She just wanted to talk with him?

Cheng Chi couldn’t help but smile.

He comforted her: “Don’t worry, I’ll have someone keep an eye on Siyi Tower. If anyone frequently goes in and out there, I’ll have them come tell you, all right?”

Zhou Shaojin’s face lit up as she nodded.

Cheng Chi suddenly felt that when she smiled like this, she was exceptionally radiant, making his mood brighten along with hers.

If he told her about possibly taking her to Mochou Lake to watch dragon boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival, she would definitely be even happier, right?

The words came to his lips, but he managed to swallow them with difficulty.

First suppress, then elevate—it would be better to tell her in a few days. The joyful mood might be even greater than now!

Because he had another piece of good news to tell Zhou Shaojin.

“Tomorrow Jiashan will move to Zao Garden.” Cheng Chi said warmly. “He’ll definitely come in to bid farewell to my mother. Tomorrow, why don’t you go spend the day with Cheng Jia and return for dinner?”

When Cheng Jiashan came in to bid farewell to his mother, both in principle and sentiment, he couldn’t stop it.

But Lime Mountain was about thirty li from the city. Unless he didn’t move tomorrow, even if he stubbornly refused to leave, he could at most have lunch at Hanbi Mountain Estate and drink some tea before having to depart for Zao Garden in the afternoon no matter what.

If Cheng Jiashan dared to openly defy him, Cheng Chi decided he would send Cheng Jiashan back to the capital.

It would also give Cheng Jing an opportunity to see how much Madam Yuan had spoiled Cheng Jiashan.

As for whether he could pass the imperial examinations this year, in Cheng Chi’s view, this wasn’t a problem at all.

Sometimes entering officialdom late wasn’t necessarily worse than entering early. More experience with worldly affairs would only benefit Cheng Jiashan in conducting himself, handling matters, and even his official career—no drawbacks whatsoever.

Moreover, if Cheng Jiashan failed the examination this time, the Second and Third Branch people would be less wary of him. Delaying three years might actually be better for Zhou Shaojin.

So Cheng Chi only wanted to send Cheng Jiashan to Zao Garden to study. How well Cheng Jiashan studied and what results he achieved were entirely outside Cheng Chi’s scope of concern.

Hearing this, Zhou Shaojin was startled. Then joy irrepressibly overflowed from the corners of her eyes and brows.

Watching her, Cheng Chi’s smile grew even broader.

Shaojin would bloom like a sunflower when she felt less frightened and worried.

The corners of his eyes suddenly felt somewhat stinging.

In her previous life, after Cheng Jiashan bullied her, how had she gotten through it?

An image surfaced in Cheng Chi’s mind of a frail little girl wearing thin, moon-white clothing, trembling as she cowered in a dark corner of the bed.

That white clothing was so conspicuous it made his heart palpitate.

As if possessed, he stepped forward and gently embraced Zhou Shaojin, saying softly: “Don’t be afraid. Nothing will happen. I’m here watching over you!”

In two lifetimes, except for that time in the garden in her previous life, she had never had such contact with an adult man.

Caught off guard, her body instinctively stiffened, her hands and feet turning cold.

But quickly, a voice as warm as sunlight sounded in her ear, and she caught the scent of Rushiwomen incense at her nose.

She couldn’t help but exhale a long breath, her body relaxing.

It was Uncle Chi!

Uncle Chi was holding her!

Uncle Chi would never hurt her.

Thinking this, Zhou Shaojin’s head naturally leaned against his chest.

The young girl’s soft body docilely pressed against him, her glossy black hair smooth beneath his chin. With his eyelids slightly lowered, he could see her tender, rosy face, her long curled lashes, and her chest that had already begun to show some curves.

Cheng Chi’s face flushed.

The little girl had truly grown up. She was no longer the little girl he used to see.

It was no longer appropriate to hold her like this!

That’s what his mind thought, but his heart was somewhat reluctant to let go just like that.

He could never hold her again in the future. This was the last time—he would just hold her for a moment…

A moment later, Cheng Chi reluctantly released Zhou Shaojin.

Zhou Shaojin felt a sense of loss.

Uncle Chi’s embrace was warm and safe—even Mother’s embrace was probably just like this, wasn’t it?

But she would come of age next year, and afterward she couldn’t be this close to Uncle Chi anymore.

Moreover, Uncle Chi had said he was going to marry.

Once he had a new aunt, she would need to keep even more distance from Uncle Chi.

Thinking of this, her eyes inexplicably grew moist, tears nearly spilling from her eyes.

Cheng Chi was startled and stepped back awkwardly, hastily saying: “Shaojin, I, I just… I watched you grow up, I’m your elder…”

Zhou Shaojin quickly nodded.

Of course she knew!

Uncle Chi treated her like family.

She took out her handkerchief and wiped the corners of her eyes.

She didn’t even know why she had suddenly started crying.

She thanked him: “Uncle Chi, thank you. Tomorrow at daybreak I’ll go find Cousin Jia to play. If Old Madam asks, you can say… you can say that Cousin Jia and Aunt Lu had another argument, and I’m somewhat worried and want to go see if Cousin Jia is all right. I’ll say the same to Old Madam. Does that sound good?”

The last three words she spoke so softly and sweetly, her eyes washed by tears now distinct in black and white, moist and bright, gazing dependently at Cheng Chi. Cheng Chi’s mind went blank, and in a daze he nodded.

Only after returning to Tingli Pavilion did he come to his senses.

What kind of terrible excuse was that!

It would have been better to say Old Lady Guan had some matter and she needed to go check early in the morning!

