Jiang Rao was stunned and hesitated.
Hu Tang stood up excitedly, "Go if you want to. If I were you, I wouldn't have a little bell tied to my wrist, and I wouldn't have to worry about making my mother sick. I would definitely go wherever I want."
The more she spoke, the sadder she became.
Jiang Rao glanced at Hu Tang and said, "You really care about your mother."
Hu Tang nodded slowly, pursed his lips, "My mother is in poor health, and my father is away from the capital all year round. Apart from my sister and I, no one can accompany her. I have to know when to stop being naughty. I can't really make my mother sick."
"My mother always says that I'm a little monkey without a golden hoop, but it's obvious that she is my golden hoop." Hu Tang sat back, leaned on the table, fiddling with the bell on his wrist, and muttered in dissatisfaction.
Jiang Rao rubbed Hu Tang's head and smiled faintly.
She also has her golden hoop.
When Hu Tang asked her why he didn't go directly to Yun Ling, she was indeed tempted.
But she soon thought of her father and her mother. It would take at least seven days to go to Yunling, and nearly half a month would pass in total. She had never been away from her parents for so long, and she couldn't bear to leave without saying goodbye.
She comforted herself that Yun Ling should be fine.
With Chen Bing's care, he should not be neglected or bullied.
"It would be great if people could be split in half." Jiang Rao sighed.
"It would be great if people could be split in half." Hu Tang also sighed.
The two of them were both depressed. Hu Tang suddenly thought of something and stood up again. "I know there is a caravan passing through Yunling. Since you are curious about Yunling's situation, why don't you go and ask the people in the caravan?"
"Yes!" Jiang Rao also stood up.
Hu Tang curled his lips and smiled, and said confidently: "I am very familiar with this kind of thing of asking people from outside Jinling for information, leave it to me."
An hour later, Hu Tang proved to Jiang Rao what "I know it best" meant.
She opened the door curtain in a hurry and said, "I have invited the caravan's cook to come here for you."
Following behind Hu Tang, a middle-aged lady wearing coarse linen clothes and with a narrow and long face walked in.
"Why are you suddenly curious about the plank road?" She stared at Jiang Rao for a long time, her eyes full of confusion.
A girl with this kind of appearance and temperament, who obviously lives a life of luxury and is ignorant of the sufferings of the world, how could she care about the construction of the plank road? It's obviously something that has nothing to do with her.
The old lady's words also aroused Hu Tang's curiosity. She tilted her head and glanced at Jiang Rao.
Jiang Rao was waving to Ming Shao to come over and whispered a few words in her ear.
She looked at the old lady's chapped hands and asked Mingshao to go out and buy some ointment.
After Mingshao left, she turned back to look at the old lady and answered vaguely: "The man who built the plank road is a good friend of my father."
The auntie understood.
"You mean Lord Chen? Lord Chen is really a good official who cares about the people. If this plank road can be repaired, it will be much more convenient for us caravanners traveling all over the world."
"When you passed by there, had the plank road already been built? How long would it take to be completed?" Jiang Rao was more concerned about these.
The old lady smiled and said, "It's easy to fix. Everyone can trust Master Chen's ability."
Hu Tang said nothing, just held his chin and looked at Jiang Rao. He always felt that she was so anxious, as if she was expecting someone to come back.
Ming Shao came back at this time and gave the cream to the old lady. The old lady took the cream, retracted her hand, lowered her eyes and said to Jiang Rao: "Miss, you are thoughtful."
Jiang Rao's eyes softened and she shook her head slowly, "It's nothing."
The old lady raised her head and looked at Jiang Rao for a long time. Seeing her clear eyes and her relaxed and sincere attitude, she suddenly sighed, "Repairing the plank road is actually a bit troublesome."
"Some people are not happy about the plank road being built, and they are making a fuss."
Hu Tang was shocked. "Making a fuss? No one in Jinling has ever heard of such a thing."
Jiang Rao was not very surprised.
She had seen similar things before.
She was just a little worried that the conflict between officials and the people would affect Rong Ting. He was in a wheelchair and could only rely on bodyguards for protection, and had no ability to protect himself.
