weeping didn’t disturb Yang Xi.

Yang Xi didn’t care about the Zhao family, and neither of their daughters-in-law dared to approach.

Don’t be fooled by the smile Zhōu Yù always wore on his face—his eyes were cold. Common folk had their own ways of surviving, and their instincts were extremely sharp. They were deeply afraid of provoking the pregnant Yáng Xī and angering Zhōu Yù.

Ye Shi, focused on her health, had been a high-ranking official’s wife for many years and disliked meddling in others’ affairs.

So in the end, who the Zhào family decided would go serve corvée labor was something Xiǎomèi told Yáng Xī. And who told Xiǎomèi? Naturally, it was Second Miss Zhào.

This time, when the second branch of the Zhao family was to perform corvée labor, Old Man Zhao claimed it was fair, though he also had his own ulterior motives. He favored his eldest son and grandson in his old age, but outwardly maintained a neutral stance.

In the afternoon, Yang Xi asked Sun Liu to tidy up the empty room. The lǐzhèng’s youngest son would come over that evening and stay with them while he performed his corvée labor.

Sun Liu was exceptionally efficient at her work, and her cooking skills were improving. The young girl cherished this comfortable life.

Yang Xi glanced at the tidied house; it wasn’t large, and she could see it in one glance to confirm it was clean.

Zhōu Xiǎomèi supported her sǎozi as they walked. “Sǎozi, when will Dàgē come back? It looks like it’s about to rain.”

Yang Xi calculated the time, “He’ll be home soon.”

Zhōu Yù had ridden to the neighboring county to pawn some belongings. To remain cautious, they could not keep pawning items in the same place. The jade pendant they had pawned previously was not enough to build the residence, because constructing the heated kang system and other additions still required more silver.

On top of that, they would still need money for future expenses. This time, she pawned two items. One was a pearl necklace. She no longer had the heart to maintain or cherish it, so she decided it would be better to pawn it early while it could still fetch a good price.

The other item was a hairpin belonging to Zhōu Yù, made from a rare piece of jade. After pawning these two items, they likely would not pawn anything else again anytime soon.

The gūsǎo pair returned to the room. Zhōu Xiǎomèi rubbed her hands together. “This weather is really cold.”

Yang Xi looked at her hands; they were a little swollen. “They’ll be fine once the house is built.”

Zhou Xiaomei hadn’t been embroidering handkerchiefs lately, and her hands were very sore. “Saozi, did you tell Sun Liu to buy some big bones? Are we having braised pork ribs tonight?”

Yang Xi’s mouth watered at the thought. The baby in her belly was understanding; once things settled down, she started craving food, and Yang Xi was thinking about delicious food every day too. “Yes.”

Zhou Xiaomei thought of the pile of chopped bones. “Braised pork ribs probably won’t be enough.”

Yang Xi was speechless.

Everyone in the family was a big eater. Tsk tsk, Third Yang and the others were like bottomless pits.

Zhou Xiaomei lowered her voice, “Saozi, I heard from Second Brother—no, now it’s Third Brother—that Zhou Bing’s food allowance has changed?”

Yang Xi nodded. “Yes, from now on, he’ll be treated the same as you and Zhou Lin.”

One of their household registrations had changed surnames, so Zhou Bing’s food allowance wasn’t collected separately anymore. Zhou Yu had explained the family rules to Zhou Bing, and Zhou Bing wasn’t treated differently.

Zhou Bing complained that he couldn’t pay for his food every month if he didn’t earn any money. Zhou Yu laughed, “You can try.”

Don’t think that passing the imperial examination means you didn’t need to earn money; that was impossible.

Zhou Bing immediately fell silent, indicating that passing the imperial examination meant he would earn money.

Yang Xi laughed at this thought. Zhou Yu arrived home at that moment and saw his wife smiling. “What are you talking about? Why are you so happy?”

Yang Xi told him about Zhou Bing’s food expenses. Zhou Yu smiled and put down two heavy bundles. The bundles made a clatter when they were put down.

Yang Xi opened the bundles. Inside were bolts of cloth, wrapped around silver, with gold ingots gleaming brightly among the silver.

Zhou Yu took out two unredeemed pawn tickets. “We got a total of one hundred and eighty taels.”

Yang Xi was surprised. “So much?”

(End of Chapter)

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