Chapter 486 An unexpected encounter

Among those exiled, there was a famous writer of the time named Shang Linfeng.

This old Mr. Shang is over sixty years old this year.

He was talented when he was young. Although his official career was bumpy, he was successful in love. He spent his whole life on Zhangtai Road and had countless female friends.

He never married in his life, but had many concubines.

After failing the exams many times, one will inevitably feel resentful and depressed.

Who hasn't acted impulsively when they were young and energetic?

Unfortunately, he was implicated this time.

The poems he had written in the past were considered disrespectful and were found in the mansion of Marquis Qingping, so he was exiled to Qiongzhou.

But a literary giant is a literary giant. Even if he is in trouble, there are still people who admire him and donate generously to him.

Shang Linfeng gave away all his wealth and let his concubines marry.

But this year he had a son, born to an eighteen-year-old concubine, and he is his only child.

Having a son in old age, Shang Linfeng treats him as a treasure.

This time when he went to Qiongzhou, he specially hired a wet nurse at a high price to accompany him.

Unexpectedly, just as they set off, the wet nurse packed up and ran away!

Where can we find a new wet nurse in such a hurry?

So Shang Linfeng asked if there was a woman who could breastfeed the child. As a result, he heard that Lu Qiniang was breastfeeding Atai's daughter, so he asked her to come over.

Shang Linfeng's son, Shang Pu, is already seven months old.

Lu Qin's mother agreed without thinking too much, but told Shang Linfeng that Shang Pu was old enough and could drink some rice porridge or something like that.

Shang Linfeng entrusted Shang Pu to Lu Qiniang.

In her heart, Lu Qiniang actually didn't like this old man very much - he was too lustful and too shameless.

However, Shang Linfeng's reputation was so great that even Xiao Yan showed him some respect.

Lu Qiniang changed her mind and thought, forget it, for the sake of the child, why should she argue with an old man?

Anyway, it was just one sheep being released, whether it was a flock of sheep or not, so he agreed.

Shang Linfeng's servant quickly brought over two pieces of calligraphy.

Xiao Yan said that one of his calligraphy pieces could be sold for over a hundred taels of silver.

Lu Qiniang suddenly felt that she had made a profit.

But Atai was very nervous.

Because she found that Lu Qiniang seemed to treat Shi Niu better and took care of Shi Niu first in everything.

How dare I accept that?

Shang Pu is the son of a great writer.

Shi Niu, however——

She tactfully expressed her uneasiness to Lu Qiniang.

Lu Qiniang waved her hand: "What's the big deal? You have to take care of the younger ones more. Shang Pu is older now. Besides, girls are more delicate. You don't have to worry about it. We are all exiled now. No one is more noble than anyone else."

Literary masters must live, and ordinary people must live too.

A'tai was very grateful to Lu Qiniang and offered to help her with needlework.

"That's all I know—" she said with a blush.

Lu Qiniang smiled and said, "Everyone has their share of difficulties. But you don't have to worry about me helping you. To be honest, when I look at Shi Niu, I feel like I'm seeing my own daughter. You've made me miss my child less."

People need to be busy.

I have too much free time and tend to have random thoughts.

"You've been following me all day and you must be very tired. If you really feel bad, we'll have plenty of time to spend together when we go to Qiongzhou later."

A'tai silently swore in his heart that he must repay Lu Qin's mother.

The weather was getting colder day by day, but fortunately everyone was heading south, so they didn't find it unbearable.

Lu Qiniang and Erya sighed, "It's a good thing they were exiled to Qiongzhou. If they were exiled to Liaodong, wouldn't a few of them freeze to death?"

As for San Ya, she was riding outside and had already "recruited" five or six half-grown children in the team, so her figure was hard to find.

Erya said that if Liu Jian saw this, he would cry so hard that the Great Wall would be brought down - his sister soon became the sister of so many people and completely forgot about him.

Along the way, Erya silently observed the local customs and specialties of each place, and recorded them in her mind.

She found that for many goods, the price difference between their place of origin and the final selling price in Beijing was truly astonishing.

Even if the expenses of horse-drawn carriages for transportation are taken into account, the profit margin is still considerable.

Frankly speaking, since many people had taken care of the journey, the escorting bailiffs did not try to make things difficult for them, and the itinerary was not very tight, so relatively speaking, although it was hard, it was not unbearable for everyone.

Shang Linfeng also got into the carriage on the pretext of being old and frail.

Seeing this, Lu Qiniang felt sorry for Xiao Yan and always secretly let him sit in the car for a while.

Since the money has been paid, it seems that nothing is wrong.

But I always feel a little uneasy.

She secretly asked Xiao Yan: "Will someone report us like this?"

"No." Xiao Yan smiled, "So many people owe you a favor. For your sake, you can't make things difficult for me."

He was not speaking nonsense.

Helping others take care of their children is just one of the many things Lu Qinniang did along the way.

She really can't sit still for a moment and is involved in all kinds of trivial matters.

She would go and see whoever needed help to see if she could help.

When some people had no food to eat, she shared her dry food with them.

When someone's feet were rubbed raw, she gave them new shoes and socks.

There are countless little things like this.

If we were to say who is the most well-known person among the entire exile team, including the hundreds of people in their families, it must be Lu Qinniang.

She always smiles, and her warm heart is like a faint but omnipresent light that illuminates many corners in this gloomy journey.

Of course, there are also people who can't let go of their previous arrogance. Even if they have fallen to this point, they still think that Lu Qiniang is not self-respecting enough.

But no one dared to say anything to his face.

After walking for more than half a month, the exiled team unexpectedly met King Yan who was heading north.

To be honest, when Xiao Yan saw Prince Yan and his entourage, he was more shocked than surprised.

His first reaction was, what is this guy going to do now?

When Xiao Yan heard the Prince of Yan say that he was going to the capital, he immediately asked, "Your Highness, why is there no imperial decree for you to come to the capital?"

King Yan: "...Is that possible?"

He has already suffered a loss once.

Even if he doesn't learn his lesson, the scars left by the cutting will always remind him not to act impulsively.

It turned out that the emperor had issued an edict ordering all the princes to come to Beijing this year.

Xiao Yan finally felt relieved.

Prince Yan greeted the escorting officers - after all, he was a prince, so he still had some face. Then he hosted a banquet to entertain Xiao Yan's family.

At Xiao Yan's repeated request, Prince Yan finally held a low-key banquet without any problems.

Prince Yan was talking to Xiao Yan, while the accompanying Princess Yan was entertaining Lu Qiniang, Erya and Sanya.

"This time I just happened to go to the capital to see Jian'er." The King of Yan mentioned his son with some worry. "Originally, when you were in the capital, I could rest assured. Now that you are gone, I——"

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I've already told Jiang Xuan and my daughter, and asked Zhou Xiaoyao to help look after him. The prince will be fine."

Even if he were to cry now, there would probably be no one like San Ya who could calm him down.

Xiao Yan tactfully reminded Prince Yan that he must be careful and behave himself when entering the capital.

The King of Yan said that he had learned from his mistakes and would not be rash this time.

However, neither of them expected that this seemingly ordinary encounter was actually a carefully planned conspiracy.