During today’s lunch, everyone was very happy.

The women were all dressed beautifully, and the men, having been to the military camp and fields, were quite satisfied with the environment there.

They occasionally glanced at their wives, unable to deny that women looked beautiful when they dressed up.

Not only did the men find their wives beautiful, but the women also experienced for the first time the importance of dressing well.

Perhaps they had understood it before, but due to limited conditions, they had never dared to indulge.

Now, however, they finally had the opportunity.

At the dining table, the conversation turned to the military camp and fields.

Qin Father said, “Let’s move over there this afternoon. I see they’re busy; there’s nothing for us to do here, so we might as well go over there.”

Qin Fang had no objections; the family was accustomed to being busy, and it was indeed necessary for someone to manage the situation over there.

Yang Haiyan interjected, “How about we let Father and Third Uncle go over there first? After all, Niu Dan won’t be leaving, and Second Uncle isn’t in a hurry to go back home either; they can stay for a few more days and check out the fields.

Mother, Third Aunt, and San Ya can stay at the residence for a while. I’ll help them get familiar with the county town since we’ll be living here in the future.

Besides, the soldiers are currently eating at Niu Er’s place, and Niu Da’s wife, Niu Yi’s wife, and Niu Er’s wife are all helping out.

With the monthly allowance of two hundred wen for ten soldiers, it adds up to two taels of silver for one hundred soldiers.

Niu Er’s family is quite happy about it, so Mother and Third Aunt can take their time getting over there.”

Qin Fang replied, “I’ll listen to you.”

Qin Mother and Third Aunt felt a bit reluctant to leave the monthly allowance behind, but Yang Haiyan had a point; since they were here, there was no need to rush for a day or two.

It was better to get accustomed to the county town first and rest for a few days.

Grandpa Qin said, “I’ll go help out too; my old woman can stay at the residence.”

Grandma Qin had no objections, but she added, “You’re already old; don’t go competing with the younger ones.”

Grandpa Qin responded with a grunt, feeling that his wife was implying he was getting old.

Seeing how young and beautiful she looked after dressing up, he felt even older by comparison.

Thinking of this, Grandpa Qin glanced at Qin Fang with a somewhat obscure look.

Qin Fang sensed his grandfather’s gaze and looked back at him in confusion.

Grandpa Qin cleared his throat: “A Fang, your wife is busy taking care of your grandma and the others, and you’re not lending a hand.”

Qin Fang felt innocent; after all, he had gone with them to the military camp and fields!

But then again, he found his grandfather’s comment somewhat perplexing.

Generally, Grandpa wouldn’t say such things; why was he suddenly speaking like this?

Qin Fang stared at his grandfather, but he couldn’t discern any meaning from his expression.

Not just Qin Fang, but even Yang Haiyan didn’t understand.

However, Yang Haiyan brought up another topic: “When we bought clothes for Grandma and the others today, I also got some for Grandpa, Father, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, and even for Shouye and Niu Dan. I didn’t buy anything for Shoucheng since he usually wears his academy uniform.”

Qin Shoucheng didn’t mind.

He usually wore his academy uniform, except during holidays, so he didn’t have much opportunity to wear casual clothes.

Besides, he had his own clothes as well; his sister had four sets for each season, and he had matched her with four sets of his own, plus the uniforms, making his wardrobe quite ample.

Grandpa Qin interrupted, “A Fang’s wife, what are you buying clothes for them for? They’re all laborers.” Implying that if you were going to buy for anyone, it should be for me!

Everyone looked at Grandpa Qin, unable to suppress their surprise.

Grandpa Qin remained calm: “Look at A Fang’s wife; what a dutiful person she is, much more dutiful than A Fang.”

Qin Fang: “…”

Now he finally understood; his grandfather was implying that he was dissatisfied that he hadn’t prepared new clothes for him.

Yang Haiyan laughed, saying, “Grandpa and Second Uncle’s clothes were chosen by Grandma, Father’s clothes were chosen by Mother, Third Uncle’s clothes were chosen by Third Aunt, and I picked out the clothes for Shouye and Niu Dan.”

When they were choosing clothes in the morning, Niu Dan had gone to the academy with Qin Shoucheng, but by noon, the child had already seen the new clothes.

Grandma Qin added, “Even though you’re all going to be working, you should still have a couple of decent outfits prepared. However, since Second Uncle’s wife and Second Miss are not here, Yanyan prepared fabric for them, but you need to bring it back for them later.”

Second Uncle Qin replied, “What do you need to prepare that for? It’s a waste of money.”

Grandma Qin shot him a glance: “Everyone has it, but they don’t. Who knows what your family will say later?”

However, she knew that the second family wasn’t bad-hearted, just thoughtless.

Because of this, Grandma Qin didn’t have much resentment toward her.

Such people were better than those with heavy thoughts.

In the afternoon, the men of the Qin family began to move.

It wasn’t much; they were just transporting their luggage and some belongings to the military camp’s fields.

With the horse-drawn carts, it was quite convenient.

The women of the Qin family had never been to that side, so they curiously followed to take a look.

