So on the 22nd day of the first lunar month, the mother and her two children hired a carriage and embarked on the long journey back to the capital.

Sitting in the carriage, Guo lifted the curtain and looked at Zhou's solitary figure as she walked away to see her off. She sneered, "So what if she has income from the cloth shop? She's just a farmer. Does she really want to degenerate into a merchant?"

The daughter, Yun Manyin, coughed twice before saying, "Mother, after we return to the capital, please ask Grandfather to help me find a good family. I don't want to marry a farmer like my eldest sister!"

Guo patted her head and said, "Of course, our Yin'er deserves a better home."

Yun Tianyi was so happy that he rolled around in the car. "That's great! I don't have to get up before dawn to practice horse stance anymore!"

After seeing off Guo and her two children, Zhou hurried home. Today, Dashan had found more than ten strong laborers for her, and they were ready to officially start building the house.

The house doesn't need to be too big, just three main rooms, enough for the newlyweds and the sister-in-law to live in, plus two side rooms in case the next generation is born.

Da Shan estimated that if there were enough people, a month would be enough.

Last year, after suffering from a disaster, some villagers in Sanyang Village followed Xiaoyou Ran's suggestion to grow some vegetables to earn some money, while others listened to their ideas and planted corn in their fields.

But the profits from growing vegetables are very limited, and the corn isn't ready for harvest yet. Not to mention, about half the villagers don't really believe the Xiaoyou siblings and haven't done anything about it.

Hearing that the construction of the Yun family's old house could earn ten coins a day, they all came to sign up.

Da Shan was grateful to Xiao Youran for saving his life, so he started working on the doors, windows and furniture for his new house, and decisively postponed all the new furniture orders he had received before the new year.

Just as things were getting busy here, someone rushed in with a message: "Tian Kuang's mother, something terrible has happened! Your second and fourth sister-in-laws, as well as your eldest daughter, were arrested by the officials and taken to the yamen while they were busy at the cloth shop!"

Mrs. Zhou was shocked. "What happened?"

The man shook his head. "I don't know what happened either. I just happened to be passing by your cloth shop when I saw the three of them being taken away by the officials."

Zhou was so anxious that she called Yun Tiankuang, and together they went to the manor to find Jiang Youchen.

At that time, Madam Yun, Madam Su and her daughter, and the Princess and her daughter were at Madam Sun's invitation to go to the plum grove to admire the plum blossoms, and none of them were at home.

Jiang Youchen was learning medicine making from Doctor Gu at the manor. After hearing Zhou's words, he didn't stand on ceremony and borrowed a carriage from Steward Zhang before heading to the county town.

When they arrived at the county government office, they learned that it was actually Liu, the former manager of the cloth shop, who was suing the Yun family for swindling the cloth shop away with fake medicine at a low price.

Li, Yu, and Yun Manwan knelt in the hall, looking distressed and at a loss.

Zhou and Jiang Youchen, being the parties involved, immediately requested that the magistrate summon the registrar who wrote the official contract that day for a confrontation and demanded that the archive of the contract signed that day be found.

However, the person in charge today was not Magistrate Sun, but County Assistant Magistrate Feng. The Registrar was also absent, reportedly having gone out on official business with Magistrate Sun.

Jiang Youchen was unaware that this County Magistrate Feng was related to the Yun family by marriage. He simply argued, "On that day, Liu was of sound mind, and she signed the contract herself in front of the registrar. How can there be any talk of fraud? Furthermore, the Liu family's son contracted syphilis, and he recovered after we treated him with medicine. How can there be any talk of fake medicine?"

Liu remained silent, her gaze blank. A young man beside her said angrily, "Your Honor, my cousin Liu has been in this dazed state ever since she signed the contract to transfer the cloth shop at an unreasonably low price. How could she possibly be of sound mind to sign such an absurd contract?"

He pulled a thin man next to him aside. "This is my cousin's husband. Ask him when his son ever had any venereal disease. Young master, please be careful with your words, lest you tarnish the reputation of the Liu family's sons!"

Jiang Youchen recognized the thin man; he was Liu's husband, named He Chi.

Magistrate Feng slammed his gavel, "You audacious and ignorant brat, how dare you slander others' reputations with mere words?!"

Jiang Youchen cupped her hands in greeting to He Chi, "Uncle He Chi, my sister and I went to the Liu residence that day to treat your son. Seven days later, you received medicine from us at the entrance of the cloth shop to treat your son. Is this true?"

He Chi avoided eye contact, then shook his head at Magistrate Feng, "Your Honor, my son has no venereal disease. He is fifteen years old this year, and we are preparing to find him a good match. I beg you, Doctor, to investigate and clear his name, so as not to jeopardize his marriage."

Magistrate Feng slammed his gavel again, angrily rebuking Jiang Youchen, "You audacious scoundrel! Kneel down now! How dare you slander an innocent person in court!"

He gave a signal, and one of the officers stepped forward and kicked Jiang Youchen in the calf.

Jiang Youchen immediately knelt down.

Veins bulged on his forehead, but two rods were immediately thrust out from behind him to restrain him, preventing him from getting up.

When Zhou tried to step forward to help, Magistrate Feng slammed his gavel again, shouting, "You audacious and ignorant woman, why don't you kneel down and answer me?!"

The constables then struck the ground with their sticks, chanting "Majesty!"

Zhou had no choice but to grit her teeth and kneel down beside her daughter.

Upon seeing this, Yun Tiankuang immediately darted out from the door and, as his mother had instructed, went to the plum grove behind the county government office on the north side to search for the person.

Meanwhile, in Meilin, Madam Sun finally got her wish and met the Princess, this noble lady.

The Princess initially didn't want to accept Madam Sun's invitation, but Aunt Jinxiu persuaded her. Young Master Yuanbai was still under the jurisdiction of Wufeng County, and it was uncertain how many more years he would remain there. It would be better to be on good terms with the magistrate's wife. Besides, Madam Sun seemed to be after Old Madam Yun and Xiao Youran, and probably didn't know her true identity. This invitation was likely an apology for the Princess's abduction on the Lantern Festival. Such a courteous person was indeed worth befriending.

Yueyue had been saying for several days that she wanted to go and admire the green plum blossoms.

At that moment, Yueyue held Xiaoyouran's hand and skipped and hopped through the plum grove.

Madam Sun, accompanied by Madam Yun and the others, strolled behind them, smiling as she said, "These green plum blossoms only bloom for half a month, and in a few more days they will wither. I was thinking of inviting you all here at this most opportune time, but unfortunately, the eldest sisters-in-law of the Yun family are too busy to appreciate such a beautiful sight."

Madam Yun laughed heartily, "It's better to be busy now than when we first arrived, helpless and with no income. Being busy makes us feel more at ease, doesn't it?"

"That's right, that's right." Madam Sun happily invited the group to sit down at the stone table next to her.

Various kinds of food have been prepared on the stone table.

After sitting down and chatting for a while, they realized that the two children were still nowhere to be seen.

Madam Sun then summoned her maidservant, "Where are the two young ladies?"

The maidservant hurriedly went to look for them, and returned a moment later with a troubled expression. "Madam, the two young ladies say they ran into someone they know and refuse to come back."