"You are destined to enjoy a good life. How can you listen to such a thing?" The lady lowered her voice. "What I just said, the two girls, please don't tell anyone else. Someone has specifically told the people in the caravan that if anyone asks about the plank road in the capital, they should only report good news, not bad news."
The old lady's voice became lower and lower, and Jiang Rao keenly caught something from her tone, "Are there many people causing trouble?"
"This plank road was built to transport tribute to the imperial palace. If the common people want to pass through, they have to go to the government to ask for a pass. The government recruits local able-bodied men, but the road has been built but cannot be used. The local people are definitely not happy about this."
The old lady seemed to be answering a question that was irrelevant, but Jiang Rao already understood.
It sounds like the local people are dissatisfied with the construction of this plank road.
She had only seen unruly people causing trouble in other places before, throwing eggs and stones.
Once Jiang Rao put Rong Ting in the shoes of the person who was hit by the eggs and stones, she became a little restless.
After sending the old lady away, Hu Tang asked Jiang Rao, "You already know what you want to know, why are you not happy?"
Jiang Rao looked embarrassed, "Seeing is believing. If you only hear from others, it is half true and half false, so you can't trust it completely."
Hu Tang: "You mean you want to go visit Yun Ling? But didn't you say your parents wouldn't let you?"
Jiang Rao covered her ears, looking conflicted. "I'll try to convince them."
But she didn't say anything, as if she had already seen her father's obstruction.
…
In Luoxiang Garden of the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion, Jiang Qingshan was cooking wine for her husband.
Today, Fourth Master Jiang accompanied Qin to her parents' home and just returned.
When her brother, who was a governor, talked about court affairs with her husband, he did not avoid her. They talked about Yunling's plank road, and Qin Qingshan could not help but think of Rong Ting.
Hot water was boiling in the tripod. The sound of the boiling water was so close to my ears that it drowned out the chirping of crickets and insects in the yard.
Jiang Qin used a silver hook to turn over the wine floating in the cauldron and said slowly, "You said before that Niannian treated the Ninth Prince well, just like treating a poor kitten or puppy... But people are still people after all. After getting along for a long time, the feeling you have towards them is always different from that towards kittens and puppies. Don't you feel that Niannian has been absent-minded since he left?"
Fourth Master Jiang retorted, "What difference can there be?"
He didn't like what he heard. He frowned and looked at the wine warming in the tripod on the table. His expression was as gloomy as the weather outside.
After being angry for a while, he said stubbornly, "You are wrong."
"When the weather gets cold, everyone will feel tired and doze off. It happens every year. There's nothing wrong with that."
Although he was clearly refuting his wife, his words convinced himself first and his expression became better.
Jiang Qin shook her head helplessly, "Niannian is a little slow, she can't figure out who she likes and who she doesn't like. You are deceiving yourself."
Fourth Master Jiang was still stubborn, "How did I deceive myself?"
He leaned over to take the silver hook from Jiang Qinshi's hand, lifted up the warm wine in the tripod, poured it into the green jade cup, took a sip, and looked relaxed. "After the Ninth Prince left, didn't Niannian find a new friend? In all these days, I haven't seen her ask about the Ninth Prince. If it's really like what you said, how can she stay at home? Wouldn't she be thinking of ways to run to Yunling Mountain in the north all day long?"
There was a knock on the door from behind the curtain.
The maid went to open the door and talked to the visitor for a few words.
After a while, the maid came back after lifting the curtain and reported respectfully.
"Fourth Master, Madam, the head maid in the young lady's courtyard just said that the young lady wanted to go to Yunling Mountain to see the scenery."
“…”
Jiang Xingzhou slammed the wine bottle on the table, and the wine splashed out. He said to the maid, "Go and call the girl over."
Jiang Rao was waiting outside the yard.
She sent the maid over because she wanted to let her find out her father's reaction first.
As soon as the maid came out, Jiang Rao went to greet her, "How does Daddy look?"
The maid said, "The Fourth Master doesn't look well. When he heard that you were going to Yunling, he almost crushed the wine bottle he used to drink."
