Su Rong quickly wrote a letter, sealed it with wax, and handed it to Yun An.
Yun An put away the letter and said goodbye to Su Rong. Before leaving, he still couldn’t help asking anxiously, "Lady Su Qi, are you sure you don’t need me to leave some guards here for your protection?"
Su Rong shook her head, "I can look after myself, and I have protection. Please don’t worry, Crown Prince."
Upon reflection, Yun An agreed. The Xie Residence was so heavily guarded now that even he couldn’t breach it. Therefore, Su Rong’s safety was certainly assured. With this comfort, he took the letter, left the Xie Residence without further delay, exited the city, and left Jiangning.
After Yun An left, Su Rong turned to the wet nurse Zhao and instructed her, "Tell mother that we can start our journey to Jiangzhou today."
Wet nurse Zhao hesitated, "You’ve yet to fully recover from your injuries. The travel could be hard on you. Perhaps you should rest a few more days."
"It’s just a day’s journey from Jiangning to Jiangzhou. I’ll be sitting in the carriage, so it won’t interfere with my recovery." Su Rong shook her head. "The newly appointed Governor of Jiangning is about to come into power, so we need to vacate the Governor’s Residence for him. I discussed it with Uncle Xie yesterday, and he thinks it’s fine for us to leave today. The doctor also said that as long as we go slowly, there would be no adverse effects. Moreover, Jiangzhou has been in chaos since the Jiang Family Clan was eradicated. Father can’t manage it all by himself. If we arrive earlier, Uncle Xie can assist him. Jiangzhou is now under father’s control, so it’s better to seize control sooner rather than later. I can also recover in Jiangzhou."
Wet nurse Zhao nodded, "Alright, I’ll go and pass on the message to the Lady." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
"Good. Mother has been ready to leave for some days now. The moment I recover enough to travel, we can set out immediately." Su Rong waved her off.
Wet nurse Zhao immediately left to deliver the message.
Lady Su understood Su Rong very well. She guessed that Su Rong had been itching to leave, so she had ordered her people to prepare early in the morning. The ladies and young ladies of each courtyard had also packed their things in advance.
Upon hearing that Su Rong was finally ready to depart, Lady Su gave the order and everyone in the Residence started to pack up and prepare the carriages.
A few of the concubines looked back at the Governor’s Residence with a touch of reluctance. One of them, feeling quite emotional, said: "We’ve lived here for over a decade. Now that we suddenly have to leave, it’s a little hard to let go."
Another concubine chimed in, "Indeed, who would have thought our master could be promoted and relocated before his retirement."
Upon hearing this, Lady Su said: "Soon, I will be the wife of the Inspector, and you all will be the concubines of the Inspector. The Inspector’s Residence is twice as big as this place. Your courtyards will be bigger than what you have now. What’s there to be reluctant about leaving this run-down place?"
The concubines suddenly beamed at the prospect and their sadness quickly evaporated. They nodded in agreement, "You’re right, lady. We shouldn’t be so narrow-minded. Just because we’ve lived here for a while doesn’t mean it’s that great."
The third concubine chimed in: "Yes, yes, yes, the Inspector’s Residence is much better. I’ve listened to the previous Inspector Jiang’s third concubine brag about how fantastic the Inspector’s Residence is. Now that it will become our home, I’ll move into her courtyard so that she can be jealous even in death."
Lady Su rolled her eyes, "What’s so great about attracting the jealousy of a ghost? Have some ambition!"
The third concubine puffed out her chest, "I’m not afraid of ghosts!"
The chatter continued as everyone hurriedly boarded their carriages with no hint of regret. They set out happily.
When the carriages reached the city gate, the carriages from the Xie Residence were already waiting, surrounded by throngs of locals seeing them off.
When they saw the carriages from the Su Family, the locals surrounded them as well, expressing their reluctance to part. At the same time, they presented them with fruits and vegetables from their farms as tokens of their affection.
Lady Su’s eyes welled up with tears. She didn’t refuse the locals’ kind gestures, instructing the servants to take everything. She assured them that her husband would still be nearby in Jiangzhou, and that Jiangning County was within his jurisdiction. She also mentioned that the new Governor was assigned by the Crown Prince and was a man of benevolence and talent. She assured them that the people of Jiangning County would continue to have peaceful days.
That was all the people needed to hear. They all cheered and urged Lady Su and the young ladies to return when they had the chance, stating that Jiangning County would always be a home to the Su Family.
It took nearly half an hour to bid the crowd goodbye. Only then did the crowd make way for the two groups of carriages to leave the city.
