Chang Lianfang sat there privately pondering — whether I’m losing out or not I don’t know, but I was nearly scared to death by you today, do you believe that?

While the two of them were locked in this mental standoff, a sizable procession of men and horses arrived from the distance. Never mind the number of people in that procession — just looking at the array of colorful banners at its front told you these were no ordinary people.

Aside from the commander’s ivory banner that was missing, there were blue, red, white, and black command flags, order flags, formation flags, tiger and leopard banners, and the great Chang family banner, all fluttering magnificently in the wind, leaving Qiqian’er clicking her tongue in admiration — this was far more dignified than the shabby flag outside the Tan family army’s wounded soldiers’ camp.

Ah, how imposing those who truly held power were — even she couldn’t have imagined it. Watching this formation where one step out sent a thousand legs scurrying to follow, this must be Chang Lianfang’s founding-earl father, Chang Mianshen, arriving.

Speaking of which, at this moment Qiqian’er found herself looking more favorably on Chang Lianfang — coming from a household like this, later rising even further above others, yet at the end still remembering to kowtow and burn offerings before the old madam’s grave — this breadth of character and cultivation deserved praise.

So Qiqian’er stood up and said to Chang Lianfang: “Uncle, call over those people and carts of ours from earlier and come with me.”

Chang Lianfang asked blankly: “Go where?” My father has arrived over there, why are you running off?

Qiqian’er said: “To Master Huo’s family ancestral hall, of course! You don’t know — I have a feeling my Madam definitely put the good stuff there…”

Hearing this, Chang Lianfang’s legs went weak and he stumbled. Just finished digging up the ancestral grave and now going to knock down the ancestral hall too? What kind of woman was this! Heaven above, please open your eyes! He didn’t want to live anymore, one shock after another, being scared by her ancestors like this was truly terrifying.

Seeing him not moving, Qiqian’er urged: “Let’s go.”

Go? Go where? Chang Lianfang, fingers trembling, pointed at the various colored grave pits on the ground: “It’s already come to this, and you still want to dig more? If we dig any more I really can’t take it. Sister-in-law, please have mercy, please let me off — I can’t go through another scene like today’s.”

Seeing this foolish young man pushed to this state, Qiqian’er happily patted him and said: “What are you thinking! It’s not like that. I originally thought these things underground were what my Madam had hidden, but now that those things aren’t here, they must be in the ancestral hall…”

Chang Lianfang said with considerable resentment: “I, I’ve certainly broadened my horizons today. Your family is clearly a household of bandits… your family… truly…” He pointed at the ground, then pointed toward the direction of Yandu, fuming.

Qiqian’er acted shamelessly: “We’ve already come this far, we’ve already dug — what are you still getting worked up about? What are you even saying! None of this is mine, it’s all yours! Where’s over there? My family could never reach that far!”

Chang Lianfang was even more helpless: “Fine, fine, fine! My family, my family can’t swallow it either! I beg little sister-in-law to show some mercy, give your little brother a chance to catch his breath — if this happens again, tomorrow even my father won’t be able to protect you, believe me?”

Qiqian’er pouted: “I believe you! Why wouldn’t I? But uncle, you’re thinking too optimistically if you think there’ll be another time like this? There won’t be! Do you take the God of Wealth for a fool? As for the ancestral hall, it’s probably just some worn-out cloth clothes worn by the estate overseers, torn cotton jackets and skirts, and old sheepskin coats handed out to the estate in winter, things like the old bedding used by the overseers… I helped with inventory before with a few aunties from the back courtyard, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Master Huo didn’t want these things, and Madam couldn’t take them along either…”

The more Qiqian’er talked, the more something seemed off. She noticed Chang Lianfang’s eyes gradually brightening, so she tested the waters: “Could it be… your esteemed earl father wants this too?”

Chang Lianfang nodded like he was pounding garlic, without a second’s hesitation: “Yes, he wants it, I want it too. However much you have, we’ll take it all!”

