Chapter 120

Fu Tingjun pointed at the sandalwood box on the tea table and asked Zhao Ling, "What should we do with this?"

"Just keep it!" Zhao Ling said nonchalantly. "A century-old ginseng like this—sometimes you can't buy it even with money. It'll be good for your mother's health."

But Fu Tingjun had other concerns: "Then how will we return the favor in the future? Surely we won't keep up dealings with Concubine Xiao?"

"We'll worry about that when the time comes." Zhao Ling clearly didn't think it was a big deal. He pointed to a trunk he'd had brought in. "These are some angelica, astragalus, and bupleurum. Keep them safe and see if your mother can use them later."

"Where did you get so many medicinal herbs?" Fu Tingjun was quite surprised.

"Where else could I get them?" Zhao Ling laughed. "I bought them, of course." He added, "Zhangye is a vital pass on the frontier—there's no kind of merchant you won't find here."

"That's true!" Fu Tingjun was nevertheless grateful for Zhao Ling's thoughtfulness. She said softly, "Thank you!"

Zhao Ling said with some vexation, "When will you stop thanking me?"

Fu Tingjun didn't understand.

Zhao Ling said in a low voice, "Family doesn't stand on ceremony. Isn't it only right that I honor my mother-in-law?"

Fu Tingjun truly had no way to deal with this man—she couldn't even muster any irritation. She turned around and called for Zheng San to carry the trunk of herbs to the carriage first.

But Zhao Ling seized the moment to embrace her from behind.

"Ah Jun..." he called her name in a low voice. "Will you miss me?"

Behind her was Zhao Ling's broad chest, and the warm breath he exhaled seemed to brush past her neck, making her heart tremble and that tingling, numbing sensation rise again.

Fu Tingjun's heart fluttered with panic. She tried to pry apart the arms that gripped her tightly, mumbling in a fluster, "No, I won't... I won't..."

But Zhao Ling's arms only tightened around her, as if he wanted to press her into his very body, making it hard for her to breathe: "But I will miss Ah Jun..." His voice was low and somewhat hoarse, carrying some inexplicable emotion that made her heart race. "I will miss Ah Jun so, so much..."

It was as if something surged up from the depths of her heart, blocking her chest and leaving her speechless.

...

The carriage sped along, and Zhangye City gradually became a tiny black dot on the loess slopes, yet Fu Tingjun could still seem to see Zhao Ling's dashing figure astride his fine horse.

Linchun let down the carriage curtain and asked in her childish voice, "Miss, do they have crystal sugar candy in the capital?"

Fu Tingjun had never been to the capital; she didn't know either. She smiled and said, "They probably do!"

A Sen looked at Linchun with disdain: "Of course they do—that's the capital, where the emperor lives." Then he grinned ingratiatingly and asked Fu Tingjun, "Miss, we're already on the post road now—can I ride a horse for a bit?"

"No!" Fu Tingjun said with a smile. "We need to reach the courier station at Taiping Fort before dark. We'll be traveling at speed the whole way—it's too dangerous. Once we have a day when we're not rushing, you can try riding!"

A Sen was instantly deflated.

They'd be hurrying the whole way—when would he ever get to ride a horse!

Back when he'd followed Ninth Master, they'd cover a hundred li in a single night's forced march, and he couldn't even reach the saddle—he could only lie sprawled over the horse's back, jolted senseless, while everyone mocked him for being delicate. Now, by contrast, he could already leap his horse across streams that weren't too wide, yet the miss was afraid he might fall off...

These were things A Sen only dared mutter to himself. In front of Fu Tingjun, he didn't dare show the slightest hint. He could only gloomily lift the carriage curtain and gaze out with envy at Zheng San and the guards the Marquis of Yingchuan had sent to escort them to the capital, chatting and laughing as they rode.

Linchun saw this and, imitating A Sen, pressed herself against the carriage window to peer outside.

Zheng Sanniang pulled her back to sit down: "There's sand and dust flying everywhere outside. If you two keep at it, all the sand will blow in and choke the miss." The scolding was aimed at Linchun, but the words were meant for A Sen.

A Sen couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed and chuckled sheepishly as he moved to let the curtain fall.

"Let them look." Sitting in a jolting carriage traveling day and night would bore even an adult, let alone children. Fu Tingjun smiled. "How can you travel without getting dusty?"

Hearing this, Linchun cheered and pounced onto A Sen's back: "Watch the horses, watch the horses!"

Everyone laughed.

The two adults didn't fuss over the children—as long as they stayed inside the carriage, they let them play as they pleased, and leaned against the large bolster pillows to chat.

"Miss, are we really going to stay at Duke of Fuguo's residence?" Zheng Sanniang asked, both hopeful and worried.

This time when heading to the capital, Zhao Ling, considering that they had no one to escort them, hired the most renowned escort agency in Zhangye to protect them, and also borrowed a name card from the Marquis of Yingchuan. Should anything happen on the road, they could take the Marquis of Yingchuan's name card to the authorities for help. When the Marquis of Yingchuan learned of this, he not only gave his own name card but also took out his father the Duke of Fuguo's name card for Zhao Ling, and additionally dispatched over twenty guards to accompany them: "These are all my household guards, who have long accompanied me on journeys between Zhangye and the capital. They are familiar with the relay stations and government offices along the way—why bother with an escort agency!" Then he said, "Tell Miss Fu that once you reach the capital, there's no need to look for a residence either. Go directly to see our chief steward and have him arrange a place for you to stay."

An escort agency and the Duke of Fuguo's guards—they were as different as heaven and earth. Zhao Ling, considering Fu Tingjun's safety, smiled and thanked him, and directly accepted the offer, but had other instructions regarding the Marquis of Yingchuan's words: "Living in the capital is no easy matter, I know that well, but staying in someone else's home inevitably brings the constraint of living under another's roof. Better to ask the Duke of Fuguo's steward to help us purchase a residence instead."

