Hearing that her older brother was coming to visit, Li Shi was naturally overjoyed. On one hand, she busily directed the maids and servants to tidy up the residence, while on the other hand, she had the kitchen prepare for tomorrow’s banquet. She also thought about how the family’s cook had come from the south to cater to Zhou Shaojin’s tastes, and although her brother frequently came to the capital on business, this time she was playing host, so she naturally wanted her brother to taste authentic local capital cuisine. Unfortunately, the household was full of women with no one who could keep him company, so she could only find a way to order a feast from a famous restaurant to be brought in. While waiting for the servants to clean the guest room, she instructed Nanny Li to relay a message to Steward Xiang, asking Steward Xiang to recommend several distinctive restaurants. Then she turned around and opened a trunk, taking out a set of her own bedding, pillows, and other sleeping items to send to the guest room… She was spinning around in circles keeping busy.

Zhou Shaojin, meanwhile, was leaning sideways on the large heated platform by the window, staring blankly at two orioles singing melodiously under the covered corridor.

The residence near Chaoyangmen was truly enormous.

To make it as lively and vibrant as the residence on Jiuru Lane would probably take two or three years of effort.

Uncle Chi living there alone must be so lonely and desolate…

She suddenly missed Cheng Chi very much.

Zhou Shaojin unconsciously tugged at the large welcoming pillow.

What could Uncle Chi be doing right now?

Madam had been afraid that returning too late would frighten young Jin, so even though dinner had been prepared on his side, she had tactfully declined.

The kitchen had still prepared many Hangzhou-style dishes according to her tastes.

She imagined the dim yellow lamplight, the broad and empty hall, with Cheng Chi sitting alone facing a table full of dishes, eating dinner by himself in silence… Her heart felt like it harbored a small bird that couldn’t be settled no matter how she tried.

Zhou Shaojin had someone summon Nanny Shang, and with a blushing face, she said in a low voice, “Nanny, could you help me send a message to Uncle Chi?”

Seeing her bashful and timid like a trembling little flower just beginning to bloom, with the appearance of someone whose heart had just awakened to love, how could Nanny Shang not understand! She immediately thought of Zhou Shaojin’s shy personality. Not daring to let even a trace of a smile show in her eyes, she instead acted as if she had noticed nothing and respectfully said, “Second Miss need only give her instructions.”

Zhou Shaojin felt reassured. She lingered in the study for quite a while before finally handing a sealed letter to Nanny Shang with a blushing face.

Before she could speak, Nanny Shang had already solemnly said, “Second Miss can rest assured, I will definitely deliver this personally to Fourth Master.” She even explained unnecessarily, like protesting too much, “With little Guan’s hundred-day celebration coming up soon, who knows if anyone will come from Jinling?”

Zhou Shaojin’s heart completely settled. Smiling, she chatted with Nanny Shang for a few moments before letting her withdraw.

Cheng Chi was currently talking with Xiao Zhenhai: “…I don’t need him to submit to us, so why go to so much trouble?”

He leaned back in the grand master’s chair behind the large painting desk, his expression casual and languid. On the desk lay a half-finished painting of a golden pheasant. The lines had already been sketched out, the peony flowers had been filled with color, and all that remained for the golden pheasant was the bright red crest and cloud-like feathers.

Xiao Zhenhai couldn’t help grumbling inwardly: This old master works hard running around outside, while this fellow enjoys comfort and leisure at home, yet still picks and chooses… Wonder how that little beauty is doing? She looks so delicate and gentle, yet who would have thought she could actually keep that brat Cheng Zichuan in check. Need to find a way to strike up a conversation with that little beauty… She looks so easy to deceive…

His eyes rolled around as he said, “I understand your meaning. Since you only want them to pass along messages when the time comes, then I know what kind of methods to use.” At this point, his expression became slightly grave. After hesitating for a moment, he said, “Is it really just to pass along messages?”