The troops he personally commanded numbered over two thousand, not to mention his father’s. Things like soldiers’ toes freezing and rotting off in the dead of winter — he never wanted to encounter that again.

What did it matter if it was worn sheepskin coats or old cloth clothes — altered, they could all save lives. They were good things too.

Qiqian’er was astonished: “How is your father short on everything?”

Chang Lianfang said helplessly: “Not just my father — even the Emperor’s own personal guard is short on these fine goods below. All the workshops were destroyed everywhere from the fighting before, and now there’s no one making these things. The soldiers’ boots are rotting to pieces, we can’t afford to be picky.”

Qiqian’er said with some reluctance: “But I don’t want to give it up.”

Chang Lianfang pleaded helplessly: “Please, sister-in-law, if not, then sell it to me. You said you wanted farmland, farmland it is; you said you wanted storefronts, storefronts it is too…”

Sell? She couldn’t use it all anyway, so that would work too.

Qiqian’er, decisive by nature today, thought it over and nodded: “Alright then. But I’ll need to pick out the good pieces to take first — my own family’s life needs to get going too.”

Hearing this, Chang Lianfang was overjoyed: “Done, sister-in-law, go ahead and pick first.”

With the pretense broken between them, Qiqian’er’s tone relaxed and she laughed: “Oh, let me tell you, there’s no shortage of good things! The Huo family has over two hundred years of accumulated wealth after all. That well-rope and windlass for drawing water, does your father want it? And various pottery chamber pots, baskets, water vats, clay pots — your esteemed earl father would surely like those…”

Chang Lianshan (sic — Lianfang) said irritably: “My father wouldn’t like that! You, what do you think my father is?”

“An earl! Someone noble — that kind of noble person wants everything!”

Qiqian’er’s words dripped with sarcasm, and Chang Lianfang no longer wanted to see this person ever again. He waved his hand to shoo her off, having people follow with the carts, please just let this eyesore leave quickly. If she said even a few more words, sharp-tongued and biting as she was, up and down in an instant, he felt his own lifespan wouldn’t be long…

By the time Qiqian’er had gone off in the distance, Chang Lianfang hurried over to pay his respects to his father, Chang Mianshen. Then father and son together looked over the salt and iron goods, and finally found a secluded spot at the edge of the graveyard, where Chang Lianfang told his father everything that had happened today, in full detail.

The founding earl Chang Mianshen stood with his hands behind his back, listening for a good half-stick of incense’s time. When he finished, he looked at the distant Huo Family Estate, then looked at Baiquan Mountain with its salt well, and finally the old earl cleared his throat a few times and said to Chang Lianfang with an envious expression: “You’re telling me… this young woman? That family’s old madam really traded her away for just ten strings of cash and fifty catties of grain?”

Chang Lianfang, not catching any other implication, nodded: “Yes, didn’t I tell you already? The old madam values literacy above all else…”

Earl Chang glanced coldly at his own son: “Your family has an old madam too.”

Chang Lianfang was momentarily stunned, then lowered his head and mumbled: “Yes… that family’s old madam. She personally values literacy in her heart, I already told you about their family’s situation — Chen Dasheng even saved my life once, and the old madam has shown me kindness too.”

“Hm! Is that so…” Earl Chang nodded, gazed into the distance for a good while, and finally, having come to a conclusion, tested Chang Lianfang: “If, according to what you’ve told me, that young lady, though she has a marriage contract, hasn’t yet actually met your sworn elder brother…”

Never mind fifty catties of grain, even two thousand catties would be worth it — arrange it properly, get a good daughter-in-law into the family, that would be the family’s fortune.

Chang Lianfang didn’t understand at first, but upon careful thought was shocked, nearly wailing out loud: “Father! What are you thinking! Father?”

Earl Chang looked at him with contempt, and scolded him, exasperated at his son’s lack of promise: “What do you know, you fool! I raised a whole bunch of sons, and out of all of them you’re the one worthless bum who won’t settle down — all you know how to do is wail wail wail, what else do you know? ‘A mother of a hundred years worries for her eighty-year-old son’ — if you won’t grow a brain, I’ll have to worry one into your skull for you. Do you not see what times these are?

