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Later that evening, Liu Ma returned with a message from the manor. It said that Madam invited Fourth Miss and Consort Chen to return home for the Mid-Autumn Festival to enjoy the moon together.

Just as Aunt Liu left, the rhinoceros-shaped paperweight in Xiao Yuan's hand fell to the ground and broke in two. "You're only inviting us back for Mid-Autumn Festival? Not now?"

Aunt Chen rushed over to check on her hand. "My dear, be careful not to hurt your hand. Mid-Autumn Festival it is. Anyway, we have a house to live in now." Xiao Yuan clenched her fist and said angrily, "But they don't know that Cheng Erlang gave us a house, and they just plan to make us stay in the temple until the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

Aunt Chen patted her back and comforted her for a while, but it was no use. She could only say, "Fourth Sister, although it is the Madam who should prepare the return gifts for the festival, since Second Brother Cheng has already sent us such a generous gift, shouldn't you also prepare some needlework to send back?"

Xiao Yuan was immediately dumbfounded. She clung to Aunt Chen, twisting and turning, refusing to get up. Aunt Chen laughed and said, "Stop rubbing your auntie. Get up quickly. With my skills, how bad could you possibly be?"

Seeing that no one was in the room, Xiao Yuan whispered a few words in Aunt Chen's ear. Aunt Chen shook her head repeatedly: "That won't do. Although there is no rule that you have to embroider it yourself, once it is sent out from here, Cheng Erlang will definitely assume that it was embroidered by you. If I embroider it for you, what will happen when you get married and he finds out that you don't know how to embroider at all?"

After saying that, she pushed the little girl, who had a long face, to the embroidery frame, and without saying a word, stuffed needle and thread into her hands and began to teach her how to sew.

The "Mid-Autumn Festival gift" that Cheng Mutian gave her was the same as Xiao Yuan's previous house, a three-courtyard house, but it was decorated more exquisitely. Xiao Yuan first went down the mountain and walked around the courtyard a few times. She found that the gable walls of the house were shaped like horse heads and were all higher than the roof. She asked the housekeeper and learned that such gable walls were fireproof. She casually pushed open a door and saw that the beams were exquisitely carved, but not painted. The screen was also very simple and elegant. A fairly large pond was dug in the garden to grow lotus and raise fish. The water was drawn from the small river behind the garden. A bridge and pavilion were built over the pond.

Xiao Yuan walked around the house and found that everything, big and small, was complete and clean. So she and Aunt Chen moved in the next day, recalled all the servants, and started living their simple life again.

When Madam Zhang learned that they had moved to a new house, she personally brought several familiar ladies to celebrate the occasion and also gave Xiao Yuan two months' worth of dividends. Xiao Yuan was puzzled as to why so much money had been given away when the shop hadn't even been open for two months. She had someone set up a table, fetched some sweet threads, honey-glazed sesame cakes, persimmons, lotus root slices, and the like, and brought out a mahjong set. She had Aunt Chen play cards with the ladies for fun, while she quietly pulled Madam Zhang aside, pretending to change her clothes, and led her outside to ask her questions.

After looking around for a while, Madam Zhang finally spoke up: "Fourth Sister, our shop burned down, and we lost all our capital. My husband was furious. I talked to him for a long time before I finally persuaded him not to let you share the losses, but he won't let me open the shop again."

It was truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly. Xiao Yuan lowered her eyes, thinking, "Perhaps your family's maritime business has finally taken off, and you no longer need this shop." Businesses often fall apart, and besides, the fact that they didn't want her to bear the loss of the destroyed shop was already extremely kind. Therefore, although she was angry, she could only bow and thank them.

Seeing that Xiaoyuan was well-mannered, Madam Zhang felt a little guilty, so she instructed her to sell some wooden planks and straw mats, saying that because of the fire, not only would selling these items not be tax-exempt, but even rent payments could be suspended.

Xiao Yuan sneered. The money she made selling these little things wasn't even enough to pay the servants' wages. You want to kick me while I'm down? I'll make even more money. As soon as Madam Zhang left, she summoned A Xiu: "Quickly send your parents and siblings to buy bamboo, planks, and straw mats to sell. You don't need to pay rent anymore."

