Because of that vicious incident, their trip to the county town had to be moved up.

’The county town isn’t necessarily safer than the Zhao Village,’ Chen Wanqing thought.

The Zhao Village was full of Zhao Family clansmen. If they were careful, they would know even if a single mosquito flew in. As long as they guarded the entry points, Zhao Jing should be perfectly safe before his exam.

The county town, on the other hand, was crowded and chaotic. It would be easy for something to happen.

For the sake of Zhao Jing’s safety, it would be better to remain in the Zhao Village.

But Mr. Zhao and the others clearly didn’t think so.

They had too much faith in the authority of the county government and placed too much importance on Chen Song’s intimidating presence. They believed that as long as Chen Song was around, no petty criminals would dare to make a move.

It wasn’t entirely wrong to think that way, but... ’Oh, forget it,’ she thought. ’The Zheng Family’s affair has probably blown up by now. The county magistrate will want to make an example of them, so no one else should try anything against Zhao Jing.’

Then again, people as petty and malicious as the Zheng Family were a minority.

With them as a cautionary tale, this year’s examination would likely proceed very smoothly.

In the end, Chen Wanqing and Zhao Jing entered the county town on the day of the Lantern Festival.

Xu Su Ying must have anticipated this. She had already aired out the quilts, ventilated the room, and even replaced the pot of narcissus with a new one.

As for where the original pot of narcissus had gone, Xu Su Ying refused to say, but Chen Wanqing guessed it had died and been thrown out.

Her mother was something of a marvel—no flower or plant could survive long in her care. Even cacti, which could thrive on a wall exposed to the wind, rain, and sun, were doomed the moment her mother’s benevolence stirred. If she took them down to care for them herself, well, their days were numbered.

It wasn’t a pleasant topic, so Chen Wanqing decided not to bring it up.

Just then, Zhao Jing came to the front courtyard with his books to look for De’an. Chen Wanqing asked if he wanted some tea. Zhao Jing shook his head and said, "No, thank you."

Chen Wanqing left him to it. She grabbed her mother, and the two of them prepared to go buy some spices and medicinal herbs.

Lately, the demand for Moonlight Fragrance had been incredibly high, and she was swamped with work.

Back at the village, she not only had Xiang’er making incense but had even given Mrs. Zhao the task of using a press to make incense sticks.

Including her second aunt’s family, she now had six or seven people helping her, and even that wasn’t enough. The supply of Moonlight Fragrance couldn’t come close to meeting the demand.

This was a prime opportunity to make money, and Chen Wanqing had no intention of letting it pass. She was willing to burn the midnight oil, staying up until the third watch every night, to earn this windfall of silver.

The two of them went out, and when they returned, the baskets on their backs were stuffed to the brim.

Some of these spices needed to be taken to the city gate for Dashan later. He would take them back to the Zhao Village for her second aunt and Mrs. Zhao.

Once they finished processing the ingredients, she would have Dashan bring them back to the county town.

This way, she avoided having to hire strangers of unknown background, which could cause the quality of Moonlight Fragrance to become inconsistent.

That day, the mother and daughter worked until midnight, producing a full two boxes of Moonlight Fragrance. After air-drying overnight, they could be taken to the shop to be sold the next morning.

It seemed like a lot—normally enough to last for several days—but as soon as the shop opened, the Moonlight Fragrance would surely be bought up in a flash. This batch wouldn’t even last through the morning.

When Chen Wanqing returned to their room to rest, Zhao Jing was already back.

He wasn’t sleeping, however. He was sitting in the eastern study, reading the official gazette Chen Song had brought him.

He was so engrossed that he didn’t even notice when Chen Wanqing came in. He just sat there, brows furrowed, pondering the court’s latest movements described in the gazette.

Chen Wanqing placed a bowl of snow fungus and pear soup on his desk. The soft CLINK startled Zhao Jing, and he finally looked up.

"The air is so dry. Drink some of this snow fungus and pear soup to soothe your throat. I’m going to bed. Are you coming now, or will you be a while?"

Hearing this, Zhao Jing stood up. "I’ll turn in, too. I have to go to the county government early tomorrow."

Registration was tomorrow, and it would be held at the county government’s records office.

Even though Qingshui County didn’t have a strong scholarly tradition, it still had a fair number of students. At least three hundred people registered for the county examination each year.

Chen Song’s advice was to either go first thing in the morning or be the last to go. The middle of the day would be crowded, and the wait in line would be very long.

Zhao Jing, of course, planned to go early to avoid any potential problems. If something went wrong, there would be no time to fix it.

Therefore, he naturally had to get to bed early tonight to get an early start tomorrow.

Zhao Jing drank the soup and went outside to wash up. Chen Wanqing changed out of her clothes and slipped under the covers to wait for him.

Zhao Jing returned shortly after.

He brought a chill with him from outside. He stood in the room for a moment to warm up before taking off his outer robe and getting into bed.