Ye Shi was overjoyed, whether it was her grandson or granddaughter, muttering, “I’ll tell your father tonight; let him know our family has a new member.”

Yang Xi reached out and held her son’s little hand, seeing that her mother-in-law was tired. “Mother, you should go back and rest.”

Ye Shi shook her head. “I’ll stay and take care of you.”

Zhou Yu hurriedly said, “Mother, I can take care of her.”

Ye Shi opened her mouth but finally stood up. Fine, if her son was willing, so be it. She didn’t want to say more. “Okay, you take care of her.”

Miao Shi stood aside, lost in thought. A man taking care of a new mother? Her sister-in-law actually agreed!

The two left the east courtyard, and Miao Shi couldn’t help but ask, “Really letting Yu’er take care of her?”

Ye Shi replied, “He’s not afraid of what outsiders will say, so let him take care of her.”

Miao Shi, thinking of Zhou Yu’s personality, didn’t say anything more. “Sister-in-law, are you really not considering buying a few servants?”

Ye Shi shook her head. “No.”

When the kitchen was busy, they would hire women from the village to cook; when they couldn’t keep up with the cleaning, they would hire village women to do it, and she would do what she could herself. Having experienced the family upheaval, she felt things were pretty good now.

The Zhou family was overjoyed with the birth of their son. They had bought plenty of eggs beforehand, and the students at the school received eggs to take home. The whole village knew that Madam Zhou had given birth.

Yang Xi was awakened by the baby’s cries. “Is the baby hungry?”

Zhou Yu’s forehead was covered in sweat. He had never personally cared for Zi Heng before; Zi Heng had a wet nurse and maids after birth. This was his first time caring for a newborn, and he was a little flustered. “He must be hungry.”

Yang Xi took the baby, watching the little one’s mouth move. “He is indeed hungry. This baby couldn’t stand being hungry in the womb.”

Zhou Yu chuckled. “Being able to eat is a blessing.”

Yang Xi smiled. “Indeed.”

Yang Xi was in good health and had plenty of breast milk, enough to support one child. After feeding the baby, she was hungry too. She drank some porridge, patted her son down, and fell asleep again.

Zhou Yu was thinking about his son’s name. He hoped it would be a daughter, but he hadn’t only considered daughter names; he had also chosen names for his son. Now he was choosing a name for the child.

He circled “Zi Lu” and “Zi Chen” with a calligraphy brush.

Ziheng quietly walked in and immediately noticed the two names. “Are these my little brother’s names?”

Zhou Yu said, “Yes.”

Ziheng nodded, pointing to Zilu. “This name is good.”

Zhou Yu also preferred Zilu. “Then let’s go with this one.”

Ziheng was delighted, thinking he had chosen the name for his brother. “Dad, when will my little brother grow up?”

“It will be a long time.”

Ziheng now had a brother, a blood brother, but unfortunately, his little brother was too young. He hoped his brother would grow up quickly. “When will my little brother be able to go to school?”

Zhou Yu smiled. “In a few years.”

After dinner, Madam Ye came to check on Yang Xi and the baby again. After confirming that her son was taking good care of them, she left with peace of mind.

The temperature wasn’t high yet, so Yang Xi wasn’t suffering during her postpartum period. She was recovering well, and the baby was growing very well.

Little Zhou Zilü had his Three-Day Ceremony. He looked different every day, and his jaundice was not severe. His skin was much fairer now.

Zilu looked a lot like Yang Xi, especially his eyes and nose. Only his mouth resembled Zhou Yu’s.

After Ziheng discovered that his little brother resembled his mother, he liked him even more. Every day, he would spend a long time with his little brother before reluctantly going back to sleep.

Zhou Yu was originally washing her son’s diapers, but Miao Shi couldn’t bear to watch anymore and sent a servant over.

With a servant in the east courtyard, Yang Xi’s wish to wash her hair was dashed.

After half a month of postpartum confinement, Yang Xi felt she was going to smell bad; she wanted to wash her hair and take a simple bath.

A lot of mugwort was already drying in the courtyard, all for Yang Xi to use after her confinement.