"Purchase a residence?" Fu Tingjun was quite surprised at the time.

"Mm!" Zhao Ling nodded. "I've thought it over carefully. In the capital, even a small courtyard house costs over a thousand taels of silver. If the location is better and the condition newer, it would probably cost five to six thousand taels. We still have five thousand taels in bank notes. Last year in Xi'an Prefecture, we acquired three shops on Baoqing Street and over seventeen hundred mu of fertile farmland in Chang'an County. The three shops on Baoqing Street bring in over six hundred taels a year. The thousand-plus mu of land in Dongjiang Village, Chang'an County, is all contiguous. As long as we find an honest and reliable farm steward to manage it, and we're frugal, the yearly food and clothing expenses will be covered. As for the three hundred mu in Lu Family Village and the four hundred mu in Xihuai Village—the land is scarce to begin with, and it's scattered here and there, a few mu here, a dozen or so there. Even if we hired a steward to manage it, the returns would likely end up in the steward's pocket. It's not worth it. When I bought those seven hundred-plus mu back then, it was one tael and one fen per mu. This year with favorable weather, we can sell it for at least five to six taels per mu. Since you'll be passing through Xi'an Prefecture this time, why not rest for a couple of days and have Shopkeeper Lyu sell those seven hundred mu? Even if sold in a hurry, we should still get over three thousand taels. Combined with the five thousand taels in bank notes from Baoqing Silver House in our box, that's enough to buy a smaller courtyard house in the capital. Plus, I still have some calligraphy, paintings, and antiques left with Master Lyu—you can bring those to the capital as well and use them to furnish the residence. That saves another large sum..."

"Ninth Master," Fu Tingjun frowned as she listened, "we're not going to live in the capital permanently. Why go through all this trouble..." Her gaze at him was filled with confusion. "Is there something you're keeping from me?"

"This is where you don't understand!" Zhao Ling leaned close to her ear and whispered, "If we purchase a nice residence in the capital, when your father sees it, he'll be even more at ease entrusting you to me..."

"Nonsense." Fu Tingjun shot him a sideways glare, her face burning hot. "Our family has a family precept: when taking a wife, seek a virtuous woman, not a dowry; when marrying off a daughter, choose a worthy son-in-law, not wealth and rank..."

"I know, I know!" Zhao Ling grinned and cut her off. "How could your father possibly care about my modest means? If I were someone who could study and pass the imperial examinations, what glory and riches wouldn't I have?" He finished with a wistful expression and sighed. "If I had met you earlier, I would have studied and taken the examinations to forge a future. But alas, I'm too old now—the desire is there but not the strength. I can only rely on these worldly things to bolster my courage!"

And there he was, being cheeky with her again.

Fu Tingjun was both embarrassed and annoyed, yet her heart was quite moved.

Whenever a maidservant in the household was to be married off, her wet nurse would always say, "Marry a man, marry a man—for clothing and for food." If they could purchase a residence in the capital, that would be one more reason to persuade her father!

She couldn't help but chide him: "I still have over three thousand taels in silver on hand, and in the box there are two thousand taels in bank notes my mother gave me... We're not short on silver. Why must we sell the land?"

Land could be passed down to descendants. And with land comes harvest, with harvest comes food, and with food comes survival. Unless absolutely necessary, who would sell their land!

"Once we reach the capital, there will be plenty of places to spend money. The two thousand taels your mother gave you is your dowry—that must not be touched. As for the silver you have on hand, keep it with you. When you come across a branch of Baoqing Silver House, exchange it for bank notes and carry those instead, saving them for gradual use." Zhao Ling said. "Besides, we'll eventually return to Jiangnan. If Xi'an Prefecture weren't only twenty-some days from the capital, I wouldn't even keep the land in Dongjiang Village."

That was true. If they returned to Jiangnan, Xi'an Prefecture would be too far away—the returns from the land wouldn't even cover the back-and-forth travel costs.

Fu Tingjun said, "I think you should keep the silver on hand! You need money for social engagements and entertaining."

"You've been gone for over half a year—where am I supposed to put all that silver?" Zhao Ling said with a smile. "Just leave me two hundred taels for spending money." He added, "And you think I can't get my hands on silver if I need it?"

Fu Tingjun thought of the seven hundred taels he had brought back and couldn't help but caution him earnestly: "We still have some savings at home. Don't ruin your reputation over a few paltry coins."

"Don't worry!" Zhao Ling laughed. "I won't take a single coin less than what's rightfully mine, and I won't take a single coin more than what isn't."

Thinking of this, Fu Tingjun couldn't help but grumble inwardly.

Who knows what counts as rightfully his and what doesn't?

She only hoped he would serve out these two years of duty properly, get promoted to a battalion commander, and then be transferred out of the Shaanxi Regional Military Commission.

Then she answered Zheng Sanniang's question: "We're not staying at the Marquis of Yingchuan's residence. Ninth Master said we should buy a house and settle down."

"Houses in the capital are very expensive!" Zheng Sanniang said with some concern. "Why don't we rent a place first?"

"It's fine." Fu Tingjun said tactfully. "We may not be able to afford a nice place, but we can still afford an ordinary one."

Zheng Sanniang clicked her tongue in surprise, realizing that Fu Tingjun and her husband still had some savings. She didn't ask further and instead inquired about the capital: "Which of the young lady's relatives is ill? Why does she have to travel all the way to the capital to visit them?"

Which relative of hers was it?

She wasn't quite sure how to answer.

Leaning against the bolster, she gazed at A Sen and Linchun playing nearby, and remained silent for a long while.