Two days later, Zhou Yu and Third Yangcai returned, looking travel-worn and exhausted. They had both lost weight and hadn’t rested much during their journey.

They washed up, ate, and went to sleep without exchanging many words. When they woke up, it was already the next morning.

Zhou Yu opened his eyes to the aroma of food. Seeing that the meal was already laid out on the kang table, he quickly sat up.

Yang Xi brought in some soup. “I knew you’d wake up soon. Go wash up and come back for dinner.”

Zhou Yu paused for a moment. “Have you finished eating?”

“I’m done eating.”

Zhou Yu got out of bed to wash up, and when she came back, he didn’t even comb his hair, eating with his hair down. “Home-cooked food is still the best.”

Yang Xi felt sorry for him. “You must have had a long journey.”

Zhou Yu drank a bowl of soup before slowing down her eating. “We should have been back much earlier, but something happened in Yizhou, so Third Yang and I were delayed for a few days.”

Yang Xi’s heart tightened. “What happened?”

Zhou Yu frowned. “Do you remember when Third Yang and the others were beaten in Yizhou?”

Yang Xi nodded. “I remember, it was the first time they had suffered such a big loss.”

Zhou Yu put down her chopsticks. “At that time, two families in the city were fighting, and Third Yang and the others were implicated. After we left, the conflict between the two families intensified.”

“Fights are common, but this time it really escalated. Not only did servants die on both sides, but the young masters leading the two families also perished.”

Yang Xi’s mouth gaped open. “What kind of deep-seated hatred is this?”

Zhou Yu, who was about half full, ate slowly. “I heard from Boss Bai that the two families had a long-standing feud, but it hadn’t reached the point of murder. After the New Year, something happened, and the two families went crazy.”

Yang Xi said, “There must be a lot going on inside.”

Zhou Yu thought so too. “Both families hired bodyguards, but Boss Bai refused to take any of their jobs. Second Boss Bai said that taking any would be sending his brothers to their deaths.”

The prices offered by both families were very high, but Second Boss Bai turned them all down. He was increasingly admiring Second Boss Bai.

Yang Xi agreed, “Chief Bai is right. The two powerful families in Yizhou are already irreconcilable enemies. Anyone who gets involved now will become cannon fodder. But hasn’t the government reacted?”

Zhou Yu’s eyes were filled with sarcasm. “The government takes bribes from both sides and has long since stopped caring about the two families’ feud. They can fight however they want, as long as it doesn’t go to court.”

Yang Xi was speechless.

Third Yang and the others were really lucky to have only been implicated!

Zhou Yu continued, “Because of the conflict between the two powerful families, prices in Yizhou have fluctuated wildly. When we returned, the price of salt had increased by a third, and the people were struggling to afford it.”

Yang Xi grasped the key point: “Salt? One of these two families controls the salt?”

Zhou Yu praised his wife’s intelligence, “Yes.”

Yang Xi said, “It seems like a fight between two powerful families, but there are far-reaching connections behind it all.”

After finishing his meal, Zhou Yu got up to tidy up, saying as he put on his shoes, “So it was only a matter of time before Yizhou descended into chaos; it’s not peaceful.”

Yang Xi reached out to help, but Zhou Yu dodged, “You rest.”

Yang Xi said, “Looking at it this way, Ruizhou is indeed relatively stable.”

Gu Zhifu had many subtle moves, but he hadn’t been overtly blatant. Upon closer examination, Gu Zhifu’s schemes against Ruizhou were actually a good thing?

Even without Gu Zhifu, if outsiders were to scheme against them, Ruizhou would still descend into chaos!

Zhou Yu returned quickly, bringing many gifts. Seeing his wife hadn’t unpacked, he knew to wait until he opened the bundle. “I was too tired yesterday and just slept. Honey, I brought you gifts.”

He untied the bundle and took out two books. “We’re staying at the escort agency, and Third Yang and I haven’t been idle either. We’ve been helping the agency organize the accounts and clear out some backlogged inventory. These two books are about weapons and ceramics. Master Bai gave them to me. Do you like them?”

