Zhou Shaojin was not unfamiliar with gold ingots.

The gold ingots she had seen were all small ones, no more than three inches long and just over an inch wide, petite and delicate like playthings when held in one’s palm. She had never seen gold ingots as large as the bricks used for building walls that she was now looking at.

Zhou Shaojin was somewhat dumbfounded, feeling as if she were dreaming.

Just how much silver had Uncle Chi transferred from the public funds?

Would this be exposed?

She felt somewhat anxious!

However, Huai Shan said in a low voice, “Fourth Master, this is all we have for now. Shopkeeper Zhao and the others have already gone overnight to transfer more.”

There’s, there’s more…

Zhou Shaojin looked at Cheng Chi with trepidation.

Seeing that she seemed frightened, Cheng Chi quickly smiled and said, “This much is enough.”

If in a few days the young girl developed some distance from him, given Shaojin’s fondness for him, this kind of “lining one’s own pockets” could surely be done again.

Huai Shan didn’t know this. Thinking of how Cheng Chi had just been acting as if it were urgent, asking him to find a way to get some gold ingots, yet now turned around and said it didn’t matter, he couldn’t help but quickly glance at Zhou Shaojin.

He wondered what the Second Young Miss wanted these gold ingots for.

Why would she request them but not put them in the treasury, instead burying them so shallowly under the floor tiles of the inner chamber… He found it somewhat incomprehensible.

Fearing that Zhou Shaojin was scared, Cheng Chi said to her in a low voice, “Let’s go out and let them finish up.”

“Mm!” Zhou Shaojin answered obediently. She turned back to glance at those gold ingots, finally feeling a sense of reality. Following Cheng Chi out of the inner chamber, when there was no one else around, she tightly grasped Cheng Chi’s sleeve.

Looking at her pale, tender little hand grasping his sleeve, Cheng Chi felt soft inside and asked her gently, “Did I frighten you?”

Zhou Shaojin quickly shook her head, then lightly nodded, saying in a small voice, “Will the Old Ancestor of the Second Branch discover this?”

Cheng Chi stopped in his tracks, turned to look at her, his lips carrying a somewhat mischievous smile, and leaned in saying, “Worried about me?”

Zhou Shaojin’s face flushed red.

If he wanted to talk, just talk—why did Uncle Chi need to lean in so close to her?

He almost bumped into her cheek.

However, this sort of thing certainly couldn’t be announced loudly… She recalled his words about “unable to help himself,” and her face turned even redder.

Cheng Chi had already gotten what he wanted and knew that if he pressed forward any further, the young girl would put up her defensive walls again.

He smiled and straightened up, tugging at her hand, saying, “Come, let’s go back and play chess?”

Still playing chess?

Zhou Shaojin’s eyes widened.

Cheng Chi smiled and leaned in close again, saying in a low voice, “I’ll tell you about the Seven Stars Hall!”

Zhou Shaojin was stunned when she heard this, but her blood rushed upward, her emotions stirred.

The Seven Stars Hall… what a strange name! It was like those martial arts sect names written in “Three Heroes and Five Gallants”… Could this be Uncle Chi’s secret?

Zhou Shaojin let Cheng Chi lead her forward in a daze.

The moment Cheng Chi stepped out of the hall’s doorway, he casually glanced at the east wing room, then released Zhou Shaojin’s hand.

When Li Shi saw Cheng Chi looking this way, she was startled and instinctively wanted to hide back. Then, realizing she had only opened the window a crack and Cheng Chi shouldn’t be able to see her, she breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest. An inexplicable sense of having survived a disaster arose in her. After watching Cheng Chi and Zhou Shaojin leave the main house one after the other, she returned to the inner chamber, sat down, and quietly asked Nanny Li, “Did you see clearly? That unsmiling attendant beside Fourth Master led people carrying five trunks inside?”

Nanny Li nodded, her voice even lower than Li Shi’s, “I counted secretly. There weren’t many trunks—there’s absolutely no mistake.”