Ah Xiu happily kowtowed and rushed home to report the news. The whole family pitched in, and after a few days, they made quite a bit of money.

That day, her parents specially bought about ten catties of oil, as well as white sugar and flour, and prepared several baskets of food. They asked her to bring Xie Xiaoyuan over, saying, "Fourth Aunt, thanks to your advice, my eldest brother's wedding expenses are no longer a problem."

Xiao Yuan thought of the apartment they rented and said worriedly, "I remember your family only had three rooms. Your eldest brother and second brother are crammed into one room. How will they live after you get married?"

Ah Xiu replied nonchalantly, "What else can we do but rent another room?"

Xiao Yuan frowned. "With your carefree nature, wouldn't renting an extra room cost an extra hundred or so coins a month? This fire lasted four days, and our old house was completely destroyed, but the land deed is still valid. Luckily, we have two months' worth of dividends from our old shop. I was thinking of building a three-story house like yours. We can use the downstairs as a shop or workshop and rent it out to collect rent. The two floors upstairs can be yours to live in. We can pay half the market rent, but if you have any difficulties, you don't have to pay."

Ah Xiu was overjoyed. She crawled to the ground and kowtowed. She came up with several ideas, saying that it was a waste to build only one building on that land and that more buildings should be built. Seeing her so excited, Xiao Yuan simply handed over the task of building the building to her and was happy to be a hands-off manager.

Chapter Five: Aunt Chen's Contract of Indenture

Although Madam Zhang had abandoned the family after using them, and the family had no income, the three buildings were still under construction. Renting out houses in Lin'an was the most profitable business, so Xiao Yuan had no worries and was focused on having a good Mid-Autumn Festival.

Although mooncakes existed in the Southern Song Dynasty, they were diamond-shaped and did not symbolize reunion. Xiao Yuan was very disappointed and had to go to the kitchen herself to get diamond-shaped mooncakes and ask them to make round ones. She also personally prepared brown sugar lotus seed paste filling before going to Aunt Chen's room to discuss the festival arrangements with her.

"Auntie, can we not go back to the mansion for the festival? We just moved into a new house with a garden and a river in the back, so it's cheaper to worship the moon and set off lanterns there," Xiao Yuan asked, leaning against Auntie Chen's shoulder.

Aunt Chen hugged her and said, "You're usually such a composed person, why do you become so childish when you talk about the household? Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunion, how can you spend it alone outside?"

Xiao Yuan pouted and twisted for a long time, but Aunt Chen wouldn't budge, so she had someone send her back to her room to do needlework.

When Ah Xiu returned from supervising the construction at the old house that evening, she saw the mandarin duck that Xiao Yuan had embroidered, which looked just like a duck, and asked with a puzzled look, "Si Niang, since you have finished embroidering the handkerchief, why don't you send it to the riverbank behind?"

Xiao Yuan was even more puzzled: "Why go to the river? The lanterns aren't released until tomorrow."

Ah Xiu pointed to the door: "I was wondering the same thing when I came back by boat. It's not the fifteenth of the month, so why is Young Master Cheng setting off lanterns?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan took advantage of the darkness and the fact that no one could see her, grabbed a veil, and ran to the back garden. Since there were no bamboo houses in the garden, she couldn't climb up to look out, so she had to make up an excuse to send away the old woman guarding the side gate and quietly slipped out.

Ah Xiu followed closely behind her and slipped out, pointing out, "Fourth Sister, there's a staircase over there that was built to make it easier to buy water. Go take a look over there."

Xiao Yuan stood on the steps as instructed, only to find a small boat on the steps, gleaming slightly in the moonlight. She picked it up and saw that it was carved from jade. She put her fingers into the boat and felt around, and sure enough, there was a scroll of paper hidden inside.

"Fourth Sister, what's that?" Ah Xiu asked from behind.

