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On the narrow village path, a few small groups of people had gathered. In the center, a brazier was lit, around which the crowd formed a circle, enjoying the warmth of the fire while engaging in casual conversation.
Among the elderly folks seated on a small wooden plank on the ground were Grandma Shen, Grandpa Shen, Grandpa Shen Xingwang, and Grandpa Zhang. They chatted away amidst the gathering of seniors.
On the side, Sanlang and his companions were playing.
Amidst the swaying of the two ox carts, they entered the village.
An elderly woman gestured towards the direction from which the ox carts were coming and said to Grandma Shen beside her, “Is that the person from your household who went to the town to buy things, coming back?”
Grandma Shen raised her eyes and looked over, letting out a chuckle, “Oh, it really is my bunch. No need to say more, I’ll go welcome them.”
Granpa Shen and the others also stood up one by one, hands behind their backs, and walked in the direction of their home.
The remaining people remained seated, watching the ox carts as they departed.
As the carts gradually disappeared into the distance, this group of people regained their voices.
“The Shens and the Zhangs are truly enviable. They never worry about having enough to eat or wearing warm clothes.”
“That’s right. Besides the Li family, these two families are the most prosperous in our Longxian Village.”
Gathered around in this group, they chatted and laughed, though their discussions revolved around the Shen family, there wasn’t an overt expression of jealousy.
Someone chuckled and added, “My family has also benefited from their good fortune. We saved up some silver before the New Year, and just the other day, we had our son sell some of our livestock.”
“Haha, same here.”
Laughter erupted from the group, and the sound of their merriment drifted quite a distance, managing to warm the slight chill in the air.
On the other side, the ox carts initially stopped in front of the Zhang’s house. Their belongings were piled up outside. Once unloaded, the carts promptly headed back to the Shen family’s courtyard.
The Shen family’s house had two doors – one on the side where they lived and the other in a separate courtyard that was slightly distanced from the main residence.
In that courtyard, a long and narrow cowshed had been hastily constructed using straw and oilcloth, where the ox carts were usually kept when not in use.
Upon returning home, Song Shi couldn’t contain her curiosity and promptly inquired if Shen Yu’an had gathered any information while in town.
Naturally, she was referring to news about their fellow villagers or the Song family.
Shen Yu’an soothingly pacified the excited emotions of Song Shi and Song Xiao Ni.
She reassured them, saying, “Mother, please don’t worry. I entrusted this matter to Ah Chen. If they find any information, he will definitely send word to us.”
Song Shi wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and nodded in agreement.
In the minds of the people, despite Fei Yanchen being a fallen crown prince, he was still distinct in some way.
With his assistance, the possibility of finding the missing person had grown larger.
Grandma Shen then inquired, “Has Ah Chen come over? Why didn’t you call him to our place? Tomorrow’s New Year, it’s livelier with more people.”
Shen Yu’an briefly recounted the encounter with Fei Xi in town.
Afterwards, she remembered the thick envelope that Fei Xi had handed her, so she took it out from her pocket.
Shen Yu’an explained, “This is from Fei Xi. Inside is the money from the published books.”
With that, Shen Yu’an took the initiative to open the envelope.
It was no wonder the envelope was so thick. Inside were two items: a stack of folded silver notes and a set of more than a dozen folded silver tickets. The notes bore the seal of Jucai Money Bank.
Jucai Money Bank was the largest money bank in Great Wei.
Shen Yu’an knew that the true owner behind Jucai Money Bank was officially the maternal family of the Fourth Prince’s mother, the Imperial Consort. In reality, the actual owner was the Imperial Consort Rong, the mother of the Fourth Prince.
Imperial Consort Rong’s maternal family was the Cheng family, but unfortunately, only Cheng Rong had real talent. She became one of the Emperor’s women and even ascended to the position of Imperial Consort.
The remaining members of the Cheng family didn’t possess much true talent; their status was entirely due to the patronage of Consort Rong within the imperial harem.
Shen Yu’an also knew that the Fourth Prince and Imperial Consort Rong had maintained a number of private guards through this money bank.
In addition to the silver notes, there was a smaller envelope tucked inside this envelope.
On it were written the elegant characters “An’An’s Letter.”
The members of the Shen family weren’t overly conservative; most of them could recognize some characters to varying degrees, and they didn’t adhere strictly to the notion that “women without talent are virtuous.”
Even Grandma Shen could identify the writing of her own name and the names of several family members.
Coincidentally, everyone recognized the four characters of “An’An’s Letter.”
The crowd glanced at the smaller envelope, their eyes filled with curiosity.
However, since it was labeled “An’An’s Letter,” everyone felt somewhat awkward asking Shen Yu’an to open it and reveal its contents.
Shen Rong’s gaze swept over the envelope that Shen Yu’an held.
With an enigmatic expression, he remarked, “It seems An’An has quite a good relationship with that young man.”
A few people found Shen Rong’s comment rather ambiguous.
But Shen Yu’an didn’t pick up on any underlying meaning. She didn’t let it bother her and proceeded to open the envelope directly.
Inside, there were only two thin pages of paper, adorned with elegant handwriting.
Shen Yu’an didn’t shy away from others; she held the letter in her hand and began reading.
Shen Rong was seated beside her, and he happened to be able to see the contents of the letter.
He nonchalantly directed his gaze to the paper, though his action appeared less casual than intended.
There was nothing particularly controversial in the content.
The letter detailed the matters concerning the book of conversations that Fei Yanchen had taken from there. It also included some seemingly insignificant descriptions of his daily life.
Finally, the letter extended friendly greetings to all those present.
Shen Yu’an felt that there wasn’t much to say about the earlier parts, so she shared the latter portion of the letter where Fei Yanchen had written his greetings to everyone and apologized for not being able to visit during the festival.
Seeing that the letter was only two thin pages long and didn’t contain much, the curious gazes of the people were withdrawn.
After their attention shifted, the group’s eyes turned to the stack of silver notes.
Shen Yu’an spread out all the silver notes; there were notes with a value of one hundred taels and others with a value of five hundred taels.
In total, there were an astonishing thirteen hundred taels of silver.
Shen Yu’an looked at the silver and without hesitation handed it over to Grandma Shen.
In their household, there was no division of property. The earned silver naturally accumulated under the stewardship of the head of the household.
During their escape from famine, to prevent the loss of silver, they had agreed to store the majority of their assets in Shen Yu’an’s “little treasure chest.”
Now that they had settled down, all the accounts were settled and handed over to Old Lady Shen.
What remained in Shen Yu’an’s hands was naturally her personal property.
For instance, there were the gold and silver jewelry obtained from the monkey tribe in the forest, and the rewards for saving the Qi family’s young girl.
Things like the silver rewards from the Bai family for safely bringing back Bai’s father and daughter and the money from the Hua family for taking care of the Hua siblings, Hua Nan and Hua Ling, were all under the care of Old Lady Shen.
However, this time, Old Lady Shen didn’t accept the silver Shen Yu’an handed over.