The moment Liu Lanniang saw Wei Qingran, tears streamed down her face.
Wei Qingran's nose tingled too, and she stepped forward to embrace her. "Mother, you've come."
Liu Lanniang was too overwhelmed to speak. Wei Qinghuai's eyes reddened as well, standing beside them, smiling through his tears.
It took a while before Liu Lanniang calmed down. Somewhat embarrassed, she clung to Wei Qingran's hand and refused to let go.
Wei Qingran looked around. "Where's Father?"
No sooner had the tears stopped than they started again. Liu Lanniang choked out, "He's gone."
Wei Qingran froze, then murmured after a long pause, "Gone... gone?"
A dull ache pressed in her chest. No matter what, this was her father.
Liu Lanniang tightened her grip on her daughter's hand. "I'll tell you the details later. How have you been?"
Wei Qingran pulled herself together and nodded. "I'm doing well."
She turned her gaze to the Meng family. "Master Meng is at the military headquarters, likely out on a mission right now. But he's already rented a house for you. Let me take you there now."
Her savings were nearly spent, and Meng Chong wasn't much better off—they could only afford to rent a large courtyard, not buy one. Fortunately, Jiang Jin had been generous to her subordinate, who was also the mother of her younger sister, and had directly assigned her a courtyard.
So she had given up her previously rented small yard; otherwise, her mother and younger brother wouldn't have had anywhere comfortable to stay.
Meng Zishan looked at her with a complex expression and nodded. "We appreciate the trouble."
This child of the Wei family seemed somewhat different. Well, each place shapes its people. At his age, he was still stunned by the hustle and bustle of Geborough, which rivaled nowhere else. It was only natural that living here would change a person.
The courtyard Meng Chong had rented wasn't large for the thriving Meng household, but it would barely suffice.
Once inside, everyone noticed something else.
"What—how is this room warm?"
Wei Qingran explained, "I had a heated wall built. The north is freezing, so all houses in Geborough have heated walls and heated brick beds. If you want more details, you can ask Aunt Chen later."
Aunt Chen was around fifty-something and worked as a household helper. Since becoming editor-in-chief, Wei Qingran had become busy, and Jiang Li, being young, needed care—so she hired Aunt Chen to help with cleaning and cooking for Jiang Li.
Chen Zuilan stepped forward and clasped Wei Qingran's hands. "Good child, we've put you to so much trouble."
Wei Qingran shook her head. "It's no trouble at all."
"And what is this?" Meng Wulang stared intently at the small iron stove and kettle standing over boiling water.
Ever since entering Geborough, he felt his eyes couldn't keep up. There was too much to take in.
Meng Rong and Meng Jian, meanwhile, were examining the wooden sofa in the main hall—furniture like this they'd never seen before.
Everyone else stared in shock at the various items in the room, gasping in amazement especially when they passed the large glass windows.
Wei Qingran introduced it. "This is an iron stove, powered by honeycomb briquettes."
Then her expression turned a little sheepish. "You'll need to buy the rest of the furnishings yourselves. There are furniture shops in Geborough. These next few days, I'll have Aunt Chen help out here, so you can ask her anything."
It was simply that her purse was light; her budget had only covered a sofa and the stove.
Chen Zuilan understood and smiled. "You've already done more than enough. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even have made it to Geborough."
Wei Qingran gave a slight smile. "It's been a long journey, so I won't keep you any longer. I live at No. 9, Alley 3 on Qingqiu Mountain. Feel free to come by whenever you'd like."
Meng Zishan nodded. "We will."
Chen Zuilan saw the guests to the door, then hesitated before asking, "How is my A Chong doing?"
Wei Qingran smiled reassuringly. "He's doing well in the army. He'll come back as soon as he gets leave."
Chen Zuilan seemed to want to say more, but in the end she only murmured, "That's good, that's good."
Wei Qingran patted her hand. "The Jinyang Army is a formidable force—strict discipline, clear rewards and punishments. He's bound to make a name for himself in the military."
Chen Zuilan's eyes reddened. "I don't need him to make a name. I just want him safe."
Wei Qingran offered a few more words of comfort before taking her mother and younger brother and leaving.
After turning down two alleys, they entered a courtyard. Liu Lanniang couldn't help glancing around. "Your courtyard isn't as big as the Meng family's place we just saw, but it seems more refined."
Wei Qingran nodded. "Of course. These houses were specially set aside by our lord for her subordinates and those who've rendered distinguished service."
"Our family isn't large, so this two-courtyard layout fits us perfectly."
Liu Lanniang agreed. "Right, right, it's lovely. And the Tenth Princess?"
Wei Qingran took Liu Lanniang by the arm. "Mother, the Yan Kingdom is gone now. There's no need to call her Princess anymore. Just call her A Li. She's gone to school."
The next morning, Mo Susu arrived at the money house bright and early.
They had spent the whole of yesterday exploring Gofeng, and stayed at an inn overnight.
Having witnessed all the differences in Gofeng—especially the female teachers, female officials, female workers, and the many women street vendors—they were too excited to sleep.
They stayed up half the night discussing their future path and decided unanimously to first buy a house in Gofeng. They loved the place that much, and their money had come easily enough anyway.
Since buying a house meant purchasing furniture of all kinds, enrolling in classes to learn simplified Chinese characters, buying study materials, and so on, they needed to exchange their gold and silver for copper coins or the silver notes used in Gofeng.
They hadn't just wandered aimlessly in Gofeng the day before—they'd asked around thoroughly, especially about the money houses.
All three had been stunned by what they'd learned.
Mo Susu marveled, "The lord of Gofeng must be a divine figure, dreaming up the money house like this. Doing business will be so much more convenient now."
Yan Ke shook her head. "It's not just business. In the long run, this could change the very status of money and cloth as currency."
Su Zhenxue drew in a sharp breath. "You mean it could change the function of gold and silver?"
Yan Ke nodded. "Silver notes—think about what that really means."
"She said thoughtfully, "A single piece of paper that can hold all your gold and silver in the money house—that requires the people to have absolute trust in the lord of Gofeng for this to work."
Mo Susu rubbed her chin. "Indeed. In Sizhou, if the First Prince tried the same thing, it would never succeed."
A call soon woke Mo Susu from her reverie—it was her turn.
She hurried up to the counter, glanced left and right to make sure no one was close by, then furtively slid a cloth-wrapped item across the counter.
She wasn't in a rush to exchange the rest of her gold and silver, but this thing had to be dealt with first—otherwise she'd never be able to spend it.
The clerk handling her was a young woman, who looked puzzled at Mo Susu's suspicious manner.
When she unwrapped the cloth and saw a gold ornament in an odd shape, she frowned slightly.
She didn't have much experience and couldn't tell what it was. But the gold was substantial—a major transaction. She quickly called over the head clerk of the money house.
The chief clerk of the money house was a servant Jiang Jin had once purchased, named Wen Tai. He had previously worked as a bookkeeper and was someone Dong Si had handpicked for absolute loyalty.
At the sight of that thing, Wen Tai nearly lost his composure.
Mo Susu covered her face with her hands, feeling as though everyone in the money house was staring at her. It was simply too embarrassing, and she had no way to explain.
Time slipped by, and by early May, under Qu Zhao's fierce offensive, the two counties that had been retaken the previous year fell once again to Qu Zhao.
Sheng Chi could no longer hold out and sent Sheng He to Gofeng to plead for reinforcements.
When Sheng He saw Jiang Jin, it was like seeing family. He dropped to his knees with a thud. "Your Highness, please, I beg you—you must save us."
