The man sitting in front had his husband accompanying him, and Ye Suijin left again. So the Fourth Madam hurried to the back to see her daughter-in-law, asking what she and Ye Suijin had talked about and whether anything had happened.
Since Tong Niang got along well with her mother-in-law, she whispered some gossip: "Sixth Madam is more amiable than I thought."
The Fourth Madam also had the same feeling.
Given the past between their family and Ye Suijin, now that her husband and son had to rely on Ye Suijin, it was really giving their family a lot of face that Ye Suijin personally came to see her daughter-in-law during the Lunar New Year.
Tong Niang laughed and said, "She even touched my belly, feeling the baby's movements were very interesting."
Having been a mother once before, Tong Niang knew well the feeling of experiencing fetal movements for the first time. What she had previously seen in Ye Suijin's eyes was a woman's first experience - surprise, awe of life, and indescribable poignancy.
She said, "Speaking of which, Sixth Sister's husband has been away for quite a while. Our family is not short of people. We really should send someone to take turns with him to come back. It's not good for couples to be apart for too long. Now that Sixth Madam is so distinguished, she only lacks a child. It's time to pay more attention to this."
But when she looked up, she saw an odd expression on her mother-in-law's face, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Tong Niang was taken aback and softly asked, "Mother, what's wrong?"
The Fourth Madam looked around, waved to dismiss the maids, leaned in and said, "Let me tell you in secret, don't tell anyone else."
Tong Niang nodded and listened attentively.
The Fourth Madam lowered her voice, "Sixth Madam, she...she can't have children anymore..."
The Fourth Madam still remembered what had happened that day.
When her husband and son came back, they both looked very gloomy. As a woman, she shouldn't interfere in clan affairs, but with something so important, the Fourth Madam couldn't just not ask about it at all.
The Third Son said, "From now on, Sixth Madam is in charge of the household."
People have different positions.
For Ye Chong, the struggle over clan assets was more about preserving the family business rather than changing surnames. This was a bottom line that many men could not cross.
But for the Fourth Madam, it was for the sake of her sons. Yet both of her silly sons did not support their father. As their mother, she didn't need to play the villain.
She was very open-minded. If they won, she would give Sixth Madam more dowry. If they lost, it was fate. Who made Sixth Madam so capable?
It was understandable. She also had a natal family. If clan relatives took over her natal family’s property, although there were no issues in etiquette and law, she would still feel upset in her heart.
Moreover, her own family was not poor either, and her sons had assets to divide as well.
People who can let go can live a carefree life.
But her husband tossed and turned in bed that night unable to sleep.
She thought it was because he lost the struggle over clan assets. After comforting him with a few words, he gloomily said, "It's not about that..."
After repeated questioning, he told the truth.
In front of the elders, Ye Suijin drank a bowl of strong medicine and smashed the bowl!
It was settled.
The Fourth Madam was so shocked that she sat up, "Sixth Madam... Sixth Madam is just too..."
The man turned over to face the other side, showing her his broad back.
"I did nothing wrong," he mumbled. "If she gave birth to a child to inherit Ye Family Fort, sooner or later Ye Family Fort would change surnames. In three generations, our children would all be collateral branches, the main lineage would be a different surname. Who could still control it... I did nothing wrong."
The Fourth Madam didn't dare say anything more.
The next day she quietly asked her eldest son.
The Third Son said, "You just need to know about this. Don't tell anyone else."
The Fourth Madam: "Okay."
The Third Son said, "Not Uncle's family either."
The Fourth Madam: "Okay..."
The Third Son said, "I'm telling you upfront, but if I hear anyone from Uncle's family gossiping, I'll hit them one by one. If it's a woman, I'll have Sixth Madam's maids go hit them."
Ye Suijin's maids knew some martial arts.
The Fourth Madam was annoyed, "I know, I won't say anything!"
Others praised her eldest son for being honest and steady, only she as his mother knew that once this fool made up his mind, it was set in stone.
If he said he would hit people, he really would hit people.
For the sake of peace in her natal family, the Fourth Madam held her tongue.
She was angry.
She held it in until now. She had almost forgotten about it. But when Tong Niang suddenly brought it up, she couldn't hold back. This was not someone else, but her own daughter-in-law.
