Reborn as a devoted sister-in-law, she leads the entire village to prosperity.

"Mother promises you, we'll leave tonight." Madam Ji closed her eyes, and a tear fell.

She was at her wit's end. With hope so close at hand, how could she give up? If she gave up, what would all her previous efforts have amounted to?

Their reputations are now ruined. Staying in the village will not only bring them no benefit, but will also subject them to harassment from all sorts of people.

The only option is to hide him away first, let him study hard, and participate in the autumn imperial examination.

When he gets into high school next year, she'll definitely come back and give those stinky women a good thrashing.

Ji touched her swollen face, her hatred growing stronger with each passing thought.

"But how will we live when we get to town?" Xu Xiucai finally asked the question that was on his mind.

Looking at her son, Madam Ji felt more and more that he was utterly useless. Over the years, she had spoiled him so much that he was now unable to lift a finger or carry anything.

I accidentally dropped her three times while carrying her today, and I was angry with her just now. Now I'm asking her what to do.

If it weren't for the fact that he had already passed the imperial examinations, this Ji family member might have secretly run away.

“I have a lover in town. He introduced me to those expensive clothes that I brought back to be starched. He also has a small courtyard in town.”

“Although it’s not big, it’s enough for us to live in. But if we go here, we’ll have to marry him. Do you want your mother to remarry?”

Lady Ji turned to look at her son. After a moment of silence, Xu Xiucai said, "As long as he is willing to pay for my travel expenses to take the imperial examination, what's wrong with me calling him 'father'?"

Ji looked at him in surprise, but in the end she didn't say anything and just nodded: "Then go pack your things, we'll leave tonight. Put me on our wheelbarrow and you can push me to town."

Xu Xiucai nodded, first helping her pack some clothes, then returning to his own room to pack his things.

Ji struggled to get up, took out all the silver she had hidden, and carefully placed it close to her body.

The insults outside gradually subsided, and seeing that they wouldn't open the door and didn't want to barge in, plus the village chief of Xiaoxu Village had also come to reprimand them, the group of women finally left.

After scolding him, Wu was persuaded to go back by Fan Cuilan.

Xu Xiucai had no cooking skills at all. He ate a few bites of the flatbread he had for lunch, only to find that it had gone bad.

He had never suffered such injustice before, and his resentment grew stronger. He resented Yu Banxia for being ungrateful, resented the shameful things Ji Shi had done, and resented everyone who was at odds with him.

As night fell, Xu Xiucai also took a nap in bed, and the moon rose high in the sky.

When Xu Xiucai woke up, he helped Ji Shi up and placed her on a wheelbarrow. He secretly opened the door, only to find that the wheelbarrow could not get out.

He then helped Lady Ji out of the gate. Lady Ji sat on a large stone at the entrance; she had recovered and was no longer so weak.

She was in pain all over her body, and she couldn't bear it.

Watching him stumble out of the wheelbarrow under the moonlight, then turn around and lock the door, already panting heavily, I couldn't help but feel a wave of disgust.

He really is a burden.

Panting, Xu Xiucai helped Ji Shi back onto the wheelbarrow and, stumbling and stammering, pushed it toward the main road outside the village.

While others slept soundly through the night, this mother and son were fleeing on the road.

At daybreak, he finally pushed the man to the town gate. The guard looked at the disheveled mother and son, carefully inspected their belongings, and found that the man was a scholar.

His expression brightened: "Oh, Scholar Xu, what's wrong with you all?"

“My mother fell yesterday. Not wanting to trouble others, I went out in the middle of the night and pushed her to town to find a clinic for treatment.”

"I rarely do any work on a regular basis. As the saying goes, a scholar is useless. I am too weak to even kill a chicken, and I have made the officials laugh at me," Xu Xiucai said self-deprecatingly.

Seeing this, the garrison commander said no more and returned the items to him. Ji paid the entrance fee to the town, and the mother and son were then allowed to enter.

Guided by Ji, the wheelbarrow finally stopped in front of a secluded courtyard.

"Knock knock..."

"Who is it, disturbing my peaceful sleep so early in the morning?" An impatient voice came, and the door opened to reveal Ji Shi on the wheelbarrow.

The man's impatience vanished instantly, replaced by a smile. He stepped forward and asked, "Haitang, what brings you here?"

"Cheng Da, I've come to marry you. Will you still marry me?" Ji Shi asked Cheng Da, looking aggrieved.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Da was immediately overjoyed. He rubbed his hands together and looked at Xu Xiucai, who was so excited that he didn't know what to do.

After a long pause, he finally said, "Yes, yes, why wouldn't I? I'll marry you!"

"Alright, carry me back to my room. This is my son, a scholar." Madam Ji reached out her hand to him, and Cheng Da bent down to take the boy into his arms.

He said "good" several times in a row: "Good, good, I have a new wife, I have a son, and my son is a scholar."

"Quick, come in first," Cheng Da called to Xu Xiucai, who struggled to push the cart inside and closed the door.

Looking around Cheng Da's courtyard, I was fairly satisfied.

"I'll go buy you breakfast. What would you like to eat, meat buns or noodles?" Cheng Da looked at Xu Xiucai with a mixture of excitement and unease.

Xu Xiucai patted his belly and said, "Father, can I have both?"

"Okay, okay, I'll go buy it for you." Xu Xiucai's address of "father" almost made Cheng Da lose his bearings, and he readily agreed.

Cheng Da quickly took the bowl and went out the door, Xu Xiucai went into the main room, and Ji Shi leaned against the bed.

“My son is good at taking things in stride. You should study hard, pass the imperial examination, and go back in glory.”

"Yes." It wasn't that Xu Xiucai was easily satisfied, but he was like a rat crossing the street now, so this was already the best possible outcome.

He believed that his mother was capable and that there would surely be even better opportunities in the future.

……

Yu Banxia slept soundly through the night. After getting up early, she took a tree branch in the courtyard and began to practice swordsmanship.

This is a set of sword techniques. Although she doesn't have internal energy, she has special abilities. As long as she practices it well, the power of the moves will not be bad.

"Clap clap clap clap..." Yu Mancang had been watching from the side for a long time.

Yu Banxia wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled, "Third Brother, once your leg is healed, I will definitely teach you an even more powerful set of marksmanship techniques."

"Okay," Yu Mancang replied with a smile.

Yu Banxia added, "Third Brother, you're going up the mountain with Uncle Cheng today, right? This is what I prepared for you last night. Take it with you."

"The bottle with the yellow stopper contains insect repellent powder, which I sprinkle around the bottle while I sleep."

"The green bottle contains medicine for wounds, the red bottle is for saving lives; if you are poisoned, you can take one first. The blue bottle contains medicine for treating internal injuries."

"Okay, thank you very much, little sister." Yu Mancang took the small cloth bag and thanked her.

Yu Banxia rolled her eyes at him and said, "We're like siblings, why be so polite?"

"Oh, right, there's also a paper package inside. It contains a kind of biscuit. It's not very chewy, but it can fill you up."

Yu Mancang quickly found the item she had mentioned, wrapped in oil paper, and immediately said "good".