Lady Li’s thoughts aligned with Madam Tan’s.

The year wasn’t even over yet, and Zhou Chujin, heavily pregnant, had traveled all the way to Baoding Prefecture with Liao Shaotang—something must have happened with the Liao family.

But when she saw Zhou Chujin and Liao Shaotang, she didn’t dare ask too many questions. She warmly led them to the guest room to settle in, instructed the maids to bring hot water to help them wash and change, and only then withdrew to the adjacent flower hall to direct the maids in arranging the dishes and utensils.

This was Zhou Chujin’s first time traveling north in her life.

The cold weather made her very uncomfortable.

After a few mouthfuls of hot tea, she finally felt somewhat better. She rubbed her round belly and said to Chi Xiang, who was directing the maids to open the trunks, “Just take out the things we’ll need these few days. Who knows, we might set off for the capital tomorrow.”

Chi Xiang said in surprise, “Didn’t you say you wanted to spend a few days with Second Young Miss?”

Zhou Chujin was somewhat weary. “That’s what I said, but if I really do stay, I’m afraid rumors will fly everywhere.” As she spoke, she yawned. “I’ll rest against this large welcoming pillow for a while. If the master finishes settling in on his side, come call me.”

Chi Xiang respectfully responded, “Yes.”

But when Zhou Chujin opened her eyes, the second night watch had already sounded.

Zhou Chujin was startled.

Then a soft, sweet voice came to her ears, saying with a laugh, “Elder Sister, you’ve finally woken up. Chi Xiang said you only drank a few sips of tea before falling asleep. I was so worried, afraid you’d starve my unborn nephew.”

“Shaojin!” Zhou Chujin’s eyes lit up. She grasped the soft, slender hand of the young girl in a plain pink jacket before her. “When did you come? Why didn’t you wake me?” This last sentence was spoken with mock reproach to Chi Xiang, who stood to the side with a smile.

Zhou Shaojin said, “Elder Sister, don’t blame her. It was Nanny Fan who said so. Nanny Fan has experience—she said that when you’re carrying a child, you should eat when you want to eat and sleep when you want to sleep. This is the nature of the child in the belly, so we shouldn’t wake you but let you sleep well. If you felt hungry, you would naturally wake up.” Her eyes, gentle as spring water, gazed tenderly at her sister. “Are you hungry now?”

After getting off the boat, they had switched to a carriage.

They didn’t dare travel quickly. By the time they entered the city, it was already around the hour of Shen (note: around three in the afternoon). At noon she had only hastily eaten a couple bites of dry rations. When Zhou Shaojin didn’t mention it, it was fine, but once Zhou Shaojin brought it up, she suddenly felt her stomach growling with hunger.

Zhou Shaojin smiled radiantly and called out to Chun Wan.

Chun Wan entered carrying bird’s nest soup.

Zhou Shaojin said, “Elder Sister, have something to tide you over first. The meal will be served shortly.”

Zhou Chujin nodded and asked about Liao Shaotang. “Where did your brother-in-law go? Has he eaten?”

Zhou Shaojin smiled mischievously, teasing Zhou Chujin, “Don’t worry, brother-in-law finished his meal long ago. Right now he’s in the study talking with Father! Otherwise, how would it be my turn to watch over you?”

Zhou Chujin’s face flushed.

She and Liao Shaotang had deep affection for each other and missed each other even after brief separations.

Zhou Shaojin said playfully, “Brother-in-law came in to check on you before he left. He was worried you’d be hungry too. If Nanny Fan hadn’t assured him you’d be fine, brother-in-law would have woken you. Even so, brother-in-law told me to have someone tend the fire carefully so that you’d have food as soon as you woke.”

Zhou Chujin’s face turned bright red. She glared at her sister. “If we’re eating, let’s eat. Where does all this talk come from?”

Zhou Shaojin giggled.

Zhou Chujin ignored her. After finishing the bird’s nest soup, Nanny Fan entered with two pozis carrying a kang table.