Zhou Yu ignored his wife’s eager gaze. “I’d like to help too, but Mother is keeping a close eye on me.”

Yang Xi regretted it; after her mother-in-law discovered her intentions, she was being watched even more closely.

Yang Xi rubbed her face; thankfully, she could wash her face every day. “Has the price of salt in the county gone up again?”

Zhou Yu nodded. “Mm, it’s gone up by twenty percent.”

Yang Xi said, “We can’t afford salt anymore.”

Zhou Yu rewrapped his youngest son, took his bathwater out, and returned to say, “There’s much less salted fish on the market.”

Yang Xi envied that her youngest son could take a bath and looked away. “Fishermen need to apply for salt to salt fish, and now there’s a shortage of salt officials, so there’s less salt and therefore less salted fish.”

Zhou Yu added, “The fishing tax has increased this year.”

Yang Xi was speechless.

It hadn’t even been half a year, and two taxes had already increased.

Zhou Yu, who had visited the county today, learned quite a bit of news. “Gu Zhifu confiscated the Xu family’s property in the prefectural city, and now the entire Xu family is in prison.”

Yang Xi perked up. “The Xu family?”

Zhou Yu explained, “The salt merchants of Ruizhou. The confiscation of salt merchants started in Yizhou.”

Yang Xi asked, “I remember one of the two families that caused so much trouble in Yizhou was a salt merchant. Were they confiscated too?”

Zhou Yu shook his head. “No.”

“Then they must have found a powerful backer.”

Zhou Yu nodded. “The Xu family of the prefectural city is doomed.”

Yang Xi said leisurely, “Gu Zhifu also wants to make an example of them to intimidate the various forces in Ruizhou.”

Zhou Yu teased his son, “The Zhong family isn’t afraid. With General Bai around, Gu Zhifu won’t touch the Zhong family, no matter who else he touches.”

Yang Xi wasn’t worried about the Zhong family but sighed, “The road to power is paved with blood, and it’s already begun.”

The Xu family of the prefectural city was the first to be sacrificed in Ruizhou.

Zhou Yu changed his clothes and prepared to rest. “Go to sleep.”

Yang Xi was indeed tired and fell asleep almost immediately after closing his eyes.

The confiscation of the Xu family’s property in the prefectural city was too far for Shanghe Village. The villagers only complained about not being able to afford salt; they were only concerned with their livelihood and nothing else.

Since salt was available again in Xiang County, Yang Xi had been continuously purchasing it. Buying official salt required salt coupons, and the Zhou family bought a lot, so Third Yang had extra work collecting the coupons.

The Zhou family had salt given to them by General Bai, as well as salt purchased from elsewhere, so their salt reserves were plentiful.

Most of their monthly dividends were exchanged for salt, leaving enough for the family’s expenses.

During Yang Xi’s postpartum confinement, the Zhou family had another happy event: Zhou Bing passed the prefectural examination, ranking second again, and was now waiting to take the provincial examination.

Time passed quickly, and Yang Xi finished her confinement. On the day of her baby’s full-month celebration, she took a refreshing bath. Zhong Jin and his wife also attended.

Yang Xi had burned mugwort the night before and took another bath early this morning; she felt light and airy. Postpartum confinement had been so painful.

Today, she could finally leave her room.

Zhu Shi couldn’t help but laugh. “Look how happy you are.”

Yang Xi said, “I haven’t left the room for a month.”

Zhu Shi held Zilu in her arms. “This child is so well-raised; he looks like a New Year’s picture doll.”

Yang Xi smiled as her son looked at her. “This child has a good appetite. He weighed six pounds eight ounces at birth, and now he’s already ten pounds.”

Zhu Shi felt the baby was indeed heavy in her arms. She looked Yang Xi up and down. “You seem to have lost a lot of weight after your confinement period?”

Yang Xi’s body was a bit swollen in the later stages, making her look much heavier. But with proper postpartum care and her son’s good appetite, she did look thinner. “I’m still a little chubby.”

Zhu Shi said, “Don’t try to lose weight unnecessarily; you’re still breastfeeding!”

Yang Xi took her son. “With this little guy around, I don’t need to lose weight.”

(End of Chapter)

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