Jiang Rao: “…”
The wine bottle her father used to drink from, which was his treasure, was almost crushed to pieces. It seemed that he was unhappy.
She deliberately chose to come over when her father was drinking, thinking that maybe he would be in a good mood and agree to her request once he got drunk.
But looking at the current situation... Mentioning anything related to Rong Ting in front of her father is more effective than sobering up soup.
Jiang Rao hung her little head.
Seeing that she hadn't come in yet, Fourth Master Jiang opened the curtain himself. His tall figure stood by the door and said coldly, "Come in."
After Jiang Rao entered, he lowered the curtain and returned to the armchair in the room to sit down. "Are you really going to Yunling to see the scenery?"
Jiang Rao knew that she couldn't hide her thoughts from her father. He must have guessed that she wanted to see Rong Ting, which was why she was so angry, so she didn't nod.
Jiang Qinshi has a gentle personality, but she is also insightful.
The father and daughter were silent and exchanged glances. She watched quietly from the side, her mind as clear as a mirror, knowing everything. She smiled and broke the silence with a calm voice, "People are more beautiful than the scenery."
Jiang Rao's face felt a little hot.
She was not afraid of her father, but was somewhat afraid of her mother.
Her aunt was also afraid of her mother, a smiling tiger-like character. She glanced at her gently with a gaze as if she had stripped her clean inside and out, leaving her with nothing to hide.
Jiang Qin looked at her daughter for a long time with smiling eyes and said, "But you want to go to Yunling, do you know that your father will be worried?"
Jiang Rao bit her lower lip, and then said slowly: "I didn't go to Yunling to have a private meeting with the Ninth Prince, I just... just..."
But apart from having a secret meeting, she couldn't think of what she was going to do.
She just knew that she would not feel at ease if she didn't go and take a look.
Jiang Rao lowered her head, "I know the rules."
ginger
Qin looked at her gently. Jiang Rao thought she would definitely be scolded by her mother, but a gentle voice fell from above her head, "Mother will not stop you. Since you remember the rules, you said you were going to Yunling to see the scenery, then mother will treat you as going to Yunling to see the scenery, but you must also remember that if you do something wrong, the punishment you deserve will not be reduced at all."
Jiang Rao quickly shook her head like a rattle, her eyes full of "I won't make any mistakes".
Jiang Qin smiled and said, "It's just that it's a little late today, and you haven't packed well. If you really want to go, there's no rush today. You can leave earlier tomorrow and come back earlier, so your father can rest assured."
Jiang Rao felt relieved as if she had been pardoned.
Mr. Jiang Si immediately became annoyed and slammed the table, saying, "I didn't agree to it!"
Jiang Qinshi was not angry. She stood up and said, "Then you two can discuss it again."
But after she walked out, she directly told the maid to find a coachman who was familiar with the terrain of Yunling. She looked back at the door and laughed. The little maid beside her asked her, "What are you laughing at, Madam?"
Jiang Qin looked at her husband in the house and said confidently, "He will definitely agree in the end."
Mr. Jiang Si, who was pacing back and forth in the room, stopped and looked at Jiang Rao sharply, "I have something to ask you."
Jiang Rao stood up tremblingly, "Daddy, please ask."
What Fourth Master Jiang said was not a question, "Do you know that if I were a little more ruthless, I would just swap your Engagement Letter with your cousin's."
His tone was a little heavy.
Jiang Rao's breathing stagnated, and she raised her eyes and saw a picture album on his yellow pear wood square table.
Inscribed on the title page: "Gift from Pei Nanyi".
The two words "Nan Yi" are Pei Songyu's given name. Jiang Rao's mind flickered, and she remembered the conversation with Pei Songyu in the pavilion.
Daddy probably knows something.
She lowered her head and traced the edge of the dark blue crane-patterned boots on Fourth Master Jiang's feet with her eyes. She spoke softly but firmly, "But you won't."
She looked a little sad.
Fourth Master Jiang didn't speak for a long time and just looked at Jiang Rao.
The long silence was finally broken by two soft taps of his fingers on the table.
"Yun Ling, go ahead." He said word by word, "I allow you to go, don't be sad."
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