Xiao Yuan quickly picked up the rolled-up paper with two fingers and stuffed it into her bosom. Holding the jade boat, she looked up ahead. On the opposite bank of the narrow river, a small boat was hidden under a willow tree. Standing at the bow was a figure she knew all too well.

She stared at it intently for a long time. Suddenly, Cheng Fu at the stern pushed off with the pole. The small boat disappeared under the willow branches. "Fourth Sister, a boat is coming. Let's go in," A-Xiu reminded her from behind.

They entered through the side gate. Xiao Yuan hid in the shadows, staring intently at the opposite bank, unwilling to leave. A Xiu looked at the jade boat in her hand and asked, "Fourth Sister, you and Young Master Cheng have known each other since childhood. You don't seem indifferent to him. So why did you refuse when Madam wanted to betroth you to him?"

Xiao Yuan slowly withdrew her gaze. She sighed, "Is it 'Xu'? What kind of person marries off their daughter and then asks for shares in a maritime business?"

Ah Xiu was dumbfounded: "Fourth Sister, I didn't know there was such a thing. How will you face people with your head held high after you go to the Cheng family?"

She realized as soon as she spoke that she had said something she shouldn't have, so she covered her mouth and dared not follow her any further. Xiao Yuan wanted to be alone for a while, so she didn't call her and went back to her room alone, closing the door behind her.

"Is it a love poem?" Xiao Yuan lit the oil lamp, unwrapped the paper roll, and laughed self-deprecatingly. "If it's a love poem, then he's not Cheng Erlang."

It was definitely not a love poem. The contents of the paper made Xiaoyuan ecstatic. With tears in her eyes, she ran to Aunt Chen's room and woke her up from the bed: "Aunt, look what this is! I really don't know how he got it."

Aunt Chen looked at the paper again and again, then hugged Xiao Yuan and burst into tears. Xiao Yuan patted her back and comforted her, saying, "Aunt, you are free now. You should be happy. After the festival, I will send someone to the government office to transfer this house to your name."

Aunt Chen held the slightly yellowed indenture, laughing and crying at the same time, asking her who had sent it. Xiao Yuan only said that Cheng Erlang had sent it, but dared not tell her about the jade boat.

As Aunt Chen listened, she suddenly looked up and said, "Fourth Sister, then I won't be able to accompany you to the mansion tomorrow."

Xiao Yuan wiped away her tears and said, "Auntie, I thought you were reluctant to leave the manor. Seeing that you're still happy, I'm relieved. Why are you still concerned about the Mid-Autumn Festival? I wish I could be free too." Auntie Chen gently patted her and scolded, "No matter how bad things are in the manor, your status is given to you by them; we, a widow and her children, live here alone without anyone bullying us because your brothers are all grown up; when you leave home, you'll have a lot to rely on from your maternal family. They don't need to do anything for you. As long as someone has status there, you'll live well in your husband's family."

Xiao Yuan had to admit that Aunt Chen's words made a lot of sense in this era, but if they went too far, she still had to keep a watchful eye on them so they wouldn't look down on her.

After saying goodbye to Aunt Chen, who was holding the indenture and looking at it from left to right, Xiao Yuan returned to her room, took the jade boat and placed it on the bookshelf, but was afraid that the little maid would drop it when she dusted it; she placed it on the bedside, but was afraid that she would press it down when she slept... She tossed and turned for most of the night, and only fell asleep fully clothed when the sky began to lighten.

She slept until the sun was high in the sky, wondering why no one had come to wake her. Caiju came in and said, "Fourth Sister, Aunt Chen was considerate of Sister Xiu and let her go home for the festival this morning. I will accompany you to the mansion tonight."

Xiao Yuan nodded, changed her clothes and was about to go out when Aunt Wu rushed over and said anxiously, "Fourth Sister, Aunt Liu has withdrawn several hundred coins from the account and has already gone to the He residence."

Before Xiaoyuan could speak, Caiju scolded, "Doesn't she have any sense? Without her master's permission, how dare she go to the account to withdraw money?"

Xiao Yuan glanced at Cai Ju, "I didn't expect you to be so clever."

