Chapter 262: Going Up the Mountain (Two Chapters in One)

Master Guanyue!

The name quickly spread among the people.

At the same time, news of heavy rains in Tongzhou also reached Gaoping.

It’s raining in Tongzhou!

The rain was pouring down with such force that it seemed as if a hole had been poked in the sky, causing everyone to panic.

It's funny to say that most of the people who fled to Gaoping before the rainstorm came from Tongzhou City and its subordinate counties, towns and villages were poor people, while the wealthy families in the city remained idle. They either didn't believe it or believed it but refused to leave. The Fourth Prince was coming, and this was their closest chance to get to the emperor and his nobles. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and they couldn't bear to miss it.

The Han family in the west of the city.

The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, and the young lady was sitting restlessly in the house. Her family had already left for Gaoping a few days ago, and her aunt had married in Gaoping.

Her father had asked her aunt to buy a house in Gaoping. Firstly, they would not have to live under someone else's roof and the whole family could live comfortably; secondly, no matter whether the rumors about the flood were true or not, buying property would always be a good idea.

Before leaving for her parents' home, her eldest brother came to see her and asked if they wanted to go together. She asked her husband, and he not only said that she was short-sighted, but also mocked her for blindly following her parents' advice. She was so angry that she stayed in bed for a whole day.

The rain kept falling, and the house that had just been renovated three years ago was leaking. It was raining heavily outside and drizzling inside. Han Dalang was getting angry, and his books were soaked by the rain.

At this moment, a servant came running in dripping wet. Han Dalang hurriedly asked, "Has the Fourth Prince arrived?"

The servant said with a sad face: "The Fourth Prince hasn't arrived yet, but, but..."

Han Dalang was annoyed: "But what?"

The servant said, "But the Tong River has burst its banks, and I met the bailiff at the city gate who came to report the news!"

Qian Zhizhou sent yamen runners to patrol the Tong River and report back immediately if any accidents occurred.

Han Dalang was stunned. "With such heavy rain, it's normal for the Tong River to burst its banks. Don't worry, don't worry. His Highness the Fourth Prince and the Ministry of Works will be here soon."

When the young lady heard the words "Tonghe River bursts its dike", her face changed drastically.

"Husband, go tell my father-in-law that we should go to Gaoping!"

Han Dalang glared at her and said, "What a fuss! The Fourth Prince and the officials from the Ministry of Works will be here soon. It's just a broken dam. It will be fixed soon."

The young mistress disagreed. "My dear, the government just reinforced the levee this year, and our family even donated money. Doesn't that mean the levee will burst if it does? This shows how heavy the rain is. Even if the officials from the Ministry of Works arrived right now, they can't fix it just like that."

Han Dalang was displeased and left in anger: "What do you know, woman?"

Looking at Han Dalang's receding back, the young lady gritted her teeth.

Even during the day, the house is dim. The Han family has strict rules. No lights can be turned on before it is time to light the lamps, even if the house is dim.

The young lady couldn't do needlework to calm herself down.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning flashed across the house, illuminating it brightly. A child crying could be heard from next door, presumably the child was woken up by the fright.

The young mistress ran over quickly, took the child from the wet nurse's arms and coaxed him softly, but the child kept crying, with fear in his voice.

Normally, the child would wake up from his sleep during the day, but he would never be so hard to coax as he was now. The young lady became more and more uneasy. It is said that children are more sensitive to danger than adults. Could this be the reason?

"Someone, go get Wufu."

Wu Fu is the servant who just came back from outside.

Wu Fu had already changed into dry clothes, but after walking the short distance from the front yard, his clothes got wet again even though he was wearing a straw raincoat.

"Madam, are you looking for me?"

"Wufu, let me ask you, you've been to the city gate. Are there many people leaving the city now?"

Ever since the news that the Fourth Prince was coming to Tongzhou spread, Han Dalang asked Wufu to go to the city gate every day. If he asked about the situation outside, Wufu would know it best.

Wufu said, "Before, many people left the city every day. Recently, fewer people have left the city, especially in the past few days. The rain has been getting heavier, and even fewer people are leaving the city. But there are still people leaving the city. Today, I saw the Huang family's mule cart."

"There's someone from the Huang family who's an official in the capital. Has his family left the city? Is the whole family together?" asked the young mistress.

Wufu nodded. "Yes, it's the Huang family. Their second master left the city early this morning with the old master and old lady, along with the women and children. Only the first and third masters stayed in the city. Today, as soon as I arrived at the city gate, I saw the first and third masters of the Huang family brave the heavy rain and head out of the city towards Gaoping."

