Chapter 37 Misunderstanding

Jiang Shu was bathing in the house, while Shen Changze was discussing farm affairs with the new farm steward in the yard.

"My Lord, I have something important to report." The guard walked hurriedly, looking anxious.

Steward Sun was a shrewd man and withdrew tactfully.

There was no one around, so Shen Changze said, "Go ahead."

"Zhao Dezhu said that if my Lord doesn't go to see him, he will say that it was the Madam who protected him when he got to the government office." The guard reported the truth.

Shen Changze was so angry that he was fuming: "What a cunning slave!"

The guard stood aside, not daring to say a word.

Shen Changze stood up angrily and walked quickly to the woodshed.

He wanted to see what Zhao Dezhu was trying to do.

Jiang Shu came out of the bath and wanted to ask Shen Changze to go take a bath, but found that there was no one in the courtyard.

It was cool in the mountains at night, and Jiang Shu sat in the courtyard to cool down.

Tan Yu wiped her wet hair, looked up at the sky and sighed: "It's cloudy, we won't see the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl this year."

Jiang Shu was stunned: "Today is the Qiqiao Festival"

"Madam, have you forgotten?"

Jiang Shu did forget. These days, she was thinking about the farm and didn't pay attention to the date.

"The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl only meet once a year. Will they not meet this year?" Tan Yu said with regret.

Jiang Shu said softly, "Maybe the Weaver Girl doesn't want to see the Cowherd."

"How could that be?" Tan Yu said in surprise, "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl love each other so much that the heaven, earth and stars cannot separate them. How touching it is that they meet on the Magpie Bridge once a year."

"Touching,"

Jiang Shu said sarcastically, "A fairy and a mortal. If the Cowherd really loves the Weaver Girl, he should set her free instead of stealing her feather clothes and forcing her to stay in the mortal world to suffer, and he should not secretly arrange a marriage with her to trick her into giving birth to children."

"Love should be a mutual consent, not a selfish confinement and possession."

Tan Yu was confused, "So they are not in love,"

Jiang Shu smiled without comment.

Looking up at the dark sky, Jiang Shu frowned slightly, "I'm afraid it will rain tomorrow."

The weather has been gloomy these two days, and it always seems like a storm is coming.

"It's even harder to walk on the mountain road when it rains." Tan Yu complained in a low voice.

Jiang Shu said in a low voice: "No matter how hard it is, we have to go."

Tan Yu was stunned for a moment, and realized that Jiang Shu was not talking about the road.

The night breeze was slightly cool, and when Jiang Shu's wet hair was about to be blown dry, Shen Changze came back angrily.

"What's wrong with the Marquis?" Jiang Shu asked in confusion.

Shen Changze saw them, suppressed his anger and said perfunctorily: "Nothing."

After speaking, he went straight into the house to take a shower.

The master and servant looked at each other, and they felt that something had happened.

But Shen Changze didn't want to say it, and Jiang Shu didn't dare to ask.

At night, Shen Changze slept on the floor as he did yesterday.

Jiang Shu lay on the bed, and they both had their own thoughts and didn't speak.

In the middle of the night, Jiang Shu was half asleep and vaguely heard the rain outside.

Shen Changze on the ground was awakened by the sound of rain and turned over unhappily.

The heavy rain was pouring down, and the guards guarding outside the woodshed retreated to the corridor to avoid the rain.

"Boom--"

Thunder fell, as if covering or reminding something.

The next day, the rain subsided and fell drop by drop.

Jiang Shu and Shen Changze were about to set off after breakfast when the guards came to report in panic.

"Oh no, Lord Hou, Zhao Dezhu ran away!"

"What did you say!" Shen Changze asked with a sullen face.

The guard said in a panic, "Just now I went into the woodshed to take Zhao Dezhu to the government office, and found that there was no one in the woodshed, and there was a newly dug big hole under the wall."

"What were you doing last night? I couldn't even hear someone digging a hole!" Shen Changze was furious.