When Caiju saw Xiaoyuan praising her, she became even more smug, ignoring Wu Sao and helping Xiaoyuan walk outside.

Xiao Yuan was in a hurry and didn't have time to talk to Aunt Wu. She could only nod slightly as she passed by her.

As the two women walked away, Aunt Wu spat on the ground. "You little hussy, you said I had no sense. I think you're the stupid one. Fourth Sister was just unhappy with you. You thought she was praising you."

Cailian, the little maid feeding the sparrows nearby, said, "Sister Wu, she's just seeing that Sister Xiu has won Fourth Madam's favor and that the whole family is doing well, so she's also thinking about climbing up the social ladder. But what she said makes some sense. Fourth Madam must have tacitly approved of this. Why bother coming here and making a fool of yourself?"

Seeing that she spoke fluently, Sister Wu smiled and said, "You're still a bit young, Fourth Sister understands, that's the master's wisdom; I came here specifically to report, that's my duty as a servant."

Cailian seemed to realize something, "So it wasn't a superfluous act, but rather a way to show diligence and loyalty."

Chapter Six Mid-Autumn Festival

When Liu Ma arrived at the mansion and met Madam Jiang, she recounted Xiao Yuan's behavior over the past few days in detail. She added, "Madam, Fourth Sister is still the same as before. She doesn't leave the house and doesn't even go to the temple to burn incense. She also has no private interactions with Young Master Cheng."

Madam Jiang was so angry that her jeweled hair was swaying wildly. She slammed her hand on the table and said, "You good-for-nothing old hag! I never made sure you kept a good eye on them before. And now it's the same. What's the point of me asking you to watch her behavior? She and Cheng Erlang have already exchanged betrothal gifts and are just waiting to get married next year. Even if they have something going on, what can I do to her?"

Madam Jiang's temper was a common occurrence, and Liu Ma, who had served her for decades, knew this well. She calmly knelt down and asked with a wronged expression, "I don't know what Madam means. I'm used to being stupid, so I hope Madam will enlighten me."

Madam Jiang took a deep breath, but had no choice but to speak frankly: "They just burned down their old house and moved to a new one, so they must have a lot of money on them, right?"

Aunt Liu secretly touched the money in her sleeve and answered as Xiao Yuan had taught her: "That house doesn't belong to Fourth Sister, but to Aunt Chen."

Madam Jiang exclaimed with delight, "What private property could a concubine possibly have? Her house is my house!" She repeatedly called for people to collect the house, but then suddenly remembered that Aunt Chen's indenture had been exchanged with Cheng Mutian for the 20,000 strings of cash that He Laoda had used to buy an official position. Now that Aunt Chen was free, even if she had ten or eight more houses, it was not up to Madam Jiang to interfere.

When they were admiring the moon in the evening, Xiao Yuan saw Madam Jiang's somewhat dejected face and secretly chuckled to herself. Looking up at the sky, she felt that the moon was indeed big and round tonight.

She took a slice of watermelon and ate it slowly, glancing at the people around her. Her eldest brother, He Yaoqi, was whispering to Madam Jiang; her second brother, He Yaozhi, was busy flirting with Aunt Zhou's maid; and Aunt Zhou was talking to her third brother, but she didn't know if he was listening.

"Fourth sister, your third brother has passed the imperial examination all these years but has not taken up an official post. He insists on coming back with the top score in the first class. He doesn't care about anything else at home except studying. Where will the money for next year's spring examination come from? Why don't you talk to your brother-in-law Cheng and ask him to give us some more money?" Old He staggered up to Xiao Yuan and said, swirling the wine glass in his hand.

Before Xiaoyuan could speak, He Yaohong slammed his hand on the table and stood up. Aunt Zhou quickly tugged at his sleeve and said, "Yaohong, your older brother is only doing this for your own good. Besides, there are rules. How can you slam your hand on the table with your brother?"

