"How come you have free time to visit Mianyang?" Once they were seated and the maids had served fresh tea, Ye Ziâan finally asked.
Yang Qingtong replied, "Anyway, it will be several years before we can take the autumn examinations, and studying isnât urgent, so I came out to travel when I had the chance."
Old Yangâs mourning period hadnât ended, so they hadnât taken part in this yearâs autumn examinations, and naturally, they wouldnât be participating in next yearâs spring examinations either.
"Itâs better to take the exams a few years later. With ample time, you can prepare more. Once youâve finished studying the books, itâs good to travel. People always say that traveling thousands of miles is better than reading thousands of books."
"Yes, thatâs what I think too. Earlier this year, Big Brother went up north and even took a trip to the Capital City, only returning in October. Heâs gone home now, so itâs my turn to go out, as Big Brother says at least one of us should stay home."
Hearing that Yang Qingrui had been to the Capital City, Yang Chuxia couldnât help but ask, "Was he traveling for fun? How come I never heard anything about it in his letters?"
"He went with several classmates," Yang Qingtong said with a smile. "He didnât tell you because he didnât want you to worry. He arrived in the Capital City in March and coincidentally attended Brother Shaolingâs wedding. Afterward, he even traveled to the Northeast."
"Ah, he even made it to Mu Shaolingâs wedding?"
Mu Shaoling did indeed get married to the Commandery Princess Dongyang in March.
There were no mishaps this time.
However, before that, the concubine entered the household ahead of time, and itâs said she later gave birth to a daughter. Mu Shaoling jokingly wrote, asking if she wanted to arrange a child betrothal, but she dismissed the idea with a comment that a sonâs wife couldnât be born of a mistress.
"Hmm, nobody said anything about his trip, but when he was in the Capital City, he happened to encounter an incident and was seen by Uncle Old Mu. Apparently, Divine Doctor Mu found out about it afterward."
When mentioning that incident, Yang Qingtongâs face darkened a bit.
Seeing this, Yang Chuxia couldnât help but ask a few more questions, "What? By your expression, it seems Qingrui didnât encounter anything good in the Capital City?"
Tsk tsk! As Yang Qingtong shook his head, he said, "You can ask Brother yourself when you see him. I only heard a few words from him, about encountering some girls forcing another girl to kneel on the street. They spoke up when they saw it, and then those people wanted to beat them up. He didnât tell me the specifics."
It upset him that a few girls were publicly mistreating another girl. That was too arrogant.
Hearing this, Yang Chuxia didnât say much more. Boys will be boys, and itâs quite common for young men to stand up for justice when they encounter situations like this.
Ye Ziâan, however, had a couple of words to say about the incident.
"In the Capital City, you could bump into someone who is the vegetable vendor for a third-rank officialâs family. If you encounter such a situation again, go straight to the government office. Those girls must be so bold due to their high family status. Be careful in handling such matters; donât get yourself involved."
"I know, brother-in-law."
Yang Qingtong was visiting for the first time, so Yang Chuxia prepared some local Mianyang specialties that night to welcome him.
It had been a long time since the siblings had seen each other, and naturally, they had a lot to talk about. After dinner, they chatted for a while before going their separate ways.
Probably because Yang Qingtong knew she was worried about home, he gave her a general update on the household.
About Yang Xiaochuanâs second concubine, who was now pregnant for several months and expected to have a boy, which left Yang Xiaochuan overjoyed.
He also mentioned that Ms. Hong had gotten pregnant recently, and as for their kind fourth aunt, she had become the housekeeper for the two concubines, busy serving one after the other daily at home.