Since the polo day, Liu Shaotang had been staying at home feeling bored. He was originally someone who couldn’t sit still, which greatly annoyed his parents. Ever since coming down from the battlefield, his problems had increased even more—he began to despise the beds at home for being too soft and the rice and flour for being too fine. This truly puzzled the Marquis and Marchioness of Juanling: how could their son, already twenty-four years old, still have such a disagreeable manner? Didn’t other families’ children improve after seven or eight years old?

Fortunately, this disagreeable rebellious son finally couldn’t stay at home today and went out to Duke Yanguo’s mansion, finally giving the two elders some peace.

He rode his horse to the Duke’s mansion. The gatekeeper had long recognized this young general who had been familiar with the Duke since childhood, so without needing to announce him, he welcomed him in. When he turned into Gu Juhan’s courtyard, he heard from a servant that he was in the study. Entering the room, he saw Gu Juhan reading and called out loudly: “Brother, what book are you reading?”

Gu Juhan had heard him making noise in the courtyard earlier. Seeing him burst through the door, he didn’t argue with him but only had the maid outside bring him tea. However, Liu Shaotang couldn’t sit still and moved close to Gu Juhan to look at the book in his hands. He saw it was some kind of journal by an unknown author. Flipping through a few pages, he found it was all about cultural artifacts—precisely the type of pedantic book he was always most impatient to read.

He stopped looking at the book and plopped down on a chair nearby, but didn’t forget to tease: “Brother, ever since you married sister-in-law, this mansion has truly taken on much of Jiangzuo’s atmosphere. Not only is the garden maintained with delicacy, even the books you read are quite different from before.”

Indeed, Gu Juhan usually read military strategy and historical records, occasionally reading literary selections for enjoyment. He rarely looked at books like journals. However, Shen Xiling had always liked this type of book, and besides this, she also enjoyed reading travel accounts. She had collected many books on local customs and geography, plus many illustrated books. As they accumulated over time, there were really too many, and her room couldn’t hold them all, so she moved some to his study. In recent years, when he had free time, he had casually browsed through them, and over time he found some flavor in them, gradually reading more and more.

He smiled and said: “Just reading some leisure books. How does that constitute Jiangzuo atmosphere?”

Though this smile had no other meaning, in Liu Shaotang’s eyes, he saw some lingering flavor of marital affection, as if the mere thought of anything related to his wife would unconsciously bring a smile to his lips. This greatly made him, such a lonely bachelor, feel uncomfortable.

He couldn’t help but tease a couple more times, but saw Gu Juhan put down the book and say to him quite seriously: “Since you’re envious, why don’t you hurry up and start a family yourself? The old Marquis mentioned this matter to me just a few days ago, repeatedly asking me to persuade you.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Shaotang’s face immediately turned bitter, and he quickly waved his hands, saying: “Brother, please spare me! Marriage is still very early for me!”

Gu Juhan looked at his roguish appearance and sighed: “You’re twenty-four this year. Several of your deputy officers aren’t much older than you but already have children. How can you say it’s still very early?”

Liu Shaotang pouted and said: “Speaking of children, you’re more anxious about this than I am. I’m only twenty-four without children, which is normal, but you and sister-in-law have been married for five years yet your knees remain empty. How can you turn around and lecture me?”

These words completely silenced Gu Juhan, making him so angry that his face turned unsightly. Liu Shaotang had always been good at reading his expressions. Seeing him put on a stern face, he quickly came forward to curry favor and please him, saying half-flatteringly and half-sincerely: “My parents are indeed too anxious about this matter. It’s not that I don’t want to start a family—marriage might be easy, but meeting someone you fancy is another matter entirely. Many of my friends who married aren’t particularly happy afterward, but rather seem more troubled. I figure that if I’m to marry a woman, it must be like brother and sister-in-law—with deep affection, tender and passionate, feeling that a day apart is like three autumns…”

The first half sounded somewhat reasonable, but the latter half went off to who knows where. Gu Juhan felt quite uncomfortable and glanced at him sideways, interrupting him: “I only said one thing to you, yet you have such a long speech waiting here. Fine, I won’t listen to you—decide for yourself.”

Gu Juhan actually wasn’t really trying to urge Liu Shaotang to marry. First, he always felt in his heart that Shaotang was still young, and second, his situation with Shen Xiling was special—since he himself was like this, how could he advise Shaotang? It was just that Marquis Juanling had mentioned this matter to him several times, so he was merely fulfilling his duty to a friend.