He Yaohong flung his birth mother's hand away and gritted his teeth, saying, "If we're going to talk about rules, then you should still address me as Third Young Master! My eldest brother keeps calling me brother-in-law, ruining Fourth Sister's reputation like this. How is she supposed to face people in the future?"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhou immediately tore her hair apart, sat down on the ground, and began to wail. Madam Jiang cleared her throat, called back He Laoda, patted his hand, and said, "Lady, you have a good heart, but you can't be so impulsive. If this gets out, what will happen if the Cheng family makes a fuss about breaking off the engagement?"

He Lao Er let go of the maid's hand and turned to say, "Mother is right. It would be terrible if my sister couldn't get married. But we'll stay in Lin'an Prefecture. How much will the imperial examination cost? I'll ask Cheng Erlang to take me to do business another day. I can earn some money for Mother."

Madam Jiang glared at him. "Do you think doing business is as easy as flirting with maids? You'll really squander the family fortune. You might as well ask your elder brother to go instead."

Old He Er, having been rebuffed, went to talk to Yao Hong again. But Yao Hong was sulking and ignored him. Old He Da and Madam Jiang started whispering to each other again, occasionally glancing at Old He Er. Aunt Zhou made a fuss for a while, but seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she got up on her own, grabbed a mooncake, and stuffed it into her bosom.

So that's how it all started. But she was still very willing to pay for her third brother's exam. So Xiaoyuan watched this farce with a smile, then stood up and said, "It's late. I'll head back now. Have my third brother see me off."

Madam Jiang couldn't hide the smile on her face. She hurriedly urged He Yaohong to change his clothes. "Your fourth sister is so clever. Take a few more people with you. Don't lose the money."

He Yaohong helped Xiaoyuan into the sedan chair and turned to leave, but Xiaoyuan quickly stopped him, saying, "Third Brother, won't you walk with me for a bit?"

He Yaohong stopped in his tracks but remained silent. Xiao Yuan glanced at the boy following behind him, waiting to carry the money, and immediately understood: "These silly boys, how could Third Brother, a grown man, get lost? Caiju, give each of them fifty coins, and come to my mansion again tomorrow."

After receiving the money and thanking the reward, the boys scattered. He Yaohong walked to the sedan chair and said in a muffled voice, "Fourth sister, your third brother is really useless. He's just making you tired and wasting your money."

Xiao Yuan urged the sedan chair bearers to walk slowly, comforting him, "Third brother, I'm only doing this for my own selfish reasons. I want to spend some money so you can study in peace, so that you can pass the imperial examination next year and I can also benefit from it."

He Yaohong wanted to say something more, but his voice choked up. He was afraid that Xiaoyuan would hear it, so he could only silently escort her to the entrance of the Chen residence.

Aunt Chen had already come out, and looking at He Yaohong as he walked away, she asked in surprise, "Why didn't your third brother say a word?"

Xiao Yuan quietly wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye and smiled, "Third Brother's voice is hoarse, he was afraid I would recognize it."

Aunt Chen had already ordered someone to prepare an incense table and a feast in the garden, and she and Xiao Yuan washed their hands and burned incense together. Xiao Yuan saw Aunt Chen muttering something, and upon closer listening, she realized that she was making a wish to the moon, hoping for her daughter's health and a happy marriage; so she followed suit, but replaced "daughter" with "mother".

When Aunt Chen heard her wish, she was startled and covered her mouth, saying, "Fourth Sister, you should pray for 'a face as beautiful as Chang'e and as bright as the moon.' I've already been sold once, how can you bring up marriage again?"

Xiao Yuan brushed her hand away and deliberately touched her face, saying, "Your daughter is already beautiful, why ask for more?"

Aunt Chen laughed and pulled her to her seat, saying, "I'll be content as long as I can see you safe and sound in this life, and live a harmonious life with your husband in the future."

The dishes on the table were all carefully prepared by Aunt Chen: steamed quail with flowers, five kinds of sashimi, large kumquats, small olives, ten wine cups, and eight kinds of fruit to accompany the wine, all served in small white porcelain dishes; plus two large plates of various mooncakes, all made by Aunt Chen herself.

