Granny Lian teased Yang Haiyan, “You know this person too. Why don’t you take a guess?”

Yang Haiyan pondered for a moment and then her eyes lit up, “Could it be Meng An?”

Meng An and Chen Dashi were of similar age, and both lived in the servants’ quarters.

Other than Meng An, she couldn’t think of anyone else.

Mentioning Meng An reminded her of the Meng family—Meng Qiushi, Meng An, and Meng Qiu.

The three of them collected firewood or foraged for wild vegetables every day, and by the end of the month, they could earn about 150 wen.

Granny Lian smiled and gave her a thumbs-up, “Madam, you’ve guessed it right. You’re truly sharp.”

Yang Haiyan laughed, “There’s nothing special about it. But it’s indeed great news! How do they plan to hold the wedding?”

Granny Lian replied, “Since their parents can’t come, Meng Ping will act in place of the elders. They’re planning to set up two tables in Chen Dashi’s courtyard and invite people from the estate to celebrate. Chen Dashi came to ask me if he should invite the master and madam. He was a bit embarrassed to ask.”

Yang Haiyan said, “Here’s what we’ll do. Have Aunt Fan buy two old hens, and on the day of the wedding, cook them and send them over as a gift. Let them know that the master is on night duty at the barracks this month, so it’s inconvenient for him to attend.”

The entire month was spent in the barracks, so it was difficult for Qin Fang to join in the celebration.

Granny Lian nodded, “Yes, Madam.”

After Granny Lian left, Yang Haiyan went to her dressing table, opened her jewelry box, and took out a pair of pearl earrings.

She had bought these pearls from a traveling merchant and made them into five pairs of earrings, specifically to give as gifts.

With Meng An and Chen Dashi getting married, it was a fitting occasion to gift one of the pairs.

Thinking about this happy event reminded Yang Haiyan of another matter—Qin Fang’s birthday was approaching, and celebrating that was more important than anything else.

At the Military Camp

Qin Fang entered General Ao’s tent, “General, you were looking for me?”

General Ao handed him a box, “Here, this is what you asked for. It arrived yesterday from the Treasure Pavilion.”

Qin Fang excitedly took the box and opened it.

A pleasant fragrance wafted out. Inside was a piece of black wood. It looked ordinary but emitted a unique aroma. “Thank you, General. How much silver do I owe?”

General Ao replied, “120 taels.”

Qin Fang froze.

He only had six taels of private savings—how could he repay that?

Seeing his expression, General Ao burst into laughter, “Hahaha… Look how scared you are! It’s only twelve taels.”

Qin Fang was relieved but still troubled.

He reached into his wife’s embroidered pouch and pulled out six taels of silver, counting every copper coin he had.

He gathered just enough to make six taels and handed it to General Ao. “I’ll pay you the remaining six taels in a few days.”

General Ao chuckled, “No rush. But what do you need this wood for? It’s rare, sure, but most people don’t have any use for it. No one would even care to display it.”

Qin Fang glanced at him and replied, “You wouldn’t understand.”

General Ao sighed, “Of course I wouldn’t if you don’t tell me.”

He then changed the topic, “I’ve heard you’ve been keeping an eye on the barbarians. Any recent movements?”

Qin Fang responded, “Nothing lately. I’m just being cautious since they suffered a heavy defeat earlier this year.”

There was another reason, though.

He still remembered the fortune-teller’s prediction that his wife would face a significant disaster this year.

Even though the fortune-teller later said his wife had a blessed fate, he couldn’t shake his worry.

With private guards in the family quarters, danger was minimal.

But if there was to be any threat, it would likely come from the barbarians.

General Ao nodded, “By the way, how are the noble sons assigned to your team?”

In early March, while Qin Fang was visiting his hometown, the court had sent a group of noble sons to the military camp for training.

Three of them had been assigned to Qin Fang’s team.

Qin Fang replied, “They’re starting from the bottom as regular soldiers. So far, there haven’t been any issues.”

General Ao hummed in response, “Don’t send them on dangerous missions. Just let them waste a few years here.”

Qin Fang replied, “Understood.”

After leaving General Ao’s camp, Qin Fang returned to his own tent.

He wasn’t tired today, though he had been on duty last night.

Now that he was a Captain, he didn’t need to be on night duty all the time like he used to when he was a soldier or lower-ranking officer.

As long as he was present in the camp, he could rest at night.

Qin Fang had a strong and resilient character, so even though he could rest, he only slept during the first half of the night.

He still woke up in the second half, knowing that the soldiers on duty in the first half would still be alert, but those on duty later might be exhausted.

Qin Fang pulled a wooden box from under his bed.

It didn’t contain anything valuable, just some pieces of wood and shavings.

He took out a small knife from the box and began working.

…

Yang Haiyan brought two personal guards with her to the pastry shop.

Some vegetables from the estate were close to ripening, so she planned to clear a corner of the shop to sell the produce.