Everyone’s gone off to Yandu, go home and look at what your grandmother and your mother are doing. Our family is all rough, uncultured people — which one of your grandmother or your mother can go out and socialize properly among people? If they don’t say something foolish, I’ll count myself blessed by the Buddha!

Do you think other people’s old madams don’t have worries too, just like I do? Look at your mother — if she’s not holding a rolling pin, she’s holding a spatula. When she speaks she doesn’t use her mouth, she relies all day on those chaotic methods… does she, does she have any sense? Can’t she use her brain to think things through like I do? Can’t she use her mouth to reason things out?”

Poor Earl Chang, a belly full of bitter grievances, unable to voice them to outsiders, could only pour them out to his son.

But his son wasn’t the clever type — hearing this, he still felt wronged: “My mother hasn’t beaten me any less than others. Why bring this up?”

Earl Chang was completely exasperated. He reached back, took the horsewhip from his waist, struck a nearby tree trunk with it, and said bitterly: “Ah — a person’s fortune is fixed by Heaven! That family must have good fortune indeed. Don’t listen to what people say outside, that women should be virtuous and demure and gentle — bah! Do you know that finding a wise wife with this kind of insight could secure your branch of the family three generations of prosperity…”

Chang Lianfang was nearly scared out of his wits: “Father! Do you want me dead? That, what kind of person is that? That’s the same kind of person as you, without that layer of female skin she’d be a second father to me! Am I supposed to be crazy, marrying a father…”

Before he could finish, his father kicked him flying. Fortunately he was used to taking such hits, and even dodged with quite a graceful posture.

Earl Chang pointed at him with a trembling finger: “You, you’re just a fool!”

In front of his own father, Chang Lianfang no longer bothered keeping up appearances. He crouched on the ground, muttering resentfully: “I’m willing!”

Earl Chang shook his head helplessly, truly envious in his heart beyond measure. He’d seen plenty of good women in his time, but women raised in the back courtyards, even literate ones, actually had limited worldliness.

But the woman he’d encountered now had suffered great hardship, endured great bitterness — an ordinary woman with knots like these in her heart would carry them for a lifetime.

But this one, given a new path in life, could immediately let go of the past and take charge of the days ahead. She was literate, could read situations and judge the times, was clear about gratitude and grudges, and most frightening of all, she was someone willing to give up wealth… such a good person, how did she end up in a family like that?

Watching his son acting like he’d rather die than comply, Earl Chang looked up at the sky and sighed long: “What divine protection did that family receive, to produce someone like this… Son! Do you really not want her? Actually, you know, gritting your teeth through it, life goes on regardless. Son, I’m telling you, I’ve really got an idea now — look at your mother…”

Chang Lianfang looked at his father with the expression of looking at a simpleton and interjected: “Father! My mother is fine as she is! All those chaotic people who came through the household before, eating and taking whatever they wanted — has my mother ever said a single word against it? What are you thinking! That’s my sworn brother’s wife, father, I’m begging you, please stop thinking wild thoughts. Now, about this well…”

Earl Chang immediately cut him off: “This well belongs to Second Brother.”

Chang Lianfang laughed coldly: “I knew it…”

Qiqian’er had no idea about that father-and-son dispute, no idea she’d nearly become the young wife of the founding earl’s household. Even if she had known, she couldn’t possibly have agreed.

It wasn’t that she didn’t value that foolish fellow enough — in her past life of several decades, the first thing she’d seen through was romantic love. She’d been shortsighted, harbored inner demons for half a lifetime, feeling that without children there was nothing left to hope for, that all talk of love and affection was false.

Right now she was contentedly watching that group of soldiers carrying things up one load at a time from beneath the ancestral hall. Right, this was what she wanted.

Gold, silver, jewels, fine silks, antiques and paintings — there couldn’t possibly be any of that here. Master Huo and Madam Wang weren’t foolish either.

But the Huo family’s two-hundred-plus years of accumulation as estate stewards was no lie either.

