I was a stepmother in ancient times, and I led my whole family to wealth.

Chapter 231 This is a great joy

Finally, it was time for the group to recite poems. Just as Ma Wencai finished reciting a poem about drinking, snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

The snow wasn't heavy, but the petals were large, drifting and falling gently.

At this moment, Xie Wenke asked Dongfang Jin to recite a poem related to snow.

Dongfang Jin had no choice but to add more lines: "The north wind sweeps across the land, breaking the white grass; in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, snow flies in the northern sky. Suddenly, as if a spring breeze has arrived overnight, thousands of pear trees bloom." We won't read the rest; this is enough.

As soon as she finished reciting her poem, everyone applauded and cheered.

Jun Qirui immediately adopted a scholarly demeanor, one hand behind his back and the other in front of him: "Like a spring breeze overnight, thousands of pear trees bloom. Very well, but is this not the end?"

Dongfang Jin fell silent. Was this person too shrewd?

Seeing the flicker in Dongfang Jin's eyes, Jun Qirui said in a serious tone, "Poetry is about tonal patterns and rhymes..."

Long Jiu, holding a wine glass, came to Dongfang Jin's rescue: "Drinking, what does it matter if it rhymes or not, it's all about having fun. Come on, drink some wine, this wine is delicious, you'll regret it if you don't drink a few more cups."

His interruption caused joy for some and sorrow for others.

After a few drinks, Ma Wencai got up and grabbed Dongfang Jin, insisting on becoming sworn brothers with her.

As soon as he uttered these drunken, incoherent words, Fang Shiyu and Xie Wenke also stood up and cheered.

Then Guo Yuming and Liu Lingzui joined in the commotion, insisting that they become sworn siblings with different surnames.

Finally, Jun Qixian and Long Jiu joined in the commotion, even bringing over a table and a small incense burner. No one knows where they got the incense from.

Jun Qirui looked at his younger sister's lively personality and felt speechless and helpless. Seeing his mother smiling from ear to ear, he didn't interfere.

Sure enough, Granny Fang and Da Peng joined in the commotion, setting up an offering table. They shouted that it was good to become sworn brothers, and each of them grinned from ear to ear.

Dongfang Jin was speechless and extremely upset.

If she were a man, she would definitely do it without hesitation, but she is a woman. Why are these brats forcing her into this situation?

And so, after being teased by everyone, Dongfang Jin ended up becoming sworn brothers with these five awful guys, and she was the youngest of them all, which was quite disheartening.

Gu Jingye was the happiest, because the rewards Yang Wenwen and Gu Caiwei received from their five new uncles all ended up in his pocket.

And so, everyone ate and joked around as they finished this unpleasant dinner.

Late at night, Dongfang Jin tucked the blankets around Gu Caiwei and Yang Wenwen, then entered her spatial dimension and left home.

Dongfang Jin left the spatial dimension and used his inner strength to enter the Ningguo Duke's Mansion.

She and Ruyi, one openly and the other secretly, searched around the Ningguo Duke's mansion, but found nothing useful.

Ruyi said, "It seems there is no evidence that the Duke of Ningguo has rebelled."

Hopefully so; sometimes appearances can be deceiving.

Humans are too complex.

[If it weren't complex, it wouldn't be human.]

Dongfang Jin wandered around but couldn't find anything special. He sighed and sobbed quite a bit. It turned out that the old Duke of Ningguo, who was also Gu Chenglin's maternal grandfather, was dying.

I just heard from those people that they might not make it through this winter.

Everything was fine before, so why couldn't it make it through the winter?

The Hua family members were all present, and the old Duke was also brought back to the Duke's Mansion by his eldest son a few days ago.

After listening for a while, it turned out that the reason this old Duke fell ill was because he learned that Duke Wu, Zheng Sihan, and his son, Zheng Lunian, had killed each other.

From now on, there will be no more Zheng family. Overjoyed and excited, he exclaimed: "Heaven has eyes!"

Then he vomited blood and fell unconscious. Was this a case of being overjoyed?

