The next morning, An Dashan was afraid that he would miss the car from the post station, so he got up early to pack his things. In fact, he had almost packed everything the night before, except for the food he had prepared yesterday, which had not yet been put on the car.
Wang also knew that An Dashan and his daughter were going to travel, so she got up early to make breakfast for them. When An Ning and An Dashan had breakfast and set off, it was just dawn.
The two hurried along the way, and when they arrived at the post station, the post station runners were loading the car. The runner who was delivering the letter that day saw An Dashan coming back and thought that An Dashan was delivering something, so he said to An Dashan: "Just unload the things, we will load the car ourselves later."
An Dashan said quickly, "Sir, my daughter and I are planning to go to the border as well. I wonder if we can go with you. Don't worry, I won't cause you any trouble." Then he took out two taels of silver that he had prepared in advance from his sleeve and stuffed it into the hand of the yamen runner, saying, "This is a small token of my appreciation. I hope you will accept it."
The yamen runner stuffed the silver into his arms and said, "Okay, you just wait here and follow the convoy when we set out later."
An Dashan thanked them quickly and drove the mule cart back to the roadside to wait. After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, the leading yamen runner shouted, "Let's go!" Then a total of ten carriages and about thirty yamen runners set off.
When the last carriage drove out of the post station, An Dashan hurriedly followed in his mule cart. There were advantages to following the yamen runners, as they had a lot of stuff on their carts, and although they didn't go fast, they were safe, and they would rest at every post station.
Because they were on the official road and followed the government's motorcade, An Ning and An Dashan had a relatively smooth journey and arrived at the border in 20 days. It was not the first time for both of them to come to the border, so they found an inn with familiarity. An Dashan thought that this time he was here to arrange a marriage for his son, and it would not be appropriate to stay at Zheng Rong's house, so he discussed with An Ning and decided to find an inn to stay in first.
It was already afternoon when An Dashan and An Ning settled down. The two decided to rest for a night and visit Zheng Rong's home the next day.
The next day, after An Dashan and An Ning had breakfast, they took the gifts and went to Zheng Rong's house. When they arrived, the old servant opened the door again. When he saw the two of them, he hurriedly said, "Master An and Miss An are here. Come in quickly. The master estimated that you would come, so he specifically asked me to take you in directly when you arrive."
An Dashan cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your help, old man."
The servant waved his hand and said, "Mr. An, you are too polite. You can just call me Uncle Fu!" Then he took the two men into the main hall. He said to An Dashan and the other man, "Please wait here for a moment. I will go and call my wife."
After a while, Zheng Rong's wife came over quickly. Seeing An Dashan and his daughter, she greeted them first and then said, "Brother An, why didn't Sister Gao come?"
An Dashan chuckled and said, "Ningning's mother is pregnant and will give birth in less than two months, so she was not allowed to come."
Zhao was sincerely happy for Gao and said, "This is great news! But Sister Gao needs to be carefully taken care of if she is pregnant at her age."
An Dashan nodded repeatedly. After saying this, An Dashan said, "Sister-in-law, I wonder if Dayong can leave the barracks now. He doesn't know we are here yet."
Zhao nodded and said, "With Dayong's current official position, he can enter and leave the military camp freely when there is no war. I will send someone to find my husband and ask him to bring Dayong out." After pausing for a moment, she continued, "Dayong is really promising. At such a young age, his official position is several levels higher than my husband's."
An Dashan tried not to look so complacent and said, "It's just luck."
Zhao didn't continue the topic and said, "I heard from my wife that Dayong is going to get engaged to the governor's daughter. I have seen the governor's daughter before. Her demeanor is not comparable to that of ordinary young ladies. Dayong is so lucky!"
At this moment, An Dashan couldn't suppress the smile on his face.
An Ning asked, "Aunt, I don't know how long my elder brother will stay at the border, so I want to buy him a house so that he can have a place to stay. I wonder if you have a suitable place to recommend to us."
Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Speaking of this house, there is indeed a nice place nearby, but that house is a bit bigger, a three-story house, but the price is not low. The owner of that house wants eight hundred taels of silver."
An Ning thought that houses in the border areas were generally cheap, and this house of eight hundred taels was indeed a bit expensive, so she asked, "Aunt, this house is so expensive, is there anything special about it?"
Zhao nodded and said, "This house was built by a wealthy businessman. The courtyard was very exquisite. Later, the northern barbarians attacked, and the businessman moved away from Yecheng with his family. He only entrusted the house to a broker to help sell it."
An Ning asked: "Since this house is so well built, why doesn't anyone buy it?"
Zhao smiled and said, "There are indeed many people who are interested in the house, but when they heard that the price was eight hundred taels, they all gave up."
An Ning thought about it and decided that eight hundred taels was still within her budget. If An Yong really stayed at the border like Lieutenant Zheng, he would need a place to live after marrying and having children. If he was lucky enough to return to the capital, she could just sell the house. She wouldn't lose much money anyway. So she said to Zhao, "Aunt, do you have time tomorrow? I want to go and see the house."
Zhao nodded and said, "If we have time, let's go after breakfast tomorrow."
An Dashan saw that he was just stunned for a while. His daughter was about to buy a house. He wanted to speak, but didn't know how to start. He could only ask when he returned to the inn.
After talking about looking at houses, An Ning asked some questions about the customs of engagement at the border. Time passed by unknowingly, and in the evening, An Yong followed Captain Zheng back home.
On the way, An Yong learned that his father and sister had arrived. He guessed that his father and sister must have received his letter, which was why they came to the border.
As soon as An Dashan and Zheng Rong met, they gave each other a bear hug. Zheng Rong said, "I knew you had to come. See, I guessed it right!"
After greeting Zhao, An Yong started talking to An Ning. Perhaps because of their blood relationship, An Ning was quite close to An Yong. She whispered the news of Gao's pregnancy to An Yong, and An Yong was very happy.
Zhao saw that they had finished reminiscing about the past and said, "Okay, the meal is ready, let's eat and chat."
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