Like what was being carried up now — ordinary wooden buckets for lamp oil, small miscellaneous-wood kang tables and stools, bamboo-woven household implements, wooden rakes for turning grain, various baskets for holding grain, large and small baskets for holding odds and ends, old bamboo mats for covering the kang and drying grain in the greatest quantity, easily numbering in the hundreds, wind-blocking wool felt blankets, seven or eight rolls of them, all new too…

These were the things needed to actually live a life.

Qiqian’er watched joyfully, all the while cursing herself inwardly — in her past life, if she’d just used her brain a little more, her days wouldn’t have had to be so stifled and constrained. But back then she hadn’t even had the nerve to touch a single one of Madam’s needles.

Look at all this — when the chaos first began, Madam had immediately had people collect several dozen sets of old bedding. The Huo family had their own weaving and spinning workshop, their own sewing room, and vast fields of cotton, so even the old bedding was substantial — each large quilt weighed a good fifteen catties.

Watching the group of soldiers bundling and carrying load after load up, Qiqian’er’s head filled with images of her own child someday rolling around in a pile of cotton.

Moreover, there was new bedding too, some seven or eight sets, plus several dozen catties of white cotton — this would be very useful. Later when An’er started his studies, went to the best academy, she’d use the finest cotton to make him satin-covered bedding, so no one would look down on him.

The person-height water vats for storing grain numbered over a dozen; these she’d put in the west room. Various small water vats for kitchen use numbered several dozen; most of these she’d give to that damned Chang family. The cutting boards came in complete sets, round and square, seven or eight of each; the huge cutting boards for feeding dozens or a hundred people were fewer, just two.

Enough, enough, this was plenty to use.

There were also the thread-spinning carts from the weaving workshop, complete sets of loom parts, thread-winding reels, cocoon-stirring reels, cocoon-steaming baskets, wooden forms for mending socks, a small wooden box full of needles, thread ends, small scissors, small awls, a knife for trimming livestock hooves also turned up, bowstrings for fluffing cotton, shepherd’s whips and bronze bells for the sheep, a whole pile of them…

As she took inventory, Qiqian’er truly began to admire Madam. She really was a first-rate schemer — this person really knew how to accumulate, really knew how to hoard.

Madam was a meticulous person — when she hid things away, she’d even gathered up the household servants’ rough wooden boxes. There were several dozen new and old hardwood combs and fine-tooth combs; those boxes when opened all had half-used bottles of hair oil, and Madam hadn’t minded in the least, still carefully hiding them all away.

The various coarse and fine cloth new outfits and shoes and socks given out during festivals, the padded jackets and pants, the old robes patched with sheepskin — there was no counting them, it took four or five cartloads just to load them up.

As they carried more and more, Qiqian’er heard cheering from below — a group of soldiers happily carrying up twenty-some baskets of coarse porcelain bowls, plus seven or eight urns of kitchen-use yellow wine.

Someone pointed below and said to Qiqian’er quite excitedly: “Young miss, there’s black bean paste down there too, seven or eight urns that big.”

Qiqian’er patted her forehead — what was there to be excited about? The old Huo family managed the imperial estate and their own estate; the estate at full capacity had over a thousand people, and these people needed to eat every day — what were a few large urns of black bean paste?

During the siege when the whole family had hidden from the disaster, if they hadn’t left in such a rush, too afraid to go out, this black bean paste alone could have sustained them for many more days — they wouldn’t have had to lose so many lives.

And besides, how long had this group gone without proper rice bowls to eat from — just look how happy they were over a few baskets of broken bowls.

Qiqian’er couldn’t bear to watch, thinking to herself that this bunch didn’t know good goods when they saw them — the best things here hadn’t even been recognized: her legitimate elder brother’s several chests of classics and histories for the imperial examinations, plus several dozen bundles of ordinary hemp paper and rice paper used by the accounting office, unmarked ink sticks for everyday use, various brushes piled up by the dozens — all carelessly discarded on the ground in stacks and bundles.

