Old Lady Zhang sighed.
“Qingyun, Grandma knows you mean well, but how do you know whether your older sisters want to marry or not? True, maybe they don’t want to right now. But what about the future? When they see other people surrounded by children and grandchildren while they’re all alone and solitary, won’t they resent you?
“Besides, in this world, an unmarried woman is looked down upon, gossiped about, and pointed at whenever she steps outside. Qingyun, they aren’t like you; they don’t have your drive and ability. Your aunts, your mother, and I will all grow old one day. When that time comes and they have to live under their sisters-in-law, walking on eggshells and relying on their charity, which life do you think would be better?”
Gu Qingyun remained stubborn.
“Grandma, then let’s base it on my sisters’ own wishes. If they don’t want to marry, then I’ll work hard to earn money and buy each of them a small courtyard house. As long as I’m here in the county seat, no one will dare bully them. If they do want to marry, I will still be their rock-solid backing; anyone who wants to mistreat them will have to answer to me first.
“The whole reason I practice martial arts so diligently is so my family can have more choices. Regardless of what the future brings, at least as long as I’m around, I can give them the confidence to stand tall.”
Lady Su looked at Gu Qingyun, her face full of relief and affection. “Qingyun, having you around truly puts our hearts at ease.”
Lady Zhao turned away and wiped a tear. For her two daughters to have a younger sister like this in their lifetime was truly a blessing accumulated from a past life. Unlike herself—if her husband hadn’t paid a high bride price to marry her back then, she had no idea where she would have been sold off to, let alone living in peace and security like this.
Gu Qingyu felt this even more deeply. Two months ago, she thought her life was completely ruined. Who could have known her younger sister would appear before her like a hero and bring her back home without a second word? She had no desire to remarry; staying at home and raising Xiao Guai was enough. Her life right now was already wonderful.
Biting their lips, Gu Qingling and the others voiced their stance immediately. “We’d never blame Qingyun! And we’re not saying we won’t marry at all, but we must find good households that aren’t too far from home. If we can’t find one, we just won’t marry. We can earn our own living now, and besides, we have Qingyun behind us!”
“Alright, as if I would ever harm my own granddaughters,” Old Lady Zhang said. “Let’s put this matter to rest for now. Qingyun, roughly when is your next day off?”
Gu Qingyun looked up. “It should be in about ten days or so. What is it, Grandma?”
Old Lady Zhang smiled broadly. “A letter came from your granduncle. He’s celebrating his sixtieth birthday. He lives in Yangtao County, more than three hundred li from here. We siblings haven’t seen each other in a long time, so I was thinking that if you had time off, you could take me to see him.
“Ten days... but your granduncle’s birthday is on the sixteenth of this month, which is seven days from now. Will you have the time?”
Gu Qingyun raised an eyebrow, speaking in a playful tone. “Of course! It’s rare for Grandma to visit her maiden family, so I’ll definitely get you to Granduncle’s place safe and sound. Even if I don’t have time off, I’ll ask the Head Constable for two days of leave.
“And Mother, Eldest Aunt, Second Aunt—where do you want to go? Once I get a day off, I’ll take you all out for a stroll. I heard the scenery at Mount Yuntai is gorgeous; I can take you there to see it.”
Old Lady Zhang gave her an exasperated glare. “Hiring a carriage just to go play—the things you come up with! Do you think our family has silver to burn?”
Gu Qingyun chuckled sheepishly. “Grandma, the County Magistrate also rewarded me with a fine steed. I forgot to mention it.”
Hearing this news, the entire family was stunned.
Gu Yihan rushed over in an instant, grabbing Gu Qingyun. “Sister, where’s the horse? Can I ride it? In all my years, I’ve never ridden a horse before!”
Gu Qingyun yanked her hand free. He made it sound as if she had ridden one before!
