Xu Zhi was to go to Tongzhou first, then take a boat from Tongzhou to Jizhou, stay in Jizhou for a few days, and then take a boat to Qiantang. From Qiantang, she would travel overland to Yuezhou.

Xu Zhi noticed that after the old steward met a group of people outside the city gate, they joined his own group and traveled with his caravan towards Tongzhou.

The territory of Daliang has always been very peaceful. Traveling on the road is generally safe as long as you don't go to places with high mountains and dense forests. Moreover, there is a post station every hundred miles or so along the official road. The official road is also very well built, and in some places it is even paved with bluestone, so the carriage does not have much of a bumpy ride.

After boarding the ship in Tongzhou, heading south, Zheng Yuanyuan was very excited. Looking out from the cabin, her face flushed with excitement, she said to Xu Zhi, "Sister-in-law, look! There are cattle herding on the shore."

Xu Zhi looked and sure enough, there was a cowherd riding an ox on the bank. The ox was walking slowly, and the cowherd was sitting leisurely on the ox's back, fiddling with something with his head down. Soon, a melodious flute sound drifted over.

Zheng Yuanyuan said excitedly, "Sister-in-law, did the shepherd boy play the flute? The flute sound was so faint, it was really interesting."

Granny Wang said from the side, "Miss, let's rest for a while."

Xu Zhi knew that Zheng Yuanyuan was just excited to be on the boat. Once the journey got longer, it would become boring. Luckily, Zheng Yuanyuan didn't get seasick. Before boarding, Xu Zhi had Bai Zhu find several medicinal formulas and herbs to treat seasickness, just in case anyone in the group got seasick. It seemed things were going well so far. Also, because the boat was quite large, and the scenery was beautiful in March, the canal was calm and peaceful.

Traveling by water is faster; it only takes two days to get from Tongzhou to Jizhou. However, to reach the Zheng family's ancestral home in Jizhou, it will take another two days on the road.

The boat was hired from Tongzhou. After putting the luggage on the boat and arranging for guards to watch over it, Xu Zhi boarded a carriage under the arrangement of the head steward and headed towards the Zheng family's ancestral home.

The Pingxi Marquis's residence was located in a place called Zhengjia Town, about 30 li away from Anping County.

The road conditions were not very good. Xu Zhi sat in the carriage, swaying back and forth, feeling a little restless. Lifting the curtain, she saw that sometimes there were dense forests on both sides of the road, and sometimes there were farmlands. Because it was spring plowing season, people were already leading oxen to plow the fields.

Xu Zhi lowered the carriage curtain and carefully recalled what the old steward had told her about the Zheng family members when she was on the boat.

Zhengjia Town is the ancestral home of the Marquis of Pingxi. After receiving rewards, the Marquis of Pingxi would return to his hometown to purchase sacrificial land. Over the generations, most of the land within a radius of dozens of miles in Zhengjia Town belonged to the Zheng clan as sacrificial land.

The produce from the fields was used as the daily expenses of the Zheng family, such as the maintenance of the Zheng family ancestral hall, the daily expenses of the Zheng family school, the care of some elderly people living alone in the clan, and the daily maintenance of the old residence of the Marquis of Pingxi. All of these expenses were paid from this income.

These were all things I heard from the old steward on the boat. When he was young, the old steward was in charge of contacting people in his hometown. He was not only familiar with the Zheng clan, but also knew the potential of the nearly 1,000 acres of sacrificial fields in Zhengjia Town. Unfortunately, after Xiao Chen married into the family, she got involved with the daughter-in-law of the clan leader of the Zheng clan in her hometown within a few years. As a result, Xiao Chen found a fault and dismissed the old steward from his job.

The old steward was a long-time servant of the Zheng family, who had always been loyal to the Marquis of Pingxi. Unfortunately, the current Marquis of Pingxi had no ambition for the court and was only interested in enjoying himself. The old steward was assigned to a shop by the old lady and had been there for many years.

Many of the shops belong to the descendants of the old Marquis of Pingxi who went to Yanmen Pass with him. Over the decades, although many of the older generation have passed away, the younger generation has inherited their wishes and continues to guard the Zheng family estate. There is even a special training ground on the estate.

The old steward explained everything to Xu Zhi in great detail, and what Xu Zhi was most interested in were actually the people from her hometown.

The clan leader, Zheng Qingchun, is the eldest son of the previous clan leader. According to the Zheng family's rules, the position of clan leader is usually inherited by the eldest son of the eldest branch of Zheng Qingchun's lineage.

The old steward didn't have a good impression of the Zheng family's patriarchal lineage. After all, it was the current patriarch's wife, Ma, who colluded with Xiao Chen to find a pretext to oust the old steward. You see, the Zheng family's ancestral fields have fertile soil, and their annual yields are naturally very abundant. It's very easy to get some benefits from them.

The old steward had once discovered that Zheng Qingchun had some money that was unclear. The old steward originally intended to investigate thoroughly and then report it to Marquis Pingxi. Unfortunately, Zheng Qingchun somehow found out about it. Because of this, Madam Ma was desperate and joined forces with Madam Chen. Otherwise, the old steward would not have been so easily ousted from his position as head steward.

The old steward said, "Young mistress, my family has been stewards of the Pingxi Marquis's mansion for three generations. Their loyalty goes without saying. I have worked in this mansion my whole life, and yet I was slandered like this in the end. I didn't want to live anymore. It was the old lady who told me that justice will prevail and that right and wrong will eventually come to light. Only then did I pack my bedding and go to the shop."

The old manager was in his sixties. It must have been really hard for him to be slandered at his age, but thankfully he managed to persevere, which is truly admirable.

The old steward said, "This time, the old lady summoned me from the shop to do things for the young mistress. Naturally, I will do my best. Young mistress, please rest assured, I will do my job well."

Xu Zhi nodded and asked, "Uncle Qing, since my great-uncle assigned you to me, he must have great trust in you." The old steward was always addressed as Uncle Qing.

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