On the morning of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Brother Mu and his group set off early without having breakfast.

Uncle Wang drove the carriage, and the three Mu brothers, along with Jiang Shuyun, made up the four of them. They left before dawn.

Mu Yi'an was quite glad that she had the habit of carrying money when she went out; otherwise, Jiang Shuyun would have no money on her when she went out.

After breakfast, Mu Yi'an decided to go home.

"Sister-in-law, stay a few more days and wait for your brother-in-law to come back so you can go back together."

Sister-in-law Mu didn't expect her sister-in-law to be going back so soon. Now that they've separated their households, it's much easier for her to go back to her parents' home.

“Sister-in-law, we have sheep at home, and we can’t just leave them to Jiang Qi to look after forever. Also, I need to go back and look through some agricultural books to see if there are any other methods for growing watermelons.”

She felt comfortable staying at her parents' home, but Mu Yi'an still preferred her own home, where she felt relaxed and at ease.

"Don't keep Yi-an here. She's in charge of her own affairs now and has a lot to do. She can come back to live here when things are more organized and she has more time."

Although Mu's mother was also reluctant to part with her daughter and grandchildren, she understood that An Gang had just separated from the family and there were many things to take care of at home.

The family's horse-drawn carriage and oxcart were driven away by Uncle Wang and his men.

Wang Dazhu, the son of Uncle Wang, is a skilled cart driver. Mother Mu prepared a lot of food and supplies, loading them onto the oxcart. Sister-in-law Mu's eldest and second sisters-in-law also prepared many things, which they also loaded onto the oxcart, for their younger sister-in-law.

Looking at the car overflowing with gifts, Mu Yi'an felt a little embarrassed; her family had given her so much. Especially her two sisters-in-law, who were incredibly generous to her, a married woman.

Mu Yi'an carried Chu Yue, and Wang Ma went along too. She had to help watch over the two boys. Although it was only five miles, the oxcart was wobbling, and she was afraid that the children, being small, might not be able to sit still and might fall off.

The Mu family's oxcart slowly left the Mu family's residence and headed towards Jiangjia Village.

Dazhu was a good driver and drove very steadily, arriving at Jiangjia Village smoothly.

Mu Yi'an's house was on the edge of the village. The oxcart was parked at the door. Mu Yi'an saw that the door was unlocked and Jiang Qi should be home, so she went up and knocked on the door.

"Jiang Qi, I'm back. Open the door."

"Second sister-in-law, you're back."

Jiang Qi jogged over, opened the courtyard gate, and saw her second sister-in-law holding a child outside, along with an oxcart loaded with things.

"You're back, Chuyue. Go find your aunt."

Yi'an handed the child in her arms to Jiang Qi, and she helped Wang Dazhu move things into the house.

"Wang Ma, you take a break, Dazhu and I will carry it."

"I'm not tired. I've been sitting in the car the whole time, how could I be tired?"

Wang Ma is in her forties. Her family of five was bought by the Mu family more than ten years ago. Back then, the young lady was still a child, but now she is a mother.

After everything was moved inside, Wang Ma and her son Dazhu drove away in the oxcart.

"Second sister-in-law, where is my second brother? Why hasn't he come back?"

"Your second brother went to the prefectural city to pay New Year's respects to my third uncle along with my eldest brother and the others."

Looking at the things her family brought, Mu Yi'an truly felt the feeling of being pampered.

"Then you won't be able to come back today. The prefectural city is said to be quite far away."

"They probably won't be able to come back. They set off before dawn, and it must have taken them several hours to travel that way!"

Mu Yi'an had never been to the prefectural city either. There was some information in the travelogue that Jiang Shuyun had bought. It said that it was faster to get from Xinyuan County to the prefectural city by boat, which would take a little over a day and a night. However, it would be slower by land, which would take two or three days.

Mu Yi'an didn't know how her older brother and the others got there.

Having returned from her parents' home, Mu Yi'an still had to visit her husband's family. Although they had separated their households, in ancient times where filial piety was paramount, it wasn't something that could be resolved simply by saying "separate households."

Life at home went on as usual, with nothing much happening. Jiang Shuyun and the others had already boarded the boat.

We'll board the ship at the county dock and arrive in Fucheng tomorrow morning, which will take exactly one day and one night.

Of the four, Jiang Shuyun had been to the prefectural city before; he had come when he participated in the provincial examination.

The Mu brothers had also visited. After all, their family had a good relationship with their third uncle, unlike their eldest uncle, who had offended all his brothers during the division of the family property. After the passing of the two elders of the Mu family, they had stopped contacting each other.

"Shuyun, let's go this way. Uncle San and the others live a bit far from the dock. I'll go hire a carriage."

Brother Mu is the county's head constable, and he's better at handling interpersonal relationships than the other three.

"Okay, Second Brother, we'll wait for you here."

Brother Mu gets seasick, which is why he doesn't like going out.

Mu Ziyi didn't react much and seemed to be in good spirits.

Before long, Brother Mu returned with a carriage. The group worked together to load the New Year's gifts they had brought onto the carriage and headed towards Uncle Mu's house.

After failing the imperial examinations several times, Uncle Mu gave up and returned to the prefectural city, where he found a clerical job. Over the years, he has done quite well in the prefectural government.

The area where Uncle Mu lived was mostly inhabited by low-ranking officials from the government.

Each of the individual courtyards offers a quiet retreat amidst the hustle and bustle, and the environment is quite pleasant.

Uncle Mu's courtyard was at one end of the alley and was more spacious than the other houses.

The main house has three rooms, with side rooms to the east and west, and a row of back houses and livestock sheds in the backyard. The yard is quite spacious. Because he was guarding one side, Uncle Mu asked someone to help him expand the area outside his yard wall into his own homestead.

Aunt Mu and her servants turned the garden into a vegetable patch, growing seasonal vegetables, enough for the whole family to eat.

After unloading the items and paying the fare, Brother Mu started knocking on the door.

"They're here, they're here..."

The doorman opened the door and saw Brother Mu and his group standing there; he recognized them.

"The young masters have arrived. The master was just mentioning them. Please come in."

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