Chapter 4 caused a minor disturbance.
Yu Qingci: "I don't blame Grandmother for being taboo. What family would want someone to set up a memorial tablet and burn paper money in their backyard? It's just that Grandmother already has a prejudice against Mother. If this matter makes Grandmother unhappy again, it would be a loss. Therefore, I think now is definitely not a good time for Mother to enter the Earl's Mansion."
Su Chengniang sighed, "I also want to go back, but it's a big deal for you and Qingbai to be included in the family genealogy. We can't delay it."
Yu Qingci knew that her mother and father had discussed returning to the capital for a long time. She also knew that her mother did not want to go back, but she had to compromise so that she and her brother could be recognized by their ancestors.
Yu Qingci: "What's so difficult about that? Father said that the court has already returned the house to my maternal grandfather's family. Once we enter the capital, we will accompany Mother to my maternal grandfather's house to observe mourning. After Father settles the affairs of the Earl's Mansion, my brother and I will go back with Father to recognize our ancestors. That way, we won't delay either of us."
My maternal grandparents only had one daughter, my mother. The Su family didn't have any relatives in the capital, so it was only natural for my mother to observe mourning for them, and my father had no reason to stop her.
Mother, you don't need to worry about me and my brother. After all, we are Father's biological children. Even if Grandmother doesn't like us, she would never make things difficult for us.
Besides, my daughter is already fifteen and won't be staying at the Earl's mansion for many more years. As for my younger brother, there's no need to worry. He's a grandson, and my grandmother naturally dotes on him. Besides, he's already nine years old (by Chinese reckoning) and will be living in the outer courtyard after we go back. He'll also be going to school every day, so he won't be spending much time at the Earl's mansion. And with my father personally taking care of my mother, what's there to worry about?
If Mother misses us, please ask Father to take my brother and me back to visit her often. Your daughter truly doesn't want to see Mother mistreated at the Earl's mansion.
Yu Qingci's words were so reasonable and well-founded that Su Chengniang was at a loss for words to refute them.
Yu Qingbai, who had been listening for a while, suddenly spoke up:
“Sister is right. When we get to the capital, we won’t go back to the Marquis’s mansion. I’ll go wherever Mother and Sister go.”
Su Chengniang hadn't expected her children to be so considerate of her, and she couldn't help but hug them tightly, saying with tenderness:
"Alright, Mother, we'll listen to you. We won't go back to the Earl's Mansion. Once we get to the capital, we'll stay at the Su Residence."
She still remembered the words of the old lady of the Marquis's mansion ten years ago: "How can the daughter of a disgraced official be worthy of being the mistress of our Nanping Marquis's mansion? It's a joke! It's already magnanimous of our Marquis's mansion that we haven't divorced you. Even if you were to become my son's concubine, our Nanping Marquis's mansion would only accept daughters from respectable families. And you, Su Cheng Niang, are not worthy!"
Therefore, the old lady would be even happier if she didn't go back.
The mother and her two children discussed their plans all the way to the post station.
The postmaster, seeing that it was the caravan of the Marquis of Nanping, was very respectful and arranged two spacious courtyards for them. Su Chengniang stayed in one courtyard with her two children and maids and nannies, while the rest of the guards and servants stayed in the other courtyard.
Yu Qingci took the initiative to ask to share a room with her mother and arranged for her younger brother's room to be next to theirs.
After settling into her lodgings, while her mother went to take a bath, Yu Qingci immediately summoned Granny Liu and whispered some instructions in her ear.
Granny Liu stared at her in surprise, but seeing Yu Qingci's serious attitude, she nodded solemnly and hurriedly went out to make arrangements.
Granny Liu has been by Mother's side for many years and is Mother's most capable and loyal servant. Yu Qingci would be absolutely at ease entrusting such a matter to her.
After nightfall, a dark figure quietly slipped out of the back door of the post station.
Soon, another dark figure followed.
The dark figure ahead crept out quite a distance before mimicking a few bird calls towards the woods ahead.
Several burly men dressed in black quickly emerged from the woods. The leader lowered his voice and said:
"What's going on? Didn't we agree that you'd stay at an inn? Why did you end up at a government post station? If our brothers hadn't been keeping an eye on things, we'd still be wandering around somewhere else right now."
"Now look what's happened! The post station is heavily guarded by soldiers; it's not like an ordinary inn when it comes to fighting. You're trying to rip us off! This isn't a good deal!"
The dark figure was none other than Steward Li from the Earl's mansion. Faced with the accusations from several burly men in black, he immediately smiled obsequiously and said:
"Please calm down, gentlemen. We were originally going to an inn. The horses were even drugged beforehand. But who would have thought that the mother and daughter were so difficult to please and refused to go to the inn? Unfortunately, we ran into the Marquis of Zhenbei's son leading his entourage back to the capital. We met and helped them out, which is how we made it to the post station on our way."
