In less than half a day, Lu Qiqi and her group arrived at the city gate of Heshun Prefecture.
Outside the city, there were many refugees who had fled and gathered there. On both sides of the city gate, soldiers in armor stood guard with swords in hand, and the crowd lined up to enter the city.
Lu Qiqi asked Li Changlong to find out what was going on, and then said goodbye to Feng Yuer and Liu Tong and his apprentice.
Feng Yu'er couldn't bear to part with Lu Qiqi, and even more so with Lu Yao and Wangcai. She took a step forward, hugged Lu Qiqi tightly, buried her head in the crook of Lu Qiqi's neck, and said, "You must come to the Feng Mansion in the South Alley of Hezhou City to play with me if you have the chance."
Lu Qiqi patted Feng Yuer on the back, "Okay, I'll definitely go if I have the chance."
Feng Yu'er sniffed and whispered, "I gave Lu Yao some things to take. When I leave, please make sure you take them. Consider it a small token of my gratitude."
Feng Yu'er knew that if she gave it directly to Lu Qiqi, she would definitely not accept it, but it would be different if she gave it to Lu Yao first. The little girl was naive and easy to fool!
Lu Qiqi was taken aback, then understood Feng Yuer's intention, and smiled, "Don't worry, I won't be polite."
Feng Yu'er reluctantly let go of Lu Qiqi, secretly wiped away her tears, and turned to get into the carriage.
Liu Tong wasn't so pretentious. He directly gave Lu Qiqi a bottle of his own cooking secret recipe, a secret seasoning from a foreign land!
Lu Qiqi took it and smelled it, and was so choked by the smell that she sneezed several times. It was actually pepper powder!
She suspected that Liu Tong was repaying kindness with enmity and had choked her to death before leaving!
Before Lu Qiqi could finish coughing, Li Changlong came running back, slightly out of breath, and said, "People from Heshun Prefecture have to pay to enter the city, and those without a household registration are not allowed in."
Lu Qiqi nodded. It was normal to charge fees in such chaotic times, and it was understandable that they wouldn't charge unregistered people. However, her second brother looked worried and shocked. Had he heard something incredible?
Li Changlong took a breath and said, "Fifty taels per person to enter the city!"
Fifty taels!
The moment that number was uttered, the villagers of Lijia Village behind him erupted in uproar.
"Fifty taels! I've never seen so much money in my life! Isn't this robbery?!"
"Exactly! Are they even going to leave any way for us refugees to survive?!"
"We originally planned to spend a lot of money to go into Heshun Prefecture to buy some things, but now it seems impossible. We can't even get in!"
Lu Qiqi frowned. In her opinion, Heshun Prefecture was doing this to screen out wealthy gentry. If someone could afford to spend fifty taels to enter the city, surely they must have spent a lot of money!
Lu Qiqi cursed inwardly, "You corrupt official!"
Upon hearing that it would cost fifty taels to enter the city, Liu Tong immediately grabbed Li Changlong's shoulder and asked, "Are you telling the truth?"
Fifty taels of silver. The three of them, master and disciples, would need a total of one hundred and fifty taels of silver. If they could afford that much money, why would they need to rely on relatives?!
Li Changlong took a breath, no longer so out of breath. "It's absolutely true. I saw a lot of refugees heading towards Luzhou Prefecture. I heard they're accepting refugees there."
With Li Changlong's definitive statement, Liu Tong released him and said dejectedly to Lu Qiqi, "It seems I still have to go to Luzhou Prefecture with you."
Lu Yao, holding Wangcai, whispered, "What about Sister Feng?"
Lu Qiqi had originally planned to have Liu Tong and his apprentice escort Feng Yu'er home, but now that Liu Tong was also going to Luzhou Prefecture with them, she was worried about leaving Feng Yu'er home alone.
Why don't we take some silver from our storage space and send Liu Tong to the city to stay with his relatives?