Having him pass along the message that Cheng Jia and her mother had a fight… was he the kind of person who paid attention to the inner courtyard?

Besides, did he have a relationship with Cheng Jia or with Madam Jiang? Even if they quarreled to high heaven, what did it have to do with him?

His mother would probably know immediately this was an excuse.

How had he listened to that little girl’s nonsense and even nodded in agreement?

Cheng Chi pressed his hand to his forehead.

As if making amends, he called Nanny Shang in and said: “Arrange for someone to pass a message to Second Young Miss through the Fourth Branch, saying that Wife Lu wants her to come over tomorrow and will be waiting for her for breakfast.”

Nanny Shang respectfully answered “Yes.”

After speaking, Cheng Chi thought that the little girl was so foolish, with this arrangement she might think something really had happened at the Fourth Branch. He added unnecessarily: “Make it clear to Second Young Miss that this is my idea. Have her go to the Fourth Branch tomorrow. As for Old Madam’s side, keep it secret for now.”

Keep it secret for now.

This was a euphemistic way of speaking.

It meant never tell Old Madam Guo.

Nanny Shang muttered to herself, respectfully bowed, and withdrew.

Cheng Chi’s mood became inexplicably irritable, but when he tried to find the reason, his mood only grew worse.

He simply paced back and forth in the room several times, then ordered Huai Shan to bring in all the account books from recent days: “While there’s nothing pressing, let me sort through my properties and see exactly how much silver I have!”

As if mocking Cheng Chi, just as his words fell, the faint sound of the second watch drum came from outside.

Huai Shan silently withdrew.

Cheng Chi stayed busy until the third watch of the night, re-registering all the small properties he’d purchased in various corners for convenience. He pondered that the small property near Daming Lake in Jinan Prefecture—he hadn’t been there in several years, but he remembered it opened right onto the lake with over twenty trees planted, and the scenery was particularly beautiful in spring. Jinan wasn’t far from the capital, so perhaps he should give this property to that little girl as part of her dowry.

But speaking of distance, the small property in Tianjin seemed more suitable. However, Tianjin was as cold as the capital, and the scenery was slightly inferior.

It would be better to give her the property in Daxing.

But she said in her previous life she lived in the Daxing property, so in this life she might not like it. It would be better to acquire property in Baoding Prefecture.

But in his recollection, he didn’t seem to have any property in Baoding.

Because he had a reformed bandit friend in Baoding who ran an inn and had left him a small three-room property. If he needed to stay in Baoding, he would lodge there.

Should he buy a small property in Baoding?

Forget it.

The climate there wasn’t any better than Tianjin.

Zhou Zhen couldn’t possibly remain in the Baoding Magistrate position forever. When the time came, with the little girl unfamiliar with people and places in Baoding, what would she do living there?

There was too little farmland in the south. Large connected tracts all belonged to prominent families who had lived in Jiangnan for generations and would never sell their land. Even if they did sell land, it would mostly be because they had committed some offense and had their property confiscated. Such opportunities came once every few years or even decades. The little girl might not be able to wait. It would be better to acquire property in the north—dozens, hundreds of mu, or even several qing of connected land would make a large estate. With hired guards, one could be a local lord within a radius of dozens of li that even the authorities wouldn’t dare provoke easily…

Speaking of complete family execution, the Cheng family was ultimately subjected to complete family execution.

These fields and properties obviously wouldn’t be suitable then.

Even as a married-out daughter, she’d still need to guard against her husband’s family giving her grief.

Banknotes and such wouldn’t work either!

It would be best to find a reliable person and deposit enough silver to keep her clothed and fed for life… Who would be suitable?

Cheng Chi thought of Ji Ying.

She was on good terms with the little girl, was also a woman, and had excellent martial skills. If something happened to the Cheng family, she could enter and exit the inner courtyard at any time. If Shaojin had any matters in the future, she could have Ji Ying handle them…

But the problem with Ji Ying was that she wasn’t married.

Once girls married, they would favor their husbands. He’d need to first find Ji Ying a reliable husband.

Cheng Chi began planning this matter.

He completely forgot about Zhou Zhen, forgot about the Zhou family, forgot that Zhou Shaojin was first and foremost a daughter of the Zhou family and only secondarily a granddaughter of the Cheng family…

He fussed about all night, finally going to bed to rest just before dawn.

Zhou Shaojin, however, rose fresh and clear-headed.

Uncle Chi’s excuse was indeed a hundred times more reasonable than hers.

She happily groomed and dressed herself, recited sutras in her room for a while to suppress the excitement in her heart, then went to bid farewell to Old Madam Guo.

Last night when Zhou Shaojin saw Cheng Chi off, Cheng Chi had said something to her and seemed to have held and comforted her. When she returned, her eyes were red—she had clearly cried. Later, the Fourth Branch sent someone to see Zhou Shaojin, and afterward Zhou Shaojin went to bed very late.

Old Madam Guo knew all of this.

However, she had never been the type who couldn’t tolerate the slightest irregularity. With some matters, the more you pressed for answers, the less likely you were to get the truth. With some matters, if you let them be, perhaps the truth would come to you.

She hadn’t asked a single question.

When Zhou Shaojin came to bid her farewell, she naturally wouldn’t press about what had happened at the Fourth Branch either. She only instructed Zhou Shaojin to be careful on the road, to go and return early, and to remember to tell her if anything troubled her: “Your father and sister aren’t by your side, and you’re a young girl with no one to make decisions for you. Don’t keep everything inside. You know your own situation best—don’t let yourself be bottled up to the point others don’t even know when something’s wrong with you.”