Yan Xiaoyu and the others arrived home just in time for dinner.

Yan Xiaoyu had sent a message via Yu Sanlang, telling He Qiuhua and Yan Xingmao that they were coming home today; the couple had been eagerly awaiting their return since early that morning.

If they hadn’t had to make arrangements for meals for a dozen or so people in advance, the couple would have gone to the village entrance to greet them. 

Seeing a large crowd following closely behind Yan Xiaoyu and the others,  He Qiuhua and Yan Xingmao hurried out to greet them.

With the villagers’ help, the family carried the pots, bowls, ladles, and other utensils they’d hauled back from the county into their home. These were the utensils Yan Xiaoyu used for eating—their sizes and styles had been specially customized to fit his stature and habits, and he treasured them dearly.

They planned to take the valuable and lightweight items to Lingbei, while the bulkier ones would either be given away or sold.

They gave the stone mill to the village—it came in handy for Yu Chunying and the others in their tofu business—and Yan Xiaoyu gave others to Aunt Sun and the other farmhands. 

The three large iron pots had been sold in advance at the county blacksmith’s shop.

Yan Xiaoyu’s family had struggled through hard times; even now that they were better off, they weren’t in the habit of living beyond their means.

The trip to the north of the ridge would be quite costly, and once they arrived, opening a new restaurant there would require a large sum of silver. So, for these items that were neither needed nor convenient to carry, they’d sell whatever they could.

After packing everything up, Yan Xingmao invited the villagers to stay for tea, but the villagers said it was time for Yan Xiaoyu to eat and refused to linger. Under the pretext of helping Aunt Sun and the others move their belongings, they left together.

There are a total of five people from the village working at Yuye Pavilion. Aunt Sun, who has been there the longest, has worked there since the day it opened. Another man, a Fulang, has also worked there. Another woman, a young boy, and a man joined later. All five are honest and hardworking.

When the shop closed this time, after discussing it with Yan Shaocheng, Yan Xiaoyu paid each of them three times their usual wages—the highest amount being five silver taels—and also distributed the shop’s remaining rice and ingredients among them.

Yan Xiaoyu was generous and never shortchanged her workers, which is why jobs at Yuye Pavilion were highly sought after in the village, and those selected enjoyed special prestige.

When Yan Xiaoyu announced he was closing the shop, Aunt Sun and the others were devastated, secretly lamenting that they would never find such good work again. They never expected to receive such a generous reward. Not only were they deeply comforted, but they also felt even greater admiration and gratitude toward Yan Xiaoyu’s family and Yan Shaocheng.

Carrying chickens, ducks, and grain, with gleaming silver tucked into their pockets, Aunt Sun couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

The villagers helping them carry their luggage, bowls, baskets, and cooking utensils looked on with envy.

“Brother Yu is truly kind-hearted. They could have used these chickens, ducks, and grain for their own wedding, yet they gave them to you instead.”

“They’re such decent people—they didn’t even forget to give the shop helpers holiday gifts last year. I’ve noticed that Aunt Sun has put on some weight after working at Yuye Pavilion for a year!” 

“It’s not just Aunt Sun—that servant the Yan family bought lives better than any of us country bumpkins! If they didn’t say so, who among you would even guess they’re servants…”

Someone else leaned over to Aunt Sun and asked, “Aunt Sun, now that they’ve let you all go, I bet Brother Yu didn’t give you any silver, did he?”

Aunt Sun smiled cheerfully, but kept her guard up: “Brother Yu is kind-hearted; of course he wouldn’t shortchange us. But since they’ve given us all these things, how could we possibly ask for his silver on top of all this?” 

The other four nodded in agreement.

It really would have been awkward to accept it, but Yan Xiaoyu insisted on giving it to them and specifically told them not to mention it to anyone, lest it attract unwanted attention. Sure enough, someone couldn’t resist and came over to inquire.

By the time they reached the village, it was already late. After traveling for a whole hour, Yan Xiaoyu was both exhausted and hungry. Once the villagers had left, they sat down to eat dinner.