After Wu Fu left, the young lady was so angry that she tore the handkerchief in her hand into pieces.

The eldest master of the Huang family and Han Dalang were classmates. Others had sent their elderly, weak, women and children away early, but Han Dalang did the opposite. Not only did he not leave, he also did not allow his wife and children to leave. This is not stupidity, this is vicious!

The child started crying again. The young lady gritted her teeth and suddenly made up her mind.

"Meixiang, go see where the old man has gone?"

After a while, Meixiang came back: "Master is in Chunmei's room."

The young mistress sneered, thinking that he had changed the place to study, or went to the old man's room to discuss countermeasures, but she didn't know that he went to find the concubine.

"Go, carry all the boxes we packed out a few days ago to the corridor, then ask Lao Chen to prepare the car and ask him to call all his sons."

Several maids and Old Chen's family were her companions. When her parents were about to go to Gaoping, the young mistress had packed up all the gold, silver and jewelry, but the Han family refused to leave, so those things could not be used.

Now she doesn't want to wait any longer. She still has a child, and she doesn't want to take her child with her to die with the Han family. It's not like she has no backing. She still has her parents' home, and her parents and elder brother who love her.

Ever since Yue's family went to Gaoping, the young mistress has always been thinking about leaving together. Han Dalang is so annoying. He has long hair but little knowledge. In order to be with her family, she even ignored her husband's bright future. The Fourth Prince came to Tongzhou, which is such a good opportunity, but she insisted on leaving. It's really hateful.

Han Dalang turned around and went to Chunmei's room. Chunmei had been serving him since she was a child. He originally wanted to make Chunmei his concubine after giving birth to a legitimate son, but the legitimate son was already one year old, and the young mistress still refused.

As soon as Han Dalang entered the room, Chunmei shyly told him that her period had not come for more than ten days.

Han Dalang was overjoyed: "Mei'er, you are pregnant? That's great! If that bitch still refuses to give you a room, I will divorce her!"

Chunmei hurriedly said, "Master, please stop talking like that. If Grandma hears this, she will definitely not let Meier off."

Han Dalang sneered, "How dare she! I only tolerated her a little before for the sake of her eldest brother, but I didn't expect her to become even more extreme and even refused to give you a name. Now, her parents have gone to Gaoping, a poor and remote place. I'm afraid she will never come back in this lifetime. If she is sensible and obedient, it would be fine. If she still doesn't know what's going on, I will divorce her and marry someone who is docile and sensible."

Chunmei came forward, hugged his waist, and put her face close to him: "Mei'er had a dream. In the dream, there was a little fairy chasing Mei'er and calling her aunt..."

Han Dalang was overjoyed: "Really? Mei'er must be giving birth to a boy this time!"

......

It was raining heavily outside, but the spring scenery inside was beautiful. The servant came to report the news, but was stopped outside by Chunmei's maid: "You have some good eyesight. The master hates being disturbed at this time."

It was two hours later when Han Dalang finally heard from the servant that the young mistress had left the house in the rain with the child.

The young lady's mule cart struggled forward in the heavy rain. Strangely enough, the child stopped crying since leaving the house. The little baby opened his eyes curiously, as if he knew something.

"Madam, the rain is too heavy. Why don't we find a place to take shelter?"

The young mistress looked at the child and said, "The rain has been falling for a long time. We can only take shelter from the rain temporarily. We might as well hurry up and get on with our journey. Once we get out of Tongzhou, the rain might subside."

She had done her homework in advance. In addition to Tongzhou, there were three other places where news of floods were reported, and Gaoping was in another direction. In other words, as long as they were out of the territory of Tongzhou, there would be no hidden danger of floods.

But the rain was too heavy, even heavier outside the city than inside. As soon as they left the city, the mule refused to move forward. Old Chen was extremely anxious, and the young lady was even more at a loss.

"Hey, uncle, what's going on? Is the car broken down?"

Amid the sound of rain, a clear voice was heard. It was a woman's voice.

I saw a few people wearing straw raincoats and riding on horses, walking towards this side.

Old Chen was shocked. The sky was getting darker and darker. Could it be that he was being robbed?

Old Chen's sons picked up the wooden sticks they carried with them and stood in front of the car to protect it.

Seeing this, the woman immediately smiled and said, "Don't panic, uncle. We are not bad people. We are just telling you that the rain is too heavy and the road ahead is even more difficult to walk. If you don't have anywhere to go for the time being, you can take shelter in the teahouse on the mountain. There is an inn on the mountain. The terrain there is very high. Even if the flood submerges Tongzhou City, there is no need to worry. The flood has not yet arrived, so you should go up the mountain as soon as possible."

