Commendation?

Commending their land?

Who were they commending their land to? To Fang Yue’s family?

"Master Liu, you must be mistaken. Fang Mu’s boy just got lucky and scraped by as a Martial Scholar. A Scholar can only exempt his own family’s land from taxes. Why would we commend our land to his family!"

Fang Suo, one of the Fang Family Elders, felt Scholar Liu must have misheard. Fang Yue had earned the title of Martial Scholar, not the more advanced one.

"Oh, so that’s how it is."

Scholar Liu heard this, then glanced at the surrounding Fang clansmen. In an instant, he understood everything.

He just smiled, no longer bothering to engage with Fang Suo, the Fang Family Elder.

He was usually respectful because the man was considered ’of high prestige and commanding respect’—a typical local elder.

But it was obvious that this man hadn’t brought the Fang clansmen to Fang Yue’s home today to congratulate them. It looked more like he was here to stir up trouble.

"It seems none of you know yet. A Martial Scholar, by special imperial decree, is exempt from taxes on three hundred mu of land."

After saying this, he once again ignored Fang Suo.

He turned to speak with Fang Yue’s parents instead.

At this, hearing Scholar Liu’s words, Ms. Chen immediately invited him into the courtyard. As for the elder Fang Suo, Ms. Chen drove him out.

"Fang Mu, ah, I was just confused for a moment! I only did such a foolish thing because I saw how hard life is for our clansmen."

An exemption on three hundred mu of land... this benefit alone was enough to make more than half of the Fang clansmen pledge their allegiance.

Even if a Martial Scholar like Fang Yue couldn’t become an official, becoming a tax-exempt Landlord was now a certainty.

If that happened, he feared he wouldn’t be able to continue as a family elder, which meant he would lose his stipend from the clan’s public fields.

How could Fang Suo not be frantic!

"Go, go, go! You’re not welcome here!"

But Ms. Chen gave him no chance. Waving the broom in her hands, she chased Fang Suo and his group out, leaving only Scholar Liu and his companions behind.

Then, she slammed the courtyard gate shut with a BANG.

This left the crowd of Fang clansmen staring at each other in dismay. Of course, the gazes of the many people Fang Suo had brought for ’support’ had now changed as they looked at him and his cronies.

~~~~~~

「That afternoon」

Ms. Chen was at home, humming an unknown tune while cooking up a storm, making all sorts of her specialty dishes.

And she was making all of them according to Fang Yue’s favorites.

"Mom, why are you making so much? How are we going to eat all this?"

Fang Cheng had just returned from outside and saw his mother cooking the moment he walked in.

She had already made dried bamboo shoots with cured meat, little chicken stewed with mushrooms, twice-cooked pork, stir-fried green vegetables...

These were all kinds of dishes they wouldn’t even get to eat over several days, yet Ms. Chen had made more than ten of them at once!

"Your brother is a Scholar now, he’s definitely coming home. This is all for your brother, so don’t you dare sneak a bite!"

His mother, Ms. Chen, glanced up at Fang Cheng and warned, "This time, everything is for Zhi’Er. You are not to give any of it to your ’wife’ again."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng’s face immediately fell. "Mom, it’s not even close to being settled yet."

Ms. Chen snorted. "You’re the brother of a Martial Scholar now. Can’t you have a little more ambition? As long as you’ve set your sights on her, it’s a done deal."

Fang Cheng’s face flushed, but since his complexion was rather dark, it wasn’t very noticeable. "Mom, I just remembered! Mr. Fuquan gave me an old mountain ginseng. He said he was lucky enough to dig it up in the mountains years ago."

"Excellent. It’s perfect for nourishing Zhi’Er. Everyone says mountain ginseng is the best for strengthening the body, and Zhi’Er needs it for his martial arts training."

Ms. Chen snatched the mountain ginseng from Fang Cheng’s hand.

In her heart, her ’resentment’ toward Fuquan’s family dissipated quite a bit.

’Old mountain ginseng is very precious. The mountains are too dangerous, and the risk for ordinary people is just too great.’

’For them to take out a treasure they’ve kept locked away shows their sincerity. It wasn’t a total waste for my silly boy, who always favors outsiders, to have given them so much grain.’

’Looks like I can get a matchmaker to talk about this marriage.’

"Alright, stop standing there like a fool. Get over here and help! Do you want to work your mother to death!"

Ms. Chen put the mountain ginseng away safely and then spoke to the still-dazed Fang Cheng.

Of course, once Fang Cheng started cooking...

Ms. Chen found herself with free time. Deciding to rest for a bit, she sat by the doorway to see if her Zhi’Er had returned yet.

She had barely been sitting for a moment when she heard the jingling of a bell and saw an ox-cart heading back in the distance.

Soon, Father Fang’s figure came into view.

"Is Zhi’Er back?"

Ms. Chen shot up and rushed to the ox-cart, asking breathlessly.

As she spoke, she peered into the cart, but it was completely empty.

"Fang Mu! Why are you back alone! Did you forget what I sent you to do?"

"You didn’t bring Zhi’Er home, you just came back by yourself? How dare you come back!"

Ms. Chen was furious. She had been at home cooking up a feast, so naturally, she had dispatched Father Fang to go pick up their son.

Based on past experience, their Zhi’Er should have been back this afternoon.

Although she didn’t know if Zhi’Er would stay in the county town for a few extra days after becoming a Martial Scholar...

...it was never wrong to start waiting and preparing now.

As long as they waited, if he didn’t arrive today, then tomorrow, or the day after, he was bound to come back one of these remaining days of the month.

It wasn’t even dark yet, and here Fang Mu was, back without Zhi’Er.

This looked like he hadn’t even gone to pick him up and just came back on his own.

Ms. Chen was naturally very ’angry’!

As she spoke, she was already getting ready to give Father Fang another whack to ’jog his memory’.

"Hey, listen to me, listen to me."

Hearing this, Father Fang knew at once that Ms. Chen had misunderstood.

And since Ms. Chen was clearly preparing to ’teach him a lesson,’ how could he dare to wait? He immediately seized the gap before she could speak again to defend himself.

’Wait, no, not defend... explain.’

"I picked him up! I picked Zhi’Er up!"

"Still spouting nonsense? Then where is he? Why don’t I see my Zhi’Er?" Ms. Chen snorted. She hadn’t seen anyone, yet he dared to claim he’d picked him up.

’Not only did he fail to do the one thing I asked, but now he dares to tell ’barefaced lies’ to me.’

"Hey, just listen! Zhi’Er went to Fang Hu’s house. He’ll be back in a little while," Father Fang said quickly.

He had picked up Fang Yue today, but at the village entrance, Fang Yue had said he wanted to visit Fang Hu’s home first to tell him the news about becoming a Martial Scholar.

That was why he had come back alone.

"Then why didn’t you bring back his luggage? Are you going to make Zhi’Er carry his own bags? What if he gets tired?"

Ms. Chen understood the situation and was no longer angry. However, she still wasn’t about to ’let Father Fang off the hook’.

But this time, before Father Fang could speak, she continued, "In a bit, you’ll make a trip to Fang Hu’s house. Take a few extra dishes, and also bring two—no, three—jars of the wine that Scholar Liu brought today."

She realized Fang Yue had gone to thank his master, but Fang Hu’s family certainly couldn’t prepare a decent meal.

Since she had just finished cooking, she could take this opportunity to send some food over.

’Who knows how long Zhi’Er will be staying there.’