Before he could finish his words, his cousin slapped him on the back of his head: "How could you see the gold ingots? Didn't you see that those boxes were locked? They might contain treasures from the palace!"
Mrs. Wang, holding a bamboo basket, squeezed to the front row. The swimming crabs in the basket took advantage of her distraction to crawl out, making a rustling sound on the sand. "What do you know? I heard from Mrs. Zhang at the rice shop at the entrance of the town that a few days ago, a sedan chair with eight bearers passed by the official road. The person sitting in the sedan chair was an important person from the capital—"
She deliberately dragged out her voice, and when she saw everyone gathered around, she lowered her voice and said, "I heard that the bracelet that nobleman wore could be exchanged for ten acres of salt fields in our village!"
"Don't talk nonsense," Grandma Chen, squatting by the wall mending her fishing nets, suddenly spoke up. The twine in her hand shone gray in the sunlight. "The family exiled here two years ago wore coarse clothes patched upon patched. How could they be so impressive? I think... maybe some high-ranking official made a mistake and was banished to Qiongzhou to gild their reputation?"
Her toothless mouth opened and closed, and the wind that leaked out caused the fishing net on her knees to sway gently.
Suddenly, there was a gasp from the crowd - the moment Yun Ruoxi lifted the curtain of the car, the silver wave pattern embroidered on her moon-white skirt shattered into a piece of silver light in the sunlight.
A little girl with pigtails pointed at the jade pendant hanging from her waist and cried out, "Mom! My sister's jade pendant is the same as the jade Guanyin statue in the City God Temple!"
This caused the people around to burst into laughter, but they couldn't help but take a step closer to the carriage.
"I heard that the village chief went to town yesterday and bought three pounds of pork belly."
Someone suddenly said something, and the crowd fell silent. Uncle Li puffed on his pipe and nodded, "That's right. I saw him weigh out two pounds of fine salt with my own eyes. This family has quite a strong background, and I'm afraid they're going to put down roots in our village."
The big yellow dog in the corner was awakened by the human voice. He pricked up his ears and sniffed the faint scent of powder in the air, and swept a shallow pit in the sand with his tail.
The men working in the salt drying field in the distance straightened their backs, leaned their hands against the sunshade and looked towards the village entrance. The salt grains on the wooden rakes fell to their feet, like scattered silver coins on the ground.
When Xiao Jing and Lord Wang came out of the village chief's yard, the murmuring outside the yard suddenly died down, and only the clattering sound of swimming crabs struggling in the bamboo basket was particularly clear.
A rooster from somewhere suddenly crowed, startling the sparrows pecking at rice on the wall and breaking the delicate silence.
The baby in Aunt Zhang's arms burst into tears. She was frantically trying to comfort the baby, but her eyes were still fixed on the emerald tassel hanging on the side of the Xiao family's carriage. It was not until the streak of light turned the corner that she realized she had kicked over the crab basket and saw several green-shelled crabs burrowing into the sand.
Taohua Village Chief's House
Lord Wang took Xiao Jing to sit in the main house of the village chief's house. The village chief's wife brought her eldest daughter-in-law in to serve tea. After serving the tea, they respectfully withdrew.
As for the other members of the exile team, they were all guarding outside the village chief's house and did not go in to disturb him.
Lord Wang smiled and said, "This is what happened. This is the former Marquis of Wu'an, Xiao Jing. Although he was framed by his colleagues in the court, dismissed from office, and exiled to our Qiongzhou, he is not a pariah. Therefore, he did not go to the military settlement, but chose a Feng Shui location to settle down."
When the ancient village chief heard that the man was actually an official in the capital, he was so frightened that his legs went weak and he almost fell to his knees.
If Xiao Jing hadn't been quick enough to help the man up, the old village chief would probably have kowtowed to them both.
The ancient village chief is just an ordinary citizen, and the highest-ranking official one can usually meet is probably Lord Wang.
Now that he had met Marquis Wu'an, the ancient village chief, he suddenly felt that his farmyard had become much brighter.
What the young scholar meant when he said, "My humble home is filled with glory," is probably what he meant.
Xiao Jing hurriedly said, "There's no need to be like this, Village Chief Gu. I'm just a commoner now, just like the villagers. What happened in the capital is in the past. We should live a good life from now on."
The ancient village chief finally came to his senses and said, "Master Xiao is right. We still have to live well in the future."
Lord Wang continued, "Don't be nervous, Village Chief Gu. Since the person has been arranged to Taohua Village, I hope the Village Chief can take good care of him. I wonder where this courtyard will be arranged."
When people wanted to come to Taohua Village and settle down, Lord Wang had already made arrangements a long time ago, so now that people from Wu'an Marquis' Mansion have arrived, they will naturally have a courtyard to live in.
The village chief originally thought that the person was a relative of some important figure, but he didn't expect that he was the former Marquis of Wu'an, and a high-ranking official in the capital.
Even though he is no longer an official, he has lived in the capital after all. A lean camel is bigger than a horse, so he must have some wealthy relatives.
The village chief hurriedly said, "Master Wang, Xiao Lao Er has already made all the arrangements. Since time is tight, it's not practical to build a house right now, so we can only clean up the empty houses left in the village. That will also work, right?"
The ancient village chief was secretly groaning in his heart. If he had known that Marquis Wu'an was coming, he would have persuaded the villagers to build a new house. But now, the good opportunity to establish a relationship was gone.
Lord Wang obviously didn't expect that when he came to settle down, he made it very clear that the house must be prepared, preferably a new house.
Unexpectedly, in order to save money and trouble, the ancient village chief just renovated an old house to fool him. For a moment, his face looked a little ugly.
How could Xiao Jing not understand the twists and turns involved?
But now that their family has left Taohua Village, many things are not suitable to be made a big deal. Besides, they have suffered a lot during this exile.
In this situation, it’s good enough to have a house to live in, so why be picky?
Xiao Jing smiled brightly, "Don't mind, Village Chief Gu. We're lucky to have a place to settle down right now. As for whether we can live in a new house in the future, that still depends on our own hands. Now that we have a renovated house, it's fine for us to settle in for a few days."
Lord Wang smiled and said, "But... in this situation, isn't this unfair to Brother Xiao?"
Xiao Jing said nonchalantly, "How can I feel wronged? We still have a long way to go. Besides, the village chief is preparing an old house for us, which is perfect because we were planning to build a new one. If he prepares a new house for us but we don't live in it, wouldn't that be a waste of the village chief's kindness?"
Lord Wang looked at Xiao Jing's expression and felt much more relieved when he saw that it didn't seem fake.
"Since Brother Xiao has already made plans, I feel relieved."
Then he turned around and said to the village chief, "Then please lead the way. Let's go and take a look at this new home."
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