As it turns out, the Qiao family in Nanjing, who became one of the wealthiest merchants there, did have some foresight.

Regardless of how much Lord Fang values ​​Magistrate Zheng now, or whether he will bring him back to the capital in the future.

Based on his role in these disasters, he should have no problem being promoted two ranks during the year-end evaluation.

Historically, civil officials and military officials have been different; civil officials needed to accumulate seniority.

Achievements are required for each promotion.

Even with outstanding political achievements, one still needs connections at higher levels to advance in one's career.

To be promoted two ranks at once, one needs to achieve great political accomplishments.

However, with Lord Fang in charge, it's practically a certainty that Magistrate Zheng will be promoted.

Then we'll see what he decides.

Whether he chooses to continue serving under Lord Fang as a minor official, or to move up to another post, depends on how he negotiates with the Qiao family.

Qin Mu, who knew the situation perfectly well, didn't explain these things to Shen Kai in detail, mainly because it was inconvenient to discuss them further.

Having been by his side for so many years, Shen Kai, as a friend and confidant, could guess from Qin Mu's words what the government would probably do next.

So he simply grunted in response and didn't say anything more.

Unlike Qin Mu's side, Chi Qing's side...

The original time for setting off to fetch the bride was set at 5:00 AM, and the time for the bride to enter the house was 1:00 PM.

But just before they were about to set off, people from the Wang family arrived.

It was Wang Qiaoya's mother who came.

She knew that it was still dark when they set off, so she asked to wait until it was light before setting off.

The reason given was that the old lady in the family said that according to the rules of Wangwan Village, if the wedding procession set off before dawn, it would be bad for the newlyweds and they would have a life of hardship.

After she finished speaking, perhaps feeling that her family was being unreasonable, she lowered her head, not daring to look at the Chi family's faces, and hurriedly left.

Even though Huang Dani was unhappy, she really didn't want to show her displeasure on this festive day.

So, swallowing my anger, I changed my departure time to Chenshi (7-9 AM) after dawn.

When they arrived at the coal mountain with great fanfare and music, they were stopped at the gate from a distance.

The person blocking the way was Old Lady Wang.

Despite the cold, the old woman stopped people about fifty or sixty meters away from Chi Erxiong's charcoal kiln.

She first looked at the things the Chi family had brought.

Seeing that there was rice, noodles, and meat, he was satisfied but also started to find fault.

Finally, she found a place for him, and then he started to criticize: "Aqing, it's not right for you to come to the wedding like this."

In our Wangwan village, there's a rule that families with livestock must bring their animals along when they go to fetch their brides.

Those without livestock had to hire a sedan chair so that the bride could sit inside.

I know your family, Old Chi, owns a mule cart.

Now that my daughter is marrying you, why don't you bring the mule cart?

Do you expect my daughter to walk down the mountain with you?

This is absolutely unacceptable; on the wedding day, the bride's feet must not touch the ground.

Since it's still early to enter, you can go back and bring the mule cart over so my daughter can ride it down the mountain.

Oh, and we need to put soft blankets in the carriage…

Chi Qing had always thought the Wang family was nice and filial.

Plus, Qiaoya is a wonderful girl, and he's been longing to get married to her.

However, not long after he brought the Wang family to Chijia'ao, he began to have some regrets.