I heard that he's lying at home, barely breathing, waiting to die. What's the point of all this?

Dongfang Jin looked around the room and saw that there were about fifty people, including women, maids, old women and children. Each person was holding a needle and thread and white cloth, sewing something.

"What's this for?" Ruyi asked curiously.

【You don't know?】This time it was Dongfang Jin's turn to be curious, why did it ask that?

Ruyi looked puzzled: "What do I know? Should it know? This is the first time it has ever seen this scene."

They're making mourning trousers; in ancient times, wearing hemp clothing was fashionable. See those old women? They're making burial clothes, for the deceased.

[Are these clothes made for the dead? They're quite exquisite.]

[Yes, the white ones are worn by family members. I've only heard about it before; this is the first time I've actually seen it in person.]

"Can I save her? I feel a little depressed," Ruyi suddenly said.

Dongfang Jin was startled by its words. "Are you crazy? How can I save you? I don't know anything about medicine."

"I can!"

Dongfang Jin asked in confusion, "You know medicine?" How come she didn't know that?

No, it's because I have medicinal pills.

[A pill? A window appeared?] So fast? What did she do?

Yes, the expansion of Ruyi Space was a result of her helping those disaster victims and doing good deeds.

Although it wasn't large, it's quite noticeable now.

"No, they're all low-grade pills, the kind you took back then," Ruyi said, her voice lacking confidence.

[Why didn't you take out the pills sooner? No, you mean the one I ate the day I came? You gave it to me?] Dongfang Jin then realized that she had searched everywhere that time but couldn't find a single pill.

She even began to doubt whether she was hallucinating, and almost went mad.

She said that the pill wouldn't just appear out of thin air, there was only one. She was just being naive; if she had met someone with a narrow mind, she would have gone crazy.

What is it saying now?

Ruyi felt a little guilty. "Hehe, hehe, I wasn't conscious then, really, I wasn't conscious, I was in a state of confusion..."

Dongfang Jin let out a breath, calming herself down. "Your words are highly unreliable, practically nonexistent."

You're kidding me. This spirit has absolutely no credibility and is full of lies.

[I'm not lying to you. Elixirs are scarce, and you don't know how to refine them. You don't grow medicinal herbs on the black soil of the Ruyi Realm, and I also need a lot of herbs to grow taller.]

Listening to Ruyi's desperate "excuses," Dongfang Jin scoffed inwardly, [Do you want to grow up eating elixirs?]

Not entirely.

What kind of elixirs do you have that you could give to the old Duke of Ningguo?

Yes, as long as you have a breath left, you can live. However, we need to think carefully so as not to cause trouble for others.

【Then tonight we'll practice medicine and heal the sick, treating the Duke of Ningguo and then the Empress. After that, we'll search other families in the capital; if we find any virtuous ones, we'll help them.】

She said that this spirit of the realm was as cunning as a sieve. How could a spirit of the realm that had lived in the Ruyi Realm for countless years not have any secrets in its possession?

She didn't believe it.

Everyone says that a man's words are deceitful, and now she'd rather believe a man's words than this spirit.

"Listen to Sister Jin, tonight we'll go and practice medicine to help the needy."

When Dongfang Jin found the Songhe Courtyard where the old Duke Ning lived, there were two martial arts masters and seven or eight guards hiding there.

Ruyi said there was only one servant in the room, and he was even stealing pastries from the table.

How are we supposed to get in? I don't know any earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic used to burrow underground).

Ruyi is now desperately trying to boost her reputation. "Come in, I'll use a teleportation orb to send you in."

Dongfang Jin flashed into the space: "Little Ruyi, wouldn't it be great if you could send me back to Earth?"

"You, don't even think about it. Go back to your next life."

Dongfang Jin glanced at it, holding the teleportation bead in her hand, feeling a little heartbroken. The place she appeared was only two hundred steps away from the old Duke's bed, and she had to lose one.

In order to regain trust, Ruyi took out the Qiankun bag containing the teleportation bead and said, "Don't worry about it, we have plenty. See the extra land?"

If it gets any longer, there might be other variations.