I bring bad luck to my husband, you bring bad luck to your wife.

Xiangxi is now even more attached to Xuebao.

Yes.

It's not that Xuebao sticks to Xiangxi, it's that Xiangxi sticks to Xuebao.

Olaf is always smiling and cheerful.

He was willing to be taken in by his mother.

Mingle took him along, and he was happy.

Anyone can bring it.

Xiangxi stopped letting Xuebao sleep in her crib at night and put the child in the big bed, watching over the child all night long without sleeping.

Xiangxi dared not sleep, because if she fell asleep, she would easily have nightmares, in which she would dream of bad news about Yang Tongchuan.

Once, he dreamed that someone came to his house to announce the death of Yang Tongchuan, saying that Yang had fallen off a cliff and his body was gone.

Xiangxi was woken up crying in fright.

------------

Xiangxi came to work at Shuanghua Pavilion today, and as soon as she entered, she saw the maid Qingzhu crying.

Duan Ziqiu comforted her from the side.

"Some people are born to annoy others; if they don't do disgusting things, they've wasted a day."

"They're bullying us so much!" Qingzhu cried, feeling wronged.

"You don't need to open the door by yourself anymore. I'll hire a servant to take care of this. Go home and rest for a day, don't do any work." Duan Ziqiu sent Qingzhu home and only told Xiangxi what had happened when he had a chance.

This morning was the delivery date agreed upon with the customer.

This was Qingzhu's first time working with this customer, and she wanted to open the shop as soon as possible to check the goods one last time.

Unexpectedly, I encountered thugs blocking the door as soon as I arrived at the store.

I don't know if they were instructed by someone to deliberately do this to disgust people when Yang Tongchuan was not around.

Several people surrounded Qingzhu, swearing and saying they wanted to buy things and asked Qingzhu to serve them.

Qingzhu was so frightened that she tried to run away, but she couldn't. Luckily, she ran into the constables who were on patrol that morning, and they left.

"Were they sent by a competitor to cause trouble?" Xiangxi asked.

"It's hard to say right now. I'll investigate this matter thoroughly. Let's close early these next few days, and I'll hire a man to manage the shop as soon as possible."

Duan Ziqiu acted quickly and found a shopkeeper in just a few days.

It was a man named Yue Wu. He used to be a minor steward at a rural estate owned by the Duan family, but Duan Ziqiu had poached him.

Manager Yue adapted quickly and soon got the Shuanghua Pavilion's operations organized.

Now he's the one who opens and closes the shop every morning and evening.

As for those petty thugs, Duan Ziqiu said there was no rush and they would deal with them slowly.

It's almost the end of April.

Yang Tongchuan has not returned yet.

Xiangxi couldn't sit still any longer and wanted to go find someone.

"Nonsense! Do you even know where he is? Where are you going to look for him?" Yang's father scolded Xiangxi sternly for the first time.

"But Father, it's been so long and I haven't heard a single letter. I'm worried something might have happened."

"Tongshan has already inquired and will inform the family immediately if anything happens. Just take good care of Xuebao and don't wander off."

"But Father..."

Before Xiangxi could finish speaking, Niu Sanli rushed into the Yang family's house.

"Master, the eldest master asked me to bring back a message: there's news about the second master! There's news about the second master!"

Niu Sanli had run all the way here, and he was panting as he spoke.

"What news? Tell me quickly."

Niu Sanli said that Yang Tongshan learned through connections that the bandits had been wiped out and the main force was heading back.

"What about Tongchuan? How is Tongchuan doing?"

"The old man said it's nothing serious. He knows a merchant who just came from over there. He said he saw the second master and that it's not a big deal."

It's nothing serious, just a minor issue.

"Is my husband hurt?"

"The old man didn't say. He's currently discussing business with that businessman and said he'll tell you the details when he gets back tonight."

"Father, I would like to visit my eldest brother's Treasure Pavilion."

"Sigh, go ahead, take Yanzi with you, follow Niu Sanli, and come back soon." Yang's father didn't hold Xiangxi back and let him go.

This is Xiangxi's first time visiting the Treasure Pavilion.

Niu Sanli found a private room to settle Xiangxi in.

"Please sit down and rest for a while. I'll go check if the old man has finished talking."

After Niu Sanli left, Xiangxi sat in the private room for a long time.

Finally, Yang Tongshan arrived.

"Big brother!"

"Don't worry, my second brother is fine, he just suffered some minor injuries."

Yang Tongshan received information that the bandits had been besieged by government troops on the mountain for a month, and after running out of ammunition and food, they wanted to fight to the death.

They actually dared to burn the mountain.

Although the fire was discovered early, it still caused a lot of trouble.

The leader of the bandits planned to escape in the chaos, but was caught red-handed by the government troops guarding the back mountain.

Yang Tongchuan's group was among them.

Soldiers were in front, and constables were behind.

As soon as the bandits were discovered, two groups clashed.

Desperate bandits will kill with their lives on the line.

Several of Yang Tongshan's brothers were seriously injured.

The officers and soldiers suffered even greater casualties.

Fortunately, Captain Fang Wenhe (commander of the bandit suppression team of 100 men) quickly led reinforcements to arrive, and the situation began to improve.

When they finally counted the dead, they discovered that the bandit leader, who was supposed to be lying inside, was missing.

Fang Wenhe was furious and immediately led his men in several groups to pursue and intercept them along the way.

I don't know whether to say Yang Tongchuan was lucky or unlucky.

His small group found the leader and his gang in a thatched hut where hunters were resting in the mountains.

At this time, the chief still had three or four loyal guards by his side.

Yang Tongchuan knew this was the moment of life or death.

Without hesitation, they charged forward first.

After a long and arduous battle, Yang Tongchuan finally killed the scourge, but he was also injured in the process.

Fortunately, he survived after treatment.

Yang Tongchuan deserves credit for the kill, but the credit will most likely go to Fang Wenhe later, and Yang Tongchuan will at most receive a reward.

"My second brother brought back a message saying that he'll be home in a few days, so don't worry."

Actually, Yang Tongchuan was only able to get out of bed a few days ago because of his injury.

Fang Wenhe also met with Yang Tongchuan.

He then asked Yang Tongchuan if he wanted to work for him.

Yang Tongchuan refused without hesitation, making excuses that he had elderly parents and young children to support and could not follow the captain on his campaigns.

Fang Wenhe didn't insist. He rewarded Yang Tongchuan with fifty taels of silver and gave each of the men Yang Tongchuan brought a ten-tael reward, telling them to rest and then go back.

They are no longer needed for the rest.

Yang Tongchuan naturally understood the intricacies of the matter.

With the bandits wiped out, all that remained was to collect the spoils of war.

It was naturally inconvenient for outsiders like them to be present in such a situation.

Because there were brothers in the team who were more seriously injured than him, and even some constables who had died here.

Yang Tongchuan needed to make proper arrangements for them, which is why he returned late.

"Big brother, is he really alright?"

"Really." That was all Yang Tongshan could say.

"You go home first. I've rented a carriage. We'll pick them up along the route they came back from. We should be able to meet them somewhere in the middle."

"Big brother, I'm going too."

"No, listen to me, go back and wait. It's inconvenient for us to travel if we take you with us." Yang Tongshan didn't go empty-handed; he had prepared a lot of medicine and food in his car. If Xiangxi saw this, she would inevitably have some doubts.

"But······"

"No buts. I'll be leaving soon after I've finished explaining things at the shop. Go back and tell your family that I'll definitely bring Tongchuan back safely."