In early May, the north had warmed up considerably, and the family took off their cotton-padded coats and put on spring clothes.
As dawn broke, the Song family left Tianxiang County in the hazy darkness and silence.
Seeing that Song Ning was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open, Liu Yuelan let her daughter rest her head on her lap and said with heartache, "Why do you have to leave so early? It would have been better if you had left a little later."
Song Ning yawned and mumbled sleepily, "If we leave late, everyone will definitely come to see us off."
She wasn't used to such occasions, so it was best to leave quietly to avoid upsetting her parents.
After saying that, he closed his eyes.
They carried little with them, only two mule carts, their wheels rumbling along the official road, the Tianxiang County behind them receding into the distance.
Behind them followed the Zhou family's mule cart, with Zhou Cheng and Zhou Ling'an sitting inside.
As they were about to leave Tianxiang County, everyone on the bus except Song Ning looked behind them.
Especially those of them who had fled famine, they were reminded of when they left Shanhe Town.
However, back then, when I was fleeing, I suffered a lot. This time, the journey was much easier.
It takes more than a month to travel from Tianxiang County to the capital, but they encountered no problems on the way and arrived in the capital smoothly at the end of June.
Song Ning's buttocks were numb from sitting in the car so long that everyone had to help each other get off.
After queuing to enter the city, the family didn't have time to see the prosperity of the capital and quickly found an inn to rest.
Liu Yuelan had visited before, and Yunniang had also come from the capital. The two of them weren't too surprised; their main concern was the health of the remaining people.
Song Ning felt weak all over, dizzy, and unable to vomit. She felt terrible and thought she was going to die.
Mr. Yu and Mrs. Liu are old and could not withstand such a long journey, so they both collapsed.
Song Dahai took the person to the inn and quickly gave him some silver, asking the innkeeper to fetch a doctor.
Fortunately, it was just fatigue, and I'll be fine after a few days of rest.
Song Ning had no appetite, and Song Dahai felt sorry for his daughter, so he took Xiao Cui out that evening to buy some appetizers.
Just as they stepped out of the inn, Zhang Ping, who was in the teahouse across the street, exclaimed, "Young Master, I think I saw Miss Song's father."
Xie Linzhou was taken aback and quickly looked downstairs. It was dusk, and he could only see a figure from behind, which was not very clear.
Xie Linzhou's expression darkened again.
Zhang Ping quickly added, "But I haven't heard that Miss Song is coming to the capital. I must have misread it."
Xie Linzhou glanced at him: "We're going to Dongshan tomorrow to inspect the troop rotation. Is everything ready?"
"Don't worry, young master, I've prepared everything."
“But young master, your injuries haven’t healed yet. If you really go, His Highness will worry again.”
"It's been a long time since we've inspected Dongshan. If we don't go soon, things will turn upside down," Xie Linzhou said coldly.
He's been gone long enough; if he doesn't go back soon, those kids will go to waste.
......
Song Ning stayed in bed for three whole days before finally going out.
The first thing I did after leaving home was to visit the Duke's mansion.
The gifts bestowed by His Majesty are all in the Duke's mansion. They have a certain relationship with the princess, so they have to go there.
On the third day after arriving in the capital, Song Ning, Liu Yuelan, and Xiao Cui prepared some gifts and came to visit.
After asking around along the way, we finally arrived at the gate of the Duke's Mansion.
Looking at the magnificent gate before them, Liu Yuelan and Xiao Cui couldn't help but swallow hard.
"Master, are we really going in?"
This kind of place is obviously not a place you can just walk into.
"Don't worry, Your Highness, you've met her before. She's a very nice person. The people in the manor are unlikely to be too fierce. Let's have them pass on a message and go ask her."
Song Ning walked at the front, and the guards at the gate immediately questioned the three of them as they approached, "What are you doing here?"
Song Ning handed over what she was holding: "Brother guard, please give this to Her Highness the princess. Tell her we have come from Tianxiang County to pay our respects to Her Highness."
The guard was easy to talk to; he took the box and instructed, "Wait here."
As they entered the gate with the box, they were met by the steward of the Duke's mansion.
"What happened?"
"Steward Xie, three people have arrived outside. They say they are looking for Her Highness the Princess. I am about to go and inform them."
Steward Xie is an old servant of the Duke's mansion. He served in the Xie family when Xie Linzhou's father was still alive, and his prestige is unmatched by others.
What are you holding in your hand?
"Oh, it was handed over by that young lady. She said it was for His Highness and asked me to pass it on."
Steward Xie took the box, opened it, and saw neatly stacked silver notes inside. He immediately sneered, "His Highness doesn't know anyone from Tianxiang County. He probably just wanted to send a gift to the manor and used this as an excuse."
"Give the things back to her and say you didn't see them."
"yes."
"Wait." The man had just turned to leave with the box when Butler Xie spoke again.
Give me the box.
"this......"
Butler Xie immediately became dissatisfied: "What? My words no longer carry weight?"
"I wouldn't dare."
The guards weren't too surprised; such things happened frequently. Steward Xie was practically a master in the mansion, and they dared not offend him.
Besides, those three outside don't look like people from the capital, so even if we take them, they won't cause any big trouble.
When Song Ning and the other two saw that the thing the man had been carrying was gone, they thought the princess wanted to see them and were quite happy. But as soon as the man came out, he waved his hand at them with disdain: "Go, go, go. The higher-ups said that Her Highness doesn't know anyone from Tianxiang County."
Her initial joy vanished instantly. Song Ning frowned and asked, "What about the things I handed in?"
"What is it? We didn't see anything. Did you see anything?"
The remaining guards shook their heads.
Xiao Cui, with her fiery temper, was about to step forward to argue when Song Ning stopped her, looking at the group in front of her: "Does Your Highness really say that?"
"Of course, His Highness is not someone who can be seen by just anyone. You should leave now."
Song Ning gritted her teeth, but a smile appeared on her face: "In that case, we'll take our leave now."
After saying that, he pulled Liu Yuelan and Xiao Cui, who were about to go up and argue, and left.
"Master, is there...? How could Her Highness the Princess do such a thing?"
"Could it be that the Duke's Mansion doesn't want to give back the things His Majesty bestowed upon us? But Her Highness shouldn't be that kind of person," Liu Yuelan asked.
“Mother is right. Based on our understanding of the princess, she is not that kind of person.”
What kind of status does a princess have that would want those silver notes in a box?
The most likely scenario is that someone in the household intercepted the money, pocketed it, left the money behind, and drove the person away, leaving no one to testify.
"So what do we do now?"
Song Ning sighed slightly. She had thought that the Duke's mansion had strict rules and that no one inside would dare to make such blatant moves. She was too naive.
The more prestigious and wealthy a family is, the more difficult it is to manage them.
"Let's go back first, and then we'll figure something out."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
