Chapter One

  The wife of the second master of the Jin family is older than the first mistress and has lived with Auntie Han for several years. It's said that before this son, she gave birth to a daughter who died young, and after several years, she gave birth to a son who is about the same age as the second young master and can be considered an elder brother of Jin Fenghua. The surname of the second aunt of the Jin family is He, not from this village. In her early years, her family was poor, so she was half-sold and half-married to the Jin family's second branch. At first, when the old master was still studying, things were fine, and Auntie Han was favored, and the second master was alive, so even if they didn't work hard, they lived comfortably. However, after the old master stubbornly passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi, he went to the capital to find a good family for his daughter, and even though the villagers looked down on the Han family as concubines, the Jin family's reputation was unaffected, and they even moved their whole family, including the elderly couple, to the capital.

  The second house here, the second master was weak and died. The old master was constrained by the big master and did not dare to take care of the second house too much. He only secretly gave some support, but unfortunately, the old master did not live long either. In the end, the big master gave part of the land property to separate the second house, which completely cut off ties with the Jin family in Beijing. From then on, the second house could only be considered as a distant relative who didn't come and go, but they themselves were just a farming household with some land, no different from other villagers.

  He wore a coarse linen garment, his hair was wrapped in an old floral cloth, he was not tall, slightly thin, with narrow and long eyes, straight nose bridge, only his lips were slightly thick, and there was a small black mole at the corner of his mouth.

  "Is it Second Madam?" Bi Xi walked forward first, smiling and asking.

  He was stopped by someone, still a bit puzzled, but when he looked at Bi Xi's slender silk dress, and the carriage behind her, as well as the man and woman standing beside it, he had a faint premonition.

  "Whose family are you from?" He asked with a frown, wiping his hands on his hem.

  Bi Xi seemed to have not seen him at all, and only bowed slightly, saying: "I am a servant from the Golden Family of the Capital."

  Bixi is a maid beside Xianyi, but Xianyi's current identity is embarrassing. She has not yet married Jin Fenghua as his wife, nor can she be considered a slave of the Jin family, and she does not have a maternal home either. So Bixi simply calls her the Jin family in the capital, even if it's ambiguous, but no matter how you calculate it, it's not wrong.

  "What's the matter with the capital's Jin family?" He asked faintly, his brow furrowed in concern.

  "My three younger brothers escorted the spirit back to our hometown, and after arranging everything, they came to visit Third Aunt and Second Aunt." Bi Xi couldn't say more, so she just nodded and retreated to the side.

  He didn't know how the three young masters of the Jin family were doing. At first, when Han was divorced, she was frightened for a while, and at that time her eldest daughter had also passed away for some time, but she never got pregnant again. She was also afraid that her mother-in-law would follow the example of the old master and divorce her back to her natal family. However, no one expected that Han would eventually be demoted to a concubine and return to the Jin Mansion.

  "Feng Ling?" He's heart skipped a beat, then asked: "Who went?"

  "It's my mother." Jin Fenghua walked forward with his immortal clothes and replied personally, then gave a courtesy to He Shi: "Nephew Fenghua has seen Second Aunt."

  "Big sister!" Madame He exclaimed in surprise, afterwards she reacted and hastily tidied up her hair, awkwardly saying: "Really didn't think..."

  "How's your aunt doing? The elders used to think of her before the wind and flowers came." It was just a polite phrase, everyone knew it in their hearts, even if the old lady remembered Aunt Tai, she wouldn't have anything good to say.

  "Mother... is at home... come with me." He Shi spoke again and felt it wasn't quite right, but after all these years, she was used to calling her "mother", and hadn't thought about calling her "aunt". They were just ordinary farming people, and the rules of those big households always seemed distant.

  Jin Fenghua signaled the horse carriage to stay in place, and he took Xianyi and Bi Xi to the farmhouse behind Shitoufang. Along the way, they attracted a lot of villagers, and many young men and women hid aside, blushing. In her past life, Xianyi was not a beauty, but this life she grew up quite well and had never encountered being surrounded by people before. Even though most of these people's gazes were kind, she still felt uncomfortable all over, slowing down her pace. Jin Fenghua, on the other hand, seemed to be used to it, following closely behind He Shi with a calm and steady pace, occasionally exchanging a few words.

  They arrived at the entrance of the Jin family's second house, and the villagers didn't dare to follow them in. Many smiled and greeted them before leaving, but some onlookers lingered not far from the gate, waiting for a show. Xianyi followed Jin Fenghua into the courtyard, which was quite large, with about six or seven tile-roofed houses. There were some dried vegetables and sweet potatoes scattered around the yard, and at that moment, the sunlight shone brightly, illuminating the entire courtyard. An old lady sat at the entrance of the main house, spinning thread and weaving shoe soles.

  Listening to the sound of the gate, Tai Yiniang didn't even lift her head and directly asked: "How's the field?"

  "The wheat is still green, I'm afraid it will be late this year." Mrs. He hastily replied.

  "It must be those lazy rascals not doing their job properly, or else how could they be late? Next time don't even think about getting that much pay." As soon as Auntie Tai mentioned money, she felt a sharp pain and her words began to flow more freely.