A-Chai, A-Shuang, and the others didn’t dare eat at the same table as Yan Shaoxuan, so they sat at a separate table—though the dishes were the same.  After dinner, A-Chai and the others went to wash the dishes and tidy up the house, while Yan Xiaoyu’s family and the Yan brothers discussed their plans to go to Lingbei.

Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua heard that Yan Shaoxuan’s posting had been transferred from the capital to Lingbei, and naturally, they were worried. Before Yan Xiaoyu could even ask, they volunteered to go along.

“The four of you are still young and have your own careers to pursue. Your mother and I are leaving with you—we can’t help you in any other way, but at least we can make sure you have a hot meal to eat.”

Yan Xiaoyu had already anticipated this: “In that case, you two will have to pack your bags today.”

The journey from Weishi County to Lingbei takes about a month, so they’d have to leave by early August at the latest to ensure Yan Shaoxuan’s appointment wasn’t delayed. Winters in Lingbei are long; more than half the year is covered in ice and snow. It gets cold as early as August, and by September, it might already be snowing. 

The cold there was nothing like the cold here in Weishi County. Weishi County had distinct seasons, and even during the coldest times, one could get by with just a thick cotton jacket; Lingbei, however, was different. In winter, the people there had to wrap themselves from head to toe in cotton jackets and fur coats, not exposing even a single finger—otherwise, it could freeze off.

For this reason, a few days ago, the Yan brothers specially spent money on fabric to have a full set of clothes made. 

“It used to be that only the area north of the ridge was cold, but not this cold. Thankfully, Shaoxuan did some advance scouting. I bought each of you a fur robe and a set of cotton robes for everyone in the county. However, since it’s not yet the season in Weishi County, the fur robes sold in the tailor shops are last year’s stock. There wasn’t much to choose from, so most of them probably won’t fit us quite right and will need to be altered. There’s also some leather and fabric left over, which we can use to make small items like hats and hoods, or even an extra set of clothes.”

“He Qiuhua, try them on. Tomorrow I’ll ask Xu Jier and Mrs. Sun to have the clothes, shoes, and hats made as soon as possible!” Not only is the weather cold, but the journey north of the mountain range is also fraught with danger.

That day, as he was escorting the top scholar home, Yi Ti had warned him that the woods just north of the mountain pass were frequented by wild beasts and were extremely dangerous.

Although Yan Shaoxuan was skilled in martial arts himself, he dared not take any chances since he intended to bring Yan Xiaoyu along.

The escort guards who had brought them to the capital shook their heads repeatedly at the mention of heading north of the ridge, claiming they didn’t know the way. Yan Shaoxuan then sent Jiang Xiaowu out to make inquiries, while he himself kept a close watch.

Jiang Xiaowu’s inquiries revealed that there was a Zhenwu Escort Agency in the capital with a stellar reputation—not only in the capital, but also among the very best in all of Great Chu.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t hire them.

“All their team leaders are out on assignments, and the agency’s schedule is booked solid through next year.”

Jiang Xiaowu didn’t just ask about the Zhenwu Escort Agency; he spent the entire afternoon inquiring at every well-known escort agency in the capital. After his inquiries, he reported that very few escort teams were willing to venture into the Lingbei region.

“Apart from the Zhenwu Escort Agency, only one other agency dared to take on our job, but I noticed their escorts weren’t as sturdy as those from Zhenwu, yet their rates were just as high.”

Yan Shaoxuan, standing nearby, realized that since even the agencies next to him wouldn’t go, Lingbei must indeed be a dangerous place. He didn’t want to make a rash decision, so he planned to buy some rouge for Yan Xiaoyu the next day and then go take a look for himself.

As luck would have it, the next day when he went to buy rouge for Yan Xiaoyu, he noticed the sign hanging next to the rouge shop bore the four large characters: “Zhenwu Escort Agency.”

Since he had just paraded through the streets the day before—and as the most eye-catching top scholar—the clerk at the rouge shop recognized him and greeted him with great enthusiasm.

Yan Shaoxuan took the opportunity to inquire about the Zhenwu Escort Agency next door; he had originally intended to find out if the agency was truly capable, but to his surprise, the clerk at the lipstick shop praised the Zhenwu Escort Agency highly. When Yan Shaoxuan expressed his desire to hire an escort, the clerk even brought out their boss.