“I didn’t bring the horse back; it’s at the county yamen. The County Magistrate said that since I have no place to keep a horse, I can stable it at the yamen. We don’t even have to spend our own silver on fodder! Isn’t that great? If I brought it home, we’d have nowhere to put it—we don’t even have a stable.
“Oh, right. In half a month, I have to go with a few constables to the prefectural yamen to take part in the Constable Tournament. During this period, I won’t be coming home for breakfast because I need to learn horsemanship and archery during the day.”
“How did you become so promising?” Old Lady Zhang said. “I know about this tournament—it’s held once every three years, and the rewards are handsome. Back then, your father and uncles never got to go. Who would have thought you’d be even more promising than I ever imagined? You just keep giving us more and more surprises.”
Old Lady Zhang sighed inwardly, thinking of her three sons and one grandson. Sigh, it was all fate.
She patted Gu Qingyun on the head. “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just do your best. As long as you’re safe and sound, don’t go risking your life for that reward money, do you hear me?”
Gu Qingyun nodded firmly; she knew what she was doing.
Just then, a knock sounded at the front door.
Gu Yiyun opened it, only to be left dumbfounded by the sight of more than a dozen servants standing outside. The leading servant smiled warmly. “Excuse me, is this Constable Gu’s residence?”
Snapping back to his senses, Gu Yiyun called inside, “Qingyun, someone’s looking for you!”
...
After seeing the servants off, Gu Qingyun looked at the items piled on the table with a slight headache.
Taking inventory, she found over a dozen bolts of cloth, more than a dozen boxes of pastries, and roughly a hundred taels of silver all told, not to mention a generous spread of cured meats.
A servant from the Zhu family had brought Gu Qingyun several sets of clothing for each of the four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—all tailored for night patrol duties. In between the lines, he had strongly hinted that she should patrol past their residence more frequently. The others hadn’t said it outright, but that was presumably their intention as well.
Dark lines covered Gu Qingyun’s forehead. With the silver gifted so openly, she couldn’t even find an excuse to skim half of it for herself. Gathering her new clothes into her arms, she said, “Grandma, you decide what to do with these things. I’m going to put my clothes away in my room first. Oh, and save a few boxes of pastries for me; I want to bring some to share with my colleagues.”
Old Lady Zhang distributed a share of the goods to each branch. As for the hundred taels of silver, she put seventy taels directly into the communal family fund, dividing the remaining thirty taels into two portions: one portion was given to Gu Qingyun for personal use, and the other went to the third branch.
No one raised any objection, though they gained a far deeper appreciation for Gu Qingyun’s terrifying earning ability.
Naturally, they still didn’t know why so many families had come to express their gratitude to Qingyun. The Zhu family in particular stood out—those ten-odd sets of clothing alone were worth several dozen taels. The Zhu family had truly been generous.
As for the bolts of cloth, Old Lady Zhang had Lady Su and the others cut and sew them so everyone would have a new set of clothes. Now that they lived in the county seat, they needed to dress more respectably.
Hearing this as she came out of her room, Gu Qingyun smiled. “No need to make anything for me. Those clothes are more than enough. They hit the nail right on the head—I love the colors, and they hide dirt exceptionally well.”
“I wasn’t planning to make anything for you anyway,” Old Lady Zhang muttered. “Look at you—you wear nothing but black or dark shades. Can’t you wear some green or red? A young girl ought to wear brighter colors!”
Gu Qingyun pictured it in her mind and immediately shook her head. “Grandma, if you like them, you wear them. Dark colors suit me just fine. A brilliant, multicolored black is my absolute favorite.”
Gu Qingyun had no qualms about accepting these gifts. She had saved so many lives, and accepting their gifts signified that the debt of gratitude had been settled. Barring unusual circumstances, they likely wouldn’t send gifts again like this.
However, since they were hinting that she look out for their properties, these families would certainly provide a monthly stipend to her in the future. This was a tacit understanding, and the primary source of extra perks for night patrol constables like them.
Rate on N.U.