Li Shi couldn’t help but murmur, “What exactly does Fourth Master have placed in the main house that he didn’t have time to take away?”

Cheng Chi’s words had misled her. She thought Cheng Chi was taking things out rather than putting things in.

But regardless of which it was, she decided to play deaf and dumb—after Baby Guan’s hundred-day celebration, she would be returning to Baoding Prefecture with Shaojin. Why bother with such matters?

She carefully instructed Nanny Li, “You must keep your mouth shut tight.”

Nanny Li smiled and said, “This old one understands. If these words were to get out, it would be no small matter.”

The Fourth Master of the Cheng family, in the deep of night, called out the Second Young Miss and had people come in to move things—these things were certainly unusual. She still had this much discernment.

Li Shi felt relieved. She extinguished one lamp and said to Nanny Li, “Let’s sleep! Tomorrow morning we still need to go to First Aunt’s place.” Then, thinking of Baby Guan who was growing more adorable and fair, thinking of how her daughter often kept watch beside him without taking her eyes away, she couldn’t help but smile, getting into bed in a cheerful mood.

※※※

Zhou Shaojin followed Cheng Chi back to the study in the outer courtyard.

Cheng Chi had Lang Yue bring over tea utensils and personally began brewing tea.

This meant they were in for a long conversation!

Zhou Shaojin had a feeling that it was still early and they could talk for a very long time.

This made her feel very happy.

She sat beside him with a beaming smile, quietly watching Cheng Chi brew tea with graceful and practiced movements.

Seeing her serene expression, Cheng Chi was also in a good mood.

He handed a cup of tea to Zhou Shaojin, then said casually, “Do you know about our family’s ancestral history?”

Zhou Shaojin held the tea cup and nodded repeatedly like a pecking chicken, then brought the cup to her nose to smell the tea’s fragrance.

Cheng Chi smiled and explained, “This is Dahongpao from last autumn. In a few days, we’ll have pre-Qingming Longjing and Biluochun.”

Zhou Shaojin took a sip.

The tea flavor was rich and lingering.

Truly delicious!

She should have known all along that Uncle Chi was very skilled at brewing tea.

How hateful that he still often ordered her to help him brew tea.

Zhou Shaojin grumbled inwardly, yet inexplicably felt delighted. On impulse, she playfully extended her tea cup toward Cheng Chi and said coquettishly, “One more cup.”

Cheng Chi burst out laughing.

This little girl was treating him like a tea house server, wasn’t she?

But Zhou Shaojin’s sweet, soft voice, half-indulged and half-challenging as she looked at him askance, was so adorable that it made ripples in Cheng Chi’s heart.

So this was what the young girl looked like when she acted spoiled!

He smiled affectionately and obligingly brewed another cup of tea for Zhou Shaojin.

Zhou Shaojin only had this much courage—she only dared to tease Cheng Chi occasionally and didn’t dare truly provoke him.

After drinking the second cup of tea, she sat there quietly looking at Cheng Chi, waiting for him to speak.

So obedient!

How could anyone not like her?

The image of Yuan Shi flashed through Cheng Chi’s mind, but he quickly pushed it away and said, “Many people know that my ancestor died loyally serving the nation, but they don’t know that at that time the court had already fallen into ritual collapse and moral decay, with discipline and propriety lost. Even if the Old Ancestor had the ability to turn the tide, the general situation was already lost—he was merely doing his utmost duty.”

Hearing this, Zhou Shaojin’s expression became somewhat solemn as she sat up straight.

Cheng Chi paused slightly in his speech, then continued slowly, “But Emperor Lie was as if he sensed the Purple Star shifting its master. Not only did he fail to strive for improvement, but he became even worse. Every day he indulged in debauchery with wine and women, to the point that the national treasury was depleted. Never mind the officials’ salaries—even military provisions were often in arrears. The Old Ancestor was anxious watching this. Seeing wealthy households in Jiangnan taking advantage of the national crisis to collude with officials and engage in large-scale illegal salt trading, he had no choice but to train several martial arts practitioners to serve him. Using his younger brother’s name, he established a gang called ‘Seven Stars Hall’ to trade in illegal salt, profiting from it to supplement military supplies.”