The capital was at the feet of the Son of Heaven, the headquarters of the Six Gates. All the riffraff didn’t dare form any real power, and all the gangs here had to keep their tails between their legs, yet Cheng Chi went against the grain. In just two months, his people had beaten into submission all the gang leaders in the capital, big and small. Yet Cheng Chi told him that he did this merely to know about all the large and small events happening in the capital.

Why didn’t he just go work at the Six Gates!

Xiao Zhenhai now knew Cheng Chi’s name.

He often addressed Cheng Chi by name directly in his thoughts.

Cheng Chi couldn’t be bothered to say more to Xiao Zhenhai.

Ever since the incident with Qin Zining, he had learned not to put all his eggs in one basket.

Qin Ziping had now gone to take up a position at the Six Gates. After some more time, he should be able to access some of the information within the Six Gates.

As for Qin Zi’an, he could go to the Western Hills Camp.

The Western Hills Camp was mostly filled with descendants of meritorious families, forming an inner-outer pair with the Imperial Guards. Whenever something happened in the Forbidden City, it was the Western Hills Camp and Imperial Guards who rotated shifts.

Moreover, one could hear many secrets from the meritorious families.

Cheng Chi thought about how this afternoon he had only kissed Zhou Shaojin’s cheeks and forehead and such, and she had merely blushed and lowered her eyelids, bashful like a flower, nestling quietly and obediently in his arms.

His mood immediately improved greatly. He stood up and picked up his paintbrush again, mixing the pale gold color he would need shortly.

Xiao Zhenhai was exasperated.

As expected of a scholarly family’s aristocratic offspring—even dismissing people was done so elegantly.

However, when this fellow killed people, he was just as casual as cutting grass, and his mind was especially devious!

Thinking of this, his teeth ached a bit. Out of sight, out of mind—he cupped his hands toward Cheng Chi and walked outside.

Huai Shan brushed past him.

That old fellow’s perpetually wooden face now appeared to carry a trace of joy.

Xiao Zhenhai couldn’t help but slow his steps.

Just as he lifted the curtain, he saw Huai Shan take out a letter and respectfully hand it to Cheng Chi, saying flatly, “Fourth Master, Second Cousin Miss has sent someone to bring a letter!”

At this time of day?

Cheng Chi looked out the window.

Xiao Zhenhai instinctively shrank his head and quickly left the study.

Cheng Chi didn’t notice.

To him, he had a thousand methods to make Xiao Zhenhai disappear. He only spared him for Zhou Shaojin’s sake. If he didn’t behave, although it would take effort to train and teach someone new, he wouldn’t mind replacing him.

“Did the person who brought the letter say anything?” As Cheng Chi opened the letter, he asked.

They had parted less than two hours ago—what could have happened on Zhou Shaojin’s side?

Huai Shan said, “The messenger claimed to know nothing. Since matters in that household are still decided by Madam Zhou, I didn’t ask too many questions.”

He was afraid of drawing the attention of people in Elm Money Lane.

Cheng Chi nodded and quickly scanned through the letter. His eyes couldn’t help but soften, and his expression became warm and gentle.

“It’s nothing,” he told Huai Shan. “Second Cousin Miss is just asking me about some things!”

It’s probably not just asking Fourth Master about some things!

Otherwise, why would Fourth Master need to explain to him?

A trace of amusement flashed in Huai Shan’s eyes as he withdrew.

Cheng Chi then read the letter Zhou Shaojin had written him again.

It was just very ordinary questions.

Asking if he had eaten dinner yet? What was he doing? Also saying the capital’s evening weather was cool, telling him to be careful not to catch a chill.

Then telling him that when she returned home she saw Little Sparrow and Snowball as well as the two orioles, asking him how in a few more days it would be little Guan’s hundred-day celebration, and how Father Zhou could have agreed to send her pets to the capital. Did this mean he had agreed to let her stay in the capital and not return?

At the end, she said that her maternal uncle from the Li family was coming tomorrow. She would probably have to stay home to help watch young Jin.

The letter ended abruptly.

Yet the meaning lingered.

