Chapter 20 The plan for the day lies in the early morning.

In Yong'anfang, Zhou's son was knocking on doors from house to house. Just as he knocked on the door of the Yu family, the Yu siblings returned from outside.

When Yu Mingshu saw the young man at the door, she couldn't help but think of how Aunt Wang had arranged a marriage for him. She wondered if the young man from the Zhou family knew about it... It was rather awkward.

Yu Dan also remembered this incident. The thought that his elder sister had almost married into the Zhou family, a wicked and dangerous place, made him feel disgusted.

He stepped forward in a few strides and asked awkwardly, "Brother Zhou, is there something you need?"

Zhou Jialang lowered his head, concealing the deep emotions in his eyes, and stammered, "My father and sister had a fight this afternoon, and my sister stormed off in a huff. I don't know where she went. I saw that it was getting dark, so I came out to look for her."

If you're looking for someone, at least look in the places your sister usually frequents. The Zhou family girl is so introverted, when has she ever bothered the neighbors?

Yu Mingshu mentally grumbled for a while, then inexplicably remembered that after Zhou Changchun murdered Madam Zhou, he also told the neighbors that she had "gone missing."

She's going to develop a psychological aversion to those two words.

The sweltering summer night wind made her shiver. Her rationality returned, and she calmly analyzed the situation for Zhou Jialang: "There is a curfew at night. Miss Zhou can't just run around on the streets, and no one would let her stay at their house without permission. If she hasn't gone home yet, perhaps she's hiding at her maternal grandparents' house?"

Upon hearing her voice, the boy suddenly looked up.

"Found it! Found the Poria cocos!" Aunt Wang's loud voice echoed throughout the street as she hurried over from a distance.

Upon seeing the figure dressed in men's clothing beside Yu Dan, Granny Wang was stunned for a long time and dared not recognize him.

This person looks about 70% like Ming Shu, but his features are more rugged and heroic. Could it be that the Yu family has other relatives in Chang'an?

Zhou Jialang was still looking at her eagerly. Wang Da Niang didn't have time to figure out who the people around Yu Dan were. She leaned against the outer wall of the Yu family to catch her breath and put her other hand on the young man's shoulder. "Aqi, I've found out everything. Fuling went to Chang Le Fang. She should be at her maternal grandparents' house. You don't need to worry!"

Seeing that Zhou Qi seemed relieved, she advised again, "It's late tonight, so go pick her up tomorrow at noon. Siblings are the closest of friends, so remember to say a few nice words to her and don't quarrel with her again."

"I understand, thank you, Auntie," Zhou Qi said in a deep voice. "I'll go back and inform my father first. I'm sorry to have troubled you all today."

Watching the boy's figure disappear into the distance, Yu Mingshu took two steps closer to Granny Wang and asked in a low voice, "Weren't Zhou Qi and Fuling taken away by the Sun family?"

Hearing her voice, Aunt Wang finally recognized her: "Ming Shu? It really is you! Why are you dressed like this?"

Yu Mingshu replied casually, "Oh, I go out to work to supplement my family's income, and men's clothing is more convenient."

Aunt Wang understood and didn't delve into it. Recalling the question she had just asked, she said with regret, "Zhou Changchun has survived the caning and has already gone home. The Sun family has no reason to keep the two children detained indefinitely."

Yu Mingshu glanced in the direction of the Zhou family's house. "Then why did they have a fight?"

Aunt Wang's expression was indescribable: "Zhou Changchun still had wicked intentions and wanted to send Fuling to the Liu family. Fuling is not an innocent girl, so naturally she refused. The father and daughter ended up arguing... This girl is pitiful. Ever since she lost her mother, her life's fate has been in the hands of her father and brothers."

Upon hearing this, Yu Mingshu disregarded all notions of manners and cursed the Zhou family in the distance with a vulgar insult.

Why couldn't the government's 160 strokes of the cane kill this black-hearted, rotten-necked bastard?

The only consolation is that although Zhou Changchun wasn't beaten to death, he was living a life worse than death.

The caning must have damaged a nerve, leaving Zhou Changchun paralyzed from the waist down, confining him to his bed for the rest of his life. He had practiced medicine for half his life, yet he couldn't cure his own legs; the physical and mental suffering must have been immense.

Yu Dan frowned and said, "Madam Zhou has just passed away, and Miss Fuling has not yet finished her mourning period. According to the laws of Daliang, Zhou family children cannot marry for at least twenty-seven months. Zhou Changchun is also an educated man. Does he not know the rules of etiquette?"

"It's true that she can't be married off, but it doesn't say she can't be sent to the Liu family to find work first," Aunt Wang said with some disdain. "Zhou Changchun is very shrewd! He told Master Liu that Fuling has also studied medicine since childhood and has excellent medical skills, so she can go to the Liu family as a female doctor and take care of Master Liu's parents..."

Yu Dan cursed under his breath: "How can there be such a father in the world!"

All three of them looked at each other in silence, their eyes filled with anger towards Zhou Changchun and pity for Zhou Fuling.

As darkness fell completely, lanterns were hung up in every household. Curfew would soon be in effect, and soldiers would patrol the streets. Aunt Wang hurriedly said goodbye, and the Yu siblings also pushed open the door and went into their own courtyard.

Wu Qiuniang was getting a little anxious as she waited for the dishes on the table.

Earlier, Sanlang's mind was not on his studies. From the moment he left home in the early morning, he would look forward to returning home all day long. Often, he would be at the doorstep before the sun had even set.

