Since that day, Shen Yuning had been traveling around various places in the Great Zhou, especially those small towns she had never heard of before. She visited these places most frequently. As she had expected, the large cities had responded to the imperial court's call and carried out the work of popularizing the law early on. However, the more remote the place was, the less supervision there was, and no one carried out the popularization work.
Shen Yuning's embroidery workshop was not originally opened for making money. Now, with the support of the imperial court, it was no longer an ordinary merchant business. The emperor even allowed the exemption of taxes for Shen's Embroidery Workshop, but Shen Yuning insisted on paying taxes, believing that she should start from herself and not add to the country's burden.
The Zhang family naturally followed Shen Yuning around. They got to see the great rivers and mountains of the Great Zhou, learned about the prosperous side of the country, and also saw those families that were even more miserable than their previous lives.
Xuan Zhi sent letters every month. The letters were all sent to Xitian Town, and then Zhang Mo from Xitian Town would forward them to Shen Yuning. It was normal for it to be more than a month before Shen Yuning received the letters.
However, Xuan Zhi's letters were nothing special. Generally, he would mention that the war had started and the brave and patriotic state of the soldiers of the Great Zhou. Occasionally, when there was no war, his letters would contain more descriptions of the scenery.
But when Shen Yuning thought about the terrain of Wuyun and the scene of the flying yellow sand all over the sky, it seemed that it had nothing to do with the budding willows described in Xuan Zhi's letters.
What was most regrettable was that Xuan Zhi never mentioned whether he was doing well recently or if he had been injured in his letters. Shen Yuning wanted to write to ask, but she didn't even know which centurion's tent Xuan Zhi was under. Xuan Zhi didn't mention it in his letters at all. So even though she wanted to send a letter, she couldn't.
Old Man Zhang was open - minded and comforted Shen Yuning, "Don't worry about him. That kid is very smart. Maybe he has become a centurion himself."
Shen Yuning had never thought about this. She just thought that Xuan Zhi probably hadn't stood out and was just an ordinary soldier, so he was too embarrassed to write and tell her.
This war had been going on intermittently for two years. The Great Zhou never gave in an inch, while the Yunfan tribe came back several times. Neither side was willing to admit defeat. The Great Ye Kingdom took the opportunity to harass several times, making the Great Zhou overwhelmed.
Perhaps because the battle line was too long, all three sides were very tired. For three consecutive months, there was no news of the resumption of the war.
Shen Yuning hadn't received a letter from Xuan Zhi for three months either.
As for Shen Fugui, he was worried about his younger sister's marriage. Now his younger sister was already twenty years old. There were a steady stream of matchmakers. Wherever they went, matchmakers would come up to inquire. Seeing that his sister was both beautiful and capable, many people wanted to marry her.
However, his sister was whole - heartedly focused on opening more shops, visiting more small towns, promoting the law code, and advocating the law that women were no less than men. She didn't care at all about marriage. When matchmakers came to the door, she didn't even take a look at them.
Shen Fugui sighed, "If this were in the previous dynasty, people would surely point fingers at me, saying that I've let you reach such an old age. What was that saying? If a woman isn't married by the age of twenty, her parents are guilty. Since you have no parents, it's naturally me, your elder brother, who is guilty."
Shen Yuning didn't care. She chuckled, "It's not the previous dynasty now. Women can hold up half the sky nowadays. There's no such thing as having to get married."
Weirui nodded repeatedly after hearing this, "Aunt is right. Moreover, my aunt is beautiful and rich. She has such a happy life. Why does she have to marry someone and serve him? If she meets in - laws who are difficult to get along with in the future, it will be even more of a hardship. Anyway, there's no rule that unmarried girls must become nuns in a temple."
Shen Fugui was so angry that he almost choked. He kept shouting that Shen Yuning didn't think about marriage and had led the niece astray.
Zhang Rong, who was standing aside, thought silently. After seeing so much following Shen Yuning, she deeply felt that having a man was not necessary. Especially when she saw those poor women in the mountains who were beaten by their husbands just because they couldn't give birth to a son and were scolded by the whole village, being called an infertile hen.
She looked at Huzi, who was playing with the cat, and was glad that she had given birth to a son. If she had given birth to a daughter and in the future the daughter didn't meet a kind - hearted man like Huzi's father, she would be heartbroken.
However, although Shen Fugui was angry and worried, he was the one who coaxed and drove away all the matchmakers who had sent invitations.
While driving them away, he grinned at Old Man Zhang, "Look at these people! A thirty - year - old widower with two children even has the nerve to ask my Yuning to be his second wife? He's daydreaming."
Old Man Zhang lifted his eyelids, "That man is a scholar. He thinks he has some abilities..."
Shen Fugui got even angrier and shouted, "A scholar also has the nerve to show off? Yuning is a county lady personally conferred by the emperor. Among those who proposed marriage to her, there are the master of the Wan family and the young master of the Chen family. Which one of them isn't outstanding? If Yuning doesn't take a fancy to such people, how could she take a fancy to a down - and - out scholar in the village?"
