Zhang Zhaoge did not linger at the Zhaoping Villa; she departed after finishing her warm tea, clutching two new copybooks.
Before leaving, she inquired about the date Cui Yun planned to depart for Dengzhou.
In winter, many impoverished people hide in the mountains to keep warm, and it is impossible to guarantee that someone, driven by desperation, might not resort to banditry. Zhang Zhaoge did not want to see Cui Yun fall victim to robbery a second time under her very nose, so she prepared to arrange an escort to see her safely past Luyang Pass.
Considering that she could not afford to lose any more of her own men, Cui Yun accepted Zhang Zhaoge’s arrangements.
Once the guest had departed, no new charcoal was added to the furnace, and the temperature in the front hall gradually began to drop.
Xilan held a preserved rabbit and a preserved chicken, asking, “Young Mistress, how should these cured goods be handled?”
“Take them back to Dengzhou as seasonal gifts.”
Xilan acknowledged this and asked again, “Young Mistress, are you truly not letting this servant follow you back?”
“I will return after the New Year. You and Qingxi can keep watch here for me.”
The matter of moving the ancestral graves had yet to be finalized, and the charcoal kilns were still in operation; Qingxi could not handle all these miscellaneous tasks alone. Furthermore, Qingxi and Xilan, as a married couple, were often separated; if they were not allowed to reunite frequently, their affection would only fade over time.
“But Young Mistress only has that reckless little girl, Zhaoyan, by your side. This servant is worried.”
“Suyue is still over in Dengzhou; you need not worry.”
Cui Yun had three maids. The eldest was Xilan, who had served the longest in the Cui household. Having been instructed in literature by Cui’s father, she served as the maid in charge of Cui Yun’s seals and keys.
Next was a maid named Suyue, who was two years older than Cui Yun and had been born into the Cui household. However, when the bandit Li instigated a rebellion and Cui’s father was killed, her parents were also killed in the chaos.
She was responsible for Cui Yun’s daily life. This time, when Cui Yun returned to Zhaoping Villa to pay respects to her parents, she did not bring Suyue along because Cui Yun still had a portion of the family business in Dengzhou that required a capable confidante to oversee.
The last one was Zhaoyan. Zhaoyan was timid and handled miscellaneous chores such as serving tea, pouring water, washing clothes, and cooking.
Upon hearing this, Xilan could only check Cui Yun’s luggage once more to ensure nothing had been forgotten.
The snow stopped after that day. The day they set off for Dengzhou was exceptionally clear, but as the snow on the ground melted, the roads became muddy and difficult to traverse.
When the Cui family’s carriage arrived at the Luyang Pass, ten local garrison soldiers were already waiting there. Following Zhang Zhaoge’s orders, they escorted Cui Yun and her party out of the pass.
Cui Yun did not see Zhang Zhaoge, so she politely asked the leader of the garrison soldiers, the squad leader, “Is Deputy General Zhang busy?”
The squad leader replied, “Before the New Year, there is a martial arts evaluation; the Deputy General must lead the troops in training.”
“Then, has escorting us delayed your training?”
The squad leader said confidently, “It is of no consequence. Both of our squads received ‘Grade A’ in the previous martial arts evaluation; missing a session or two is a good opportunity for the others to catch up.”
Cui Yun traveled by carriage this time, which was quite fast, and they completed the eighty-plus li journey along the Guya Road in just half a day, successfully exiting the pass.
Seeing the wisps of cooking smoke from a nearby village, the squad leader said to Cui Yun, “This is the territory of Nanyang County, Dengzhou. It would be inconvenient for us to be seen by the local garrison here, so we shall head back now.”
“My thanks to all the soldiers.” Cui Yun set aside some provisions to feed their horses and provided hot water and dry rations for them to sustain themselves on the journey back.
The ten garrison soldiers rode back in a hurry; although they moved quickly, their formation was orderly despite the haste.
Seeing this, Cui Yun was moved by Zhang Zhaoge’s strict discipline, having managed to train the traditionally lax local garrison into such a disciplined force.
She was unaware that her own reputation among them was also quite good.
While chatting, the garrison soldiers praised her endlessly: “This Seventh Miss Cui is truly different from those other noble ladies.”
“Indeed. Other noble ladies either avoid us as if we were a plague or look down upon us with disdain; how could they be as kind and thoughtful as Seventh Miss Cui?”
“I know, this is what they call beauty and kindness combined!”
