In a moment of impulse, I forcibly kissed my brother's best friend.

Xie Yige smiled slightly and took out the purse that she had bought with Cui Yutang in Donglin City.

The woman's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the purse: "I embroidered this. My husband said that this pair of 'Pear Blossoms and Entwined Branches' embroidery was bought by his benefactor and his wife. Are you that wife?"

Xie Yige nodded, offering no explanation for the misunderstanding she mentioned. The woman was deeply moved and immediately tried to kneel down, but Xie Yige quickly helped her up.

"The carriage is swaying, it's very dangerous, please don't kneel. I was just doing you a small favor. Where do you live? I'll give you a ride."

"Would this be too much trouble for you?"

"Won't."

"My home is at No. 108 Yuli Lane, West District."

Xie Yige gave an order to the driver, her gaze sweeping over the woman's pile of dirty purses.

"You'd better not set up a stall there anymore, they won't let you off the hook."

"My husband and I are going to the capital to take the imperial examination. We have no relatives or friends in the city and no money left. We really don't know any other way to make a living, so we set up a stall there. They're here to collect protection money."

Although the woman had injuries on her face, she spoke only briefly about her family's hardships, without any intention of playing the victim, as if she were simply stating a fact.

Her calmness actually made Xie Yige think more highly of her.

Xie Yige remembered her embroidery skills and a thought struck her: "I own a cloth shop in the capital, in the East Market, called Xizi Silk Shop. Your embroidery skills are excellent; you could go there for an interview. If you can gain the approval of the manager there, you can have a stable job."

The woman was overjoyed upon hearing this and wanted to kneel down again. Xie Yige was quite helpless; thankfully, they had already arrived at her home.

After giving a few words of explanation, she returned to the Zhou residence.

She didn't go to find her sister-in-law, but immediately returned to her own pear orchard and quickly changed her clothes to cover herself. Even after taking off her clothes, her face turned bright red again.

There were more marks on his body, especially the two bulging areas in the front, and the top one was red and crescent-shaped.

He was born in the Year of the Dog, right?

Her heart was pounding. Next time they met, she was determined to beat him up to vent her anger.

Zhixia returned to her bedroom. She shared a room with Bichun, and the two stared at each other, for some reason sensing a hint of helplessness in each other's eyes.

"Was your trip there yesterday smooth? Did anything go wrong?" Bichun couldn't help but ask.

Zhi Xia, being a former bodyguard, naturally knew what to say and what not to say.

But she couldn't help but sigh at Bichun. She had fought with Baoyu last night, and then sat staring at each other at the door all night, not closing her eyes since Cui Yutang left this morning. She didn't say a word, then closed her eyes and lay down on the bed.

Bichun seemed to have heard the answer from her sigh, tucked the blanket around her, and left the room.

In the days that followed, Xie Yige was very well-behaved. She stayed at home and sewed a cloak for that person. In order to finish it for him before the imperial examination, she stayed up for several nights.

The cloak was meticulously crafted. The outer hem was wide, simplified by connecting the first and last parts of the character "聿" to form a unique cloud pattern. It was embroidered with gold thread using the Suzhou embroidery technique, making it both precious and unique. Inside, there was a removable lining of fine fox fur.

She sewed with utmost care, stitch by stitch, as if she were weaving all her unspoken longing into the dense stitches.

Finally, thinking that there might be mosquitoes in the examination hall at night and he wouldn't be able to sleep well, he embroidered two more sachets. Inside, he not only added mosquito-repelling herbs but also calming spices.

She still used the pattern drawn with the character "聿" to make sachets, embroidering them stitch by stitch with delicate silk thread. After finishing, she held them in her palm and examined them for a long time.

The other sachet was a gift for Zhou Xuan'an, with the character "Xuan" embroidered in gold script in the center, which was very simple and elegant.

Congratulations! Her young lady finally remembered that her brother was also participating in the imperial examination. Bichun felt a little relieved.

"Sister-in-law, have you prepared everything for my brother?" Xie Yige felt guilty for only managing to make a cloak, so the next day she quickly asked her sister-in-law about the progress of preparing the exam materials for her brother.

"Everything is ready." Xie Wanrou was also very nervous. It was her first time doing this, and she was afraid that she hadn't done it well. "Could you help me check if there's anything I've missed or that's not right?"

She led Xie Yige into the side room, where a table was neatly arranged with various items.

Brand new stationery, thick cotton quilts, cloaks, changes of clothes, hand warmers, dry food, kettles, candles, mosquito repellent powder, and even a small jar of pills for treating colds.

Xie Yige looked at each item one by one, secretly admiring her sister-in-law's meticulousness. She picked up the cotton coat, unfolded it, and examined it. The stitches were dense, and the padding was thick enough to ward off the chill of a spring night in the examination hall.

"Sister-in-law, you've thought this through very well." She put down the cotton coat and looked at the stack of dry rations. "But these rations probably won't last more than three days. It would be better to replace them with baked flatbreads, which will keep longer."

Xie Wanrou slapped her forehead: "You're so thoughtful. I'll go change it tomorrow."

Xie Yige then pointed to the hand warmer: "Is this enough charcoal? The examination hall only provides charcoal once a day, so it probably won't last until nightfall. We should prepare an extra batch of charcoal, all made of silver wire charcoal, packed in a small cloth bag, so he can add it himself. I'll have someone arrange this."

Xie Wanrou nodded repeatedly and took notes.

The two checked the list again to make sure nothing was missing, and Xie Wanrou finally breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at Xie Yige and suddenly smiled, "If your brother knew you were also worried about him, he would be very happy."

Xie Yige lowered her head and didn't reply. She felt a little uneasy—she wasn't just worried about her brother.

Two more days passed, and the cloak and sachet were finished. Xie Yige carefully wrapped them up, and then took out the warm jade pen she had bought in the East Market and put them into her bundle.

She thought for a moment, then slipped another note inside. After writing something on it, she felt it wasn't right, so she took it out, crumpled it into a ball, wrote a new note, examined it for a moment, and then carefully folded it and stuffed it into the lining of the bundle.

"Zhixia, come with me to Xizi Silk Shop."

When the mistress and servant arrived at the entrance of the silk shop, Xie Yige had just stepped into the shop when she saw a familiar figure bending down to arrange the fabrics on the rack. It was Wang Zhiyun, whom she had saved on the street that day.

Wang Zhiyun looked up and saw her, and was first stunned, then her eyes reddened. She put down the fabric in her hand, walked quickly to Xie Yige, knelt down on both knees, and performed a proper bow.

"Zhiyun thanks you, madam."

Her voice choked with emotion, but she desperately held back the tears in her eyes. A thousand words were stuck in her throat, and in the end, they all turned into these six words.

Xie Yige quickly bent down to help her up: "Get up quickly, what are you doing?"