This group of old soldiers walked back and forth, even stepping on them a few times, whether on purpose or not she couldn’t tell.

Ah, how delightful — all of this was hers now.

This group of soldiers, tall and sturdy, spent a full two hours going back and forth before piling up everything from below into over a dozen cart-loads.

Qiqian’er had nowhere to sit, so she could only walk alongside the carts. As they walked near the graveyard, Qiqian’er stopped, suddenly remembering something.

She hadn’t yet paid respects at her mother’s grave.

Looking around, her eyes immediately landed on the spot. Once, an auntie had gone out with her and pointed to a camphor tree over there, saying, you know, your mother is under that tree’s roots…

Qiqian’er walked slowly over, coming before this camphor tree, only to find two grave mounds, one on the left and one on the right, at its roots.

No one tended these graves; the earthen mounds were shallow. Now that the Huo family had no one to watch over the graves either, once next spring’s rains came, they’d probably be washed away until nothing remained visible.

Unable to tell which was her mother’s, Qiqian’er turned back and asked a soldier for a shovel, raising both grave mounds higher, so that there would be descendants living on, someone to offer sacrifices.

Once done, Qiqian’er knelt on both knees before the camphor tree. Not knowing whether to kowtow to the mound on the left or the one on the right, she pressed her palms together and spoke sincerely to the camphor tree in between: “Mother! I’m sorry, I’m not even sure which one you are. But whoever’s under here, they’re both victims of that Master Huo’s misdeeds, so regardless of which lady is beside you, I’ll offer sacrifices to you both together. It happens to work out nicely — you can share my offerings, and down there you can keep each other company against the loneliness.

Mother, do you remember me? I’m that troublesome child of yours. If not for me, Madam wouldn’t have harmed you… but there was no other way, nothing was ever discussed with you, and you see, here I am, and I brought misfortune upon you, and then afterward I forgot about you too. Mother, even if you resent me, there’s nothing I can do about it. You see, I was foolish and ignorant before, no one taught me, no one looked after me, and I didn’t even know to come pay my respects to you. I’ve been unfilial — for everything that happened before, I imagine you’re angry with me, punishing me. Mother, I was wrong, I understand now! Don’t blame me, mother, from now on it won’t happen again. You know now, don’t you — I have a family now…”

Qiqian’er, as if presenting a treasure, pulled out from her sleeve the string of paper money A’Nai had given her. Taking out this money, she found she had no fire source. Just as she was wondering what to do, someone silently handed over a fire-striking kit from beside her.

Qiqian’er was momentarily stunned, but looking up found it was Chang Lianfang. She smiled at him gratefully, bent down and struck a spark, burning the paper money and saying: “Mother! Here! Take your money, spend it, don’t be frugal! There’ll be more next year!”

Having said this, she stood up and called out loudly to the empty space around her: “All you spirits traveling south and north, listen well!! This money I’m sending is for Huo Men Xiao Jiao — she has a descendant now! Named Qiqian! Her married family’s surname is Chen, her husband’s name is Chen Dasheng! He’s an official! Seventh rank! A god of war descended to earth! You spirits and ghosts traveling south and north, if you have any divinity, watch over and protect Huo Men Xiao Jiao when you see her, don’t let stray ghosts snatch away my clothes! Don’t let vicious spirits rob my money! When the time comes tomorrow, I’ll come burn offerings again — I’ll repay you generously and thickly!!”

Having finished calling out, she properly kowtowed three times in each of the four directions.

Outside Qingfeng City, at Huo Family Estate, before the two fresh earthen mounds covered in yellow soil, Chang Lianfang listened with tears welling in his eyes. When Qiqian’er turned back, he found this woman was truly tough — why wasn’t she crying?

Thinking this, he asked: “Sister-in-law, why aren’t you crying?”

He himself was already grieving badly.

Qiqian’er, hearing this, laughed and looked at him: “You’re really a simpleton. This is my mother — if I cried, it would mean I wasn’t living well. Every mother worries about her child, and she’d worry terribly about me if she saw me crying…”