Aunt Hong greeted her, “Madam.”
Kun Zhangshi added, “Madam is here.”

Yang Haiyan said, “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll clear away these tables, and once the vegetables are ready in a few months, we’ll sell them here.”

Aunt Hong replied, “Of course, Madam, don’t worry.”

At that moment, a male voice called out from the entrance, “Give me a pound of small cakes.”

Another male voice followed, “I’d like a pound of small biscuits as well.”

Previously, the shop used to sell seven pounds of pastries a day, with two pounds each of small cakes and small biscuits, and one pound each of mung bean, red bean, and yellow bean cakes.

But since late March, they had been preparing about four pounds of small cakes and small biscuits each day, mainly because a group of soldiers from the camp had started coming regularly to buy them, often in half-pound or full-pound quantities.

These young men all seemed to come from noble families, for even in their soldiers’ uniforms, their refined demeanor was unmistakable.

Not to mention, they were generous with their money.

Yang Haiyan had heard about them from Aunt Hong and Kun Zhangshi before, but she had never encountered them herself because she rarely visited the shop.

Today, however, she happened to run into them.

Following the sound of the voices, she turned her head and saw three young men entering the shop.

Though they appeared to be young, Yang Haiyan, with her modern perspective, would have considered them teenagers, but in ancient times, they were already considered young men.

One of them looked particularly familiar to her, and she was momentarily stunned.

Her lingering gaze seemed to catch the young man’s attention, and he turned around to look at her.

As Yang Haiyan struggled to remember his name, the young man suddenly called out, “Haiyan, what are you doing here?”

The way he said “Haiyan” carried surprise, delight, and even a bit of warmth—but not the kind of warmth that suggested affection.

At that moment, Yang Haiyan remembered who he was.

His name was Wei Wu, and he was someone from the original owner’s memories.

Wei Wu was handsome and slender, a refined type, much like the male protagonist Han Zhen.

Back in the day, the original Yang Haiyan had been infatuated with Wei Wu.

The original Yang Haiyan had been a personal maid to Miss Yang.

In ancient times, a personal maid often had the potential to become her master’s concubine or secondary wife.

This was a way for the official wife to gain favor with her husband.

The original Yang Haiyan, being ambitious, preferred to become a concubine in a prestigious family rather than marry into a lower-class family as a wife.

When Miss Yang and Wei Wu were engaged, Yang Haiyan had seen him several times and had always regarded herself as his woman.

Later, when the Yang family fell from grace, all the unmarried young maids were married off to border soldiers, and the original Yang Haiyan had been given to Qin Fang.

She had many complaints about this, largely because of her lingering feelings for Wei Wu.

Wei Wu and Qin Fang were completely different.

One was tall and muscular, the other slender and refined.

One had strong, rugged features, while the other was delicate and handsome.

In Yang Haiyan’s modern words, one was a “pretty boy,” a beautiful young man, while the other was a mature manly type.

Young girls might prefer the pretty boy, but Yang Haiyan, as a mature woman, was more attracted to a man with strength and maturity.

In the novel, Wei Wu was not a significant character.

However, the Wei family was close to the current emperor.

Since the novel was written from the perspective of Yang Dahua, there were few mentions of the Yang and Wei families.

Only now, after Yang Haiyan had entered the book’s world, did she uncover more details from the original owner’s memories.

The Yang family had sided with the wrong faction in the imperial succession battle, while the Wei family remained loyal to the current emperor.

This raised some interesting thoughts in Yang Haiyan’s mind, but she kept them to herself and maintained a polite smile, stepping forward to greet him. “This humble woman greets Young Master Wei.”

Wei Wu had a deep impression of Yang Haiyan.

After all, he had been engaged to Miss Yang, and Yang Haiyan had been her personal maid.

At that time, being engaged to the daughter of the Imperial Tutor, a renowned scholar, had been a source of great pride for him.

Moreover, as a young man, he had harbored poetic feelings toward his famous fiancée.

While he couldn’t say it was a passionate love, he did like her.

Thus, he had treated Yang Haiyan kindly, hoping she would put in a good word for him with his fiancée.

In his mind, Yang Haiyan had always been a gentle and quiet maid, well-mannered and easy to talk to.

What he didn’t know was that, behind the scenes, the original Yang Haiyan had been quite arrogant.

Her gentle demeanor in front of him had been nothing more than an act, intended to leave a good impression so she could one day become his concubine.

Unaware of her true thoughts, Wei Wu was genuinely happy to see Yang Haiyan again. “Haiyan, have you married? Oh yes, after what happened, you must have been given to a border soldier. I didn’t expect to find you here.”

As he spoke, a flash of a beautiful figure crossed his mind—someone who could now only appear in his dreams.

Yang Haiyan smiled warmly, appearing happy to see an old acquaintance. “Yes, Young Master Wei, I am now married. My husband’s surname is Qin.”