“Ah?!” Zhou Shaojin’s mouth fell open as she stammered, “Does that mean the Cheng family made its fortune through illegal salt trading?”

Cheng Chi laughed and said, “No! The Cheng family is the Cheng family. The Seven Stars Hall is the Seven Stars Hall.”

Zhou Shaojin thought of the somewhat strange relationship between Xiao Zhenhai and Cheng Chi, and said carefully, “Uncle Chi, is it that in Jinling you’re the Fourth Master of Nine-Blessings Lane, but outside you’re Cheng Si, Cheng Zichuan?” Her eyes lit up with sudden understanding as she said loudly, “So your so-called management of miscellaneous affairs is actually managing the ‘Seven Stars Hall,’ right?”

Her eyes brightened.

She felt that many puzzling matters now made sense!

This little girl was always quite clever at critical moments—why didn’t she show this much wit normally?

“Keep your voice down!” Cheng Chi smiled and patted Zhou Shaojin’s head, saying, “Not bad, not bad. You’ve finally been clever for once.”

His touch carried a hint of praise. Zhou Shaojin decided not to quibble with Cheng Chi about it.

She glared at Cheng Chi indignantly and said, “I was always clever—it’s just that Uncle Chi is too clever, so I seem less clever by comparison!”

Cheng Chi laughed heartily.

After laughing, he said, “When I appear as a member of the Cheng family of Nine-Blessings Lane in Jinling, I’m that Fourth Master Cheng who passed both the provincial and metropolitan examinations. But when I appear under the name of the Hall Master of Seven Stars Hall, I’m Cheng Si.”

She twisted her fingers together and said, “Has no one discovered this?”

Cheng Chi smiled and said, “Do you think those big shots in the martial world are from Jiangnan’s prestigious families? They’re just a bunch of desperados. They already avoid constables by going around them—how would they actively provoke families like ours?”

That’s right!

Sometimes a single county magistrate could destroy a gang of bandits, let alone the Cheng family, who were honored guests of county magistrates and prefects, and could influence the advancement of magistrates and prefects.

Zhou Shaojin smiled in sudden realization.

Who knew that Cheng Chi would suddenly change the subject, saying, “But there are also established families in the martial world, and several of them swore loyalty to the Seven Stars Hall during my ancestor’s time and were helped to rise by the Cheng family.” At this point, his expression turned cold. “But as the sun, moon, and stars turn, these so-called martial world families developed their own schemes in the face of profit. The Cheng family, after all, is just a scholarly family. Back then, the Old Ancestor merely used them to amass wealth and had no intention of controlling them. Right after the Old Ancestor died for his country, things were still fine. After all, the Seven Stars Hall was established by him, and they respected his courageous act. Plus, with the dynastic change, those people remained relatively well-behaved. But as peace settled over the land, they either wanted to establish their own operations or harbored ambitions to usurp control.”

Zhou Shaojin found it dangerous just thinking about it and said quickly, “Then just give it to them! The Cheng family is a scholarly family that passes down ritual propriety—naturally, pursuing learning and entering officialdom should be the proper path. This was originally something the Old Ancestor did out of necessity. If they want it, just give it to them. It’s a perfect opportunity to draw a clear line with such matters!”

Cheng Chi smiled bitterly.

Even Shaojin knew this, could see through this clearly, yet the Old Ancestor of the Second Branch, Cheng Xu, couldn’t let go or see through it.

But this was also part of why he liked Shaojin, wasn’t it?

Cheng Chi brewed another cup of tea for Zhou Shaojin and said, “At that time, the Cheng family could barely take care of itself…”

Zhou Shaojin remembered now.

After the Cheng family’s Old Ancestor died for his country, the legitimate sons and grandsons of the Cheng family were almost completely decimated, nearly cutting off the family line.