Liu Shaotang also knew that Gu Juhan wasn’t really taking his father’s side, so he deflected with a few evasive words and changed the subject, saying to Gu Juhan: “I’ve been staying at home these past few days and nearly grew moldy. I came today also wanting to move my muscles and bones. Brother, quickly come out and practice a set of boxing with me.”

Having said this, he dragged Gu Juhan outside.

The two men came out from the room and happened to encounter Shen Xiling and Qin Shi walking arm-in-arm through Wang Garden, followed by Lian Zi, Wan Zhu, and the senior maid Yuanyang beside Qin Shi, with a young girl in her budding years at their side, tugging at Shen Xiling’s sleeve.

“Jingqi!” Gu Juhan called to the young girl, then quickly walked over with Liu Shaotang, scolding the girl: “Don’t pull at your sister-in-law.”

That girl was precisely Gu Juhan’s youngest sister, Gu Jingqi.

Gu Juhan’s father was the legitimate eldest son of the old Duke. Among his generation were two other brothers, both still alive—Gu Juhan’s second and third uncles. The second branch had two sons, Gu Juting and Gu Juyuan; the third branch had one son and one daughter, Gu Jusheng and Gu Jingqi. Speaking of it, this Gu Jingqi was the only girl in their generation and the youngest, having just turned thirteen this year. She had always been much beloved by the family members. Gu Juhan was also quite fond of this little sister, but he was usually stern in character, and in recent years due to frequent warfare, he was often not at home, so he wasn’t very close to his youngest sister.

Gu Jingqi was already somewhat in awe of this eldest brother. Hearing him scold her made her even more frightened. She pouted and released her grip on Shen Xiling’s sleeve, looking at her brother with grievance.

Seeing Liu Shaotang’s arrival, Shen Xiling greeted him. Liu Shaotang also cheerfully greeted his sister-in-law and paid respects to Qin Shi and Gu Jingqi. At this moment, Shen Xiling saw the little sister’s pitiful appearance and found it somewhat amusing, so she turned to Gu Juhan: “Don’t scold her anymore. It’s really not a big deal. I had originally planned to go collect account books from several shops today, and she begged me to take her along.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Jingqi nodded repeatedly, indicating that she had absolutely no disrespect toward her sister-in-law.

Gu Juhan softened his expression somewhat, then frowned and asked her: “Isn’t today the day when Master comes to the family school to lecture? Instead of attending classes, what are you doing pestering your sister-in-law?”

Upon hearing this, Gu Jingqi shrank her neck. The thirteen-year-old girl had a clear and pretty face, with an indescribable lively manner in her movements that was very cute and endearing, yet she said: “I’ve been attending classes for eight consecutive days now! The night before last, I very diligently stayed up late memorizing books, and yesterday I even received the teacher’s praise. Today… can’t I rest today?”

Though she was very skilled at acting coquettishly, her eldest brother didn’t fall for this. His brow remained unfurrowed as he continued to scold: “Nonsense! That Master Fan was specially invited for you by third uncle. He normally doesn’t accept female students, yet today you’re skipping class—aren’t you afraid your father will scold you?”

Gu Jingqi thought to herself that her father doted on her so much that he would never scold her. Even if he did scold her, she wouldn’t be afraid—after all, her father couldn’t bear to be harsh with her. It was this eldest brother of hers whose stern face made her heart tremble, not daring to talk back anymore.

Watching from the side, Shen Xiling saw the young sister being scolded by Gu Juhan until her little face turned completely red, and in front of Shaotang too—her face couldn’t look good. Her heart felt somewhat unable to bear it, so after thinking, she still interceded for her with Gu Juhan: “I can see that Jingqi has indeed been quite stifled lately, and it’s true that she received Master Fan’s praise yesterday. If it’s not too difficult, I imagine asking the master for one day’s leave would be acceptable. I’ll take her out for a stroll—it’s better than having her body sit in the school while her heart flies away, which would only make Master Fan angrier.”

Gu Jingqi nodded vigorously beside her.

Gu Juhan had originally been sternly educating his sister, but when Shen Xiling spoke up, his expression softened considerably. He stopped continuing to blame Gu Jingqi and only said to Shen Xiling: “You haven’t been feeling well lately either. Why must you personally go collect account books? Having them sent to the mansion would suffice.”

