After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

The Chiang family's efficiency is truly astounding.

From viewing the property, purchasing and transferring ownership, registering with the government, to moving back to the inn, everything was completed within a single day.

The new house has ten courtyards, enough for everyone to live in, and it will never be crowded.

Landlord Jiang and Jiang Wenqing lived in the same courtyard, which made it easier for him to keep an eye on his son's studies.

Dong Jin and his wife Jiang Xiwen lived in the same courtyard. After all, this kid was more focused than anyone else now. Even without being watched, he would still be engrossed in his exam materials, neglecting to eat or sleep.

Li Haisheng shared a courtyard with his two older brothers, while Xue Xu shared a courtyard with his pageboy and coachman.

Jiang Xiaoqi had her own courtyard, leaving only Wenbin, Li Mo, and A Niu to serve her there.

Jiang Xiyue lived in the same courtyard as her mother, while Jiang Lan'er and Jiang Lian'er lived together. Four female guards were also assigned to their courtyard for security.

There were four courtyards left empty, so the remaining guards could choose one to live in, and each person could get their own room.

After everyone was settled, night quietly fell.

The moonlight bathed the courtyard of the new house, creating a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.

Winter is just around the corner, so there's no need to dig a pond or plant flowers and grass anymore. Just clear away the withered grass in the yard.

After making their beds, Jiang Lan'er and her sister were admiring the moon in the courtyard when a melodious flute melody suddenly reached their ears.

"Sister, this piece is really beautiful." Jiang Lian'er herself is not good at playing musical instruments, but she can tell whether a piece is good or bad.

"It sounds like it's coming from the front yard. Is it Xiao Qi playing the flute?"

"No, Seventh Brother prefers lively tunes and plays the zither more often. I rarely see him play the flute."

"That's probably the eldest or second brother-in-law, used to please the older sisters."

Jiang Lan'er was wrong, of course. The owner of the flute was Young Master Xue, who was like a peacock spreading its tail feathers.

I thought he would be more reserved, but who would have thought that on the very first night after moving into the Jiang family's new house, he would start to get restless.

"Young master, it's very late. Playing the flute like this in the middle of the night is disturbing people's sleep! Old Master Jiang is old and must be a light sleeper. If he's woken up, he'll have a hard time falling back asleep."

"We're just staying temporarily, so let's not be too presumptuous, shall we?"

The pageboy Kan Yun was really exhausted. He hadn't been watching him closely enough, and his young master had started playing the flute.

He was so busy making the bed for his young master to rest that he really didn't keep an eye on his young master's antics in the middle of the night.

"Oh, you're right, it is a bit late. Let's put it away then."

Xue Xu was somewhat receptive to advice and obediently handed over the flute.

Although he put away the flute, Xue Xu felt restless and uneasy.

He didn't want to wait until after the imperial examination to express his feelings to Miss Jiang, since the practice of "finding a son-in-law after passing the imperial examination" in the capital would only be more brutal.

Having experienced being robbed during the provincial examination, he learned his lesson. The best approach was to settle down before the metropolitan examination, so that he wouldn't be afraid of being robbed of his future son-in-law even if the metropolitan examination results were announced.

With a marriage contract in hand, who can forcibly take him away?

Of course, he wasn't using Miss Jiang as a shield; he genuinely admired Jiang Lan'er and gradually grew fond of her as they got to know each other.

The next morning, sunlight streamed into the courtyard. Jiang Lan'er had gotten up early and was about to go to the kitchen to check on the meals when she saw Xue Xu standing there tending to a pot of orchids as she walked along the central corridor.

Jiang Lan'er wondered why Young Master Xue was up so early.

Xue Xu looked up and saw Jiang Lan'er, a bright smile appearing on her face. "Good morning, Miss Jiang."

Jiang Lan'er curtsied and said, "Good morning, Young Master Xue."

"Miss Jiang, this orchid suits you perfectly, it's a gift for you!"

Jiang Lan'er was taken aback: "Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Xue, but I've just moved into a new house and have many trivial matters to attend to. I'm afraid I won't have time to take care of the orchids."

Upon hearing this, Xue Xu quickly replied, "It's alright, it's alright. If you trust me, I can help take care of it. I'll deliver it to you when you're less busy."

Jiang Lan'er was speechless for a moment, unsure how to answer. Whether she was busy or not, she didn't want orchids from a man she didn't know.

At this moment, Jiang Lian'er ran over, took Jiang Lan'er's hand and said, "Sister, the withered grass in the garden in front has been cleared. Let's go take a look."

With that, he pulled Jiang Lan'er away in a hurry, leaving Xue Xu holding the orchid and watching the two figures disappear into the distance.

"Ugh, you're so useless! What kind of talk is that? This orchid suits you perfectly, I'll give it to you! How awkward! Ugh, so stupid, so stupid!"

After reflecting on his performance, Xue Xu realized that he had been too nervous and hadn't performed well.

Next time, I definitely can't be a complete fool and wait in the corridor all morning with a pot of orchids in my arms.

This morning was truly awful!

Almost everyone passes through here on their way to the front hall for lunch, and he was treated like a fool and observed all morning!

However, we did manage to meet Miss Jiang, but it was still so embarrassing!

The two sisters, already in the front yard, had no idea what the people behind them were thinking.

After inspecting the cleanup of the courtyard, he instructed the second son of the Wen family—the current steward of the Jiang family's new residence—to pay the workers their wages.

The mother put the two of them in charge of all the arrangements in the front yard. This was the first time they had taken on such a big task, so they naturally had to do it well.

It's too cold now. We can get the garden and pond ready in the spring, then we'll be busy. Right now, we just need to find reliable gardeners and bricklayers.

That way, you won't be overwhelmed with things after spring arrives, and you can compare prices from several different vendors, right?

Although their mother gave them full authority, they still had to be clever and try to save money for the family.

With my grandfather and father about to take the imperial examinations, the family needs money for everything.

The poor mother couldn't bear to mistreat her daughters, so she didn't reduce their expenses at all. On the contrary, since they had arrived in the capital, she made a point of buying them a lot of presentable clothes and jewelry.

Besides, buying the house must have cost a lot of money, so there must be very little money left in the house now.

These are the sisters' true thoughts, so they are really meticulous in their calculations; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe them as stingy.

The two were discussing which type of flowers and trees would be both beautiful and inexpensive when the gatekeeper delivered two visiting cards.

Jiang Lan'er opened the visiting card: "The Feng family? The Wu family?"

"Which Feng family? And which Wu family?"

Jiang Lian'er couldn't recall ever knowing anyone from the Feng or Wu families. When they first arrived in the capital, the only family they knew was the Tan family, who had sold them the house.

"Oh, right, the Tan family! Is it Feng something-or-other Qing and Wu Hui from the Tan family literary gathering a couple of days ago?"

"Third sister, these two families have sent visiting cards at the same time, what should we do?"

"What can we do? Since they were all delivered at the same time, we should see them all at once and deal with them all at once. Otherwise, where would we find the time to deal with these bored young ladies?"

As soon as Jiang Lan'er finished speaking, the doorman came in again, this time presenting an invitation with a red background and gold lettering.

???

Her family had just moved into a new house and didn't plan on having a big banquet. They wanted to keep a low profile so that their family could focus on preparing for the exam.

How did these people who sent out the invitations find out?

Is her family really that popular in Beijing? Humph! The Tan family are such big mouths!