Xiao Yuan took a bite of the mooncake and exclaimed that it was delicious. She then took another piece and handed it to Aunt Chen, saying, "Aunt, you are only in your early thirties and are now a free woman. Why can't you bring up marriage? I am not a son, so I shouldn't bring this up. But when I get married next year, how will you, a woman, support the household?"

Aunt Chen silently broke open a mooncake, and Xiao Yuan knew she had taken it to heart, so she didn't bring it up again. She took the sheepskin lantern handed to her by the maid, pulled Aunt Chen up, put on a veil, and went to the river to release the lantern. By this time, the river was covered with "little red dots," which looked quite beautiful from afar. The two of them spent the Mid-Autumn Festival without any restraint for the first time, and they were very happy. It was late at night, and the maid urged them several times before they went back to their room to sleep.

Chapter Seven: Cake Beauty

Before Xiao Yuan's house was even half-built, Cheng Mutian's brows were already furrowed with worry. He sat at his desk, deep in thought. Madam Zhang's sudden departure had left Xiao Yuan's family without income. He heard they were building a house, but he didn't know if they had enough money. He wanted to send them gold and silver, but he was afraid of offending the Cheng family and causing Xiao Yuan more trouble. Cheng Fu, who had been by Cheng Mutian's side since childhood, understood his thoughts best. He immediately brought in tea and said, "Young Master, the court is building bridges and roads, and most of the stones and timber needed are supplied by our family. There must be quite a lot left over. In my humble opinion, these things will only spoil if left unused. Why not send some to our relatives and friends?" Cheng Mutian's brows relaxed, and he praised Cheng Fu several times. He immediately ordered him to send a cartload to the He family and also deliver a few cartloads to Xiao Yuan's old house along the way.

Cheng Fu sent a few young men to take a cart to the He residence first. He dared not be careless about the carts he was sending to Xiao Yuan, so he personally escorted the carts to the old residence to see A Xiu.

Ah Xiu was worried about not having enough money to build a house, but when she saw several large carts full of timber and stones, she was overjoyed and thanked Cheng Fu profusely. Cheng Fu blushed and turned away, waving his hands repeatedly, "This is my young master's kind gesture, Sister Xiu, please don't thank me."

Upon hearing this, Ah Xiu glared and said, "You're a few years older than me, so why are you calling me 'elder sister'?"

Cheng Fu was startled by her and stammered, unable to say anything more. A Xiu smiled triumphantly and led a few boys to unload the cart. Cheng Fu was afraid that the stones would hit her, so he hurriedly followed to help.

When Axiu returned in the evening, she told Xiaoyuan about Cheng Mutian delivering building materials. Xiaoyuan said disdainfully, "He's so concerned about his reputation and rules that he even has to come up with a pretext for delivering a few pieces of wood." While she was saying these disparaging things about him, she took out a mandarin duck handkerchief that she had just embroidered a few days ago and asked Axiu to pass it to him.

Xiao Yuan smiled at her and suggested, "Why don't you go find that Cheng Fu?"

“Yes, he’s one of Young Master Cheng’s men, so he’s the most suitable person to do this. But why should I go looking for him? He’ll come to the estate in a few days. He said he’d bring us a few more cartloads of materials.” Ah Xiu answered casually, completely oblivious to Xiao Yuan’s sly expression.

Ever since Xiaoyuan gave Cheng Mutian the handkerchief, Axiu had frequently brought back news from the Cheng family. Yesterday she sent some nanmu wood. Today she prepared meals for the workers. But what she talked about most was Cheng Fu. She said he came to the house every day and acted foolishly every day. Xiaoyuan knew perfectly well what was going on, but she hated that Axiu, that thick-skinned girl, was so oblivious. Clearly, the other person had feelings for her, but she treated it as anecdotes.

Because of the fire in Lin'an, hiring people was much cheaper than hiring them. Aunt Chen discussed with Xiao Yuan the idea of dismissing the household workers and hiring more people. This would reduce household expenses, which was a good thing. Moreover, Xiao Yuan wanted to open her own shop after the house was built, and she was short-handed. Therefore, she readily agreed. The next day, she called a human trafficker to the house.