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  As soon as they got on the car, Zhu Yucheng saw that Chu Kei was a bit down in the dumps and smiled: "I guess only a new bride who goes out on the second day of her marriage would look like this."

  Chu Ke smiled reluctantly, feeling a bit apologetic towards him. Having just gotten married, she couldn't bring herself to smile, and said in a low voice: "Seeing Mother and Brother safe and sound... I can finally rest assured."

  Zhu Yicheng nodded and stretched out his hand to pull her into his arms, saying in a low voice, "They will definitely be safe."

  "I don't know how Blue Nine is doing, at that time I didn't even have the energy to care... nor do I know how Brother arranged for her, whether it was troublesome or not..." Chu Kei said shaking his head, and then he knocked on his own head again, looking up with a smile at Zhu Yu Xun and emphasized once more: "As long as Mother and Brother are safe and sound, I won't care about anything else! I will definitely be happy!"

  Zhu Yichan smiled and nodded: "Mm." He reached out to touch her face, gently leaned in and kissed her lips, whispering softly: "I also hope they can be safe and sound."

  Coming out of Shuozhou City, heading east for about ten miles or so, after two quarters of an hour, I arrived at Yulin. This place is indeed as its name suggests, a very elegant place. When passing through other towns, they are all bustling and noisy, but when I came here, it suddenly became quiet, with a thin river winding between the villages, stretching far into the distance.

  The carter stopped the horse cart at the entrance of the town and went to ask the tea stall owner at the entrance how to get to Qingyuan. The people in the town enthusiastically gave them directions. The carter thanked them and came over to continue driving the horse cart inward, walking to the west side of the town. The road ahead was narrow and could not be passed through.

  Zhu Yichan supported Chu Keqi down from the carriage, and the two of them walked towards the inner courtyard. In the distance, a patch of buildings appeared, with water flowing out from the garden, surrounded by willow trees that had grown tall, but now only had bare branches, yet still presented a unique winter scene.

  As I drew closer, the high and low roofs of the houses in the courtyard emerged from behind the trees, with a high white wall on top of which was laid out dark green glazed tiles, presenting a picturesque scene of small bridges and flowing water.

  Chu Xue arrived here, saw this courtyard, and let out a sigh of relief! She had been worried all along, thinking that Zhu Yuhuan was hiding in the countryside, she always thought of a rural place she had seen before, with muddy roads, low thatched cottages, every house was dark and gloomy, people would often be buried under snow during winter...

  The courtyard I see now is in no way inferior to those houses in the city. It even has a quiet and peaceful atmosphere that this city doesn't have, she's finally at ease.

  "Qingyuan, what a elegant name." Zhu Yichen said with some concern: "Looking around, the people living here should also be city folks. The other courtyard is on this side...this is also unsettling?"

  He said this, Chu Keji immediately became worried and said: "Quickly knock on the door and go in to take a look."

  Zhu Yichen pulled her around in a half circle and arrived at the gate, where the vermilion-painted door was tightly closed. Zhu Yichen went up to pat the door ring, and from inside came a voice asking, "Who is it?" The door opened, and a servant wearing a blue cloth hat came out. Seeing the two of them, he hesitated for a moment, then smiled and asked, "Which one of you is looking for someone?"

  Zhu Yichan paused for a moment and asked: "Is there... is there a Mrs. Liu here?"

  The man below laughed and shook his head: "No, you've got it wrong."

  As she was about to close the door, Chu Kei hastily shook Zhu Yuxuan's hand: "Did we find the wrong place?"

  Zhu Yichan hastily stopped the servant who was about to close the door, smiling and saying: "Please trouble yourself to go in and report to the master, it was he who sent a message yesterday, that's how we found this place."

  The man's face suddenly cleared up and he exclaimed in surprise: "Wasn't it said that you wouldn't arrive until four or five days later... What is your noble surname, sir?"

  "My surname is Zhu."

  "The servant hastily said: 'Young master and madam, please wait for a moment, let me go in and report.'"

  Zhu Yichen nodded, and the servant closed the door, then barricaded it from the inside, after which the sound of footsteps could be heard rushing in.

  Zhu Yuheng turned his head to look at Chu Ke, who had relaxed his expression, and smiled: "If Yuheng didn't write it wrong, it should be here. They're just being cautious..."

  Chu Ke nodded: "Be more cautious... but if this is really a villa for city people, it's definitely not safe."

  "Ask him in a minute."

  As they were speaking, there was a sudden sound of footsteps inside, followed by the creaking of the door as it opened from within. Zhu Yuhuan walked out with a smile on his face.

  "Hurray!"

  "Brother!"

  Two people shouted at the same time. Zhu Yuhuan was also laughing and saying: "How did you guys come today?! I thought, newlyweds should at least spend a few days together!"

  Zhu Yichan smiled and said: "Ke'er is worried!"

  Zhu Yuhuan took the lead and put his arms around both of them, one on each side: "Let's go, let's go, talk inside!" He led them into the courtyard with his arms still around them.

  The temple is still a world of its own, with buildings rising one after another, windows bright and clean. Upon entering, there is a large open space, where the small river flows through, with a stone arch bridge above it. On the opposite side of the open space stands a large courtyard, which should be the main house, surrounded by corridors on both sides, at the end of which can be seen the faint outline of artificial hills and lush trees.