  "Mother, there are guests arriving?"

  Tai Yiniang raised her head with narrowed eyes, but felt a sense of unfamiliarity. She only saw that these few people were dressed finely and didn't seem like country folk, so she revealed a flattering smile and said: "Are you here to find Zhi Bao?"

  He had long been accustomed to his mother-in-law's temper and, before Tai Niang could ask any improper questions, he directly said: "It was the third child of that family in Beijing. They said that my uncle's wife, Han Shi, had passed away."

  Tai's aunt seemed to have failed to grasp the meaning of "daughter-in-law", and stood there holding her shoes for half a day, finally fixing her gaze on Jin Fenghua, her eyes reddening as she choked out: "How could it be? How did you leave so early?"

  Jin Fenghua forced a faint smile and said: "My mother's body has never been very good, now it can be considered liberation."

  "Has your father come back?" Tai's aunt asked tentatively, her eyes flickering slightly.

  "My father still has business in Beijing, so he sent me back home alone." Jin Fenghua replied.

  Tai's mother-in-law heard that the shoes were thrown into the basket, stood up and patted her clothes discontentedly: "After all, she is his daughter-in-law, how could he go without coming personally!"

  Jin Fenghua could not respond, and could only bitterly smile.

  Tai's aunt saw the situation and came over to Jin Fenghua, grabbing his hand and sighing: "That thing back then, I didn't agree to it at all, but after all your father was an official and I had this status, no matter how hard I tried to stop it, it still happened. Your poor mother served your grandmother for so many days, only to end up with nothing good coming of it, what a sin!"

  Jinfenghua didn't respond, instead saying that in the capital, there was prosperity and also describing the daily life of an old lady. On the surface, it seemed like a filial son and grandson, but actually, he was meticulously describing how luxurious and grand the mansion was, to the point where Ta Niang couldn't help but reveal her jealous expression.

  "Your grandmother really had a blessed life..." Tai Yiniang said dryly, then shifted her gaze to Xianyi and Bixi behind Jinfenghua. The more she looked at them, the more she felt they were lovely, so she pulled Jinfenghua aside and whispered: "Are those two your maids?"

  After finishing, without waiting for Jin Fenghua to speak, Tai Yiniang continued: "Your brother Zhibao is also going to take the exam this year. I think that with only us two rough people by his side, it's not good enough. Why don't you leave one of them for your brother? That way, your brother will have someone to serve him and won't lose face for the Jin family. Besides, in the future, if your brother passes the exam and becomes an official, he'll definitely remember your kindness. Even if that evil stepmother of yours wants to bully you, she'll have to think about your brother's official position, right? Moreover, we're all reasonable people, so it's absolutely fine for me to be a servant girl for Zhibao. When Zhibao becomes successful in the future, being a servant girl is definitely acceptable."

  Jin Fenghua's eyes flashed with a hint of impatience, but he quickly covered it up and pretended to be embarrassed: "These two are not my maids, one is my fiancée, and the other is my fiancée's maid."

  "What?" Auntie Tai stretched her neck and looked up and down at the celestial clothes, thinking that this was indeed a young lady from a wealthy family. She felt uncomfortable in her heart, thinking that no matter how good Jin Fenghua was, she was only a concubine's daughter of the main house, yet she could marry such an elegant girl. It was truly unfair and the Jin family's main house was too bullying. However, before they were even married, she had followed her fiancé to visit relatives, Auntie Tai said sourly: "Your stepmother must have ulterior motives, otherwise why would she find such a shameless girl? You're escorting the coffin back to your hometown, what is she doing following you?"

  "Miss Yao is the daughter of Mrs. Gui's dowry servant, I liked her and asked Mrs. Gui to marry me, we'll be married in a little over a month." Jin Fenghua said this with a blush on his face, but what was originally supposed to be just an act, he didn't expect that there would actually be something strange in his heart, a feeling that he couldn't quite put into words. Just as he wanted to think about it more carefully, he was interrupted by a strange cry from Tai Niangniang.

  "What? Servant girl?" Tai's expression changed, she pulled Jin Fenghua forcefully and said with a pained expression: "Your stepmother must have had ill intentions, to give you such a servant girl as your wife. You are after all the child of the first wife, how can they humiliate you like this? Your father didn't stop them?"

  "No, not madam..." Jin Fenghua said in a low voice: "It was I who personally asked for it."

  "I understand, I understand. Poor child, you don't even dare to tell the truth." The old lady looked at Xianyi with disdain, leaving Xianyi bewildered, but also noticing that the old lady's attitude towards her had changed completely from earlier, perhaps it was ignorance before, and now it was contempt.

  Jin Fenghua didn't bother to argue, and directly put the things he brought on the table in the courtyard. Anyway, when returning to his hometown, he had to come see his elders. Perhaps the old master could not do it, but as a younger generation, he couldn't let people gossip behind his back.

  The old lady was very polite at first, and immediately her face lit up with joy. She said many good things about Jin Fenghua, and also praised her own grandson for his talent. Finally, seeing that Jin Fenghua didn't mention leaving the maid behind or offering any financial assistance, the old lady gritted her teeth and asked with a flattering tone: "Are you planning to return to the ancestral mansion this time?"