Chapter 84

Chapter 84

"While that may be true, his death inevitably sparked a lot of gossip about Qiu Er. Many in the county now claim Qiu Er and Cao Kun are heartless for letting their own father and brother starve to death."

Chen Rong spat, "That old scoundrel! Even in death, he has to cause trouble for my Qiu Er again. It's utterly disgusting!"

Li Shi sighed, "Death is like a lamp going out. Let it go, it's all in the past. People are just looking for entertainment; they'll soon forget. Pay them no mind."

"Qiu Er says the same. He's quite open-minded, but it's just bad timing with Sui Er's marriage talks."

Lin Sui was very fond of the Huang family's second son and worried this matter might jeopardize her marriage prospects.

She was at that age when a girl's heart begins to stir. Ever since she first saw Huang Yong, she had been smitten. Every time he was mentioned, her heart would pound. Unfortunately, he remained indifferent, and it was unclear if he favored the match.

Wang Ying asked, "How's the shop in the county town doing?"

"The weather's warmed up, and vegetables can't be stored for long during transport. We've started selling general goods instead. It's not as profitable as selling vegetables in winter, but we still have daily income—enough to support the family."

Wang Ying said, "Your son-in-law is a resourceful man. I expect he'll expand the business in the future."

Speaking of her son-in-law, Chen Rong was a hundred percent satisfied. "That boy Cao Kun is beyond reproach. During the more than half a year Sui Er and I stayed with them, he was attentive and thoughtful in every way—truly impeccable."

Li Shi smiled. "Qiu Er is blessed. You can rest easy now."

"I am at ease. By the way, how are things with Qing Yun's marriage? Is she engaged yet?"

"I was just talking to A Ying about it the other day. There aren't any suitable candidates at the moment. I'm thinking of waiting another year or so. It wouldn't be too late to discuss it after Qing Yan takes the imperial exams."

"That would be perfect. If Qing Yan passes the provincial exam and becomes a *juren* (provincial graduate), Qing Yun will be a *juren*'s sister. I bet matchmakers will wear out your doorstep then."

"Third Aunt~" Qing Yun blushed crimson, stamped her foot, and ran out hand-in-hand with Lin Sui, leaving the room filled with laughter.

With Chen Rong back, Li Shi no longer felt lonely and stopped talking about moving back to town. Before this, she had been thinking about returning every few days, always feeling life in the village was dull.

It wasn't that Wang Ying wouldn't let her go back; rather, Yuan Bao didn't want to leave the village.

At his age, children are naturally playful. Being cooped up in a town courtyard every day couldn't compare to the freedom of village life.

Besides, as the weather grew warmer day by day, it was time to restart the ice pop business.

Although they could do it back in town, hiring help in town was asking for trouble—too much envy and gossip. The village was simply safer.

Time drifted by. Meanwhile, the master and his three disciples had already been in Jizhou Prefecture for about a week.

During these days, Chen Qingyan and the others went daily to the prefectural school's library to attend Mr. Lu's lectures.

Having been a teacher for over thirty years, Lu Zhongqi's teaching methods were far superior to Liang Boqing's self-taught style, especially when it came to policy essays. Mr. Lu's writing skills were nothing short of masterful.

He broke down the process: how to pinpoint the topic, stay on theme, solve the problem, and finally extend the discussion, explaining each step in detail. Chen Qingyan and the others benefited greatly.

He also covered which articles and phrases must not be quoted in policy essays, as well as the taboos involving the names of past emperors. Any character matching an emperor's name had to be replaced with a homophone; otherwise, even if they passed the exam, they could be disqualified for showing disrespect.

"In the imperial exam session of my year, several candidates were disqualified for failing to avoid using the characters in the late emperor's name. It was a great pity. You must remember this well."

The three nodded and took note. Old Liang had never mentioned these things to them—largely because Liang Boqing himself had never participated in the provincial exams.

Of course, Liang Boqing wasn't idle either. He taught several poetry classes to the prefectural school students.

