Chapter 208 Arrival
This was the first time Shen Yuan had come out of the city since the last incident, and when he passed by this place again, he even opened the window and took a look.
I don't know if it's because of what happened last time, but Shen Yuan now sees that the weeds and bushes on the roadside have been cleared away, and the path up the mountain is also very clearly visible. Now, let alone a bad guy hiding, even a pheasant can't hide.
I never heard her father mention the farm on the mountain again, so I don’t know if it was sold.
Just as he was thinking about it, Shi Tou suddenly appeared outside the carriage window. He didn't say anything and stayed where Shen Yuan could see him.
"Shitou, thank you so much. You saved me here last time."
"That's the stone's job."
Only after they had completely passed the mountain did Shitou disappear from Shen Yuan's sight. Seeing how considerate Shitou was, Shen Yuan decided to go home and give him a monthly salary increase.
During the journey, Shen Yuan was bored and wanted to read a book. However, the carriage was shaking as the book was in his hand. He could not read the words at all and almost vomited. So he just stayed put.
When Shen Yuan returned to Jinling, in addition to the carriage she was riding in, there was another one at the back that contained her luggage and some gifts. The remaining guards could also squeeze into the carriage at the back.
On this section of road just out of the capital, there is an official post every twenty miles, and you can also see many tea stalls and wine shops opened by ordinary people.
They were not in a hurry, so the carriage did not move very fast. In the afternoon, they arrived at a larger post station. They simply did not move forward, but decided to rest for one night before continuing on their journey.
Sitting in the room of the post station at night, Shen Yuan took out the letter paper and began to write letters to her family and Xie Hui. However, she had been sitting in the carriage all the way, and there was actually nothing much to write. She wrote a few words to report safety, and then simply drew a little girl sitting at a table writing a letter at the bottom... That was herself. She was not at home, so let them look at the painting and miss her.
The letter Shen Yuan sent from this post station was received in the capital the next day.
Shen Yun opened the envelope and handed the letter to Huang Jingao who was sitting on his desk. "Gao Gao, look, your sister has written a letter."
Huang Jingao stretched out his little paws to pick up the letter, then lay down. Shen Yun smiled and stroked his little head while reading the letter sent by his daughter.
On the way from the capital to Jinling, Shen Yuan slept at the post station at night and in the carriage during the day. All he did was sleep and eat. Half a month later, Shen Yuan arrived in Jinling and even felt that he seemed to have gained weight.
Knowing that Shen Yuan was coming, Shen Xi calculated the date and waited. Shen Yuan also sent a letter back in advance, so the servants waiting outside saw the carriage before it reached the gate of the Shen family's house.
"The fourth girl is back!"
This time, as soon as Shen Yuan got off the carriage, she saw Shen Xi coming out to greet her.
"Sister, I miss you so much."
"I missed you too. You must be tired from the journey. Come in and rest."
"It's okay. I'm not tired."
Shen Yuan was talking to Shen Xi, and soon Old Madam Shen and the First Madam came out together.
"grandmother!"
Shen Yuan rushed over and kissed his grandmother on the face, scaring the old lady so much that she forgot what she was going to say.
"You devil girl!"
Shen Yuan asked with a smile: "What's the matter, you don't like it?"
Mrs. Shen was also very happy and asked eagerly, "Are you tired? Do you want to eat first or go to sleep for a while?"
"Aunt, I'm not tired. I sleep in the carriage every day. Let's eat first."
"Okay, when I heard you were coming, I asked the kitchen to start cooking. It just so happened that the farm sent crabs this morning. I was thinking of keeping them for two days and eating them when you came back. Now we don't have to wait."
When Old Madam Shen heard this, she laughed and said, "This girl has been a lucky eater since she was little. How could she not eat less?"
Shen Yuan held his grandmother's arm with one hand and his elder sister's arm with the other, and asked as they walked, "Aunt, when will my elder brother and uncle come back?"
"Your uncle is not too far away. He will probably be back in a few days. Brother Yu may have to wait until the wedding date is closer to come."
"I haven't seen my brother for a long time. I miss him so much!"
Shen Xi smiled and said, "My brother wrote to me not long ago, talking about you and saying that you are engaged. He has never seen what kind of person you are. He also asked me to draw a portrait for him to see if Master Xie is worthy of you."
"When he comes back, I will draw it for him."
It was almost time for dinner, and the kitchen had been cooking. Not long ago, they heard someone from the eldest lady's side come to say that the fourth young lady had returned, so they added a lot of dishes.
The Shen family's house in Jinling is much bigger than the one in the capital. After all, every inch of land in the capital is worth a lot of money. When they bought the house, they thought that there were not many people in the family, so they didn't buy a very big house.
It’s different in Jinling. This is the ancestral home of the Shen family. Every brick and tile was built by themselves, so it can naturally be built bigger.
Shen Yuan hasn't been here for a long time, but every tree and blade of grass seems to be the same as before.
She thought so and said so: "The house looks the same as it was when I came back last time."
Old Madam Shen smiled and said, "The person is still here, where can he change to?"
Madam Shen was afraid that Shen Yuan would be hungry, so she asked someone to bring the prepared dishes up first, "It's full, eat first, there are still many dishes to come, eat more."
It's only been a few months since we last saw each other, but when we met again this time, it felt like a long time had passed.
However, among family members, even if they haven’t seen each other for a few days, there are always endless questions to ask and things to care about.
When Old Madam Shen was in the capital, she was thinking about Nanjing; when she was in Nanjing, she was thinking about the capital.
Shen Yuan picked out a few things to tell her grandmother. She thought her grandmother might be most concerned about her great-grandson, so she told her about Suisui first. However, Suisui was still a breastfeeding baby. He either ate or slept all day, so there was nothing much to talk about.
There was also the matter of my brother in the Ministry of Personnel. "My brother said that his superiors and colleagues in the Ministry of Personnel were very good and took good care of him, but he was a little busy, even busier than dad. In the evening, dad would be home for a while, but he still hadn't come back."
"Where's your father? Is everything okay?"
When Shen Yuan heard his grandmother ask this, he answered casually, "My father, my father is fine. The Dali Temple has not been too busy these days."
After saying this, Shen Yuan realized that her grandmother was her father's mother, and no matter how old her son was, his mother would always care about him.
"By the way, sister, do you know that the court is now going to start selecting female officials?"
This matter could not be explained clearly in a few words in the letter, so Shen Yuan simply did not mention it when he wrote back, thinking it would be better to talk about it in person later.
"Madam?"
The news from the capital had not yet reached Jinling, so when they heard Shen Yuan's words, Old Lady Shen, the First Lady, and Shen Xi were all very surprised.
Shen Yuan told the whole story from beginning to end, and then said to Shen Xi: "Sister, even if you are married, you can still take the exam. You have studied much harder than me since you were young. Let's both try it later."