Gu An'an realized something was wrong several days later.

The whole family moved to Anzhou Prefecture, and it took three days just to tidy up the house.

After finishing her work here, Gu An'an realized that the two sisters seemed to have been talking very little these past two days.

Gu An'an found it somewhat strange.

They found Jiang Mingzhu and asked her about the situation.

"I don't know either." Jiang Mingzhu still felt wronged when she mentioned this. "I just mentioned that day whether or not to bring other people to Anzhou Prefecture, and Bao'er started giving me the cold shoulder."

The key issue is that she doesn't even know which sentence is wrong.

She recounted the conversation from that day exactly as it was written, "Mom, do you think Bao'er is being unreasonable?"

Does this mean that all unreasonable demands should be dealt with?

Gu An'an comforted her eldest daughter and then went to chat with Bao'er.

The little girl seemed to realize something, "I still need to practice my calligraphy."

She was somewhat avoiding Gu An'an.

“Then let your son write something for his mother to see.”

The little girl immediately forgot her little scheme and started practicing her calligraphy for Gu An'an to see.

Although I am still a bit naive, I can tell who the teacher is.

"Brother, you've taught very well, and Bao'er is learning very well too."

Bao'er smiled and said, "Thank you, Mother."

Gu An'an didn't ask any more questions or disturb Bao'er's calligraphy practice before returning home.

As for Zhu'er, she didn't say much. "It's alright. Just praise Bao'er's calligraphy, and she'll make up with you."

It's perfectly normal for the two sisters to have some estrangement; there's no need to make a fuss about it.

With the prefectural examination just days away, the two sisters began to worry about Jiang Mingyi's exam, which reduced the distance between them.

Jiang Mingyi's path to the imperial examination was full of twists and turns. After passing the preliminary examination as the top student and obtaining the title of Xiucai, he ambitiously prepared for the provincial examination in the autumn.

However, the provincial examination that year was delayed due to the death of the Empress Dowager in the palace.

The exam has been postponed to next year.

It is said that the Empress Dowager was very fond of the dolls produced by Gu's Doll Shop during her lifetime. As a result, the palace specially purchased many dolls to be buried with the Empress Dowager, which made Gu An'an's doll shop famous.

Because the imperial examination was delayed, Gu An'an comforted Jiang Mingyi and then devoted her energy to the operation of the puppet shop and Gu's Food Shop.

By the time Jiang Mingyi finished the autumn examination, her puppet workshops had already spread across all thirty-six prefectures of the Daye Dynasty, a development so rapid that it caught everyone off guard.

The autumn imperial examinations were held in the examination hall.

Chen Bei was also among those who participated in the autumn imperial examinations along with Jiang Mingyi.

The young master of the Chen family could naturally take other paths to enter the court as an official, but Chen Bei had his own ideas.

Because of his elder brother and sister's marriage, he didn't go to Anping County to take the county examination, but he did agree to take the provincial examination with Jiang Mingyi.

Although Madam Xie said she didn't care, after all, even if he didn't pass the imperial examination, the Chen family wouldn't lack food for their youngest son.

However, thinking about how the Chen family in the capital had designs on her children and even scolded her for not knowing how to raise them, Madam Xie felt a lump in her throat.

Upon seeing Gu An'an, her expression softened, and she invited Gu An'an to her carriage to talk.

"Madam Gu is indeed capable. I never expected that she would run this puppet shop so successfully in just a year and a half."

Despite the proliferation of counterfeits, the most popular plush toys in the Great Ye Dynasty are still those produced by Gu Ji Plush Toy Workshop.

Imitation is easy, but it's much harder to come up with Gu An'an's unique and unconventional ideas.

"Madam is too kind. I was just lucky, and I also owe a lot to the help of the young lady in the manor."

"How can Shu'er help you?"

Chen Shu is about to get married, and the thought of her daughter leaving her makes Madam Xie feel sad again. "That child has a hard life. In the end, it is I who have dragged her down with me."

Chen Shu is indeed not very lucky, but it depends on who you compare her to.

Gu An'an offered a few words of comfort, then got off the carriage at the door and went back to her residence first.

The old woman in the carriage saw that her mistress's gaze was still fixed on that place and couldn't help but comfort her, "Madam Gu seems to be quite well-behaved, so you don't need to worry too much."

The eldest son is usually reliable, but on this matter, I don't know what he's insisting on.

Fortunately, Madam Gu didn't bother the prefect's office much. She was usually too busy to meet with the eldest son in private.

How could Madam Xie possibly feel at ease?

How could I not know what kind of temperament my son is, the one I raised with my own hands?

"Shu'er's matter bothered him greatly as her older brother, especially since it was Gu An'an who came up with the idea in the first place."

This child has always been opinionated and likes people who are also opinionated.

It's not surprising at all that she likes Gu An'an for this reason.

As a mother, I always hope that my son will make a better choice. Why would he like a woman with so many children?

Gu An'an had no idea that Madam Xie had such worries. When she returned home, she lit another incense stick and prayed before she could finally calm down.

The two little sisters, Zhu'er and Bao'er, were not at home. They were even more nervous about Jiang Mingyi's exam, so they went to the puppet shop with Xiao You early in the morning.

Gu An'an took out last month's account book to look at, but this time she couldn't understand the dense text at all.

When Manniang arrived, she saw the master sitting there in a daze. The mansion in Anzhou Prefecture was naturally much larger than that in Anping County. There was an osmanthus tree in the courtyard. The master was sitting there now. He was usually full of energy, but now his face showed a bit of confusion.

That's not quite right.

Just as Man Niang was hesitating whether to speak, she heard Gu An'an's voice, "Oh, you're here. What's up?"

This isn't right.

She was completely confused when her employer had instructed her to come and discuss something. Why was she being asked what was going on?

Man Niang hesitated slightly, "Master, Ming Yi is very smart and still young. Even if he doesn't pass the exam this time, it won't matter."

Gu An'an chuckled upon hearing this, "He's quite young; passing the exam so early might not necessarily be a good thing."

She muttered something to herself, then remembered that she was the one who called Manniang over. "I just remembered, let's take advantage of this autumn examination and come up with something new."

In reality, isn't it all just about coming up with new and interesting stuff with plush toys?

Although there weren't many scholars, it was easy to make money off them.

Man Niang couldn't help but laugh when she saw the drawing handed to her; it was a design of "plucking the laurel in the moon palace."

"This will definitely sell well, boss. Don't worry, I'll make the arrangements right away."

The phrase "winning the moon palace" clearly pierced the hearts of those scholars, and Manniang was confident that she could push the sales of the puppet shop to a new level.

Gu An'an smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work. I'll give Mei Niang a big red envelope after these few days."

Manniang smiled and left, but only after she had gone some distance did she notice that there seemed to be someone standing at the door of the employer's house.

He was wearing a full suit of armor, but I couldn't quite make out what he looked like.

Who is that person?