Zhou Shaojin smiled. “In the north, everyone uses kang tables for eating. If Elder Sister isn’t used to it, I’ll have someone bring in a regular table tomorrow.”

Zhou Chujin truly wasn’t accustomed to it.

Moreover, being in her natal home and pregnant besides, she had no intention of suffering any discomfort.

She nodded with a smile.

Zhou Shaojin personally placed the white rice before Zhou Chujin, smiling. “It’s so hard to get rice in the north. If Father weren’t from the south and unaccustomed to wheat-based foods, the kitchen wouldn’t have been able to steam rice for you so quickly.”

Zhou Chujin pulled her to eat together. “…Have a few bites of food, just to keep me company.”

Zhou Shaojin smiled and agreed, accompanying Zhou Chujin in eating a few bites.

After Zhou Chujin set down her chopsticks, Fan Liushi led the pozis in to clear the kang table, served tea and refreshments, and withdrew with the maids and pozis. The two sisters leaned against the large welcoming pillow on either side and finally began to talk.

“Your brother-in-law arrived home on the twenty-sixth of the twelfth month, right after the Minor New Year, but before he’d even settled in, Second Old Master Liao summoned him.” Zhou Chujin said with a stern expression, “He claimed that father-in-law had won over eight hundred taels of silver playing cards with someone, and that this money was what he had lent to father-in-law. But it had been more than half a year, and father-in-law hadn’t mentioned repaying the money. With New Year approaching—sending festival gifts, making new clothes for the children, preparing New Year’s money—his funds were tight, so he wanted your brother-in-law to help father-in-law repay the debt. Your brother-in-law simply said, ‘Show me the IOU,’ and that angered Second Old Master Liao. Not only did he throw an ambiguously worded IOU at your brother-in-law, he loudly accused him of being unfilial… If I hadn’t been extra cautious and had a young maid follow along to promptly summon my mother-in-law, I’m afraid your brother-in-law wouldn’t have been able to leave Second Old Master Liao’s courtyard that day without producing eight hundred taels.”

At this point, Zhou Chujin smiled self-deprecatingly. “Although the matter was suppressed, your brother-in-law told me that my mother-in-law suspects this was a scheme devised jointly by father-in-law and Second Old Master Liao, with the purpose of extorting several hundred taels from her to spend. My mother-in-law was probably afraid that if I knew, I would become disrespectful toward them from then on, so on New Year’s Eve after the ancestral rites, she had your brother-in-law bring me to Baoding Prefecture on the second day to pay respects to Father. After New Year, we’ll take up temporary residence in the capital with your brother-in-law. She’ll come to the capital later to care for me during childbirth…”

Zhou Shaojin was first stunned by the Liao family’s vexing affairs—in her previous life, she had only known the Liao family was very complicated and that her sister had a hard time, but she hadn’t known things were this absurd. Perhaps her sister had felt that telling her would only make her worry along with her without any benefit, so she hadn’t breathed a word of it before her. In this life, her sister had gained her mother-in-law’s favor, and her mother-in-law had stepped in to resolve the situation for her, allowing her to temporarily escape these unpleasant trivial matters… Then she became excited. Unable to concern herself with discussing the Liao family affairs with her sister, she said joyfully, “Then Elder Sister can live in the capital? I’ll be able to visit you often from now on?”

Or perhaps she could move to the capital with her sister too.

Brother-in-law certainly wouldn’t object.

She could also help her sister care for her little nephew… and she could see Uncle Chi too…

Zhou Shaojin’s heart soared with delight.

Zhou Chujin nodded with a smile and said quietly, “Would you like to move to the capital with me? I already discussed it with your brother-in-law on the road, and he was very much in favor. We’ll live in the Liao family’s old residence—we’ll move into the house that my mother-in-law bought for us with her personal funds when we first went to the capital. It’s very close to the Imperial Academy, and also close to Second Old Master’s residence on Shuangyu Alley…”

“Yes, yes, I want to!” Before Zhou Chujin could finish speaking, Zhou Shaojin said eagerly, “I want to live with Elder Sister for a while.”

