In winter, not many people go hunting in the mountains, as they are afraid of encountering large animals. So, the deer and mushrooms were sold for a total of nine taels of silver and more than one hundred copper coins.

Yin Jin'an always wore a mask, so no one could see his face and everyone thought he was disfigured.

Before going to sleep, Yin Jin'an taught Jiu Tian a few more characters and then fell asleep. Jiu Tian was a little tired from drawing blood talismans yesterday and fell asleep very quickly.

Yin Jin'an watched over her for a while. Seeing that she was sleeping soundly, he let her sleep on the inside and blocked the bed on the outside to prevent her from falling off.

I fell into a deep sleep and had no dreams all night.

*

Longmen Town.

Yin Jin'an and Jiu Tian rode out of town early on the 15th, without attracting the attention of acquaintances.

After Zhang Xiangliang and Ye Ting separated their households, they lived in their grandparents' old house.

Longmen Town has a main street, which is the main street where everyone goes to the market. The Zhang family's ancestral home is about ten zhang away from the main street. When you walk out of the house, you just happen to pass by the courtyard where Jiutian and his family live.

Aunt Zhang distributed a lot of grain to them, but every bite they ate was one bite less, and they still had to carefully plan for their future livelihood.

Zhang Xiangliang was thinking of finding a long-term job as a landlord in the Li family, and if they had any idle land, he would rent it to farm.

There were two landlords in Longmen Town, one named Wang and the other named Li. Wang was the largest landlord, and his son was the county magistrate. He didn't have to pay taxes on his land, so he offered his tenants very generous terms. Li, on the other hand, did not have such terms.

Landlord Li charges 70% rent per mu of land, which is 20% more than Landlord Wang.

But Zhang Xiangliang had no other choice at the moment. How could farmers survive if they didn't farm?

Ye Ting said, "I heard someone on the street today say that Ma Chenyang used to be a waiter at Shenglong Inn, earning 300 coins a month."

Invited by the Imperial Guards, they now receive 600 coins a month, eight sets of clothes for all four seasons, food and lodging provided, and no indenture required.

Wouldn't it have been better if you had taken Ma Chenyang's place? He could have gone back to Shenglong Inn.

Zhang Xiangliang shook his head and said, "How can that be? Ma Chenyang is doing a great job."

“Why not? Jin Yi was saved by his mother. We will never forget her life-saving grace. We just want to take care of him, not take his money for nothing.”

“No, my mother saved him not out of gratitude.”

“It doesn’t matter who takes care of him, it’s all the same. You can do what Ma Chenyang can do. Ma Chenyang can go back to Shenglong to work; it’s not like he has nowhere else to work.”

Feeling awkward, Zhang Xiangliang said, "Don't say anything more. I'll go to Shenglong Inn and ask Manager Sheng if I can work as a handyman or waiter."

Ye Ting clutched the hem of her clothes and began to cry: "Do you think I'm wicked?"

"Don't cry, I didn't mean it that way."

Ten days after marrying Ye Ting, the two spent their days and nights in bed together. His heart and eyes were filled with Ye Ting. She was beautiful, as delicate and fragile as a white flower, which was exactly what he liked.

He was an honest man, easily influenced, so during their honeymoon he naturally listened to whatever Ye Ting said.

Stepping outside, the cold wind blew, and his mind calmed down.

Ma Chenyang was able to be poached by the Embroidered Uniform Guard with double the salary, which means he must have caught their eye.

It's really unethical of him to try and steal Ma Chenyang's girlfriend.

So he took a detour and went to Shenglong Inn to ask Manager Sheng if he needed any servants.

Ye Ting watched him leave, and immediately followed suit.

She needs to go back to Yejia Village.

After thinking for a moment, he carried a bag of fine grains on his back.

If Zhang Xiangliang goes to work for the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the family won't have enough food to eat. They can't finish more than 500 jin of grain.

Before leaving home, she remembered the candied hawthorns Zhang Xiangliang had bought for her. They were so delicious, so she went to the candied hawthorn shop and bought two skewers.

He hurriedly went to Ye Xuyang's house, gave the fine grains to his elder brother and sister-in-law, and the candy balls to his nephew.

Her sister-in-law and nephew greeted her with smiles. Her sister-in-law took her hand and praised her affectionately.

“Your sister is capable and respected in her husband’s family. You think of your own family, which shows you have a conscience. Your brother’s health isn’t good. If he eats more refined grains, he’ll surely recover faster.”

My nephew said the candied hawthorns his aunt bought were really delicious, much better than the ones sold by peddlers.

My sister-in-law said, "Your aunt loves you and buys you things that are all newly made in town. The peddler's stuff can't compare."

Ye Ting was overjoyed.

Her sister-in-law invited her to stay for dinner, but she shook her head, saying that Zhang Xiangliang was waiting for her to go back. Her sister-in-law teased her a few times, and she lowered her head, embarrassed.

For some reason, Yin Jin'an's face kept flashing before my eyes.

That person is handsome, but he's also stupid and paralyzed. I wish all three hundred taels of silver could have been given to Zhang Xiangliang.

She left her brother's house and hurried toward town.

"Da da da"

The sound of rapid hoofbeats came from the stone-paved official road, and Ye Ting quickly moved to the side.

A luxurious carriage roared in from afar, followed by a dozen guards, all riding tall horses, wearing hooded hats, and carrying Tang swords at their waists, looking imposing and awe-inspiring.

The crisp sound of horses' hooves pounding on the hard winter ground carried far on the wind.