I have been farming since I crossed over.

Tang Jiahang, the new county magistrate of Qingshui County, stood up and walked out. Looking at the gray sky, he thought of the bad things in the capital.

My great-grandfather, Lu Zhenhua, was a General of the Cavalry, personally appointed by the previous emperor. He was stationed in Pingchuan Prefecture to defend against attacks from Western Yue and Northern Qi. He spent very little time in the capital, resulting in my great-grandfather having only my grandfather as his child. At the age of five, my grandfather fell seriously ill and nearly died. This incident became a knot in my great-grandmother's heart. When my grandfather was just sixteen, under my great-grandmother's auspices, he married Guan Miaotong, the sixteen-year-old eldest daughter of Guan Zhanpeng, then a Junior Official of the Dali Temple. Two months after their marriage, my grandmother became pregnant. The following year, she gave birth to her eldest son, Lu Jinyan. That same year, she became pregnant again, and Guan took her maid, Liu Kailian, into her family to serve my grandfather. Two months later, Liu became pregnant, and in the third year, four months after my grandmother gave birth to her eldest daughter, Lu Jinmo, she gave birth to her illegitimate daughter, Lu Changyan.

A few months later, my grandmother became pregnant for the third time. My great-grandmother brought Aunt Li back from outside. With Aunt Li and Liu becoming pregnant at the same time, the general's mansion welcomed the second daughter Lu Jinge, the eldest son Lu Changfeng and the second son Lu Changyu in the same year.

Later, the second legitimate son Lu Jincong, the second illegitimate daughter Lu Changjiao, and the third illegitimate son Lu Changchun were born. My grandfather also brought in concubine Qin, who gave birth to the third illegitimate daughter Lu Changsi.

At this time, my grandfather was already thirty years old. He followed my great-grandfather to the frontier for three years of training. He only brought his concubine Qin with him. When he came back, he brought back his fourth son Lu Changxia.

Later, my grandmother gave birth to the third legitimate son, Lu Jinkun, my concubine Liu gave birth to the fifth illegitimate son, Lu Changqiu, my concubine Li gave birth to the sixth illegitimate son, Lu Changdong, and my concubine Qin gave birth to the seventh illegitimate son, Lu Changshan.

A year later, my grandmother gave birth to the fourth legitimate son, Lu Jinshuo, and Aunt Liu gave birth to the eighth illegitimate son, Lu Changhe.

Because of his injury, my great-grandfather, Lu Youhong, once again went to the frontier. After his great-grandfather recovered, the father and son guarded the frontier together for ten years. Later, my father returned to report on his work, and my grandmother became pregnant with her youngest son, Lu Jintang.

In the year Lu Jintang was born, the eldest daughter Lu Jinmo was selected into the palace. Two years later, she gave birth to a princess, and four years later, she gave birth to the ninth prince.

In the same year, the eldest daughter of a concubine married Zheng Daoning, the eldest son of the Prime Minister of Shuntian Prefecture. In the second year after marriage, she gave birth to the eldest son Zheng Huairen. Three months later, she became pregnant again, but was not accepted by her stepmother, who poisoned her. Later, she gave birth to her second son with facial sores. The following year, she gave birth to her third son, who was weak and sickly since childhood. In desperation, Zheng Daoning ran away from home with his wife Lu Changyan and children and never returned.

When Lu Jintang was 2 years old, his second daughter married the eldest son of his father's colleague, who worked in the Ministry of War. The following year, she gave birth to his eldest son, Tang Jiahang, who is himself. So he is only three years younger than his uncle.

The Lu family's grandchildren were all quite capable, each more than the last. All of them married, and after their wives became pregnant, they all joined the Lu family army for training. The great-grandmother stipulated that the legitimate and illegitimate sons of the Lu family were given separate names, but all children were raised in the courtyard of their legitimate mother. Before the age of 12, the children were not allowed to know who their biological mother was. Concubines were only allowed to observe them from a distance in the pavilion outside the courtyard, and were not allowed to encounter them by chance. Anyone who made this mistake would be sent directly to the farm.