The guard knelt down in fear and said, "It rained too hard last night. I retreated to the corridor to avoid the rain and kept staring at the door of the woodshed. I didn't expect someone to dig a hole in the rain. It was my fault."

"Look for him, take people to look for him quickly, and you must catch him back!" Shen Changze's face was livid and furious.

The guard didn't dare to disobey, and hurriedly took a few people to track and search.

But the heavy rain lasted for half the night, washing away all traces, and there was no way to find him.

Shen Changze and Jiang Shu waited for half a day, but did not get any satisfactory news.

Wang Cui and others were panicked when they heard that Zhao Dezhu had escaped, fearing that he would retaliate secretly.

Shen Changze solemnly assured them that he would definitely catch Zhao Dezhu. If Zhao Dezhu dared to escape again, he would be killed and fed to the wolves.

Jiang Shu looked at his serious look and sneered in his heart.

The rain stopped in the afternoon. Shen Changze left half of the guards to search for Zhao Dezhu, and went to the next manor with Jiang Shu.

The mountain road was not easy to walk after the rain, and the carriage was shaking violently.

Shen Changze sat upright with a cold face, still angry about Zhao Dezhu's escape.

Jiang Shu didn't want to see him pretending, so he leaned against the wall of the car and closed his eyes to rest.

We hurried along the way and finally arrived at Xiaoyuan Manor at dusk.

Unlike the previous two manors, Xiaoyuan Manor had almost no arable land, but only barren mountain land. Some medicinal herbs were planted casually without careful management.

Since there was not much money to be made, the account book here was not a big problem. The head of the manor was also honest and simple, but he was too old to patrol the mountains.

The handover of Xiaoyuan Manor was very smooth, and the original head of the manor retained his status as a steward and lived here for retirement.

Jiang Shu and Shen Changze decided to plant flowers and fruits in Xiaoyuan Manor to make wine according to local conditions.

There were two more manors left, and they continued on their journey after a night's rest.

Greed is human nature. The remaining two farms were in a similar situation to Sangyan Farm, with chaotic accounts and corruption.

Fortunately, their natures were not as bad as Zhao Dezhu's, so Shen Changze treated them leniently, just like Sangyan Farm.

After touring the manor, Jiang Shu and Shen Changze headed back to Beijing.

After a whole day's journey, they arrived at Cenhe Manor before sunset.

Four days had passed, and Zhao Dezhu had not been caught yet. The people of Cenhe Manor were in a panic.

Shen Changze could only order the guards to stay and continue the search to comfort the people of the manor.

At night, Jiang Shu packed up and went to bed.

Shen Changze asked her, "Where do you think Zhao Dezhu will hide?"

Zhao Dezhu had few relatives at home, and Shen's mother had found a place for him to settle down because he was alone and helpless.

But she didn't want to invite a wolf into the house and raise a tiger to cause trouble.

"Where will he hide, doesn't the marquis know?" Jiang Shu asked back with sarcasm.

Shen Changze heard something wrong: "What do you mean?"

Jiang Shu was silent for a moment, and said thoughtfully: "That night, the Marquis went to see Zhao Dezhu."

Shen Changze came back that night with an angry look on his face, and Jiang Shu guessed that it was related to Zhao Dezhu.

The next day, Zhao Dezhu escaped, and Jiang Shu confirmed his guess and was extremely disappointed with Shen Changze.

"Yes. He used my mother's reputation to threaten me to meet him." Shen Changze admitted frankly.

Jiang Shu sneered and said no more.

Shen Changze frowned heavily in the dark and said unhappily: "Do you think I let him go for personal reasons?"

"Whether it is true or not, the Marquis knows it in his heart." Jiang Shu turned his back and didn't want to say anything more.

Shen Changze was annoyed, and sat up to question: "In your eyes, I am so unbearable"

"Your Majesty, you are too serious, it's just a matter of weighing the pros and cons, I understand." Jiang Shu sneered.

She knew everything, but could do nothing.

"You know it well." Shen Changze gritted his teeth in anger.