Shen Dasong and Xiao Taohua have now rebuilt their house next door, gotten married, and are working for Shen Qingyu's family with their two children, earning wages.

The two of them were the most anxious when Shen Qingyu's family was leaving: what would they do if they lost this income?

Hearing Shen Qingyu's arrangement, the two were relieved.

The braised meat business can continue. Nowadays, the braising liquid is prepared in advance and then delivered to various places in jars to make braised meat.

If Shen Qingyu's family were to move, it would simply be a matter of changing where they would cook braising liquid; it wouldn't affect their business.

After settling Shen Dasong in, Qi Yunxiao headed towards the temple on the hillside.

The temple was closed for the Lunar New Year, and the piled-up materials and muddy ground looked somewhat messy under the heavy snow.

Qi Yunxiao went to the meditation room in the backyard and pushed open the door of one of the rooms.

The young man inside looked up, a slight surprise on his face: "Cousin?"

Qi Yunxiao entered the house and closed the door. Looking at Wen Che, who was holding Buddhist prayer beads and had lost all his hair, he couldn't help but ask, "You're so young, yet you choose this kind of life..."

Do you regret it?

Wen Che smiled calmly: "Cousin, this is the life I want." His appearance and expression were more like a monk than a monk himself.

Qi Yunxiao was speechless.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Wen Che turned around, took a pottery jar from the charcoal stove next to him, and poured a cup of water for Qi Yunxiao.

"There's only plain water, would you like some, cousin?"

Qi Yunxiao took the rough pottery cup and explained, "Our family is leaving... I asked Wenjin, and he said he wants to stay here with you."

Wen Che had been groomed to be the crown prince since childhood, and he was well-versed in the ways of officialdom. Knowing that Wen Che was not suitable to go with Qi Yunxiao, he nodded in understanding: "That's fine too."

"You're all alone here, is there anything I can do for you?" Qi Yunxiao stated his main purpose.

Wen Che glanced at the simple meditation room, then at the heavy snow outside the window, and smiled: "No need, this is fine as it is."

Qi Yunxiao did not insist and took his leave of the meditation room.

As Qi Yunxiao left the temple, he glanced back at it and returned home with mixed feelings.

Shen Qingyu was already waiting at home. She looked at Qi Yunxiao and said, "Shall we go to the back mountain?"

There is another person imprisoned in the back mountain, Shen Qingyao.

She stole Shen Qingyu's marriage proposal and later used poison to seize Qi Han's position as head of the family. Now she has fallen to this state, something she probably never imagined.

After experiencing the events of the Great Xia Dynasty, and meeting so many people, Shen Qingyu witnessed so many refugees selling their children to survive...

Now that I'm leaving, I suddenly feel like I need to go see Shen Qingyao.

Having received the order, the Dragon Guards had Shen Qingyao wash up beforehand and put on clean, warm clothes.

Shen Qingyao's eyes were filled with despair. She didn't look at Shen Qingyu or Qi Yunxiao, but stared at the ground in front of her, her expression numb.

Qi Yunxiao guessed that Shen Qingyu wanted to say something to Shen Qingyao, so he took the initiative to say, "I'll wait for you outside," and went out.

"Do you regret it?" Shen Qingyu asked.

Shen Qingyao ignored her.

The guard kicked him, shouting, "The master is talking to you!"

The pain seemed to bring Shen Qingyao back to her senses. She glanced at Shen Qingyu and laughed self-deprecatingly, "What's the use of regretting it?"

Shen Qingyu smiled and said, "You're right. You can't erase what you've done just by regretting it."

"You came to see me today because you want to end me before the New Year?" Shen Qingyao smiled bitterly.

Shen Qingyu glanced at the thick cotton coat she was wearing: "You can go now."

Shen Qingyao looked up at Shen Qingyu in disbelief: "Are you serious?"

"If you don't want to leave, then go back to the dungeon."

"Let's go! I'm going!" Shen Qingyao immediately seemed to come alive and hurriedly agreed.

But as soon as she stood up, she stopped again.

She definitely can't stay in Shenjia Village, and she's not familiar with other places...

"Where am I going?" Shen Qingyao asked blankly.

Shen Qingyu turned to the Dragon Guard and said, "Give her enough to eat and wear these next few days. After the New Year, let her leave with the Dragon Guards who are going to work in other prefectures and find an ordinary family for her to marry into."

The Dragon Guard responded, "Yes!"

Shen Qingyu thought for a moment: "Find her a strong and powerful man, preferably one who knows some martial arts."

If Shen Qingyao disobeys, she can be suppressed by force to prevent her from causing trouble and harming people.

"yes."

Shen Qingyao was willing to do anything: marrying anyone would be better than staying here.

But... "Why did you let me go?"

After her initial excitement, Shen Qingyao became curious.

Shen Qingyu glanced at Shen Qingyao: Even though she had cleaned herself up, she still looked much older. Her pale cheeks were bloodless and she had no flesh on her bones. She looked emaciated and had a somewhat mean appearance.

Shen Qingyu thought for a moment and decided to tell her the truth: "I found my biological parents, and I'm living a good life. Thinking about it, no matter what, my parents have never mistreated me over the years, and raising me is a great kindness..."

"Although you schemed against me and tried to harm me, I've also imprisoned you for these past few days." That's tantamount to sentencing you to prison.

"I'm letting you go today, which can be considered as repaying the last kindness of my parents."

"We're even."

As soon as she said these words, Shen Qingyu felt a sense of relief, as if an invisible weight had been lifted from her heart. She exhaled and turned to leave.

Shen Qingyao watched her sister leave with a complicated expression.

Compared to her own current emaciated state, her sister's slightly plump figure, flawless skin, and peony-like beauty were all things she could only look up to but never reach.

She used to be jealous and wanted to possess her, but now she overheard the guards talking in private and they called Shen Qingyu "Princess".

She's already a princess; how could I possibly surpass her? How could I possibly replace her?!

Sometimes, when the other person is just a little bit stronger than you, you think about finding ways to surpass them. But if the other person is much stronger, all you can do is sigh in despair.

Shen Qingyao sighed, suddenly feeling lost.

The Lunar New Year is just around the corner.

These days, the atmosphere in Shenjia Village is rather strange.

When people exchanged New Year's greetings, they all appeared to be dressed neatly and had relatively rosy complexions, but their faces all carried a faint sense of worry.

Before he could finish exchanging a few auspicious words, he lowered his voice and asked if the other person had any news...

Everyone is worried.

Families who had spent all their money on house repairs and weddings are now starting to worry about next year's income.

Those young wives who had just married into the family years ago were secretly worried: "What if we're going to start living in poverty right after we get married?!"

It was only at this point that everyone truly felt the changes that Shen Qingyu had unknowingly brought to their lives over the past few months.

Although Shen Qingyu said that the business would remain in Shenjia Village and Hengshui Town, if someone really wanted to change things, it would only take a word.

However, the villagers of Shenjia Village had no power to stop them.

How can this not be worrying?!