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Once anything was found to contradict the facts, it would be punishable under criminal law.

Zhou Sanfeng had never imagined that before he could even speak, his mother would summon them to discuss dividing the household. It was all because Zhou Liufeng felt his eldest brother would drag his family down. If his eldest brother died of his illness, he would have to support Zhou Wenshu for three years with nothing in return, and the thought had him frantic.

After all, once one passed the examination to become a xiucai, pursuing the juren degree was an even more expensive, drawn-out battle.

The Zhou family sat gathered in the main room, listening to the old lady announce the division of the household. Her opening reasons were laughable, but before anyone could laugh, they were infuriated.

Grandmother Zhou said, "We won't divide the family fields just yet. Once Sixth passes the xiucai examination next year, all the taxes can be waived, so we'll put the fields under his name for now."

Zhou's Eldest Daughter-in-Law was too anxious to stay seated. She stood and immediately said, "Putting them under my son's name would be just the same. There's no need to trouble Sixth Brother. He spends all day in his study. What would he know about the fields?"

"You make it sound as though Wenshu doesn't spend his time in the study! Besides, my husband is his elder-Wenshu's uncle, at that. With an elder here, why would we put them under a junior's name?" Zhou's Sixth Daughter-in-Law had a sharp tongue too.

Zhou Jinian leaned comfortably against his chair, his legs crossed as he sipped his tea. What a show. What a show!

Ultimately, it took a man in charge of the household to put an end to the battlefield between the sisters-in-law.

Zhou Sifeng was fairly reasonable. "Mother, let's just divide them. Eldest Brother is ill, Third Brother has trouble getting around, and Sixth Brother barely has enough time to study. I'll still be the one running around the fields. If anything comes up, I can take the deed and settle it myself, without disturbing their studies."

They argued back and forth, each branch with its own ideas, but on one point they agreed: now that dividing the household had been brought up, they all supported it.

Zhou Sanfeng and his husband did not join the discussion. Their family could no longer farm anyway, and they were moving to town. Zhou Jinian only listened, growing impatient inwardly, until he turned to look at his little husband.

Xie Ning and Rong-ge'er were sitting on the threshold, nestled together with their heads bent over the stones they were playing with on the ground. The two of them never had a turn to speak in the adults' discussions in the main room.

The two young ger huddled together. Xie Ning wore a thin hemp garment, his figure small and slender from behind. The hands touching the stones were fair and delicate, and Zhou Jinian found himself missing the coolness of his touch.

Under the shrewd guidance of the eldest and sixth branches, the household was divided perfectly evenly, with no branch losing out! As for the old lady, she asked to live with her sixth son. The other branches only needed to hand over grain and money to the sixth branch each month.

Once the Zhou household split, gossip spread through the village, all of it condemning Zhou Liufeng. His own eldest brother was bedridden with illness, yet all he could think of was dividing the household! Such an unfilial, unkind person was not someone to associate with.

Things truly went smoothly for Third Zhou's family. Not only did they avoid every danger, but even when they encountered thorny problems, someone else would speak up and get things done for them. Tell me, was that smooth sailing or not?

Xie Ning first made fish buns. The filling was delicious, but the fish released water, leaving the wrappers a mess after steaming. A failure.

The next day, he made pan-fried dumplings. Fish was already an expensive ingredient, and frying used up oil too. The dumplings also had to be freshly fried to taste good. A failure.

On the third day, he made fish wontons. Xie Ning deboned the fish, minced it into a paste with ginger, then sprinkled in scallions and salt and mixed it evenly. Beside him, Lin Jin rolled out wrappers slightly thinner than dumpling wrappers and began wrapping wontons.

A small lump of fish paste went into a wrapper, then a squeeze of the fist sealed it into a little fish wonton.

Served with broth simmered from fish heads, the soup was savory and the filling tender.

Xie Ning carried a bowl of freshly cooked little wontons back to their room. "Jinian!"

Zhou Jinian quickly set down his brush and took the bowl. "That's hot. Let me see your hands."

He took them and saw that the fingertips were red, more severely so than an ordinary person's would have been from the heat. He led Xie Ning over and lowered his hands into the bathing tub to soak, coaxing him, "Use a tray to carry it next time. Does it hurt?"

"Hurry and taste them. How do mine compare to the big restaurant's?" Xie Ning rubbed his hands together in the water.

Before his eyes, Zhou Jinian scooped up a wonton. The fish was fresh and tender, complemented by minced ginger, and one bite warmed his stomach considerably.

"Delicious. Ninglang is a fine cook," Zhou Jinian praised.

Xie Ning got carried away with delight. "Someday I'll open a big restaurant too, and let more-"

Zhou Jinian put down the bowl, walked over to Xie Ning, and asked, "You want to go into business?"

Only then did Xie Ning come to his senses. His delight vanished in an instant, and he grew a little uneasy, his brows drawing together slightly as his peach-blossom eyes gazed innocently at Zhou Jinian.

"Do you disapprove?" After all, his husband was a scholar.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Jinian merely pinched his earlobe and said in a low voice, "If you like it, go ahead. I'll always be behind you, protecting you."

"But aren't you afraid people will look down on you?" Xie Ning asked, squeezing his fingers beneath the water.

"Our forebears said, 'Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, the four classes, are the cornerstone of the state.' It means those four classes are indispensable foundations of a dynasty. Our dynasty promotes agriculture and restrains commerce to curb those who care for nothing but profit, and looks down on unscrupulous merchants who disregard morality for gain."

Xie Ning loved listening to his husband explain such principles. He had never attended school himself, so he admired Zhou Jinian for being a scholar. "Then what should merchants be like?"

Zhou Jinian fetched a handkerchief to dry Xie Ning's hands. Hearing his little husband's question, he simply drew him over to sit together and carefully taught him the principles of conducting himself and doing business.

"You mustn't engage in business that harms the country and its people, nor resort to fraud and scheming. A merchant's value lies in creating jobs for workers, bringing convenience to ordinary people's lives, and diligently paying taxes to enrich our dynasty's treasury."

Yet the current dynasty still heavily suppressed merchants. Even Xie Ning, a villager from Great Well Village, often saw villagers waving hoes and gnawing on dry buns while looking down on merchants who feasted on fish and meat.

Even that evening, after washing up, Xie Ning was still curled up in the bathing tub, calling, "Jinian, I want to hear more stories..."

Dressed only in his inner robes, Zhou Jinian lay on the bed and asked softly, "What else would you like to hear?"

"Tofu Xishi. Did her husband place highly in the examinations?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll sell wontons to support my husband too!"

"Hmm?" Zhou Jinian sat up. He had told Xie Ning about Tofu Xishi only to let Ninglang know that doing business would not affect his own pursuit of the imperial examinations. How had it turned into this?