Old Man Zhang let him rant. In the past, when he heard that the master of the Wan family was extremely wealthy, he didn't really know how rich that was because he had no experience. Now, after traveling around with Yuning for two years and hearing the name of the Wan family many times, and knowing how extremely wealthy the Wan family was, his heart ached.
However, he had only met the master of the Wan family three or four times in the past two years. Each meeting was brief, and there was no time for a long conversation. Moreover, the master of the Wan family never mentioned anything about marrying Shen Yuning again. Thinking of this, although Old Man Zhang knew that it was impossible for the master of the Wan family and Shen Yuning to be together, he still felt a little stuffy in his heart when he thought about missing out on such a wealthy family.
The deep winter in the Northeast was extremely cold. Even with a charcoal fire burning in the room, it was still terribly cold. Shen Yuning, Zhang Rong, and Weirui curled up on the kang, while Old Man Zhang and Shen Fugui sat by the stove to warm themselves.
There was a snow disaster in the Northeast this year, and supplies were scarce. Many families couldn't even afford charcoal fire and couldn't heat the kang. To save charcoal, Shen Yuning didn't care about the details. The whole family huddled in one room. When it was time to go to bed, Old Man Zhang and Shen Fugui would go to the kang in the next room.
Weirui looked up and asked, "What exactly does the under - floor heating look like?"
Shen Yuning smiled, "It's a pipeline laid underground when building a house. When it gets cold, a boiler is used to burn charcoal. The heat then travels through the pipeline to each room, and the people in the room won't feel cold."
Huzi opened his eyes curiously, "Is it more comfortable than the kang?"
"In a house with under - floor heating, every part of the room is warm. People can walk around in single - layer clothes without having to huddle on the kang or stay by the charcoal fire."
Huzi's face was bright red, and his eyes were full of envy, "I also want to have under - floor heating..."
Shen Yuning stroked his head, "Xitian Town is in the South. It's not that cold in winter, so there's no need for under - floor heating."
Weirui quickly asked, "Aunt, you've lived in a house with under - floor heating before, right?"
Shen Yuning had a faint smile on her face, but her thoughts had flown far away. When she was a child in the capital, there was under - floor heating every cold winter. When she went out wearing a thick cloak and occasionally felt the cold outside, she even felt extremely refreshed.
At that time, she probably couldn't imagine why some poor people would freeze to death.
Now things were different. Those comfortable days with servants were long gone. Sometimes she was tired and felt hard - pressed, but more often she felt fulfilled.
Especially when she saw that her efforts had brought about a little change in the lives of the common people, that was the real sense of achievement she liked.
Outside, the heavy snow was falling like goose feathers. Shen Fugui frowned, "If this heavy snow continues, the roads will probably be blocked. Sigh, the common people's lives are already difficult. If this happens, the supplies sent from above won't be able to come, and everyone will have an even harder time."
Shen Yuning comforted him with a response, "It won't happen. Didn't the fortune - teller say yesterday that the snow will stop by tomorrow at most? Moreover, the government has already arranged for people in each town to use coarse salt to melt the snow to ensure the smoothness of the roads."
Even so, Shen Fugui still felt worried. What if the fortune - teller was wrong?
At this time, there was a pounding on the door. In such heavy snow, few people walked outside. He wondered who could be coming.
Shen Fugui wrapped his thick cotton - padded robe tightly before opening the door of the room. He walked all the way out and opened the courtyard gate. There he saw Zhang Dachun wearing a felt hat, pulling a mule into the courtyard.
"Dachun, why are you here?"
Zhang Dachun was in charge of several counties. He got married last year to the youngest daughter of a员外郎 who had bought his official title. He had been staying here to manage the business of the Rongchang Embroidery Workshop and the dyeing workshop. He was smart and capable. In the past few years, he had even learned to read and write. He was very diligent, which made Shen Yuning feel more at ease.
However, the fact that he had come in such a hurry today obviously meant that there was something important.
Shen Fugui helped Zhang Dachun pull the carriage in. After feeding the mule, he led him into the house. Zhang Dachun took off his outer robe, shook off the snow, and got rid of the cold before entering the inner room.
Zhang Dachun's face was purple from the cold, and he was shivering. After drinking a cup of hot tea and sitting in front of the fire for a while, he finally came to his senses. He undid the top button of his cotton - padded jacket and took a deep breath.
"Boss, I'm here to deliver bad news. Miss Cen is in trouble."
Shen Yuning looked up in surprise. Miss Cen and Xi'er were her most capable assistants. Miss Cen was guarding the Northeast, while Xi'er stayed in the South of the Yangtze River to manage the shops for her and promote the law against buying and selling women and children. Because they had both suffered deeply from such things, they were very hard - working in this regard.
Zhang Dachun said anxiously, "A group of people from a village joined hands to sue our embroidery workshop. They said that the embroidery workshop was using the guise of popularizing the law to deceive people. Now Miss Cen has been arrested. They said that the evidence is conclusive and that this matter involves a great deal. She will be escorted to the capital soon..."
He raised his eyes, looking concerned, "Boss, you can't escape this either. Before Miss Cen left, she asked someone to pass a message to me, saying that she would take all the blame. She told you to take good care of yourself and not to make others unhappy for her sake."