In her previous life, her brother-in-law had also welcomed her to live with them, but at that time her sister was living in the Liao family’s old residence, and she hadn’t wanted to burden her sister and brother-in-law, so she had insisted on renting a room outside. It wasn’t until she was about to marry Lin Shisheng that she moved into the Liao residence for a few days.

Now able to care for her younger sister, Zhou Chujin couldn’t help but smile with pleasure. She instructed her, “Don’t mention this matter. I’ll speak to Father and Madam about it.”

So Zhou Shaojin wouldn’t be put in a difficult position.

Zhou Shaojin didn’t notice these details at all. Her mind was entirely on Cheng Chi.

Uncle Chi had said he would come visit Father in a few days. When the time came, she would tell Uncle Chi this news, and he would surely be greatly surprised.

Just thinking about how even Cheng Chi would have moments of shock and astonishment made her unable to suppress a smile, the corners of her mouth curling upward.

Zhou Chujin thought Zhou Shaojin was happy because she could live with her. She gently patted Zhou Shaojin’s hand. “From now on, treat Elder Sister’s home as your own home. I’ll help you plant a grape arbor in the courtyard.”

She still remembered how when they were young, her younger sister had pointed at the grape arbor at Wanxiang Residence and said in a babyish voice, “If we move away, will we never see this grapevine again? Will we never get to eat the grapes from this vine again?”

Zhou Chujin’s eyes welled with tears of emotion.

This time, she would make sure her younger sister would never have to worry about a grape arbor again.

Zhou Shaojin nodded with a beaming smile, hoping Cheng Chi would arrive soon.

Two days later, Cheng Chi indeed came to visit Zhou Zhen.

While Zhou Zhen and Cheng Chi talked in the study, Zhou Shaojin pretended to pass by the study, hoping to “accidentally encounter” Cheng Chi.

Huai Shan noticed this. The second time she passed by the study, he quietly informed Cheng Chi.

Cheng Chi had originally wanted to discuss purchasing seed grain with Zhou Zhen, but hearing the cold wind howling and battering the window frames with crackling sounds, he could only hastily conclude his conversation with Zhou Zhen. On Zhou Shaojin’s fourth pass by the study, he encountered her.

“Uncle Chi!” Though Zhou Shaojin was holding a hand warmer, her lips were still somewhat pale from the cold. When she saw Cheng Chi, she was genuinely delighted, her eyes and brows carrying a smile that couldn’t be concealed. “You said you would come visit Father, and I’ve been hoping for it! I didn’t expect I’d actually run into you.”

She had been so afraid that even doing this, she still wouldn’t encounter Cheng Chi.

Cheng Chi smiled. “I heard your elder sister and brother-in-law made a special trip to pay New Year respects to your father. How is your elder sister?”

“She’s very well!” Zhou Shaojin said with a beaming smile. “At first we were all a bit worried about Elder Sister and even had a physician come examine her pulse. The physician said both mother and child are safe and sound. I think this nephew of mine will definitely be a healthy, sensible baby.”

Cheng Chi listened with a slight smile.

Zhou Zhen watched with some mixed feelings.

Hadn’t she come to the study to find him? How was it that upon seeing Cheng Zichuan, she even forgot about her father and only concerned herself with talking to Cheng Zichuan?

Was Cheng Zichuan really that wonderful?

Zhou Zhen cleared his throat lightly.

No matter how good Cheng Zichuan was, he was merely a relation by marriage—how could he compare to her blood-related father!

Zhou Shaojin came back to herself and hurriedly stepped forward to pay her respects to her father.

Only then did Zhou Zhen smile. “What brings you here?”

Zhou Shaojin naturally couldn’t say it was to encounter Cheng Chi.

She smiled. “Madam wanted to know when you’d be returning. I had nothing to do, so I volunteered to come call you. I didn’t expect Uncle Chi would be here!”