Zhou Xiuqi praised, "Second sister, if you uphold the pride of the Zhou family, even if you are a farmer, you can still make a name for yourself."

With tears in her eyes, Zhou said, "No matter how difficult it is, I will persevere. It's just this other courtyard... and my sister-in-law's situation..."

Zhou Xiuqi patted her shoulder, "What time is it? Why are you still worrying about your sister-in-law? Alright, I'm leaving. You can stay here in peace!"

"Okay." After watching her elder brother leave, Zhou took a deep breath and walked into the inner room.

Madam Li had already arranged everyone's accommodations. Seeing her enter, she pulled her aside and pointed to a row of side rooms, saying, "You, the old lady, and the eldest daughter will live in the largest main room. The other three households all have mothers and daughters, so they will each squeeze into one room. The four boys will each have two rooms. The remaining two side rooms will be shared by the old women, maids, and concubines. This servant has nowhere to stay. I suggest we send him back to the Zhou family. We can have an old woman guard the gate."

Zhou nodded, saying as she walked, "Second sister-in-law has made excellent arrangements. How is Mother?"

“Mother has woken up,” Li said softly. “It was thanks to Mother’s quick thinking just now.”

Zhou was taken aback, and then realized that Old Madam Yun must have pretended to faint in a moment of panic. It was only because her elder brother arrived that the man's attempt to incite the people to escalate the situation was thwarted.

Just then, someone knocked on the courtyard gate. The servant ran to open it and found the old woman who had gone to the Zhou residence to fetch the family doctor had returned, followed by the family doctor carrying a medicine box.

Zhou and Li quickly invited the family doctor into the main room.

Madam Yun leaned against the carved bed, her mind clear.

The physician didn't ask many questions. He sat down, took the patient's pulse, and examined her tongue and face. He said, "The old lady was just suffering from a sudden attack of anger. She is physically strong and there's nothing seriously wrong. I'll prescribe some medicine, and she'll be fine after three days. But she must remember not to get angry and to take good care of herself."

Mrs. Zhou nodded repeatedly, "Thank you very much, doctor."

The physician sat down to the side, took out a pen, ink, and paper from the box, wrote out a prescription, and dried it. Just as Madam Li was about to reach out to take it, he folded it up and put it in his bosom, then walked away.

Li asked in surprise, "Doctor?"

The physician smiled slightly and said, "When I returned to the Zhou residence, I had someone prepare the medicine and send it over."

Mrs. Li was taken aback, then thanked her repeatedly.

The two escorted the family doctor to the gate, and then they saw their two nannies, four maids, and a concubine arriving at the gate of the villa, led by the Zhou family's coachman.

...

On the other side, the Xilai Inn lived up to its reputation as the most famous inn in the capital. The coachman, Uncle Feng, was from the Su family in Dingzhou. He had escorted the mother and her two children all the way from Dingzhou. Although he was not familiar with the capital, he could find out the location by asking any passerby.

However, Jiang Youchen instructed Uncle Feng not to go directly there, but to find a hillside to rest after leaving the city. Jiang Youchen specifically asked his mother to stay in the car, while he, Xiao Youran, and Suyue got out of the car and rubbed some mud and dust on the hillside before getting back in the car to turn back to the city and then take a detour to Xilai Inn.

This whole ordeal took almost an hour.

The carriage stopped in front of the Xilai Inn. Zhao Mama got off the carriage first, carrying her personal bundle. The Jiang siblings jumped off one after the other, and Su Yue then helped Su Shi down from the carriage.

A waiter immediately came forward, "Madam, Miss, Young Master, are you here to stay or just for a meal?"

When they were out, Jiang Youchen acted like the head of the household, calmly saying, "My mother is not in good health and needs to stay at the inn for a few days."

He spoke calmly while secretly pressing his palm against his waist.

Just before leaving, his mother said that keeping all the silver notes and jewelry with Zhao Mama wasn't very safe, so she took out the silver notes and some loose silver, put them in a purse, and stuffed it into his arms.

This is a purse containing a huge sum of two thousand taels of silver!

He was rolling around on the earthen slope just now, and he was afraid that he would lose the purse.

The waiter sized them up. Although their clothes appeared wealthy, the woman's face was disheveled, and the young master and young lady were covered in dust and dirt, their trousers and skirts caked with mud. The large gold pearl in the girl's hair was clearly a fake. Judging from their appearance, they had traveled a long and arduous journey and were probably not wealthy. The waiter then became somewhat arrogant. "This inn is one of the best in the capital. A superior room is two taels of silver a night, a middle room is one tael of silver a night, and a lower-class room..."

Jiang Youchen's expression remained unchanged as she interrupted him, "Then two medium-sized rooms will suffice. Thank you, waiter."

The waiter, with an "I knew it" look on his face, tossed the cloth in his hand and said, "Alright, gentlemen, this way please! The carriage will enter through the left-hand gate—"

The group was led upstairs to the second floor. The waiter opened the door for the two of them, and Jiang Youchen spoke politely, deliberately using a bit of a Dingzhou accent, "Waiter, could you please bring us two buckets of hot water and prepare six bowls of hot noodle soup? Zhao Mama."

Finally, he looked at Zhao's mother.

Zhao's mother understood and took out a small piece of silver from her sleeve and put it into the waiter's hand. "Thank you for your trouble, waiter. I will pay for the lodging and meals with the manager in a little while."

The waiter was overjoyed, realizing this was his tip, and immediately said enthusiastically, "Don't worry, it'll be right there. Please rest!"

After the waiter left, Zhao Mama was in a dilemma, "Young master, there are only two rooms, this old servant..."

If the three of them—the lady, her son, and herself—were to share a room, then she and Suyue would have to share a room with Old Feng, which definitely wouldn't work.

However, if rooms are separated by gender, then she and Suyue would have to share a room with the madam and young lady, which would not be appropriate.

Jiang Youchen first helped Su Shi into the room, then closed the door and helped her sit down before whispering to the four of them, "Mother, we have no guards right now, so we can't flaunt our wealth, or we might invite trouble. Zhao Mama, Su Yue, you and Mother and Sister can stay in one room; leave your things here. Uncle Feng and I will stay next door. After we came in like this, the waiter should be able to tell we're not wealthy, so we should be safe for now. Once my great-aunt and the others find a place to stay, I'll send their things over to help them out of their immediate predicament."

Madam Su nodded and patted her son's head. "Chen'er, you've worked hard."

His mother rarely praised him, so Jiang Youchen couldn't help but puff out his chest. "Of course, your son will protect Mother and Sister."

Xiao Youran pouted, "Is your way of protecting us to make me roll around on that hillside? Look how dirty my clothes are!"

She's only four years old!

She forcefully lifted her skirt to show the boy how dirty it was.

Mrs. Su quickly picked her up and put her on a chair. "Oh dear, our little Ranran has worked so hard! She's all dirty, she needs to be washed right away."

Jiang Youchen: ...

You're just a little girl, all you did was roll around on that hillside, what's so hard about that? In the past, wouldn't this have been your favorite way to throw a tantrum?