No way! That's the money her mother pawned for her embroidery; it's the capital their family will use to settle down in Luzhou Prefecture in the future!
Forget it, let's wait until they've settled down in Luzhou Prefecture, then find an opportunity to send a message to the Feng family to come and pick up Feng Yu'er!
Just as Lu Qiqi was about to explain the situation to Feng Yuer, she heard Song Yanqing say, "I'll take her into the city and home."
Lu Qiqi suddenly turned around to look at Song Yanqing, only to see him staring at the city gate, his dark eyes seemingly lost in thought.
Song Yanqing withdrew his gaze and met Lu Qiqi's eyes, saying, "I will also go to the escort agency in the city to explain the situation and ask them to inform the employer."
Lu Qiqi was about to speak when Song Yanqing cut her off, saying, "I can't hide forever."
Lu Qiqi fell silent. She had no reason to stop Song Yanqing from doing anything!
She glanced at the carriage and thought for a moment. She felt relieved to have Song Yanqing take Feng Yu'er home. After thinking it through, she smiled knowingly and said, "Then I'll trouble you."
Song Yanqing handed Lu Qiqi a dagger, "This was found on the Tartars. Take it for self-defense."
Lu Qiqi took the dagger. Two rubies were inlaid on the exquisite scabbard. When she drew the blade, it gleamed coldly. She was delighted; it was indeed a fine knife.
Lu Qiqi smiled and wanted to thank him, but Song Yanqing handed her another black jade pendant. "Take this jade pendant. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can take it to the largest cloth shop in the southern part of Luzhou. Someone will pass on a message to me."
Lu Qiqi took the jade pendant. It felt warm and smooth to the touch and was carved with cloud patterns. She remembered that in operas, you could take a jade pendant to a bank to withdraw money, and asked curiously, "What if you need money?"
Song Yanqing smiled calmly, "I can only pay a maximum of five hundred taels at a time."
Lu Qiqi gasped, then gripped the jade pendant tightly in her hand as if afraid it would be snatched away, thinking to herself, "The ancients were right!"
Lu Qiqi never expected that Song Yanqing was so rich, asking for five hundred taels of silver right off the bat. She knew that she didn't even have five hundred taels of silver in total!
Although Song Yanqing was leaving now, Lu Qiqi still wanted to leave a good impression on him so that she could get close to him if she had the chance in the future. She said, "Go and come back soon!"
Song Yanqing seemed pleased by her words and gently patted her head. "Yes, go early and come back early."
Lu Qiqi looked up and seemed to see a hint of doting in Song Yanqing's eyes. Lu Qiqi gently shook her head. It must be an illusion!
It must be an illusion!
***
Feng Yu'er returned to the Feng family's old residence a day later. Song Yanqing escorted her to the front of the Feng family's house and then got off the carriage and left.
Feng Yu'er went up and knocked on the door. As soon as the servant opened the door and saw that it was the young lady who had returned, he immediately ran back to report the good news.
Just as Steward Feng returned with his men from shopping, he saw a young man dressed in black get off his carriage. The man's back looked somewhat familiar.
Before he could think any further, he saw the young lady standing at the door, knocking. He scrambled over, tears streaming down his face. "My dear young lady, you're finally back! The old lady heard you had an accident on the way and went missing, and she fell ill that very night!"
Upon hearing that her grandmother had fallen ill, Feng Yu'er rushed to her grandmother's courtyard.
When Feng Yu'er entered her grandmother's room, the old lady was lying on the couch drinking medicine.
The old woman who was feeding the medicine heard the noise and was about to scold the ignorant maid for being so careless. But when she saw that it was Feng Yu'er, the bowl in her hand fell to the ground with a crash and shattered!
“Grandmother,” Feng Yu’er called out, her voice lingering over and over, before throwing herself into the arms of Old Madam Feng.
When Grandma Feng saw her beloved granddaughter return, the two embraced and wept bitterly.
The old nanny standing to the side held a handkerchief and wept with joy.
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