  Zhu Yuheng was shocked: "Yuheng, when did you build this courtyard? I didn't even know?!"

  Zhu Yuhuan smiled with satisfaction: "It was built early on, at that time I didn't know what Ke'er thought, afraid of saying something sad."

  Chu Ke looked around and asked: "Brother, are mother and everyone together? Is everything okay?"

  "No big deal, what's the matter? Let's swagger out of Beijing!" Zhu Yuhuan smiled and looked like he was in high spirits, neither fat nor thin, without a hint of fatigue or...

  Chu Ke'er turned her head sideways and looked at him, just as someone in front shouted: "Ke'er!"

  She looked up and saw a lady in a large red satin silk dress walking out of the big courtyard in front, surrounded by several maidservants, who was her mother Liu Luo Su.

  She hastily rushed a few steps forward: "Mother! It's great that everyone is fine!"

  Willow's face was filled with joy, Chu Ke'er had never seen her look so young, as if she had shed a decade or so, with a relaxed and open smile on her face, looking carefree from head to toe. She hurried over to grab her, sizing her up quickly, muttering: "Why do you look like you're not feeling well? Your complexion is so pale!"

  Zhu Yuhuan heard it from behind, and immediately smiled and leaned into Zhu Yu's ear to make a joke. Zhu Yu's face suddenly turned red, and he quickly explained in a low voice: "It's because... the girls were frowning when they came!"

  Zhu Yuhuan smiled with a "heh heh heh".

  Chu Ke's heart was finally at ease, and the worries and anxieties of these past few days had all turned into joy. Smiling, she supported her mother as they walked towards the courtyard, looking around in all directions: "This courtyard looks quite large."

  Liu Luo Su turned around and said in a low voice: "Why did you come today? It would be better to go back home and come again another day!"

  "Don't worry!"

  "Look, by the way, how's Yu Chen's injury?"

  "It's all right." Chu Ke said in order to avoid her worrying.

  Smiling as they entered the house, Chu Ke and Zhu Yuxuan solemnly paid their respects to Liu Luosu, with Zhu Yuxuan changing his address to "Mother-in-law".

  Liu Su had always liked this nephew and hoped that his daughter would marry him. Now that he has fulfilled his wish, he is overjoyed and can't close his mouth.

  Zhu Yichen and Chu Keqi gave Zhu Yixuan a solemn salute.

  When she got up and sat down again, while the maid was serving tea, Chu Keji carefully observed that the servants waiting on them were all very polite and didn't seem like they had just been bought.

  After a while, a familiar figure came in from outside. It was actually Yu Feng! She walked up to Chu Ke with a smile and greeted her, and Chu Ke exclaimed in surprise: "Yu Feng! You've come too?"

  Yu Feng smiled and hastily replied: "My parents, brothers and sisters are all here with Fifth Master."

  Zhu Yuhuan smiled and nodded: "Everyone here is a servant of the Duke's mansion, I got rid of Yu Feng and his family a long time ago, they help me take care of the yard." He smiled and said: "Without them, this yard wouldn't have been built yet! It took more than two years!"

  Zhu Yichan shook his head: "More than two years, and you haven't told me?!"

  Zhu Yuhuan smiled and said: "Can't be together! If my sister marries someone else, I'll sell the yard and follow her to another place, what's the point of staying here?!"

  Zhu Yichan shook his head, not daring to respond. After all, he was newly married and feared that Zhu Yihuan would make fun of him. He didn't mind himself, but he worried that Chu Keqi would be too embarrassed to bear it.

  "Mom, are you used to living here? Is there anything lacking at home? The New Year is approaching soon, do we have everything? Are there enough servants?"

  Chu Ke asked a question, and Zhu Yuheng suddenly remembered something. He hastily said: "Yuhuan, make a list of what you need for me!"

  "Rest assured! I won't let Mother starve with me! There's enough of everything, you can rest easy!"

  Chu Xue and Zhu Yi Zhen exchanged a glance, they had already made up their minds. They would go back and pull two carts of things needed for the New Year over!

  "What kind of people live in this town? It looks like a villa for city folks?" asked Zhu Yuxuan.

  Zhu Yuhuan shook his head: "No, if it were like that, I wouldn't dare live here either!"

  "What kind of place is this?" Chu Ke asked, "From the outside, this town seems a bit quiet and different from other towns. It also appears that there are very few people living here."

  "The number of people living here is not small at all! It's just that everyone is not as noisy as ordinary families... In the town, there is a large family with the surname Kong, from Qufu, Shandong Province. They claim to be relatives of Confucius and have lived here for many years. Originally, only their family had ten or so households, but later some people came to pay homage and also loved the cultural atmosphere, so they settled down beside them. There is also a wealthy family that specializes in embroidery, with more women than men, who didn't want to live in the city's hustle and bustle, so they moved here too. Some large and small households that weren't used to living in the city, as well as some vagrants, and some skilled craftsmen... all in all, it's a town with a very good reputation."

  Zhu Yicheng and Chu Keqi both let out a sigh of relief: "Living in such a place is actually quite good!"

  Zhu Yuhuan smiled complacently and said, "Can the place I found be wrong? The government respects the Kong family clan and rarely comes here to make trouble. There are also few people living here who make noise and cause trouble, so it sounds peaceful and quiet from outside."

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