The squad leader scoffed at him: “You only saw Seventh Miss Cui for the first time when she was wearing a veil; how did you know she was beautiful?”
The soldier replied with a naive laugh, “People with kind hearts are all beautiful.”
To reach Dengzhou, Cui Yun had to pass through Nanyang County. To maintain proper etiquette, she first went to pay a visit to her eldest uncle, Cui Yuanfeng.
Her aunt, Wei Yanniang, and her second cousin, Cui Duo, along with his wife, Wang Yi, had all returned to the ancestral home ahead of time to prepare for the ancestral rites. Cui Yuanfeng would not be off duty until tomorrow, so he was still working at the government office today.
It was not until dusk that Cui Yun finally met her uncle.
Cui Yuanfeng was over fifty, with grey hair appearing at his temples. He wore a futou (a type of headgear), casual robes, and a sable fur cloak. With his eyelids half-lowered, his expression was imposing even without anger.
He asked, “Did the trip go smoothly?”
Whether it had been smooth or not, Du Ao and Lin Changfeng had already informed him; he was merely asking a question he already knew the answer to.
Cui Yun replied, “Although there were some minor setbacks, it was generally smooth.”
Cui Yuanfeng let out a cold snort in his heart. She was impatiently telling him that she could stand on her own and no longer needed to rely on him!
He said nothing more and told Cui Yun to go rest early, as they would return to the ancestral home in Dengzhou together tomorrow.
Cui Yun knew that today was merely a small probe. Tomorrow, when she returned to the ancestral home and faced the rest of the Cui family, that would be the true battlefield.
The next day, Cui Yun returned to the Dengzhou ancestral home with Cui Yuanfeng.
The usually quiet ancestral home was now buzzing with activity. Cui Yun had only stepped through the first gate before she could hear the sound of conversation coming from the front hall.
As soon as Cui Yuanfeng entered, he became the center of attention. The chatter ceased, and everyone stood up to welcome him: “Father/Eldest Brother/Eldest Uncle has returned!”
Cui Yun’s gaze swept over everyone’s face, and she quickly identified who had returned for the ancestral rites.
The lineage of Cui Wenzhi consisted of three branches. The eldest branch originally had four sons, but Cui Yun’s father was adopted into the third branch, leaving only three sons in the eldest.
Cui Yuanfeng was the eldest son of the first branch.
The one calling him “Father” was naturally his son. His eldest son, Cui Zhen, had passed through Dengzhou on his way to his post in Xiangzhou, so he had brought his family back the previous day. Before Cui Yuanfeng appeared, he had been the main object of conversation for the Cui clan.
As for the second son, Cui Duo, he was likely busy preparing the sacrificial offerings and was not present.
Cui Yuanfeng’s second brother, Cui Yuanling, was an assistant to the former Shannan Dongdao Jiedushi (Military Governor), the rebel Liang. Because Liang had rebelled and was killed by the former Huaixi Jiedushi, the bandit Li, he had been implicated, stripped of his title, and passed away not long after from grief and illness.
Cui Yuanling had two sons and one daughter; both sons had been disqualified from taking the imperial examinations due to his actions, and today, they were present as commoners.
The third brother, Cui Yuanzhi, was a medical doctor in Dengzhou. He was an anomaly in the Cui family because he did not care for fame or status and was only obsessed with the medical arts, having studied under the grandson of Meng Shen, the founder of the Meng Yutang.
Speaking of which, Meng Jiasui of Ruzhou was considered a distant relative of his.
At this moment, Cui Yuanzhi was not present, and only his two young sons had come to join the crowd.
The head of the second branch was Cui You, who was in his seventies and had been a county magistrate of Wannian County in Chang’an before retiring.
He had two sons. The eldest, Cui Yuanyi, was a registrar in Huazhou. The second son, Cui Yuanli, served as a professor of law at the Imperial Academy.
Because the journey was long, neither had returned, so only Cui You brought a few grandsons to attend the rites.
The third branch was Cui Yun’s own, but because her grandfather, Cui Hao, had no offspring, her father had been adopted.
Now that her father had also passed away, she was the only descendant left in this branch. However, as a daughter, she was destined not to be recorded in the genealogy. Therefore, there had always been people in the clan who wanted to adopt another person into her father’s branch, though all had been blocked by Cui Yuanfeng.
At this ancestral gathering, with the Cui clan rarely reunited, someone could no longer hold back and bypassed Cui Yun to raise the matter of the adoption with Cui Yuanfeng once again.