Qin Yao looked at the happy crowd and finally realized what kind of bittersweet emotion was arising in her heart.

It was the inherent closeness brought about by shared family ties, urging her to move closer to someone who shared the same blood.

However, since they were siblings, accounts had to be clearly settled.

Qin Yao coughed twice, pulling the joyful Qin Feng back to reality from his fantasy, and asked him how much silver he spent to manage Bai He’s subordinates last night.

Qin Feng replied displeased, "We are siblings, why bother mentioning such trivial matters."

Qin Yao took out the money notes she had prepared in advance from her breast pocket and spoke calmly, "Siblings must settle accounts clearly."

Seeing her seriousness, Qin Feng sighed, "Fine, I’ll ask Uncle Qi."

After a while, he returned with a slightly annoyed expression and told her, "Altogether, two hundred taels of silver were spent."

Qin Yao was satisfied and handed him two money notes worth one hundred taels each, with a smile.

Qin Feng’s face darkened, and he didn’t immediately accept the money notes. He suggested a condition, "Take the golden hairpin, and then I’ll accept your money notes."

"Besides, not all of yesterday’s expenditures were for you. I also wanted to avoid trouble for the caravan, so I chose to spend money to prevent disaster. Let’s split it half and half."

Seeing Qin Yao dangerously squinting her eyes, Qin Feng wasn’t afraid, perhaps confidently betting that she’d kill her husband but not her brother. He inexplicably felt a sense of confidence and continued to argue with her.

"If we’re really going to settle accounts clearly according to your suggestion, we should start from Wildcat Village. Although I’ve covered the expenses of food and accommodation along the way, you and Ah Wang and Miss Le have also helped the caravan a lot. On that day in the Daoist Temple, you even saved my life. Calculating this way, I should actually give you silver."

"Isn’t my life worth a few thousand taels of silver as Mr. Qin? Let’s say five thousand taels, five thousand minus one hundred, then am I not supposed to owe you four thousand nine hundred taels?"

Qin Feng’s calculation made Liu Ji’s eyes light up, and he raised his thumb, sincerely praising, "Brother-in-law, what a great calculation!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the siblings shouted at him in unison, "Shut up!"

Liu Ji: "..."

So fierce! Better not provoke them.

He quickly called over four children, taking advantage of the opportunity to slip away under the guise of inspection to avoid getting caught up in the siblings’ crossfire.

As soon as Liu Ji left, the siblings resumed staring at each other, until Qin Yao’s eyes began to ache and Qin Feng was teary-eyed. They each took a step back and reached an agreement.

Qin Yao: "Take the money."

Qin Feng: "Alright, take the hairpin too."

Qin Yao: "It’s settled then!" She considered it as spending two hundred taels of silver to buy a golden hairpin. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The siblings exchanged money and goods, and Qin Feng made a small request, "We are not short of money at home. I’ll get you a set of jewelry. Your outfit looks a bit shabby. It’s heart-wrenching for me to see."

Qin Yao increased her volume, "What did you say? Who’s shabby?"

Qin Feng: "I’m shabby, forget I ever said that."

He raised his hand mimicking sealing his lips and decisively darted away.

He was sure she wouldn’t kill him, but he couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t hit him. Better to leave.

At the staircase, he peeked his head out and weakly asked Qin Yao in the hall, "Why didn’t you call me brother today?" He had prepared a change of address red envelope for her.

She turned around, murderous intent in her eyes, causing Qin Feng to duck back immediately, choosing to give up.

Forget it, she still needed time. Give her more time, and eventually she would call him brother.

In the evening, the rain stopped. Seeing the clouds retreat in the sky, Qin Yao and Qin Feng decided to let the road dry until tomorrow morning. After lunch, they would continue their journey.

Fortunately, the next morning was cloudy but rainless.

At noon, after a simple lunch, the two families set off once again.

The road was muddy, but fortunately wide, so it wasn’t particularly difficult. Even if the carriage occasionally got stuck in the mud, with strong Qin Yao around, it could be rescued within minutes, and the journey proceeded fairly quickly.

They rested overnight at a small town, and traveled north again the next day, eventually leaving Qingzhou’s boundary.

From a high point, they gazed into the distance. The outline of the necessary checkpoint to enter the Capital City, Nan Lou Pass, could already be seen.

Qin Feng said, "One more day of travel and if the weather is good, we might reach Nan Lou Pass at dusk. With luck, we can pass through before it closes and rest at the Nine Springs Inn there."

"From Nan Lou Pass, it’s just a two-hour journey to the Capital City."

The children looked happily at their parents, while Qin Yao and Liu Ji exchanged a glance, their hearts full of excitement.

Liu Ji calculated in his mind that it had already been fifteen days since they left home.

With another two days to the Capital City, the entire journey would be seventeen days, only two days longer than Liu Fei’s arrival by boat.

"I wonder how the teacher is doing now?" Liu Ji mused aloud while cooking dinner during a forest camp.

Being too involved to see clearly, Qin Yao recalled Bai He’s stable condition when she saw him earlier, and reasoned, "He hasn’t met with any serious trouble, otherwise Bai He would not have been so calm when meeting us."

In other words, he’s definitely still alive.

And as they approached the Capital City, news about it increased. The most discussed topics among merchants coming from the north included the scandals of the State Preceptor and the Princess but had nothing related to Confucian Scholars, scholars, or Gongliang Liao.

Liu Ji breathed a sigh of relief, trusting his wife. If she said there was no issue, then surely there was none.

However...

"What’s up with the Princess and the State Preceptor?" Liu Ji asked curiously, holding a ladle as the soul of gossip burned within him.

Qin Yao thought it would be more prudent to keep Liu Ji out of such gossip for his own longevity, so she glared at him, "Go back to cooking. These noble affairs are not for ordinary people like us to discuss."

Liu Ji retreated to the stove, grumbling, "There’s no one else here, so just tell me..."

As Qin Yao put on a stern face, Liu Ji feared getting his first beat-down from his brother-in-law and stopped his thoughts.

With an uneventful night, at dawn the next day, everyone headed toward Nan Lou Pass, not pausing for lunch to ensure they’d arrive before dusk.

The children were too excited to complain, even while being jostled until their behinds were almost in three pieces. The group hurriedly made its way and reached Nan Lou Pass by the late afternoon.

Passing through wasn’t hard for Qin Yao’s family of eight. The only issue was Qin Yao’s weapon, but after explaining its origin, thanks to Qin Feng’s arrangements, there was no trouble, and she passed smoothly.

In fact, Qin Yao was most worried not about her weapon at this pass, but Ah Wang’s identity.

Luckily, the soldiers stationed at the pass didn’t thoroughly check the servants, allowing Ah Wang to pass smoothly.

In comparison, the caravan faced more difficulties, so Qin Feng sent someone with Qin Yao’s family to arrange accommodations first, while he stayed behind to wait for the caravan to complete formalities before joining them at the inn.

Notably, the commanding officer at Nan Lou Pass was a stout and robust woman. Seeing Qin Yao with weapons, she personally came down to take a turn and glanced at Qin Yao twice.

The look in her eyes made Liu Ji suspect she might want to steal his wife away at any moment.

They hadn’t even entered the Capital yet, and he already felt how much people would vie for his wife.