Zi Qing and they returned home from the old house, where Grandma He was setting out dinner. Zeng Rui Xiang had just entered the room when Zi Qing told him about Xia Yu's situation, and he immediately wanted to go see her without even eating dinner.

  "Father, I think Auntie's illnesses are all caused by anger. If she doesn't move out, this will happen again and next time we might not be so lucky. Auntie is really pitiful. I think if we build a new house and close the courtyard gate, living her own life, her heart will feel at ease and her body will naturally recover slowly. Isn't it true that mother's mood has been getting better since moving to a new home, and she looks younger too?"

  At this time, He Shi also said that it was the same reason. Zeng Rui Xiang asked Zi Qing: "Your mother has left, and there are still thirty taels of scattered silver at home?"

  "Yes, I know where Mother put the silver. I'll go get it. Father, you eat first, and after you've eaten, you can take the silver over." Zi Qing said as she stood up.

  After dinner, Zi Qing wanted to take a walk in the back mountain. Whenever she felt down, she would come to the back mountain and look at it. With her own efforts, the originally barren little mountain was now full of fruit and fragrant flowers, and her mood would slowly settle.

  Lin Kangping held Ziying's hand and walked slowly in the forest, since Wen San came over this morning, Lin Kangping picked up Ziying from the ground and held her hand for the first time to go back to the house, Ziying did not refuse. Now Lin Kangping accompanied Ziying to the back mountain for a walk, still holding Ziying's hand. The two of them naturally walked to this step, and Ziying didn't feel awkward either, she was originally a modern person at heart, plus after they got engaged, Lin Kangping often came over to accompany her, either doing things or taking walks, the feelings between them also warmed up a lot. Besides, getting married is just a matter of time.

  "Qing'er, are you still worried about your second aunt? Didn't you promise to give her some silver so she can move out and live separately? Her days will get better and better. Don't worry, I won't let you fall into such a predicament. You also know the situation at my house, I promised your father-in-law that we would settle down near your mother's house. Whenever you want to go back home for a visit, just go."

  Lin Kangping's words pierced through Ziying's concerns, and this man had indeed put in a lot of effort to win her over. Ziying was moved by him bit by bit, so what if she was from a humble background? With the knowledge from her past life and Lin Kangping's connections accumulated over the years, she might be able to create her own wealth. Having wealth and not having those problematic relatives, wouldn't she have a good life? Why did she need to take a shortcut? Were high-ranking families necessarily suitable for her? However, Ziying suddenly thought of a problem - Lin Kangping was originally a slave, although he had cancelled his slave status and re-registered as a commoner. But history was still there, would their children be able to participate in the imperial examination in the future? Hadn't her father thought of this? Ziying's heart suddenly turned cold, and she trembled, startling Lin Kangping.

  "What's wrong? Qing'er, you seem very cold?" Lin Kangping said as he took off his outer jacket to put it on Zi Qing.

  "Kangping, I...I suddenly thought of something." Zi Qing was somewhat hesitant, afraid that saying it out loud would hurt Lin Kangping. If she were to call off the wedding because of this, Lin Kangping would definitely agree, but it seemed a bit too cruel.

  "Xiao Qing, go ahead and say whatever you're thinking of. It's okay, if there are any difficult problems, let's bring them up first and think of a solution together."

  "What if one day we get married and have children, can they take the imperial examination? Isn't it said that descendants of former slaves cannot take the imperial examination for three generations?"

  Lin Kongping smiled after hearing the muffled sound, seeing that Zi Qing had a bit of annoyance, and hurriedly waved his hand to say: "I'm happy, really, you actually thought about our future together, it's clear that you've really accepted me. Only, silly, how could you not know? The founding emperor of my dynasty was enlightened, he came from the grassroots, and his ancestors had also been slaves of a wealthy family before. Because of this rule, he missed his chance, and reluctantly became a military general, but unexpectedly, he fought out a world. So, at the beginning of the country's establishment, he stipulated that except for the slave himself, all his descendants could participate in the imperial examination, otherwise, your father-in-law would not have agreed to our marriage."

  Ziying let out a sigh of relief and leaned her head on Lin Kangping's arm. Lin Kangping's body stiffened for a moment, then he continued to say: "Qinger, I won't be able to come see you for the next two days. I need to go into the mountains to purchase tea leaves to transport to Guangzhou. Also, the silver you gave me is enough, so I plan to hire a boat and take the water route to Jingdezhen to buy some porcelain, then head to Hangzhou to buy some silk, and from there take the sea route to Guangzhou, which will be more convenient and safer. Qinger, after I buy jade stones in Guangzhou, I'll head back to Beijing directly, and it will be several months before I can return. You must take good care of yourself and don't get sick."

  "Alright, I'll take care of myself. You're the one who's going out, be careful with everything, and remember what I told you: nothing is more precious than life, money is just external wealth." Zi Qing had grown accustomed to his company over the past few days, and suddenly saying goodbye made her heart feel a little sour.

  Lin Kongping stopped and hesitated for a long time, then plucked up the courage to hold Zi Qing's face with both hands and said: "What should I do? Zi Qing, I haven't even left yet, but I'm already missing you."

  Ziying was stunned, looking at him, forgetting to push his hand away. Weren't ancient people supposed to be conservative? Not good at expressing their emotions, but now Ziying with Lin Kangping, it feels a bit like dating, holding hands after only a month together.