Yang Xi liked them. She took the books and flipped through them. The book on ceramics had illustrations, including pictures of kilns. She thought of smelting. Then she looked at the books on weapons. “I really like them. How come the escort agency keeps these books?”

Zhou Yu replied, “The escort agency sometimes has clients who couldn’t pay their debts, so they used goods as payment. The warehouse is full of goods used for these payments. Besides these two books, there were other books too. Those were for the imperial examinations, but I didn’t take them.”

Yang Xi placed the book on the bookshelf. “You all got along quite well with the escort agency during your trip to Yizhou.”

Zhou Yu replied, “I’m nothing compared to Third Yang, who almost became the fourth-in-command of the agency.”

Yang Xi exclaimed, “Awesome!”

Zhou Yu chuckled, laughing for a while before stopping. He had also thought of the word “awesome” at that moment!

Zhou Yu then took out other gifts. Yang Xi gestured for Zhou Yu to sit down and helped him comb his hair. Zhou Yu had very good hair quality, thick and black, and she especially liked his hair.

Zhou Yu remained seated, saying, “My hair is too long; it’s so inconvenient.”

Yang Xi quickly combed her hair and secured it with a wooden hairpin. “I quite like it.”

Zhou Yu smiled. “If you like it, I can tolerate the inconvenience.”

The couple took the gifts to the main house. Seeing her son in good spirits, Ye Shi said, “It’s good to see you back.”

Zhou Yu handed the gifts to his mother. “Mother, these are some calming incense and sachets I bought for you.”

Ye Shi hadn’t used calming incense in a long time. “Such expensive things—it’s a waste of money. There will be many expenses in the future, so we should be more frugal.”

Yang Xi said, “Mother, our family already has a stable income. With my husband coming back to run the school, there will be another source of income. You don’t need to worry about money.”

Ye Shi knew this; she was just reluctant to spend the money, but she was very happy with her son’s filial piety.

Zhou Yu bought embroidery thread and silk for Zhou Xiaomei, who happily accepted them. “Thank you, elder brother.”

Zhou Xiaodi and Third Yang weren’t in the main courtyard, so the couple sat for a while and then left with the other gifts.

The couple found Third Yang and the others in the front yard, along with Uncle Zhong.

Zhong Yan asked, “Awake?”

Zhou Yu replied, “Yes, Uncle Zhong. Are you playing chess?”

Zhong Yan pointed to the chessboard. “Your brother Zhong brought over his new chessboard. Third Yang and I are playing. Take a look.”

Zhou Yu stood to the side, scanning the board. Third Yang was using black pieces, and the game surprised him.

Zhong Yan observed, “This kid is improving quickly.”

He asked Third Yang, who said he only knew some rules and hadn’t formally studied chess. On the way south, Zhou Yu hadn’t had time to teach Third Yang. He found Third Yang interesting and played with him, and the result was unexpected. Third Yang was very serious. While Zhou Yu thought playing on the left side would capture a large area, Third Yang did the opposite.

Yang Xi also looked over, her gaze falling on Third Yang. The couple exchanged a glance. This kid had huge potential, so chess lessons could be started.

Third Yang shivered and looked up at the sky. It wasn’t raining, so why did he suddenly feel cold?

Zhou Yu distributed gifts to Zhou Xiaodi and Zhou Bing and also bought a gift for Uncle Zhong. Finally, he bought a hat for his son!

Ziheng held the hat; his hair was already prickly, and since no one was touching his head, he complained, “Dad, is it just a hat?”

Zhou Yu put the hat on his son, teasing him, “Let me think of what else.”

He reached into his pocket, but to his son’s expectant gaze, pulled out nothing.

Zhou Yu said, “See? There’s also Dad’s heartfelt gift.”

Ziheng was speechless. Yang Xi chuckled, then felt rain on her face. Looking up, she exclaimed, “It’s raining.”

(End of Chapter)

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