Chapter 111

Ever since the Mu family built their new residence, the old house was intended to be sold off.

But why hadn’t it been sold?… Naturally, it was because houses in the village weren’t worth much.

When Lao Buyu first arrived in Shuiyun Village and was looking for a place to settle down, the Shen family had inquired about it.

At that time, vacant houses in the village, even new and spacious ones, could be rented for just one or two silver coins a year.

As for houses like the Mu family’s old residence, which had been lived in for a dozen or so years, were dilapidated, drafty in winter, leaked during summer rains, and didn’t even have decent furniture, selling it for five taels of silver would be pushing it.

And that was in the ideal scenario.

In reality, Mu Cheng had asked around earlier, and no one was interested in buying it. So it was left there.

Now, as soon as Shen Cuiwei mentioned that she was going to move, someone came forward that very day offering ten taels of silver to buy it.

Word of this soon reached Li Zheng’s ears—his son hadn’t passed the exam again this year, and originally, just as Shen Cuiwei had speculated earlier, he was planning to rely on connections or pressure to get his son enrolled in Cuiwei Academy.

Now that he knew Cuiwei Academy was going to move, his previous plans were sure to fall through.

After Li Zheng went home and took stock, he scraped together thirty taels of silver and immediately made an offer.

Shen Cuiwei wasn’t deliberately trying to take advantage of anyone or drive up the price, as those people might have thought.

Instead, she was clear in her own mind that those people were offering so much money to buy the house because they were after the “feng shui.” And the so-called “feng shui” was all system enhancement.

Once she left, this place would revert to being the same old dilapidated house.

If it were wealthy families who didn’t mind spending a few dozen taels of silver for good luck, it would be fine.

But those people were either farmers living off the land or laborers working in the city, saving up only a few taels of silver throughout the year.

Although Shen Cuiwei was annoyed by these people, she didn’t want to take their hard-earned money.

Plus, she wanted to prevent someone from buying it cheaply and then engaging in some speculation or profiteering, making a profit from it.

Secondly, it had been said earlier that the old house was supposed to be given to Mu Yunchuan.

Although when the academy was established here, Mu Yunchuan had said things like “the family hasn’t split up, everything is up to my mother,” if the house were sold without consulting him, she didn’t know if he would take issue with it.

It’s better to have one less thing to worry about.

She would wait until he returned from the provincial exam to discuss it.

After all, the house wouldn’t grow legs and run away, and Shen Cuiwei didn’t currently need the money urgently.

Later, Shen Cuiwei directly said, “Nowadays, my status is the highest in the family. But our eldest son has grown up now, and he’ll be back soon after taking the provincial exam. I’ll ask him for his opinion before making any decision.”

Although Mu Yunchuan and Wei Shu were both scholars now, in the eyes of the villagers, Mu Yunchuan, who had even achieved the “Triple Crown,” held a higher position.

He was regarded as a celestial being descended to earth, and it seemed that attaining the rank of Jinshi would be an easy feat for him.

No one dared to persuade Shen Cuiwei to make decisions without consulting Mu Yunchuan first.

After a brief lull, time had already flown by, and it was now August.

In early August, Shen Cuiwei had already packed everything up.

The servants from the Wei family had already transported the bulky items to the prefectural capital ahead of time.

Later, they would each carry a small bag and travel lightly.

In the previous two years, Shen Cuiwei had celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival very casually.

This year, things couldn’t be like that anymore. After moving to the prefectural capital, they probably wouldn’t come back for several years.

And when Mu Er Pang truly achieved something and was able to support Old Master Shen and Madame Zheng by his side, it would take at least another three years.

On the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Shen Cuiwei took Mu Er Pang back to her family’s home.

They planned to spend the night there and celebrate the festival together the next day.

Since returning from the prefectural capital, Shen Cuiwei had already come to her family’s home once with Mu Er Pang to share the good news.

This time, they came together, and although Madame Zheng said, “Just come back on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Why come back early and stay overnight? You’ve tired me out, and I have to tidy up the bedding for you,” the smile in her eyes couldn’t deceive anyone.

Back at her parents’ home, Shen Cuiwei finally relaxed. Madame Zheng asked Mu Er Pang to go play with his two younger cousins and brought Shen Cuiwei inside.

She didn’t let Shen Cuiwei do anything, just asked her to lie on the kang while she cut some watermelon and handed it to her.

Then she asked, “Do you really have enough money?”

“It’s enough, it’s enough.” When Shen Cuiwei had last visited, she had carefully explained the situation in the prefectural capital to Madame Zheng.

But she certainly couldn’t let her know about the cursed house.

She only said that she had made friends with Mrs. Cui Wu, so she was able to rent a house for less than the market price.

But despite what Shen Cuiwei said, Madame Zheng still felt uneasy since she hadn’t personally seen the house.

In Madame Zheng’s eyes, even though her daughter was nearing thirty, she still looked like someone who needed her mother’s care.

“How about this, when Er Pang comes back to take the county exam, you and your father come with us to stay in the prefectural capital for a while?”

Shen Da and Shen Er had formal jobs in the city, so it wasn’t easy to move them around, but Madame Zheng and Old Master Shen were just doing odd jobs in the city and could take a break whenever they wanted.

The house in the prefectural capital was so large that Shen Cuiwei planned to turn the front courtyard into a school and the back courtyard into a place for rest.

As long as the servants from the Wei family didn’t deliberately enter the front courtyard but took the long way around, they wouldn’t disrupt the time bonuses.

Madame Zheng and Old Master Shen could definitely live there comfortably.