The burly man in black said, "Enough with the nonsense. What do we do now? Are we going to make a move or not? If we do, the price will double. If you don't agree, then find someone else. The deposit is non-refundable."
"Double the price? That's outrageous! Don't forget who you're working for. If you anger my master, you'll regret it."
The burly man in black also got angry: "Stop talking nonsense. Do you think I'm easy to scare? Go ask around. I've taken on so many jobs in this area, what kind of important people haven't I seen?"
I don't care who your master is, just don't expect me to do anything without paying you!
Seeing that these people were about to turn on him, Steward Li gritted his teeth. If he couldn't do what his master had asked him to do, he would have a hard time explaining himself when he got back. He might as well take a gamble. As long as a conflict broke out that night, the mission would be half accomplished.
"Alright! But I don't have that much money on me right now. Come to the usual place to get it after I've finished this and returned to the capital."
The deal was struck, and Manager Li quietly slipped away.
He never noticed that a dark figure was following him from a distance.
"Miss, you guessed right! This old servant instructed one of our most reliable guards to keep a close eye on Steward Li, and he discovered that he just went out..."
Yu Qingci was not surprised at all by the news Liu Mama brought back. Since she knew they were not giving up, she would deal with them as they came.
"Granny, tell everyone here to be on high alert tonight, and be careful not to let Steward Li find out. Also, those guards from the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence. Never mind, quietly call over the leading guard from the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence, and I'll talk to him personally."
At this moment, Granny Liu was already deeply impressed with her young mistress, and upon hearing this, she nodded and went to make the arrangements.
At night, the back door of the post station was secretly opened, causing a small commotion, but it was quickly covered up by the guards who were lying in wait.
Su Chengniang slept soundly, but when she woke up, she heard news that shocked her.
"What? Bandits sneaked into the post station in the middle of the night and were caught red-handed by the guards of the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion?"
Granny Liu: "Yes, Madam, you heard right. Luckily, Miss ordered our guards to increase patrols last night. These robbers were surrounded by our men as soon as they came in, and none of them escaped. They are all being held by the guards of the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion right now."
Su Chengniang sighed, "These bandits are too audacious. They even dare to rob the government's post station. They really value money over their lives."
Granny Liu: "Who says otherwise? Luckily, we had the guards from the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion with us. They really helped us a lot last night. Otherwise, with just our dozen or so guards, we might not have been able to defeat these vicious bandits."
Looking back now, it seems Miss was quite prescient to ask the Marquis of Zhenbei's heir for men. She originally only wanted a few guards to bolster our courage, but they unexpectedly saved us at a crucial moment. If it weren't for them, we would have been in serious trouble last night.”
Su Chengniang clutched her chest in lingering fear and murmured to herself, "Granny is right. When we return to the capital, I will definitely ask the Earl to personally visit and express his gratitude."
"I never imagined there would be such audacious thugs in the capital, daring to even raid government post stations. They're utterly outrageous!"
As the two talked about what happened that night, Yu Qingci secretly regretted that they hadn't been able to arrest Steward Li this time.
However, time was too tight, and the people in the Earl's mansion could not be trusted. The people they brought were all maids and servants, so it would not be easy to deal with the internal traitors all at once.
Fortunately, we'll arrive in the capital today; we can find another opportunity to pack up later.
As dusk fell, the caravan finally entered the capital. Manager Li volunteered to lead men to escort the bandits to the Jingzhao Prefecture, but Yu Qingci stopped him.
Yu Qingci: "It's better to handle one matter with two people. We were able to capture all these bandits thanks to the great help of the people from the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion. It would be more appropriate for them to send them directly. As for Steward Li, he can stay and continue to lead the way."
Su Chengniang hurriedly told Granny Liu to take a few silver notes from the carriage and put them into the hand of the leading guard.
"We are very grateful to you all for this. This is a small token of my wife's appreciation. Please do not refuse it."
The guards of the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion didn't stand on ceremony; they took the silver notes, escorted the robbers, and left.
Manager Li watched helplessly as they escorted the robbers away. It seemed he had no choice but to go back and ask his master for a solution. Alas! Who knew these robbers would be so unreliable? He'd fallen into their trap before he even had a chance to act.
Just as Steward Li was about to order the carriage to move forward after gritting his teeth, Granny Liu lifted the curtain and gave the order:
"The lady has given the order: go to Liuli Lane in the north of the city."
Manager Li's eyes widened instantly.
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