The Lu family's grandchildren consisted of thirteen boys and five girls, all of whom got along well and had a good relationship. However, the Lu family's rule was: the elders protected the younger, and the concubines protected the legitimate. This nurtured Lu Jintang's arrogance, making him neither a scholar nor a warrior.

He is already thirty years old this year, but he still hasn't found a girl he likes. Even his mother doesn't care about his marriage, but keeps asking her to find a girl for her youngest brother.

Then suddenly one day, Lu Jintang went out and rescued the injured national teacher, and took him to his home to recuperate. When the national teacher recovered and left, he pointed at Lu Jintang and said to the old general's wife: Your marriage is destined to go to the south, otherwise your family will be ruined. If it succeeds, good fortune will come and you will reach a higher level.

Guan Shi didn't believe this. In Nanling, if women turned 19 and men 22 were not married, the government would arrange marriages for them. Arranged marriages could not be divorced. Her youngest son would be 21 after the Lunar New Year, reaching the age of forced marriage in just one year, so she was extremely anxious.

Later, when he fell in love with the young daughter of the Minister of Rites and was about to propose directly, he received a confinement order issued by the emperor himself. The order stated that the General of Cavalry had neglected his duties, had taken his children and grandchildren to do idle work, and had tampered with military pay. The emperor then confined the General of Cavalry's mansion and sent the Imperial Guards to guard it.

All descendants of the Lu family were to be escorted back to Beijing and placed under house arrest. All existing Lu family assets, including the daughter-in-law's dowry, were to be seized and sealed on the spot until the truth was ascertained.

The mistakes made by the Lu family did not affect the married women. On the contrary, the husbands of the married women of the Lu family were almost all promoted. For example, his father was promoted twice and became the Minister of War. His own performance in the imperial examination was not the best, only in the top ten, but he was selected as the champion in the palace examination.

When he was appointed, he was directly appointed as the county magistrate of Qingshui County, Xinyun Prefecture. However, he told the outside world that he chose to be assigned to Qingshui County, the poorest county in Xinyun Prefecture, because he wanted to show his talents and use what he had learned to benefit the people of Qingshui County.

Along with the appointment letter came a special pardon order, obtained by Consort Xian through her kneeling plea to the Emperor. This order stated that the Lu family could send one person to Thousand Desolate Mountain, a reward granted to Consort Xian, to arrange for the family's future living arrangements. Three months later, all members of the Lu family would don linen clothing provided by the palace and journey to Thousand Desolate Mountain on foot, where they would live in plain clothes. Their descendants could then participate in the provincial, metropolitan, and palace examinations, and return to the imperial court to serve as officials.

Finally, the youngest son, Lu Jintang, was chosen. He departed the capital on October 15th, walking. According to informants, the Lu family's youngest son disappeared after leaving the capital. Only Zuixianlou, owned by the family of the Lu family's second daughter, occasionally received wild game from a young man, including wild boar and wild donkey. Two outlying pharmacies of the Yan family, a prominent medical family, also received valuable game such as large insects and bear paws. Everyone speculated that the youngest son was responsible.

In order to deal with this matter, the owner of Zuixianlou has been following the direction of Xinyun Mansion and has been giving instructions all the way. As long as a young man comes to sell precious game, he will be bought directly at a high price and paid in cash without any mistakes.

After receiving the appointment notice, he rushed to Xinyun Mansion without stopping. Through the secret guards, he found his notorious uncle. However, he came, but fell silent after eating. He didn't say anything and seemed to have fallen asleep.

I was extremely anxious. After the Chinese New Year on the 15th day of the first lunar month, my grandmother and her family would have to walk from the capital to Xinyun Mansion without a single needle or thread, and would not allow anyone to give them any help. My great-grandfather and great-grandmother were so old and in poor health. If they walked to Xinyun Mansion like this, it would probably be bad.

Seeing my uncle's dead-pig-like appearance, he was not afraid of boiling water. I wanted to drag him out and give him a few big beatings to see if he would become popular.