"Luo Luo, this is too much. I don't need all this money."

Zhao Ruyun still had several hundred taels of silver on her. She had everything she needed at home, so she had nowhere to spend the money.

"Keep it, just give me a tael of silver as a token, to share in the joy."

The silver notes were returned to Su Luo; she really didn't need that much silver.

“Mother-in-law, keep this money. I’m going to the capital in a few days. This family still needs your support. There will always be a time when we need the money.”

The Emperor ordered her to go to the capital; refusing would be disobeying the imperial decree. She planned to set off after the sixth day of the month.

Yes, in her joy, Zhao Ruyun almost forgot that Su Luo still had to go to the capital to receive her investiture.

"Good, now that you've become an official, we're all happy for you. The whole village is proud of you now."

"Um!"

Yesterday's imperial edict was known to everyone in Changping Village, as Su Luo was the only official in the entire village.

For a village to produce an official is an immense honor; it puts all the surrounding villages to shame.

Everyone received red envelopes, and everyone enjoyed their New Year's Eve dinner.

Since Xie Wanwan and Su Luo started making cotton-padded clothes, they have accumulated over a hundred taels of silver.

“Miss Su, we would like to go with you to the capital this time. I heard from Young Master Shen that a new type of embroidery has become popular in the capital. I would like to go and see it.”

Xie Wanwan was adamant; besides work-related matters, she also wanted to go back to Beijing for a visit.

"That's good. The more we learn, the better our Wanxiu Pavilion will be in the future."

After looking at the two children, Su Luo sat down between them and smiled warmly.

"Chuan Chuan, this time when I go to the capital, Master Xie will also be going, so I plan to take your younger sister with me. You're going to the academy, so..."

Yi Huan is a girl and can't go to school, so Su Luo took this opportunity to broaden her horizons and get her out of the small town of Yongle County.

“Mother, you take my sister with you. I will have plenty of opportunities to go out and make my way in the world when I grow up, but it’s different for my sister. I can go to the academy, but my sister can’t. That’s already very unfair.”

Yan Chuan understood things very well. As a woman, she didn't necessarily have to stay in a small space. The Confucian principles in the book sometimes had to be applied depending on the situation.

He hoped his younger sister could be like their mother, a person who was both courageous and resourceful.

"Chuan Chuan, it's good that you think of your younger sister. When Mom isn't home, you should study hard and listen to Grandma."

"Mom, I'm all grown up now. I can take care of Grandma."

Yi Huan picked up the largest piece of meat and put it into Yan Chuan's bowl, saying, "Brother, if I come across anything fun, I'll definitely save it for you when I get home."

"Alright! Then you stay close to your mother and Master Xie, and don't wander off when there are many people around."

"Mmm, brother, eat some meat! This meat is delicious!"

Yan Chuan indulgedly as he ate the meat that Yi Huan had placed on his plate.

Suddenly, there was a sound of bones falling onto a porcelain plate. When Su Luo looked at Yan Chuan again, she found that he was bleeding from his mouth.

"Chuanchuan..."

Yan Chuan put the meat down and looked at the plate in front of him, on which was one of his fallen teeth.

"Mom, my tooth fell out!"

It turned out to be a baby tooth that had fallen out; Su Luo was really startled just now.

"Chuan Chuan is losing her baby teeth. Rinse your mouth with water and the bleeding will stop soon."

Chunhua quickly brought over a glass of water, and Zhao Ruyun also ran over to check on her grandson.

Yan Chuan has already lost his baby teeth, so Su Luo also checked Yi Huan's teeth.

One of my lower teeth is very loose and can be extracted. There's a faint outline of a permanent tooth about to grow in underneath it.

"Chuan Chuan, Huan Huan, your teeth are loose, why didn't you tell your mother?"

If baby teeth are not replaced in time, the permanent teeth will grow crooked.

"Mom, we thought the teeth were decayed and would get better in a few days. We didn't know they would fall out."

Yi Huan has rarely gone out in the past two years, and she didn't know that children need to lose their baby teeth.

"Okay, next time your teeth get loose, tell your family so they can loosen them so we can grow nice new teeth, okay?"

"Yes, we understand."

Seeing Yi Huan's teeth like this, Su Luo asked Zhao Ruyun to bring out a thread and pulled them out for Yi Huan.

The New Year's Eve dinner ended with two children having their teeth pulled.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Li Chang'an, along with Li Hongcai and the village chief, came to offer their New Year's greetings.

"Madam Su, may I see Yan Chuan and Yi Huan?"

Li Chang'an had been back for several days but had not seen Huai Xu's two children. He had already learned about Su Luo's situation from his father at home.

Only then did I learn that Huai Xu had two more children.

"Qiuyue, go and call Yanchuan and Yihuan over. Hongcai has come to play with them."

"Yes, madam."

A moment later, Yan Chuan and Yi Huan came in, and Su Luo called the two children over.

"Chuan Chuan, Huan Huan, this is Uncle Li, Hong Cai's father. Come over here and greet him."

The two children walked up to Chang'an and greeted him in unison, "Hello, Uncle Li."

The two are twins, a boy and a girl, and both of them are missing a lower front tooth, making them extremely cute.

"So alike, so alike! Your name is Chen Yanchuan, and your name is Chen Yihuan."

Li Chang'an asked Yan Chuan, then turned to ask Yi Huan. He only needed to look at these two children to know that they were Huai Xu's children, because they looked so much like Huai Xu, especially their eyebrows and jaws, which were almost identical.

"Um, Uncle Li, we'd like to take Hongcai out to play, is that alright?"

"Okay, go ahead."

Their old friends are gone, leaving only these two children. I wonder how this family managed to get through those years.

"Brother Li, the people and things of the past are in the past. What are your plans for the future?"

The village chief came over, also wanting to talk to Su Luo about this matter.

"Yan Chuan's mother, Chang'an knows a few characters. I'd like to keep him at the soy sauce factory to work. What do you think?"

Li Chang'an, after all, came from the battlefield and participated in many battles, so he naturally carried an aura of killing intent.

With him at the soy sauce factory, he could keep many people in line.

“I’m fine. My aunt is pregnant and quite far along in her pregnancy, so my uncle might be a little lacking in strength. It would be perfect if Brother Li were here.”

With more drying yards, the number of workers also increased, but Changping soy sauce from Changping Village has always been made by the villagers themselves, without hiring outsiders.

Many relatives from Changping Village also wanted to come and steal the technology, but the village refused.

Everyone can come and freeload, but there's no way you'll learn how to make soy sauce.

Some merchants came here wanting to buy the recipe from the villagers, but the villagers drove them away and vowed never to cooperate with such merchants again.

After they finished paying their respects, the next few days...

Su Luo explained everything that needed to be explained, including the affairs of Ji'an Hall, Fumanlou, and the two estates.

In particular, the cabbages and radishes from the estate were sent to the capital every three days.

On the sixth day of the lunar new year, when the snow and ice in the towering mountains had not yet melted, the Chen family received an invitation.

It was the full moon celebration for the child of Fu Zhengqing, the prefect of Lucheng.