But his temper was too fiery. Whenever he saw poems that were utter nonsense, with flawed tonal patterns and rhymes that didn't even match, he would fly into a rage—claiming they were even worse than Chen Qingsong!

After teaching for a few days, he couldn't stand it anymore and simply left the three students with Mr. Lu while he went out to visit friends and attend Poetry Societies.

Today was a day off at the prefectural school, so Chen Qingyan and the others didn’t have to attend classes—they had the day off.

Early in the morning, an invitation arrived at the inn: Liu Changyi was hosting a poetry gathering at a teahouse and had specifically invited the three of them.

Chen Qingyan took the invitation and went to find Old Liang. "Master, may we go?"

Liang Boqing glanced at it. "Why not? Just don’t embarrass me."

"Alright, I understand, Master."

Chen Qingyan hurried to inform his two younger brothers. The poetry gathering was scheduled to start in the afternoon during the Shen hour (late afternoon) and last until the Xu hour (evening).

Since it was still early, the three decided to go out for a stroll. They hadn’t had a chance to explore the city since arriving.

Chen Qingyan first went to the experimental field to leave a note for Wang Ying, explaining that he might return very late and not to wait up. He also took two strings of coin for spending money.

The three left the inn, with Chen Guang following behind to protect them, while Er Shun stayed home to take care of Old Liang.

Outside the inn was a wide, quiet street lined with flowers, plants, and trees. The ground was paved with fine gravel. Since this area had previously been used to host visiting officials and distinguished guests, it served as the face of Jizhou Prefecture and was kept exceptionally tidy.

After walking the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, they reached the main street. The environment here was noticeably less refined, with animal droppings often visible on the ground. There weren’t many pedestrians, as most residents in this area traveled by carriage.

The further they went into the city, the livelier it became. Buildings lined both sides of the street, and all kinds of shops presented a dazzling array.

Qing Song, being young, was entirely focused on food. He wanted to try mung bean starch noodles, then craved milk skin, and when they passed a shop selling freshly steamed meat buns, he couldn’t tear himself away. Chen Qingyan scolded him a few times before they moved on.

Before leaving home, their mother had reminded them to keep an eye on Qing Song’s eating habits. Since last year, he had started filling out sideways rather than growing taller, and at his age, putting on width instead of height was not ideal.

Chen Qingyan finally stopped when they reached a jewelry shop. June was Wang Ying’s birthday, and he wanted to buy A Ying a gift.

Wang Ying usually tied his hair with a wooden hairpin or cloth scarf, but Chen Qingyan noticed that most men in the prefecture used silver hairpins, which looked more spirited. He wanted to buy a silver hairpin for Wang Ying as well.

As soon as they entered, the three were stunned by the silver shop’s opulence. The ceiling was covered in gold leaf, giving it a magnificent, golden glow.

A shop assistant approached them. "What would you like to buy, young masters?"

Chen Qingyan replied somewhat nervously, "I’d like to buy a hairpin for my husband."

"Please follow me, young master." The assistant led them inside, took out a wooden tray from the cabinet, and displayed over ten silver hairpins, all exquisitely crafted and dazzling to the eye.

"How much are these?"

The assistant pointed to the plainer ones at the front. "These are a bit cheaper, around one string of coin. They’re suitable for personal use or as gifts for friends and family.

Our Zhou’s Silver Shop is a century-old establishment. We use only pure snowflake silver with no impurities. Even if you don’t wear it in the future, you can still pawn it for travel expenses."

Chen Qingyan wasn’t interested in these—they were too plain and better suited for older people. A Ying was young and would look better with a more beautiful hairpin. He pointed to a carved hairpin inlaid with a ruby at the back. "How much is this one?"

"Young master, you have excellent taste. This was just crafted by our silversmith a few days ago using silver filigree techniques. We can only make three such hairpins a month. The ruby on it was transported from the Western Regions, and such fine quality is rare."

