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

Winter has been in Beijing for several days, and the first snow has fallen, adorning the city in silver.

Madam Jiang, along with Jiang Lan'er and Jiang Lian'er, prepared things for the festival, with Jiang Fei'er and Jiang Wei'er assisting.

"Grandmother, is Mingfei not coming home for the New Year?"

Jiang Feier had only been in the capital for a short time, and had not spent much time with her seventh brother.

After finishing up my second sister's wedding, my mother and brother left home. When will this study tour end?

"How can you go home like this? I suppose your younger brother hasn't even found a place to stay yet."

Jiang Feier was a little disappointed. It seemed that her seventh brother only liked her third and fourth sisters, while she and her sixth sister were like invisible people.

Previously, only the two of them stayed in their hometown of Xinghe Prefecture; everyone else had come to the capital much earlier.

The eldest and second eldest sisters are the seventh brother's biological sisters, which goes without saying, but the third and fourth sisters are both born out of wedlock, just like them!

The only difference was that their aunts were not around, while the aunts of the third and fourth sisters were always with their father at the Tongzhou government office.

Is that why my brother is a little distant from the two of them?

But they did have concubines to begin with, it's just that concubines became a taboo subject in the family...

"Fifth Sister, come help me. Can you check if this number is correct? I've counted it several times, but it still doesn't match."

Jiang Wei'er's voice rang in her ears, and Jiang Fei'er quickly gathered her thoughts and obediently helped her sister count the number of red candles.

"Three hundred and sixty-five, that's right. Aren't you usually very quick-witted? How come you can't even count hundreds of red candles now?"

“This is for use on New Year’s Eve. If the quantity is not right, it will bring bad luck. I’ll feel more at ease if Fifth Sister helps me check it.”

Jiang Weier said solemnly, and Jiang Feier had no doubts.

"Yeah, you see, I knew you couldn't live without me."

"Yes, yes, yes, sisters working together can move mountains, especially since we're twins!"

Jiang Feier smiled, quite satisfied with her sixth sister's current attitude. Her sixth sister was usually very cold. She only talked to her a little; with others, she'd often utter four-word phrases at a time.

Seeing that her fifth sister had stopped overthinking and successfully diverted her attention, Jiang Weier's subordinates quickly checked the quantity of the remaining items.

There was no sign that she couldn't count the numbers, but the careless Jiang Feier simply didn't notice.

"Grandmother, will the New Year's gifts be the same this year?"

Jiang Lan'er held the account book, which recorded the New Year's gifts that Lin Yueniang had arranged for each family last year.

"This year, I'm afraid we'll have to add a few more families. Your grandfather is currently working in the Ministry of Revenue, so he has to send a gift to the families of the main officials in the Ministry, as well as to the families of his colleagues with whom he gets along well."

And your father, now also a local official in Tongzhou County, has to send some New Year's gifts to his superiors at all levels.

I'm not entirely sure about the specifics of these official social interactions; I'll ask your grandfather later and then decide how to send the gift.

"Understood, Grandmother. So, the Dong, Li, and Xue families will remain the same?"

Jiang Lan'er then thought of her two brothers-in-law's families and her fiancé's family, all of whom had given gifts last year.

"Let's keep these as usual. The Dong family is currently far away in Linhai. Let's send out the Dong family's New Year's gifts first, and they should arrive before the New Year."

The Li family is currently all in the capital, so there's no rush. However, we need to send supplies to Mr. Ouyang Zheng in advance, as Yunqing Mountain doesn't offer much more than Linhai County.

The Xue and Li families should refer to last year's gifts and add a little more as appropriate, since the Li family's brothers and sisters are all in Beijing now, and they should also give face to your second sister.

Your wedding date with the Xue family's son has been set this year, and you'll be marrying into their family next year. The relationship between the two families will be different then, so it can't be the same as last year.

Jiang Lan'er blushed, nodded slightly, and went downstairs with Jiang Lian'er to prepare for the shopping.

Madam Jiang looked at her granddaughters and was very satisfied. Both Master Zhao and Master Su were very talented and had taught the girls very well.

Alas, although women should be chaste and quiet and should not wield weapons, what my grandson said makes sense.

If you don't even have the ability to protect yourself, and you just wait for someone to help you or rescue you, wouldn't that put you in a very passive position? You'd be just waiting to suffer.

Moreover, it would only hold him back. Of course, Jiang Xiaoqi said this against his will, his purpose being to get his beloved grandmother to be more lenient with his sisters.

It doesn't matter if the words are insincere, as long as the intention to help the sisters is genuine. After all, Grandmother won't say these things directly to the sisters.

In Beijing, snow is falling heavily, and the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year is strong.

Outside the capital, wildflowers bloom in profusion, and birds sing sweetly amidst the fragrance of flowers.

Jiang Xiaoqi had lost count of how many times his mother had asked this, but he still answered patiently.

"There are still more than a hundred miles to go, Mother. We'll be entering Yuanzhou soon."

"Okay, Chunyi. Just hearing the name makes me think that the climate there must be pleasant, like spring all year round. We've been on a bumpy road for so long, but we're finally almost there."

Lin Yueniang had heard a lot about Chunyi's topography and climate from her son along the way, and her longing for the hot springs had reached its peak.

It's not that there aren't hot spring resorts in the capital, but they're all monopolized by high-ranking officials and the royal family, making it too difficult for ordinary people to enjoy hot springs.

You can either explore undeveloped hot springs on your own, or spend a lot of money to go to someone's private hot spring resort.

Although the Jiang family was not short of money, Lin Yueniang did not want to be the one to be taken advantage of. It was just a hot spring, and she didn't have to soak in it!

"We've seen plenty of beautiful scenery and eaten plenty of delicious food along the way, but I think you're still most looking forward to Chunyi County, Mom."

Jiang Xiaoqi had been to that place where spring lasts all year round in her previous life, but she didn't stay long because of a business trip, and of course, she didn't have time to soak in the local hot springs.

Having transmigrated to the Great Zhou Dynasty for so many years, I have never soaked in a hot spring. There were no hot springs in Xinghe Prefecture before, but there were in the capital, though I never had the chance to go.

Rather than saying Lin Yueniang was looking forward to it, it would be more accurate to say that both mother and son were looking forward to it. However, Lin Yueniang expressed her expectations, while Jiang Xiaoqi kept them to himself.

After all, the scenery along the way is all natural and pollution-free; missing any of it would be a loss.

During the day, Jiang Xiaoqi travels and enjoys the scenery, and at night she paints in her upgraded study space.

The map of the Great Zhou territory is more than half complete; the remaining blank areas are those he has not yet explored.

However, there is still a long time to come, and there will always be opportunities to draw a complete map of the Great Zhou's detailed territory.

Now, the study space is filled with pictures of scenery such as waterfalls, birds flying into the forest, quiet temples, and cooking smoke from the city.

Every single one is exquisite, every single one is realistic, and every single one reveals the artist's talent and formidable skill.

If I don't become an official in the future, I could open a pleasure boat and sell paintings.

The mother and son continued riding horses, but not too fast, so that Li Mo and Fu Ling could keep up.

With the increasing amount of luggage along the way, the carriage could no longer move very fast.

This was after Jiang Xiaoqi secretly smuggled a considerable amount of supplies into the outer space while the other three weren't paying attention.

Jiang Xiaoqi himself loves shopping, and Lin Yueniang is even more so. As a woman from his previous life, he can understand.

Buy it! It's such a good deal to get a good mood for a little money!

After traveling for two more days, just as the mother and son were about to enter Yuanzhou, they were suddenly stopped by a group of soldiers.