  "Qing'er, I've been dreaming of this day, this moment, am I dreaming? Or should you pinch me to see if it hurts?" Lin Kangping saw that Zi Qing wasn't angry and didn't shake off his hand, and he was overwhelmed with great joy, so much so that he couldn't think of what to say.

  Ziying saw his silly look, and really pinched him a few times. Lin Kangping just chuckled foolishly. Ziying saw that the sky was already dark, so she went down the mountain. Only then did Lin Kangping leave, looking back three times with each step.

  Two days later, Lin Kangping came to bid farewell. Zi Qing had packed all her clothes and shoes, and saw that Lin Kangping's clothes were a bit old, so she sewed two new sets from the inside out, one in purple red and one in moon white, both made of high-quality cotton. Lin Kangping was overjoyed and hugged them tightly like treasures.

  Ziying always felt that there was something he hadn't done, so he sent him out and saw the yellow dog in the courtyard. He suddenly remembered the golden dog hair given by his aunt Xiushui, and hurriedly ran back to find a small bag and took out some of it. He handed it over to Lin Kangping and said: "You must keep this close to your body and hide it well. The golden fur inside has an excellent hemostatic effect, which has been verified on my brother's leg. It can save lives at critical moments, and a few strands will do. Be careful with it." Until Lin Kangping's horse disappeared from view, Ziying reluctantly closed the door.

  After Lin Kangping left, Zi Qing rarely went out. Anyway, there were vegetables, eggs, bacon and other things at home. Before leaving, Shen's family repeatedly instructed Zi Qing not to go out if possible. Zi Qing also knew that her appearance and clothing in the countryside were quite eye-catching, and she was afraid of causing unnecessary trouble. Except for accompanying Zeng Rui Xiang to see Xia Yu, she basically didn't go out.

  Xia Yu's situation has improved a lot, Zhou Tianqing took the silver to go back and choose a site to build a house, Xia Yu's heart had a expectation, her mood naturally improved a lot. Plus, every time Zi Qing went with Zeng Rui Xiang, she would send eggs and meat, and accompany them to talk and laugh, Xia Yu's smile on her face naturally increased, and even Tian Shi looked at Zi Qing more favorably.

  At the end of April, Shen brought Zilu back home. The provincial examination was over, and although his results were not very impressive, everyone was still delighted because Zeng Risheng said it was quite an achievement for Zilu, considering he had started studying late. Shen prepared a big table of dishes and they celebrated noisily for the whole day.

  At night, in the study, Zi Qing told about Er Gu's matter, of course, including the 30 taels of silver. Shen Shi thought for a while and said: "Qing Er, you did the right thing, your mother is very happy that you can judge right from wrong on your own. Your Er Gu is indeed having a hard time, her situation is different from your Da Gu's. Your Da Gu doesn't know how to be grateful, only thinks about gaining without effort, and always calculates others. Your Er Gu is hindered by her physical condition, cannot work hard, but in essence she is still kind and virtuous. At least when I was in difficulty, she knew to lend a helping hand to take care of you all."

  After a pause, Shen said with a smile: "However, Qing'er, don't you have your own private savings? Why not use your own money to help your second aunt?"

  Zi Qing smiled and said: "Mother, I don't have those silver coins in my hand. Didn't they all go with Kang Ping?"

  "Qing Er, isn't it too early to start? You're not even married yet. Truly a girl's appearance is deceiving." Zi Lu teased, earning a white eye from Zi Qing.

  "And to think that you've always been a decisive and bold one, handing over your private house to an outsider - how did you even come up with this idea? You say this kid has quite the luck, from just over ten taels of silver to now having over a hundred taels. If I had known earlier that this young man was going to be my son-in-law, I would have handed over the silver to him to manage too - and now I wouldn't be anything short of a wealthy woman?"

  "Sister, where did you think of this? I'm afraid that when you handed over the silver to him for management, he wouldn't want sister anymore and would just run away with the silver." Zi Xi laughed and said. Zi Qing directly went up and kicked him, but Zi Xi had already anticipated it and dodged it with a jump, deliberately saying: "Sister, you're so unoriginal, always using this same move every time."

  Shen said, poking Zi Qing's head: "You kid, you're making things up. When I gave the silver to your second aunt, Kang Ping hadn't left yet. You didn't say you were stingy, but instead came to cheat me. It hasn't even been a while, and you've already divided it so clearly."

  "Mother, sister is cheating. I also saw sister give a ticket to big brother, big brother said no, and sister got angry. Later, big brother took it anyway." Zi Yu said.

  "Mother, I really didn't mean to be stingy with these thirty taels of silver. If I had taken the silver from my own pocket, you would have known about it later and thought that I was being petty and unwilling to help Second Aunt build a new house." Zi Qing pinched Zi Yu's hand, who was six years old this year but actually only four and a half years old, with a bobbed head, deeply in love with bows, big and bright eyes, smooth skin, and a chubby face that somewhat resembled the young Wenjun from the opera "Golden Name" that Zi Qing had seen before.

  "What? So you mean I should thank you for helping me spend my money?" Shen asked.

  "How could I steal the spotlight from Mom?" The whole family was in high spirits, and no one expected what would happen tomorrow.