After the woman finished speaking, she and her companions walked forward. Not far ahead, there was a mule cart parked there.

"Madam, did you hear that? The woman said we can take shelter from the rain in the mountains."

The young lady had just heard what the woman said. As a native of Tongzhou, she certainly knew the teahouse on the mountain. Han Dalang had held a poetry meeting there, but she had never been there.

"Is the mountain the woman mentioned reliable? Can our mule cart reach it?"

Old Chen said, "Madam, that teahouse on the mountain has been open for decades. It's a time-honored establishment. Don't worry. There are stairs for people to walk up the mountain, and there's also a horse path. Normally, we have sedan chairs for going up the mountain, but it's raining so hard that the horse path must be muddy, and I'm afraid the sedan chairs are gone. We can leave the cart at the foot of the mountain, and let my son lead the mule up the horse path. I'll escort you up the stairs, but it'll be hard for you, Madam."

The young lady was not afraid of hard work, she was just worried about her children. Even if it was hard, it would only take an hour or two. But if she wanted to get from here to Gaoping, she didn't know if she could make it in such heavy rain.

"Old Chen, carry Bao'er on my back and hide him inside the straw raincoat. Just protect Bao'er and don't worry about me!"

The mule cart turned around and returned to the city. The water in the city was already above the knees. Fortunately, the terrain was flat and the mules could still move forward. After finally reaching the foot of the mountain, they saw several carriages floating in the water from a distance. It seemed that some people had already gone up the mountain with their mules and horses like them.

Old Chen tied the child to his back with a cloth belt and put on a straw raincoat. When the child left his mother, he only cried twice and then hid obediently in the straw raincoat.

The young lady stepped onto the stone steps with the help of two maids. The rain quickly blurred her vision, and she took every step carefully.

Suddenly, Old Chen shouted, "Someone's coming down from above, Madam, be careful!"

The maid quickly helped the young lady to move aside, but the people who came stopped in front of them. They were two young men wearing straw raincoats.

What they were carrying on their shoulders were actually stretchers.

"Want to take a sedan chair? It's guaranteed to be stable!"

The young lady was overjoyed and was about to agree, but Old Chen said, "Young lady, be careful. They don't have local accents."

One of the men said, "We are indeed not locals. My second daughter is kind-hearted and worried that the steps might be slippery and cause an accident, so she specifically asked us to stay here. If we see the elderly, the weak, women, and children going up the mountain, we will help them. Don't worry, we have already carried many people up the mountain in the past two days."

Old Chen was about to say something, but the young lady suddenly remembered the young woman she met outside the city gate: "Is the second young lady you mentioned out of the city now?"

"Hey, were you also sent by the Second Young Lady? It's very dangerous to leave the city at this time, so the Second Young Lady went outside the city herself. When she saw someone leaving the city, she asked them to come to the mountain."

The young lady nodded. She didn't know how it happened, but she suddenly believed the second young lady, whom she had only heard of but never seen.

"Okay, please carry me up the mountain."

She lifted her legs and stepped onto the sedan chair, asking Old Chen to give the child to her. Old Chen refused. The young lady didn't understand the principle of not putting all eggs in one basket, but Old Chen did.

If these two people were bad guys, he couldn't save the young lady, but he could still protect the young master and escape.

But at this time, the scene on the mountain was completely different.

The teahouse no longer had the quiet and leisurely atmosphere of the past. Xiuxiu led the waiters to boil ginger soup in the largest pot. Those who had been caught in the rain would drink a bowl of it and feel warm all over.

Xia Dachuan looked at the sky and muttered, "Why hasn't the Second Miss come back yet? It's raining so hard. If I had known this would happen, I would have gone with her no matter what."

Another guard advised, "You don't know the Second Young Lady's temper yet. She won't let you follow her even if you want to. Don't worry, Miss Lingbo and the four guards are here. The Second Young Lady will be fine."

Yes, for this trip, the old man gave all his four bodyguards to Zhao Shiqing. With them around, the old man would feel at ease letting his precious granddaughter come to Tongzhou.

“Someone’s going up the mountain again!”

A little girl's voice came from outside. This was the little daughter of the teahouse owner. The adults were all busy, and since she was young, she helped run errands.

"Hurry up and bring a few bowls of ginger soup, there are babies going up the mountain."

"Oh, the baby can't drink ginger soup, boil more hot water for the child to wash."