“I haven’t been to Qingzhou Prefecture at my age,” Madame Zheng smiled, but then shook her head. “It won’t work. This family is fine without your father, but without me, what will happen? The older daughters are not young anymore, and in two years, they should be discussing marriage. When the girls are all married and the boys are grown up, then I can have some leisure.”

Although Madame Zheng favored Mu Er Pang, she also loved her other grandchildren dearly.

And when she referred to the older daughters, she meant the two daughters born to Chen and Li earlier.

If Mu Er Pang and his boy cousins were like two mischievous monkeys, then the older daughters were as gentle and docile as two little rabbits.

These two girls were always well-behaved and never interrupted when adults spoke.

Every time they saw Shen Cuiwei, they would help pour tea and water, then shyly retreat to the side.

Shen Cuiwei had a soft spot for these obedient girls.

Although they were less noticeable due to their quiet demeanor, Shen Cuiwei still liked them.

Both girls were older than Mu Er Pang, one being fifteen and the other fourteen. They were born one after the other.

In families that didn’t value daughters much, girls of this age might have already been married off and wouldn’t still be at home.

Although the Shen family suffered from the common problem of favoring sons over daughters, they didn’t neglect their daughters.

The girls’ living conditions were slightly inferior to the boys’, but they were better than those of other adults in the other family.

They were spared from heavy chores and only helped out when the adults were working.

While they were talking, Chen Shi, the eldest daughter-in-law, knocked on the door and asked if she could come in.

After Madame Zheng let her in, Chen Shi came in with a bowl of lotus root powder, saying, “This is lotus root powder from my maternal family. It’s said to be a popular delicacy in the south, not often seen here. It has the effect of clearing heat and cooling blood, perfect for summer. I brewed a bowl for you to try, Cuihua.”

Shen Cuiwei took it gratefully and thanked her, then waited quietly for Chen Shi to speak further.

However, Chen Shi just smiled and didn’t say much more. After giving the gift, she left, saying she didn’t want to disturb their mother-daughter conversation.

The lotus root powder was brewed perfectly, with a pinkish hue and a sprinkle of osmanthus flowers on top. It looked and smelled very appetizing.

But Shen Cuiwei didn’t rush to drink it. She placed the bowl on the table and glanced at Madame Zheng for confirmation.

Madame Zheng chuckled, “Go ahead and drink it. Is she going to dare to poison you in front of me?”

Shen Cuiwei smiled awkwardly, “I’m not worried about her poisoning me, I’m just afraid she’s going to ask me to do something again. I’m not good at refusing people, and I don’t want to offend her.”

“She heard earlier that our family’s academy produced three successful scholars in one go, while her nephew on her maternal side hasn’t made any progress with the district magistrate’s office. She did have some other ideas before, but I managed to keep her in check. She was afraid of me, so even when she heard later that all three scholars had passed the exam, she didn’t dare bring it up again. Today’s visit is probably just to gain some benefits from you. But it’s not for other purposes; it’s probably for the marriage proposal for the elder daughter.”

The Shen family hadn’t arranged marriage proposals for the elder daughters yet. On one hand, they wanted to keep them at home a little longer, not wanting them to go to other families too early to start their lives there.

After all, being a girl was easy, but being a daughter-in-law was difficult.

The days at home were always the most comfortable and enjoyable.

On the other hand, Shen Cuiwei had informed Madame Zheng that Mu Er Pang would be ready next year.

Mrs. Zheng had great trust in her own grandchildren, especially believing that Mu Er Pang would pass the exam in one go.

When the time came and a Scholar Master came out of the family, the elder daughters could also marry into better families.

Shen Cuiwei hadn’t kept this from her two daughters-in-law. Otherwise, with Chen Shi’s temperament, she might have hurriedly arranged a marriage for the eldest daughter.

Chen Shi was counting on this, so she had been particularly polite to Shen Cuiwei recently.

Li Shi had always been good to Shen Cuiwei and Mu Er Pang, so there was nothing strange about her behavior today.

Shen Cuiwei nodded in understanding and agreed that it was time for the eldest daughters to marry, but it didn’t have to be too early.

At the age of fourteen or fifteen, their bodies hadn’t fully developed yet, and it would be difficult for them to get pregnant and give birth.

The current regulations of the court stipulated that if a woman passed the age of seventeen without getting married, she would be fined.

The Shen family was willing to keep the girls until they were sixteen before arranging their marriages, which was already very considerate of them.

Mrs. Zheng nodded in agreement, stating that she had kept the girls at home until now because she didn’t want them to marry too early.

With the improvement of the family’s financial situation due to the elder sons’ promotions and salary increases, they didn’t need the girls to go out and earn a living.

She suggested that they should get married in the next two years, but it wouldn’t be too late to wait until they were sixteen.

Shen Cuiwei agreed, emphasizing the importance of good character when selecting a spouse for the girls.

Family background was secondary, but it was important that the family had simple relationships.

She expressed concern that their daughters in the family were gentle and might be bullied in their in-laws’ families without even complaining when they came back.

Mrs. Zheng laughed and reassured Shen Cuiwei, saying she had plenty of experience and knew what to look for when choosing a spouse for her grandchildren.

She added that it was essential for their prospective in-laws to be honest and easy to get along with.

Otherwise, it could damage Mu Er Pang’s reputation in the future if their relatives caused trouble.

Mrs. Zheng also reminded Shen Cuiwei that she had everything under control and didn’t need to worry.

The family spent the Mid-Autumn Festival together, and the next day, preparations began for Shen Cuiwei and the others to move to the capital.