The Third Son certainly wouldn't hit his own wife.
So she told her.
Tong Niang was shocked to hear this.
"Sixth Madam is just too..." she murmured.
"I know, right? That's what I said too..." The Fourth Madam felt a sadness in her heart.
She quickly admonished, "But don't mention it, okay? Neither of them want to hear about this. And don't tell anyone else either."
Ye Suijin's reputation in Deng Prefecture now, everyone feared her.
Tong Niang shrank back a little. She was pregnant this year so of course she couldn't go back to her natal family.
But now that she was the daughter-in-law of the Vice Prefect of Deng Prefecture, her status rose along with the Ye family. Her natal family came to see her very often now.
When her mother came, they talked about the child, the Third Son, Ye Suijin. Tong Niang couldn't help but secretly told her mother.
Her mother's eyes widened in shock.
After Tong Niang finished speaking, she regretted it immediately. She urgently admonished her mother, "You must not tell anyone else. If Grandfather and Third Brother know, they will definitely be angry. Sixth Sister... is not someone to be gossiped about behind her back."
Ye Suijin's reputation in Deng Prefecture now, no one dared provoke her.
Tong Niang's mother shrank back, but because of her older age, she was more mature. She in turn admonished her daughter, "You can't talk about this anymore either. Don't let this make Third Son angry with you."
Tong Niang already regretted it. But it wasn’t like she could cut off her mother’s ears and dig the words she heard out of her brain.
Fortunately her mother was not gossipy.
But her mother reached out and gently stroked her belly, a gleam in her eyes.
"Since this is the case," she said softly to her daughter, "you must...give birth to a son."
The unspoken meaning was deep and profound.
Tong Niang was stunned.
After the new year holiday, the yamen reopened and everything returned to normal.
Military training naturally continued. The refugees who couldn’t endure the winter, and new arrivals to Deng Prefecture, were recruited in another batch.
The new refugees brought news from the north. The remnants of the false Liang kingdom were obviously declining. The Jin Kingdom in the north seemed stable.
Since Ye Suijin said to "take it slow", she entered an adjustment stage.
Prior to this, her rapid advance to Tang Prefecture, many personnel arrangements in the two prefectures were temporary. Now they all needed to be adjusted.
Zhou Junhua returned after the new year holiday from Shangma. There were very noticeable scratch marks on his face and neck. Because they were so obvious, he couldn’t hide them.
Everyone looked at him, "What happened here?"
Zhou Junhua was evasive, at one point saying "scratched by a cat", at another point saying "a flower rack fell over".
He came back first, returning after the fifteenth. At the end of the first month, Ye Seventh Uncle also came back.
The transition in Shangma went smoothly. He Chuan was an officialdom veteran with extensive experience governing counties. Backed by the Ye family army, everything went very smoothly.
With the land and population registers clarified, the atmosphere was renewed.
So he rotated back.
Of course no one believed what Zhou Junhua said.
Men were just as curious about such things as women. They naturally all went to ask Ye Seventh Uncle.
Ye Seventh Uncle chuckled.
The Ninth Son and Tenth Son rushed to tell Ye Suijin, "Hurry and guess what happened!"
Ye Suijin raised her eyelids, "Fighting over wife status?"
The Tenth Son said, "You already know! Did Jin tell you?"
Ye Suijin's mouth twitched. She said, "His mess was just an expedient measure given the circumstances back then. In troubled times, no one criticized him for being a bandit. Now that it's peaceful, he's an official. Of course the four families of Ge must fight it out."
In chaotic times and collapsed rituals and music, all kinds of inconceivable disorder happened. No one jumped out to denounce this or that.
But once the world stabilized, many people suddenly seemed to have learned to speak, and started talking. Or they suddenly learned etiquette and started caring about etiquette.
So this was wrong, that was wrong.
The Empress has great accomplishments, so reward her maternal family with silver, land and property. But how could she also sit on the golden throne, equal with the Emperor?
Similarly, according to etiquette, Zhou Junhua could not have four formal wives. One wife and three concubines was proper.
The Ninth Son said, "Sister, then guess, who became the formal wife in the end?"
Ye Suijin said, "The Zhang family?"