Shen Xiling smiled: “It’s not a problem. I actually saw that today’s weather is good and warm, and wanted to take the opportunity to go out and stroll around.”

Gu Juhan still somewhat disapproved, but he had never been able to oppose her firmly, so he waved to summon his deputy officer Xu Chuan: “Let Xu Chuan drive the carriage for you. With him along, I’ll feel more at ease.”

Though Shen Xiling felt it wasn’t necessary, she didn’t refuse his kind intentions and smiled as she nodded.

Qin Shi beside them laughed: “Elder brother can rest assured completely. I’ll also accompany sister-in-law, and I’ll take good care of her.”

When she said this, Lian Zi and Wan Zhu behind her also chimed in with the same sentiment, making Shen Xiling really not know whether to laugh or cry. She felt these people were all treating her as if she were disabled, leaving her momentarily speechless. Gu Jingqi, seeing this situation and knowing her eldest brother was in a fairly good mood at the moment, quickly seized the opportunity to ask: “Elder brother… may I go along with sister-in-law and the others?”

Gu Juhan looked at her, remained silent for a while, then finally said under her earnest gaze: “Don’t bother your sister-in-law on the road.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Jingqi was immediately overjoyed and said cheerfully: “Brother, rest assured! I will definitely stand like a pine and sit like a bell, absolutely not causing sister-in-law any trouble!”

These words made everyone laugh. Shen Xiling patted the young sister’s head: “Now go thank your brother.”

Gu Jingqi was also clever and immediately flattered Gu Juhan: “Thank you, brother!”

Gu Jingqi had pestered her sister-in-law to go out today for two reasons: first, because she still hadn’t been able to memorize the poem the master wanted her to recite today, and second, because she really missed the pastries from Yilou. Speaking of it, this Yilou was originally her sister-in-law’s business, so having a chef come to the house to make them for her wouldn’t be impossible, but she felt that Yilou’s pastries were best eaten at Yilou itself. Because the decorations in the building had much Jiangzuo flavor, and the taste of the pastries also had many similarities to Jiangzuo, it was always more fitting to the atmosphere and had a special flavor.

However, they left the mansion quite early this day, still far from lunch time, so she had to temporarily suppress the greedy worm in her belly and follow her eldest sister-in-law to collect accounts elsewhere first.

Shen Xiling’s business ventures were quite prosperous, involving everything from wine houses and medical halls to tea gardens and farms. She especially owned a salt works, whose income was said to be so much it was jaw-dropping. However, since she was originally from Great Liang, those businesses were naturally mostly in Jiangzuo. It was only after she married into the Duke’s mansion five years ago that she gradually moved her businesses north of the Yangtze River. Yilou had also been established from that time. Now in Shangjing City, besides Yilou, there was also a jewelry shop called Jinyu Hall that was a major source of income. Shen Xiling went out today to take a look at Jinyu Hall.

In the carriage, Qin Shi laughed: “Didn’t sister-in-law become too lazy to manage business affairs after marrying into the family? The salt works, farms, and other highly profitable businesses are now said to be managed by elder brother’s stewards on sister-in-law’s behalf. How is it that today you’re suddenly so diligent, personally going out to collect accounts?”

It was well known that when Shen Xiling married into the Duke’s mansion five years ago, she brought an astonishing dowry, and after she entered the household, most of her profitable businesses were handed over to the Duke’s mansion to manage. Because of this reason, though the noble wives and ladies of Shangjing City had always been jealous of her in their hearts, they could also find a reasonable explanation for her marriage to Gu Juhan: Although the Gu family was a prominent noble house of Great Wei, such old aristocratic families inevitably faced financial difficulties. Gu Juhan’s marriage to this Shen Xiling and his taking over her businesses after marriage suggested that he wasn’t simply attracted to this woman’s beauty, but also coveted her wealth. Thinking about it this way, their hearts felt much more comfortable and consoled.

“I’m just bored and looking for some idle matters to do,” Shen Xiling smiled, then looked at her sister-in-law and young sister-in-law: “Since you’re accompanying me, you should all pick out some jewelry to wear and play with.”

Gu Jingqi sweetly thanked her eldest sister-in-law, then said: “Though Jinyu Hall’s jewelry is beautiful, I’d say it’s not as appealing as Yilou’s pastries. Sister-in-law, instead of giving me hairpins and bracelets, why not let me taste all of Yilou’s pastries today?”

These words naturally made both sisters-in-law laugh, and the carriage was filled with countless sounds of joy and laughter.