Chapter 53 – The Ruler

But where would they move to? That was a new problem entirely.

That girl, upon hearing they were thinking of relocating, warmly invited them to settle in her village. But the Ying family wasn’t foolish. If they moved there, even though their household was large and thriving, they’d still be considered outsiders. Settling in that village would essentially mean they’d have to marry the girl and follow through with the agreed-upon double bride price.

It wasn’t that the Ying family couldn’t afford it—just that it left a bad taste in their mouths.

People are emotionally attached to their homeland. To have to compromise for the sake of a son’s marriage, and even move into the future daughter-in-law’s home village—it all felt like they were being manipulated.

To put it harshly, what if the couple had a fight in the future, or there was friction with the in-laws? If someone were to say, “You were the ones who insisted on marrying our daughter and even moved to our village,” wouldn’t that be incredibly aggravating?

So they considered another option: their son-in-law’s village.

And just like that, it was as if a door to a new world had opened. The more the elderly couple thought about it, the more it made sense. Ying-shi, being the only daughter in the family, was not only the apple of her brothers’ eyes but also treasured like a pearl by their parents.

To be honest, the six Ying brothers had come down the mountain not just to help their in-laws with the house construction but also with the intent to scope things out and gather information about relocating. When Ying-shi realized that her parents had long been entertaining this idea, she was thrilled—but still couldn’t resist pouting a little.

“Hmph! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“We were just too busy and forgot!” Ying Da rubbed his head. All the brothers were straightforward and earnest. While they did come down partly to explore the relocation, they were also seriously committed to helping with the construction. Building a house was a momentous occasion in a rural family’s life, and since they were here to help, they were determined to give it their all.

But in all the busyness, they had forgotten to mention it to their sister. Although Ying-shi felt a bit annoyed, she was mostly overjoyed. The thought of having her parents and brothers nearby in the future made her feel blissful. Though her husband, sisters-in-law, and husband’s siblings were all good and easy to get along with, and she had no real complaints since marrying in, she still often missed her family deep in the mountains. If they all moved nearby, it would ease her longing and worries.

So Ying-shi immediately became cheerful again.

“That’s wonderful! I’ll go tell Big Sister right away. But our family has a lot of people. We’ll need a large plot of land, and that’s not going to be cheap. My husband and I have saved some money over the years, and if it’s still not enough, we can borrow a bit from Big Brother, Second Brother, Big Sister, or Little Sister.”

When she mentioned “Big Brother, Second Brother, Big Sister, and Little Sister,” she was referring to the Yan siblings. After years of marriage, Ying-shi understood just how united the Yan family was.

If it were someone else, the idea of casually discussing borrowing money from her in-laws with her own brothers might’ve been considered thoughtless. But Ying-shi had been raised in a pampered environment, was simple-hearted, and her husband Yan Xinghe wasn’t a stingy man. They had a harmonious and loving marriage, so she continued to speak as directly and freely as she did before marriage.

Her brothers, however, read more into it. They knew their sister was a bit naïve, but they couldn’t afford to be equally naïve. Still, since they had spoiled her together growing up, the six brothers exchanged a silent, knowing glance and said nothing. Only the sixth brother, Ying Liu, spoke with a complicated expression.

“Is that… appropriate?”

“Don’t worry about it. We brothers will figure it out,” Ying Da declared firmly. That very day, he went to speak with the village head of Qingshan, formally beginning the process. Since the Ying family hadn’t yet split into separate households and there were many of them, they’d need a large piece of land to build new homes.

This future residence would become their family’s ancestral home, so everything had to be done with care.

The brothers couldn’t help but feel a surge of ambition. Once the family moved down the mountain, with their collective abilities, how could they still struggle to find wives? If it weren’t for the poor conditions in the mountains, there would be plenty of women eager to marry such strong, hardworking, honest, and decent-looking men.

Now that they had decided to move to Qingshan Village, that prior arranged marriage for Ying Si (Fourth Brother) was most likely a lost cause.

Ying-shi wasted no time sharing the news with her sisters-in-law and Big Sister-in-law. Gu Yuzhu overheard too and felt like she’d just absorbed a whole batch of gossip! Her little aunt’s family was moving out of the mountains—that was huge news! But sadly, she had no one to share it with, and that made her feel gloomy.

Finally, her older brother had come home for vacation. The moment he returned, he pulled her into the study—only for her to realize how stiff and formal she suddenly felt. She quickly corrected her posture.

Gu Yuzhu: “…”

“Big Brother, didn’t you say you had something to tell me?”

“Oh, right! I learned a lot of new characters this time—I’ll show you.” Gu Qingbai’s face lit up, and he quickly changed the subject. Gu Yuzhu sighed. Her brother was clearly not a good gossip partner. Even though he was secretly overprotective of her, ever since she mentioned wanting to avoid being illiterate in the future, Gu Qingbai had gone out of his way to help.

But why was her brother becoming more and more proper? Like a straight-laced scholar?

Her mind started to drift off again…

Unfortunately, Gu Qingbai didn’t notice her distraction at all. He was fully focused on writing down what he had learned so he could teach her. Gu Yuzhu, wanting to avoid being illiterate, had always acted especially enthusiastic in front of him. And Gu Qingbai firmly believed that his sister had great talent—if only she had been born male, she would have achieved so much more!

Clearly, he was the definition of a doting brother.

Despite mentally “driving a train” of random thoughts, she still casually peeked at what her pale and handsome “bun-faced” brother was writing. A glance told her it was… the Thousand Character Classic. This kid really had potential! He’d only been studying at the academy for a short time and already had so much of it memorized!

Looking at the familiar traditional characters, Gu Yuzhu’s mind began to wander again. After all, she already knew all of this. Naturally, anything she already knew didn’t interest her.

“From now on, every time I come home, I’ll teach you to write. Look—Zhu Zhu, what are you doing? Are you daydreaming?” Gu Qingbai, the little teacher, was clearly displeased. He had become a disciple of a scholar at the academy, and that relationship was almost like a second father. The teacher thought highly of him and was very strict. Fortunately, Gu Qingbai was not the fidgety kind—he obediently listened to everything his teacher said.

Still, the academy had its share of mischievous students who didn’t enjoy studying. They were there only because of their families’ expectations, and they’d sit in class either zoning out or staring blankly. Naturally, such students were not favored by their teacher.

Though Gu Qingbai was a good student, at this moment, he couldn’t help but think of his teacher’s dreaded ruler…