Chapter 3220 Longchi Villa
Having said that, the emperor still looked for Yin Li.
So Yin Li's letter arrived in Beihai County.
At this time, Governor Guo had already left his post and returned to the capital, and General Liu had not yet taken office. The Qingzhou side was temporarily presided over by the Chief Secretary and the Magistrate of Lu County.
Yin Huo received a letter from his father summoning him back to Beijing. After thinking for a moment, he put the letter away and went to find Bai Shan. "I have handed over all the things I have on hand to you."
Bai Shan asked, "When do you plan to leave?"
"We'll have to ask Bai Er and the princess, but we're not in a hurry," Yin Huo said. "I'll write a letter back first, explaining that the handover will take time. August is when seafood is at its most abundant, so I'll take some back to Beijing and return before Mid-Autumn Festival."
"You are weak and small, so you can't rush on the road. You should set off early and leave enough time on the road."
Yin Huo nodded and asked, "Where is Brother Tang now? I don't know when we'll meet again. I wonder if he has time to come to Beihai County for a get-together."
Bai Shan said, "In Laizhou, right? Last month, during the second quarter of salt production, a ship carrying official salt sank in Laizhou. The case had already been settled, with pirates at sea responsible. But when the matter reached the capital, His Majesty was furious and ordered my brother to conduct a review. He rushed there from Linzi County just two weeks ago."
Because Beihai County is right next to Laizhou, and it happens that Beihai County also has a salt field, and half of the official salt is also transported out by official ships, it is very familiar with the situation at sea, so Tang He wrote to him specifically to ask about the situation at sea.
Bai Shan's official ships were occasionally harassed by pirates, but they had never been sunk by the other side. In the final analysis, this was because the official ships were borrowed from General Liu, and the one who was in charge of these three official ships now was General Liu's son.
It was also because of General Liu that Bai Shancai and General Liu knew each other and started to interact with each other.
However, in the past two years, due to the booming shipping, the number of pirates at sea has indeed increased.
Bai Shan said, "I'll write and ask. Laizhou is not far from Beihai County. Hmm, why not invite him to Longchi directly? Don't you want to eat seafood? Let Manbao take two days off, including the rest period, and we will stay in Longchi for a few days."
Zhou Man is now the director of Qingzhou Medical Department and Beihai County Medical Department. She is the highest-ranking official, so she has to ask for leave from herself.
She counted the recent events and found that there were not many. It was mainly because everyone had started to harvest beans, and during the busy farming season, fewer people came to see the doctor.
So she agreed generously, approved a leave note for herself, and then handed the matter over to her deputy Zheng Gu. She took her family to Longchi first.
Bai Shan and Yin or Bai Erlang were one step behind. They still had some things to deal with and would go over after they were done.
It is more convenient for Bai Shan to go to Longchi. He doesn’t even need a leave note and can go directly.
Longchi has changed a lot.
The carriage came around the spacious official road, and when I looked up, I saw a large archway with four large characters "Longchi Wharf" inscribed on it. After passing the archway, there was a spacious street that went straight to the end. While riding on a horse, I could vaguely see the wharf and the sea at the end.
The entire dock town tends to tilt towards the sea, with similar commercial houses on both sides. It is a big town that is as prosperous as the county seat of Beihai County, and streets and alleys connect these houses.
Although it was built less than three years ago, all the shops are open. There are a lot of business people coming and going, and the sound of hawking is heard as soon as you enter.
But instead of going down the street, they turned left and took another road up the hill.
There is a unique courtyard halfway up the mountain, with a wide road leading to the entrance.
The servants in the villa had received the news that the master was coming, so they started to water and clean the road and open space near the gate early.
Seeing the carriage approaching, a small, white-faced, beardless steward trotted forward with his servants. As soon as the horse and carriage stopped, he led everyone to kneel beside the carriage, kowtowed, and said, "Your servant respectfully welcomes Her Royal Highness the Princess and Her Royal Highness the County Lady."
A senior palace maid said, "Get up."
He immediately got up and ran forward to help Zhou Man hold the horse, with a flattering smile on his face, "My Lady Princess, it's so windy and sandy, why don't you take a carriage?"
Zhou Man shuddered and jumped off his horse. "Don't call me Queen, I feel a little cold. Just call me Lord Zhou."
"I dare not." He smiled and pulled Zhou Man's horse aside and handed it to the servant. He then busied himself waiting by the carriage. The curtain was lifted, and a large palace maid stepped down on a stool. Then she turned around and helped Mingda down...
Mingda smiled and said, "Why are you afraid? But calling her 'Princess' is nice, so I'll call her that from now on."
After receiving Mingda's praise, he smiled happily and responded with "yes" repeatedly.
As soon as Mingda got out of the car, two little heads popped out from the door. Bai Jingxing and Bai Ruoyu used their hands and feet to quickly climb out.
When the eunuch saw this, he couldn't help but cry out "Ouch" and reached out carefully to catch them next to the carriage, fearing that the two would roll off.
Zhou Man reached out and picked up the two of them, one in each hand. "How old are you, and you're still crawling? Can't you walk?"
Mingda glanced at her and said, "You're so good at hiding away and riding your horse. I wonder how noisy they are when they're in the car."
Zhou Man gave her a flattering smile, put the two children on the ground, and went to the car behind to pick up Zheng and Xiao Qian.
Although Zheng and Xiao Qian took care of the two children more often, for some reason they liked to pester Zhou Man and Mingda to play. Whenever they went out, they would stay close to them and could not be separated no matter what.
Bai Jingxing and Bai Ruoyu often came to Longchi Villa. They didn't need anyone to lead them. They just ran in as they were familiar with the place, followed by a group of palace maids and servants.
As soon as the gate of the villa on the mountain opened, many people in the big town below knew that the nobleman from the county town had come again.
"It seems there are more people coming this time, there are three carriages."
"I saw Lady Zhou. She was riding a horse. Do you think if I gave her a bucket of sea cucumbers, would she give me some medicine?"
"Tsk, is Lady Zhou someone who needs a bucket of sea cucumbers? Can't she buy them herself? If you want Lady Zhou to treat you, you either have to try your luck at the medical office or beg her for something she hasn't seen before."
"Oh, by the way, I heard that last year a Mr. Wu came to Dengzhou and gave Mr. Zhou a sea fish that no one had ever seen before. Mr. Zhou was very happy after receiving it, and then he cured Mr. Wu."
"What's wrong with you? Why did you come all the way from Dengzhou?"
"Infertility. He came here with his wife. I heard they're both over thirty and childless. They got pregnant after living in Beihai County for four months. Calculating the time, they should be having the baby by now, right?"
Many people were discussing the matter, but no one dared to go to the other courtyard to disturb them, because they knew that the people from the other courtyard would definitely come down.
Sure enough, not long after, the gate of the villa opened again. This time, Zheng and Xiao Qian did not go out. They had been traveling for half a day and were a little tired, so they stayed in the villa to rest.
The two children were full of energy, and they had slept for a while in the car, so they couldn't sit still. They just drank a sip of water and then each pulled their mother out.
The servants brought the horses, and Zhou Man and Mingda carried the children onto the horses. They also mounted their own horses and led them down the mountain.
Sitting on the horse, little Bai Jingxing was so happy that he clapped his hands and shouted to the front, "Go!"
Zhou Man kicked the horse's belly and the wind and dirt filled her mouth. Little Bai Jingxing closed her mouth instantly, but still couldn't help coughing.
Zhou Man couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Mingda couldn't help laughing and walked beside her. "How old are you and you still tease her like this?"
(End of this chapter)
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