With Ming Shu accompanying and supervising him, Sanlang has become more motivated, but he's coming home later and later these days. These past few days, it's almost dark when they get home, and they've barely sat down to eat a couple of bites of food before the night watchman's drum sounds and the curfew starts.

It's summer now, so it gets dark late. If it were winter, wouldn't they have to come back under the stars and moon?

Yu Mingshu, being more observant, noticed that Wu Qiuniang seemed restless and asked with concern, "Mother, what are you thinking about? I've noticed you haven't touched your chopsticks for quite a while."

Wu Qiuniang hesitated and said, "I was thinking that Yong'anfang is quite far from the academy. It's really hard for you to spend an hour on the road every day."

Is a two-hour commute to and from the capital really that far? A thousand years from now, many people might still envy it.

"It wasn't too tiring; the carriage just swayed and bumped along before we got there," Yu Mingshu said, then turned to ask Yu Dan, "Sanlang, do you think it's far?"

Yu Dan wolfed down the rice, shoveling every last grain out of the bowl before looking up, blinking, and saying, "It's alright."

Neither of them showed any sign of reluctance, but Wu Qiuniang was still uneasy. She sighed, "If it weren't for this wasted hour on the road, you could have slept in a little longer this morning and eaten dinner earlier this evening. It's summer now, so it doesn't feel like a problem, but in the dead of winter, on snowy nights, when it's so cold outside..."

Yu Mingshu said, "Mother, this isn't the first day we moved to Yong'an Ward, and Sanlang isn't going to Chang'an Academy for the first time either. We've been doing this for a whole year. Why are you suddenly getting so hung up on this?"

Wu Qiuniang lowered her eyes and pondered for a while before revealing her thoughts: "Yesterday, your maternal grandfather sent a letter, worried that we, a widow and her children, would have a hard time in Chang'an, and also sent a lot of money. I thought that since there are few people in the family, we don't spend much on food and clothing. Why not be more frugal and move to a house closer to the academy?"

Yu Mingshu and Yu Dan exchanged glances, both somewhat tempted. If their families could move closer to the academy, who wouldn't want to sleep in a little longer in the mornings?

I'm afraid that my mother's words about "being more frugal" will empty our savings.

“We’ve lived in this house for ten years, so what’s another six months?” Yu Mingshu said. “If Sanlang really passes the exam and is confirmed to stay at the academy, then we can talk about moving.”

…

The next morning, Yu Mingshu woke up very early due to her biological clock.

To her surprise, even on his rare day off, Yu Dan didn't sleep in. She put on her summer clothes, tiptoed out of the courtyard, and when she reached the study after walking around the corridor, she found a figure already sitting inside.

She pushed open the door, letting out the stale air and allowing the morning breeze to blow into the room. Yu Dan looked over at the sound, seemingly startled.

Yu Mingshu leaned against the door frame, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Up so early?"

Yu Dan rubbed his eyes and said, "The plan for the day lies in the early morning hours."

"Getting up early is not the same as studying hard, and studying hard is not necessarily a useful thing. If you close the door and start studying before dawn, the air in the room is not circulating, and you feel drowsy and your mind is not clear. How can you learn anything?"

As Yu Mingshu spoke, he walked into the study and opened the window on the other side of the wall, instantly brightening the room.

"Furthermore, studying in such a dimly lit place can easily damage your eyes. If you become half-blind at a young age, it will be in vain if you pass the imperial examination."

For the first time, Yu Dan discovered that his elder sister was so long-winded. He covered his head in pain, faced the book, and said in a drawn-out voice, "I know, I know, elder sister, stop reading."

Yu Mingshu clicked his tongue, stepped forward, lifted his head, gestured a distance in front of his eyes, and said, "You can't read while lying down. Maintain a healthy eye distance."

Yu Dan was at his wit's end. He straightened his back and looked up at her, asking, "Is this alright?"

"Very good." Yu Mingshu gave him a thumbs up, then changed the subject, "Have you had breakfast?"

"I didn't eat."

"Go out and eat before you study."

Yu Dan sighed, got up, and followed Yu Mingshu to the front hall.

"Sister, you are the stumbling block on my path to progress."

Yu Mingshu couldn't help but turn around and slap him, "Did I stop you from studying before? Did I instigate you to skip class? Did I force you to hand in a blank paper?"

Knowing he was in the wrong, Yu Dan quickly made a gesture of sewing his mouth shut.

Wu Qiuniang came over from the north courtyard and saw this scene. She found it somewhat amusing and said, "What's all the noise about so early in the morning?"

Yu Dan forgot to keep his mouth shut and rushed to complain, "Mother, I think my elder sister is getting fiercer and fiercer. She speaks in a very aggressive way. You have to do something about her."

Wu Qiuniang's gaze lingered between the two of them, then she chuckled softly, "It's not a bad thing for a young lady to be a little assertive, so she won't be bullied."

Yu Mingshu laughed and patted Yu Dan's shoulder, saying, "Did you hear that? Mother is on my side."

Yu Dan dared not speak out in anger, but sat down at the table and stuffed a meat bun into his mouth.

After laughing, Wu Qiuniang turned to Yu Mingshu and said, "Mingshu, if you have some free time today, come with me on a trip."

Yu Mingshu was slightly surprised that her mother, who was usually such a "homebody," was going out.

"I'm fine. Where does Mother want to go?"

“Let’s go to the East Market,” Wu Qiuniang said thoughtfully. “I plan to pick out a few gifts to return to the Zhu family.”