In the small courtyard in the southeast corner of the trading market, a mother and her two children were cooking in the kitchen. They were the mother and children who had fled from disaster and were taken in by Lu Yunfeng a few days ago. Even in coarse linen clothes, the woman, Gu Yunyao, could not hide her beauty.

Her son, Gu Chen, and daughter, Gu Niannian, surrounded her, asking, "Mommy, what are we eating today?"

Gu Yunyao patted her son's head. "How about we have sweet and sour pork ribs?"

"Okay, okay." Gu Chen clapped his hands. Gu Niannian lowered her head, unhappy. "Mother, why do we have to leave Father? I miss Father."

Gu Yunyao's brows furrowed with a hint of sorrow. "He's not your father. He has another woman."

Gu Chen kept a straight face and snorted coldly, "Hmph, Father is bad, we don't want him anymore, Mother, don't be sad, my sister and I will stay with you."

Gu Yunyao hugged her son and daughter tightly. "Uncle Lu saved us. Shall we go and thank him?"

Gu Yunyao led her son and daughter to the entrance of Yifanfengshun store. She looked up at the signboard thoughtfully, then saw the cakes and milk tea on the table in the lobby on the first floor. She raised her eyebrows slightly and smiled. Sure enough, there were time travelers in this small county town.

He said to the person behind the counter, "Miss, I'm looking for Young Master Lu. Please inform him."

Jing Shu looked up and asked, "May I ask what your name is, Madam?"

"My surname is Gu, and I live in the southeast corner of the trading market."

Upon hearing this, Jing Shu was taken aback. Even the girls sitting in the hall looked up and scrutinized the mother and her two children. Everyone in the county knew that Madam Gu, who lived in the southeast corner of the trading market, was the one whom Young Master Lu had unconditionally taken in from among thousands of refugees and given a courtyard.

Everyone is saying that she is Lu Yunfeng's mistress.

Sun Xunqiao came downstairs and stared at the woman scrutinizingly. Qin Xiaozhou was the light in the hearts of all the women in Fenggu County, but now a woman had come and actually wanted to steal Qin Xiaozhou's husband. How could anyone not hate her?

Her tone was unfriendly, "You're the woman who lives in the south corner courtyard of the trading market?"

How can a woman be so beautiful?!

Sun Xunqiao tugged at her handkerchief, turned around, and went upstairs to find Lu Yan. "Go home now and tell your sister-in-law that your brother is keeping a mistress."

Lu Yan felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

Looking at the clothes worn by the mother and her two children, Jing Shu began to doubt Lu Yunfeng's attitude. What kind of refugees could wear clothes that came out of the embroidered pavilion? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them fine clothes.

"Please wait a moment, Madam Gu, I will go and inform them."

She quickly came out from the backyard. "Madam Gu, my young master requests your presence."

Gu Yunyao entered the backyard, a gentle smile on her face, as beautiful as the morning sun reflecting on snow. She stood under the pomegranate tree in the backyard and said, "Young Master Lu, I came today only to thank you for saving my life and to ask if the sewing machine is working well, but they seem to have misunderstood."

After saying that, she turned around lightly, her expression calm, but there was a hint of contempt in her eyes. She was a modern woman from the 21st century; would she really steal a married man?

How ridiculous!

Several heads peeked out from the second-floor window of the shop behind her, clearly watching the situation in the backyard. Lu Yan was the most eager, practically reaching out her entire body.

Lu Yunfeng frowned. "What you said is very useful. I have already had five of them made. The embroiderers have already learned how to sew, and they are now sewing clothes with divine assistance."

"That's good then." Gu Yunyao said haughtily, "Then you must keep your word. The courtyard in the south corner of the trading market is mine."

Lu Yunfeng nodded, "Of course, we'll go to the yamen this afternoon to process the property deed transfer."

As soon as Gu Yunyao left, Lu Yan rushed down from the second floor, "Brother, who is she?"

Lu Yunfeng explained, "They are refugees. I gave them a place to live before the New Year. In return, she gave me a blueprint. That thing is very useful. It's in the embroidery building. Don't listen to other people's nonsense."

Lu Yunfeng never expected that the mother and son, who were once ragged refugees, would transform into nobles after confirming that the environment was safe. After learning about the Embroidery Pavilion, they even came to him with blueprints. The blueprints depicted a machine, which Madam Gu said was called a sewing machine. He found someone to make it according to the blueprints. After Madam Gu threaded the needle and stepped on the pedal, the clothes she sewed had fine and dense stitches. Even Granny Qian and Li Zhen praised it highly.

In exchange, he would give the courtyard in the south corner of the trading market to Madam Gu. With a property deed in the county town, she could register her household there, and Madam Gu and her son would become residents of the county town.

Outsiders, unaware of the truth, spread rumors and assumed that she was Lu Yunfeng's mistress.

Lu Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "So that's how it is. I thought that lady was prettier than my sister-in-law, and I thought you'd turned bad after you got rich."

Lu Yunfeng wished he could crack open the girl's head. Did she really think he was that kind of person?

As soon as Lu Yunfeng entered the house that evening, he sensed that the atmosphere was different. Without thinking much of it, he had someone move the sewing machine into the side room and went straight to the house in the backyard. He proudly presented a package, saying, "I was afraid you'd be bored, so look what I brought you."

It opened to reveal a book, or more precisely, a storybook.

"This is a new thing that came out in the county town these past two days. Many of the young ladies who come to the store to eat have a copy. I thought you might like it too, so I went to the bookstore and bought one."

Qin Xiaozhou wasn't one to hide her emotions. "Anything else you want to say?"

Lu Yunfeng put down the storybook. "Yes, I'll take you to see it."

Carrying Qin Xiaozhou, he led her to the side room in front, where an old-fashioned sewing machine was prominently displayed. Qin Xiaozhou's eyes widened suddenly, her fingers gripping Lu Yunfeng's clothes tightly, her voice trembling, "Where did this thing come from?"

Lu Yunfeng put her down and then called Wang Lan and Zhao Fang over. He sat down in front of the sewing machine and personally demonstrated, "This thing is used for sewing clothes."

With a few quick stitches, the two small pieces of cloth were sewn together. Lu Yunfeng took them out to show the group of people. "Grandma, Mom, look, the stitches are tight, and most importantly, it's fast. It only takes half an hour to sew the hem of a garment."

Wang Lan and Zhao Fang were overjoyed. They looked at the stitches and carefully touched the sewing machine. "This thing is truly amazing!"

Lu Yunfeng urged Zhao Fang to try it, "Grandma, don't rush, you can use it after your leg heals."

Zhao Fang got the hang of it in just fifteen minutes. She immediately found the leftover clothes to sew and was overjoyed. She had to be called several times for dinner before she reluctantly left the sewing machine.

Qin Xiaozhou, however, was filled with anxiety. She leaned back on the bed, gazing absently at the stars outside the window. The person who had traveled here was not only the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister's family from decades ago, but also possibly the maker of this sewing machine.

It seems like I should go and take a look.

She wanted to go, but Lu Yunfeng refused, saying, "He's just one person. We'll see each other when we have the chance in the future. Why be so fixated on the present?"

"I can't rest easy without seeing her." She is very likely a time traveler like her.

Lu Yunfeng remained silent, staring intently at Qin Xiaozhou for a long while before finally saying, "There's nothing between her and me."

He already knew about the matchmaker's visit yesterday.