Speaking of which, Yang Haiyan hadn’t been to the military camp’s fields for a long time.

She had only gone there when she first bought the fields and again when the grains were planted.

When they arrived at the fields, Third Aunt Qin was the first to say, “This place is really nice.”

The green crops had already sprouted, and beside the fields was a small independent courtyard for the steward to live in.

There was also a large dining hall nearby, which served as a place for everyone to eat and for the soldiers to rest.

Third Uncle Qin said, “This is the field we will manage next. The eldest brother’s field is a bit further away; it takes about a quarter of an hour to get there from here.”

Qin Fang said, “Uncle, we’ve been to that side.”

Third Uncle Qin San sighed.

He led Aunt Qin San into the small courtyard, which was clean and had never been lived in before.

The courtyard was also newly built.

Third Uncle Qin said, “From now on, we will live here.”

Third Aunt Qin replied, “This place is pretty good; it’s even better than our old home.”

When they lived in the old home, even though they had already separated, they still lived together and didn’t have their own courtyard. “We should decorate San Ya’s room nicely. I saw that Siya’s room is beautifully arranged. We can’t compare to Siya, but we can give Sanya what we can afford.

In the future, we will have a monthly allowance of seven hundred wen, which means we can save four taels of silver in a year. We should save some money for Sanya.”

Third Uncle Qin nodded, “I’ll listen to you. Ah Fang said that if we do well, there will be rewards. I don’t know much about these things; Ah Fang said rewards mean monetary rewards, so we must work hard.”

Third Aunt Qin responded, “Hmm.”

While she didn’t understand the deeper principles, she was serious about her work and could do it well. “So after I come over, Sanya will stay at the General’s residence?”

Third Uncle Qin replied, “She’ll stay at the General’s residence for a while to see how things go. Didn’t Ah Fang’s wife want to invite a teacher to teach them to read and write? We should let Sanya live there for now.

She is well-behaved and won’t cause them trouble; as long as we don’t lose our composure, it will be fine.

Later, we can ask Sanya if she wants to come back; if she does, we’ll take her back. A child living under someone else’s roof will get used to it over time.”

Third Aunt Qin laughed, “I’ll listen to you.”

It was definitely fine to listen to her husband.

The Capital City

This was Tao Shan’s third visit to the capital, but this time he didn’t go to the Du residence first; instead, he went directly to the palace entrance.

He delivered Qin Fang’s memorial along with two large bags to the officials in charge of the palace gate.

Normally, the gate officials received memorials from the political department every day, but it was the first time they had received two large bags along with a memorial.

However, the gate officials accepted the items and sent them straight to the palace.

After all, it was for the emperor, and there was a memorial involved, so they didn’t dare to be negligent.

After delivering the items, Tao Shan then took his people to the Du residence.

At this time, the emperor had just dismissed court.

The current state of the country was unstable because the emperor had seized the throne through a power struggle.

The enemy country was secretly in contact with some of the princes who had failed in their claims, and those princes were also restless.

This was also the reason Qin Fang discovered the sulfur and saltpeter mines without receiving grand rewards from the emperor.

If the reason for rewarding Qin Fang were to become known, and it involved the sulfur and saltpeter mines, then the emperor’s plans might not succeed.

So, the emperor downplayed Qin Fang’s contributions.

As soon as court was dismissed, Du Ke, Wei Wu, and others went to the imperial study.

Everyone saw the emperor’s gloomy expression and lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

The emperor’s irritability was not only due to internal and external troubles but also a secret reason he could not mention: his son was still missing.

The Yuan Princess had committed suicide by fire, and there was no child’s body found beside her, so the emperor was convinced his son was still alive.

Even if there had been a child’s body next to the Yuan princess, the emperor knew she wouldn’t harm her own child.

However, the child had not yet been found.

He had seized the throne to give her and their child a legitimate identity, but now that she was dead and their child was missing, how could the emperor be happy?

The emperor said, “Keep a close watch on the various regions for me. Once someone makes a move, arrest them for treason.”

Du Ke replied, “Yes.”

The emperor looked at Chief Steward Chi, “Have there been any memorials from Wei Ting recently?” He urgently wanted to know about the situation regarding the explosive materials.

Once the explosives were ready, he would have no fears, regardless of internal or external troubles.

Grand Eunuch Chi said, “No, I’m keeping an eye on it at all times.”

The emperor nodded, just as someone outside reported, “Your Majesty, there is a memorial from Yunxiang County.”

Normally, this memorial would have been set aside for the emperor to read when he was free.

However, because there were also two large bags involved, the official delivering the memorial was worried that something important might be delayed, so he reported it. “In addition to the memorial, there are also two large bags.”

The emperor replied, “Oh?”

Upon hearing that the memorial was from Yunxiang County, he suddenly felt better for some reason.

For some inexplicable reason, he felt that Qin Fang’s memorial always brought him surprises.

Of course, the memorial from Yunxiang County could also be from the county magistrate, but he had a feeling it was definitely from Qin Fang. “Bring it in.”