The little girl was missing him, wasn’t she?

And telling him that tomorrow she wouldn’t be available, so he should go amuse himself.

The smile in Cheng Chi’s eyes deepened.

His little girl was thinking of him, wasn’t she?

Cheng Chi suddenly wanted to write a letter to Zhou Shaojin too. To ask what she had eaten for dinner? Who had she eaten with? What was she doing now? Was she sitting under the lamp rushing to make clothes for him? He wanted to tell her not to work so hard, and when she had time to kick a shuttlecock with the young maids or jump rope and such, not to always stay cooped up indoors… But then he felt that if he wasn’t there beside her to supervise, even if he said it a hundred or a thousand times, she probably wouldn’t go out for a walk.

Thinking this way, he felt it would be most reassuring to keep Zhou Shaojin by his side, to marry her and bring her home as soon as possible.

He called out loudly for Huai Shan.

Huai Shan silently walked in.

Cheng Chi said, “Where is Zi’an now?”

“He should arrive in Jinling tomorrow,” Huai Shan estimated.

Cheng Chi nodded and said, “Send word to Zi’an. Tell him when he reaches Jinling to remember to remind that elder sister-in-law of mine not to let the porcelain collide with the earthenware pot. Today Cheng Youyi didn’t take the examination, but next time, he will definitely take it together with Cheng Jiashan. Right now the reputation of the Cheng family of Jiuru Lane is still very useful. She shouldn’t discard the watermelon to pick up a sesame seed.”

As long as Jiuru Lane didn’t divide the family, in outsiders’ eyes, Cheng Shi was still Cheng Jing’s nephew. He was a disciple of Jiuru Lane. The connections and resources left by the Cheng family—as long as he had the means, he could use them, and moreover, Cheng Jing could only watch helplessly—he couldn’t very well jump out and tell people “I don’t like this nephew, don’t help him.” Wouldn’t that confirm Cheng Jing’s reputation for ingratitude?

Conversely, if the first branch and second branch divided the family now, by the time of the next imperial examination, Yuan Shi need only make one round through the capital to tightly grasp the first branch’s connections and resources in her own hands, preventing Cheng Shi from using them, while also letting people know that this branch of the Cheng family in the capital was no longer the same family as the Cheng family of Jiuru Lane, taking this opportunity to give everyone notice.

As for those moldy old favors from Cheng Xu’s time, they were already declining like the setting sun, and very few could still be used. Without the first branch’s support, relying solely on Cheng Xu, Cheng Shi would only be slightly better off than impoverished scholars from poor families.

The imperial examinations came once every three years.

By that time, everyone would be competitors.

If one’s opponent had one less source of help, that meant one more advantage for oneself.

Such calculations—surely Yuan Shi would carefully consider them.

And Yuan Shi was far more eager than Cheng Chi had imagined.

As soon as she understood the advantages and disadvantages involved, she immediately used Cheng Jing’s authority to dispatch someone with an eight-hundred-li urgent message to send a letter to Cheng Chi, rattling on at great length. It was nothing more than urging Cheng Chi to prioritize the overall situation and agree to divide the clan. Whether it was Cheng Jing, herself, Cheng Xu, or Cheng Zheng, they would all remember his kindness. She also promised that once the clan was divided and Cheng Jing could be the master of his own household, not only would they re-establish the ancestral hall, they would also revise the family genealogy. As a double-ranked imperial scholar, he wouldn’t need to be bound by ancestral rules to engage in commerce. As long as he was willing, she would persuade Cheng Jing to support him in entering official service… In short, coaxing him to produce silver to divide the family.

Cheng Chi couldn’t help but laugh.

He told Huai Shan, “Take this letter and deliver it to the Old Madam exactly as it is.”

If not for his little girl, dividing the clan would be fine—he could just continue being his unremarkable youngest son.

But with Shaojin’s special status, if she wanted to marry into the family and live comfortably, he had to assertively create a protective haven for her.

But now, dividing the clan was acceptable, but it had to be done according to his wishes!