Hearing the assistant’s extravagant praise, Chen Qingyan grew a bit worried. "How much is it?"

"Six strings of coin."

The price was indeed steep. "Can it be cheaper?"

The assistant smiled. "I’m afraid not. You get what you pay for. There are similar hairpins sold elsewhere, but they use impure silver with too many impurities. They lose their shine after just a few days of wear.

The materials alone for our hairpin cost two taels of silver. When it gets old, you can boil it in saltwater and it'll look brand new. The ruby on it is worth at least three strings of coins. The silversmith's only makes a small profit from the craftsmanship."

Chen Qingyan picked up the silver hairpin and examined it, growing fonder of it the more he looked. Unfortunately, he hadn’t brought enough money with him today. "Can I come back tomorrow to buy it?"

The shop assistant smiled. "I can’t guarantee it’ll still be here tomorrow. If another customer wants to buy it, I can’t very well hold it back, can I?"

Chen Qingyan remembered there was a banknote his mother had given him in his purse. "Is there a bank nearby?"

"Yes, just walk about two hundred meters ahead, and you’ll find one. If it’s inconvenient for you, I can help fetch the money for you."

"No need, we’ll go ourselves."

Chen Qingyan took his two younger brothers to the bank, exchanged the hundred-tael banknote for one fifty-tael note, and exchanged the rest for silver coins. Then they returned to the silversmith's and bought the hairpin.

Little did they know that during their trip, they had been targeted by a gang of criminals.

This gang was involved in every kind of wrongdoing—scamming, cheating, and stealing—and they specifically targeted out-of-towners. Each time, the prefectural authorities couldn’t do anything due to lack of evidence.

After shopping, the three continued to stroll around the streets. Chen Qingyan, the eldest brother, bought two clever toys for his son, one of which was a wind-up ox. By twisting the ox’s tail a few times, the little ox could walk forward on its own, which was quite amusing.

Qing Song also bought two gifts for his sister and mother. They weren’t expensive, as he used his own saved pocket money.

The three carried their purchases and prepared to head back to the inn. Halfway there, an old man suddenly rushed out from a side alley, bumped into Chen Qingsong, and fell heavily to the ground.

"Aiyo!" The old man let out a pained groan, clutching his leg and rolling on the ground.

Chen Qingyan quickly crouched down to ask, "Are you alright?"

"It hurts so much! Why weren’t you watching where you were going?" The old man’s foot was bent at a strange angle to the side, seemingly broken.

Chen Qingsong was terrified. "N-no, it wasn’t me! He ran into me!"

"How can you say that? At my age, how could I possibly bump into you? Ow, it hurts so much!"

The old man’s cries quickly drew a crowd, and everyone began condemning the three for causing such harm.

Chen Qingsong was on the verge of tears. This person had clearly bumped into him and fallen—how could he falsely accuse him instead?

Seeing the crowd of onlookers growing larger, Chen Qingyan, worried the situation might escalate, tried to calm things down. "Uncle, how about this: we’ll take you to a clinic to have a look. If you’re really hurt, we’ll definitely cover the treatment."

Hearing this, the old man stopped wailing. "Really? You can’t go back on your word. I have a grandson to support at home. If I can’t get treated, both of us will starve to death!"

Chen Qingyan quickly took out a string of coins from his pocket and handed it to him. "Take this money first to buy food for your grandson. We’ll go to the clinic for treatment."

"Alright." The old man took the money and slowly got up.

Suddenly, a voice called out from the side, "Ninth Brother Ge, you’re running your scams again! Don’t believe him—this man is a fraud. His leg is fine!"

The old man, who had seemed disabled, suddenly popped right up, shoved through the crowd, and ran off. His agility was unlike that of an elderly person.

The three stood there in shock. It took them a moment to process what had happened. Chen Qingsong excitedly rushed over, cupped his hands, and bowed. "Thank you, sir, for speaking up and helping us!"

A sly glint flashed in the man’s eyes as he smiled and said, "Don’t mention it—it was nothing."