The newly appointed Governor was called Wang Lu. He used to be an official in the Eastern Palace. Yan Huisheng, the Crown Prince, had managed to replace Jiang Sheng and recommended Su Xu as the Inspector of Jiangzhou. He naturally wouldn’t let such a well-governed place like Jiangning County fall into the wrong hands; therefore, he recommended his own official, Wang Lu. The Emperor was not particularly pleased with this. However, the assassination attempt on his heir apparent, his Crown Prince, was a serious matter that drew the attention of the people and court officials. To compensate the Crown Prince, the Emperor, after handing down the edict to eliminate the entire Jiang Family, could not reject Yan Huisheng’s proposal. He approved Yan Huisheng’s proposal to appoint Wang Lu as the Governor of Jiangning. The Crown Prince and other Princes were helpless over the situation. Since the juicy assignment of Jiangning had already fallen into the Crown Prince’s plate, nobody else could snatch it away.
Thus, the entire Jiangzhou seemed to be in the hands of the Crown Prince. All the other princes hated Zhou Gu because his marriage arrangement had given the Crown Prince a real advantage.
Wang Lu was startled by the farewell procession at the city gate. He thought no wonder the Crown Prince summoned him before he left, urging him to learn from Su Xu’s rule, not seeking merit but ensuring that Jiangning County is managed as well as Su Xu did, or he will pay with his life.
At that time, he was almost scared to assume this responsibility. Now that he sees it, the Crown Prince’s words were not without basis. Su Xu has indeed won the love of the people of Jiangning County, even his family, is well-liked by the people of the County.
He made up his mind quietly, hoping that on the day he demits his office, he could also achieve this effect, letting the people voluntarily come out to send him off.
Wang Lu instructed his men to move the carriage aside, making way for the vehicles of the Xie Residence and the Su Residence to pass. He himself got off his carriage, waiting for the carriages of the two residences to arrive, to greet the people.
The Xie Residence’s procession was first, and it quickly approached. Xie Yuan pulled back the carriage curtain, greeting Wang Lu warmly, "Governor Wang, it must have been a hard journey for you."
Wang Lu did not expect Xie Yuan to take the initiative to greet him. He was suddenly flattered and bowed his hands in quick succession, "Master Xie is too kind, it wasn’t tiring at all."
Xie Yuan smiled, "Jiangzhou is not far from Jiangning, if Governor Wang has any important matters, you can go to Jiangzhou to find Inspector Su."
"Definitely, definitely, I will do my best to govern Jiangning County," Wang Lu quickly stated.
Xie Yuan nodded, said his goodbye with a smile.
Wang Lu quickly bowed, "I wish Master a smooth journey. Once I have settled down, I will head over to Jiangzhou to pay my respects to Inspector Su and Master Xie."
Xie Yuan nodded in response.
After the carriage from Xie Residence left, Wang Lu waited to greet the Madam.
The Madam asked with a smile, "May I know when the family of Master Wang will arrive in Jiangning?"
Wang Lu quickly replied, "In half a month."
The Madam nodded, "At that time, I will host a banquet in Jiangzhou, and invite Master Wang to bring his family to visit."
"I will definitely come," thought Wang Lu. Master Xie and Madam Su didn’t have any airs at all. Being sent to Jiangzhou by the Crown Prince was indeed a lucky streak. He definitely needs to perform well so as not to let down the Crown Prince’s trust and cultivation.
After watching the two processions leave and disappear into the distance, he suddenly remembered that he forgot to meet Lady Su Qi, who was Young Master Zhou’s fiancee. When he was an official in the Eastern Palace, he often had dealings with Zhou Gu. Like others, he also used to wonder which highborn lady Young Master Zhou would marry in the future. It turns out, he was already engaged to Su Family of Jiangning.
Su Rong was lying in the carriage, with wet nurse Zhao accompanying her in the same carriage.
Yuewan was in a carriage at the back with others, mumbling quietly, "Ever since wet nurse Zhao came to serve my lady, I’ve been out of favour. Now, my lady no longer needs my services, and everything is taken care of by wet nurse Zhao. Sigh."
Although the lady didn’t usually need her services in the past, she didn’t expect that she would fall out of favour one day.
The person listening to her mumbling didn’t pity her, pointing to the account book in her hand, "You are still favoured, in the future, you will be helping Lady Qi manage the house. Think about your monthly silver quota, which is as much as steward Wang’s. Look at us, we still get only two taels of silver...."
Yuewan immediately stopped complaining, laughed awkwardly, "Yeah, my lady is the best, the more I look at this account book, the more I like it."
The people gave her a disgusted eye roll, not wanting to bother with her anymore.
Isn’t that right? As servant to Lady Qi, this stupid maid had been living a life like a fairy since her childhood. She gets to eat snacks, slack off, and go out to play. She can sleep till she naturally wakes up, and no one dares bully her. Just ask which maid in this entire residence has as much good fortune as her?
If she keeps whinging, the others would want to kill her.
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