The owner was a young man, looking to be in his twenties, and turned out to be the Fulang of the Zhenwu Escort Agency next door.

Since fate had brought them together like this, Yan Shaoxuan asked a few more questions. To his good fortune, the Zhenwu Escort Agency had indeed stopped taking long-distance escort jobs recently, but their head of the agency was planning to travel to Lingbei himself.

When Yan Shaoxuan explained that he was hiring the escort team to accompany a family member to Lingbei to take up a new post, the young owner of the rouge shop took him to meet the head of the Zhenwu Escort Agency—who happened to be his husband.

The head of the Zhenwu Escort Agency was extremely tall and imposing. As soon as Yan Shaoxuan saw him, he realized that outsiders hadn’t been exaggerating—this man was indeed quite formidable.

He exchanged a few words with the man and found they got along quite well; in the end, they agreed that the head of the Zhenwu Escort Agency would lead a team to escort Yan Shaoxuan to Lingbei. The Zhenwu Escort Agency was powerful, and their rates for escort services were high—especially in dangerous areas like Lingbei, where many other agencies dared not go. Normally, they would charge over a thousand silver coins in escort fees. Since this was merely an incidental escort, the fee had been reduced by half.

Yan Shaoxuan had already discussed the matter of hiring the Zhenwu Escort Agency to provide protection with Yan Xiaoyu, and today he went over it again with Yan Xingmao and the others.

“Last month, a team of escorts from the Zhenwu Escort Agency delivered goods to the prefectural capital. They’re scheduled to return to the capital on the first day of the eighth lunar month. We’ll travel with them, and once we reach Yulian County, we’ll join forces with the Huo Escort Agency and proceed together to the north of the mountain range.” 

Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua merely remarked that hiring the escort for this trip alone would cost over five hundred, and they clicked their tongues in dismay; as for the rest of the arrangements, they had no objections.

With the trip to the north settled, Yan Xiaoyu had nothing left to do but wait for his wedding; the rest of the arrangements were left to Yan Shaoxuan and his parents.

Yan Shaoxuan also wanted to focus on preparing for his own wedding day, but unfortunately, he was swamped with work.

A Jinshi was exempt from taxes on a thousand mu of land—more than the entire village of Xiling could ever use. Since Yan Shaoxuan’s return, people had been coming to offer their support; at first, they were landowners and wealthy families from the county, but upon returning to the village, they had become villagers from the surrounding area.

After subtracting the 300 mu previously used during his time as a candidate for the provincial examination from the 1,000-mu tax exemption, 1,700 mu remained. Yan Shaoxuan planned to hand over all the proceeds from these 1,700 mu to Yan Xiaoyu as a betrothal gift.

A county magistrate’s salary isn’t high, so in the future, Yan Xiaoyu would certainly earn more than him. This tax-exempt allotment of 1,700 mu could be converted into silver; if he handed it over to Yan Xiaoyu, it would surely give him more confidence in his business ventures.

However, if these tax-exempt quotas were leased to ordinary people, rent would have to be collected annually; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to afford it. If they were handed over to the wealthy families and landowners in the county, ten years’ worth of rent could be collected all at once, but Yan Shaoxuan was unwilling to do so, and Yan Xiaoyu didn’t agree either.

Yan Shaoxuan spent many days working on this matter, and once everything was settled, he accompanied Niu Fugui to the county seat to register the arrangement.

In addition to the commoners who came to make offerings, he also had to deal with scholars seeking guidance on the imperial examinations and assist He Qiuhua and the others with custom-made clothing…

He longed to take Yan Xiaoyu into the mountains for a day out, but he simply couldn’t find the time.

When he finally found some free time, there were less than three days left until his wedding to Yan Xiaoyu. Since the bride and groom were not allowed to see each other before the wedding, Yan Shaoxuan was sent back to the Yan family home.

His heart was filled with anticipation as he waited to welcome his beloved young man into his home. Those three days felt like an eternity—he longed for it with every fiber of his being, and the days dragged on endlessly…