Back then when they entered the city, they were welcomed into the Zhang family residence. Although the four families were similar, the Zhang family seemed a bit wealthier. Their residence was the best in the county seat.
The Tenth Son laughed loudly, "You guessed wrong, Sister!"
Ye Suijin: "Oh?"
The Ninth Son said, "It was the Qian family daughter who became formal wife."
Ye Suijin recalled the four old fathers-in-law in Shangma. The Qian family one looked rather honest, didn't talk much, and seemed weaker financially, sitting in the last seat.
"How so?" She also had the same train of thought as most people, "Is the Qian family daughter especially good-looking? Or did she give birth to a son?"
Ninth Son and Tenth Son both asked: “What makes her so special that even Cloud Flyer wants her?"
"It's not that," Duan Jin came in at this time.
"Oh, you know about it too?" Tenth Son put his arm around his shoulder, "If you know, tell us quickly."
Duan Jin said: "It's because you two walked away too fast just now."
He told Ye Suijin: "I asked Elder Zhou, it's because Miss Qian is the only real Miss Qian."
Ninth Son and Tenth Son were confused.
Ye Suijin immediately understood and said: "Cloud Flyer is in his right mind."
In turbulent times, adopted daughters and sisters were ubiquitous, each serving their own purposes.
At the time, the four families, in order to stabilize Zhou Junhua, and also afraid of him favoring one family which would then take advantage to oppress the other families, each gave him a daughter.
Among them, only Elder Qian honestly handed over his own daughter.
The other three were a maid from the household, a poor girl from the same clan, and an orphaned girl who was residing there.
Zhou Junhua married them all, and they seemed no different in daily life. But when it came to this time, he had his own preferences in his heart.
Ignoring the crying and clawing of the other three, he decided to make the Qian family's daughter his primary wife.
Ye Qi Shu returned from battle, and Ye Eighth Uncle also resigned from his position as Prefect of Neixiang County.
Sun Xiangxue had been the Prefect of Ruan County for too long, so Ye Suijin moved him to Neixiang.
The new Prefect of Ruan County was none other than Twelfth Sister's teacher, Mr. Chen. He had been in Ye Family Fort for many years, previously helping to manage the farms and handle various disputes and lawsuits.
Now ascending with the wind, he was envied by many.
Ye Fifth Uncle was still at Tangbei Fort.
The fort rebuilding had not been completed yet. With the coldest days of winter, construction had halted and would continue after the new year when it became warmer.
But Biyang had sent a large number of laborers, so it was expected to be completed soon.
Tangbei Fort was a military base, so Ye Suijin attached great importance to it.
After some personnel changes in Deng Prefecture, Ye Suijin officially moved her administration from Ye Family Fort to Biyang City.
On the Tang Prefecture side, Fang Chengling was Qin Huaru. He rose from the county clerk and had done well in Fang City. He was able to properly handle the refugee affairs. The new households and commoners, with relief to get through the winter, were gradually settling down.
Shangma Huzhou was getting old and there was no need to worry about him.
Ye Suijin quite liked Yuan Ling of Ci Qiu. She rarely liked any literary man, so she transferred Yuan Ling to Biyang City. Biyang was a county under the Governor, so Yuan Ling took over responsibility for the livelihood, justice, taxes and grain.
There were some differences between large cities and small counties. In a small county, the county magistrate with several yamen runners could maintain order. In large cities, there were also Patrol Commanders, with military outposts to control security.
But for Yuan Ling, moving from a small county to a big city was undoubtedly a promotion.
Tongbai was left unchanged for now. Pingshi was originally under Tongbai, but Ye Suijin made it into a county.
She also split Xinye from Ruan County, combined it with Huyang on the Tang Prefecture side, and made that into a county as well.
This freed up many new positions.
Recruiting talents, many people eagerly recommended themselves.
Soon, it was February.
She called Qiu Sheng: "Go to Hekou for a trip."
It was necessary to go frequently, so that with someone from her side going there, Zhao Jingwen would not need to send people here.
Otherwise, if Zhao Jingwen knew of the current situation in Deng Prefecture, with his ability to assess the times, Ye Suijin was really worried that he would come running back in a frenzy.
That would not do!
