Chapter 38 King Yu: I'm truly a genius...
"Greetings, King Yu." Zhao Xian half-lifted the curtain, not revealing her face, and only spoke, showing no intention of getting off the carriage.
She did not answer King Yu's question directly, but instead instructed Steward Jiang, "Uncle Jiang, tell the caravan to pull over and let King Yu go first."
She thought that the carriage had completely blocked the road, which forced King Yu and his entourage to stop.
Unexpectedly, King Yu was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he asked, "Wasn't Lady Jiang praying for blessings at Huguo Temple? Why did she leave Jin'an?"
King Yu glanced at the Jiang family's carriage procession and made a guess: "Is the lady going to find Lord Jiang?"
You already know, why ask?
Since the other party was a prince, Zhao Xian couldn't very well not answer. "Yes, I'm going to fetch my husband."
King Yu nodded, pulled on the reins, and rode away.
A group of people dressed as guards of the Prince's Palace rode by on horseback, and Zhao Xian realized that the road was still wide on the other side, and the Jiang family's carriage was not blocking the way.
Zhao Xian's beautiful brows furrowed slightly, and she wondered why he had stopped to ask her a question, since she wasn't familiar with this King Yu.
Fortunately, she had asked the Empress Dowager for leave and did not leave without permission.
In order to hurry on their journey and for their own safety, the group did not arrive at the post station until dark.
The next day, everyone packed up early and continued their journey.
As Zhao Xian was helped into the carriage by her maid, she suddenly felt like she was being watched.
With the sound of hooves, a reddish-brown horse came to her carriage.
"It seems that I have a special connection with Lady Jiang, and we meet again." King Yu looked down at Zhao Xian from his horse, his eyes filled with an unfathomable meaning.
Zhao Xian realized the source of the gaze, but she didn't relax at all, since his words sounded strange.
You're a prince, what kind of fate do you have with her, a married woman?
"Your Highness is also resting at the post station. I won't disturb Your Highness any longer. I still need to hurry to Changzhou to find my husband."
After finishing her ramblings, Zhao Xian signaled to Butler Jiang to set off.
King Yu remained seated on his horse, but it was the eunuch beside him who spoke up: "Your Highness, it's time to set off."
As a servant who serves his master, the eunuch knows his master's preferences best. He doesn't understand why King Yu likes women with slender waists, but he only wants virgin girls.
However, the way King Yu looked at Lady Jiang made him somewhat worried, after all, she was the wife of a third-rank official in the court, and things would not be easy to handle.
"Fuxi, shouldn't I take a second wife?"
The eunuch named Fuxi was overjoyed. "Your Highness should have done this long ago. Since you are in Jin'an now, you can ask the Empress Dowager to handle this matter for Your Highness."
It has been more than ten years since the princess passed away. The prince has many women in his harem, but there has been no princess to hold the fort. Apart from the crown prince, no other children have survived all these years. It is time to take a new princess.
After Fuxi finished speaking, he suddenly realized something was wrong and his expression changed slightly: "Your Highness, that Madam Jiang... has married someone else."
He spoke the next sentence very softly.
With so many girls in Chu Huai City and Jin An available for the prince to choose from, why did he choose a married woman?
Isn't it the young master who has this hobby? Why is the prince joining in?
King Yu glanced at the servant beside him: "How long has Lord Jiang been missing?"
Fuxi thought for a moment and said, "It's probably been more than a month."
King Yu, gripping his whip with an air of confidence, asked, "Is there still a month or so left to live?"
He thought his mother's suggestion was excellent; it was time for him to marry a second wife to manage the household.
Ordinary girls couldn't control the group of women in his backyard, and he was now terrified of women giving birth, so few of them survived.
The princesses chosen for him by the Empress Dowager would mostly have to give birth, and if they died in childbirth, he would have to find a second wife, which was quite troublesome.
If he were to marry the woman who had given birth.
Knowing Zhao Xian's age, King Yu was even more relieved. At that age, she would definitely not have any more children after remarrying, so he didn't have to worry about changes in her figure or the risk of death due to childbirth.
In addition, she had been a head housewife and knew how to manage a household.
This achieves multiple benefits in one fell swoop.
"Achoo, achoo, achoo..." Zhao Xian sneezed several times in a row, and suddenly felt a chill run through her body.
But it only lasted for a moment; I just thought it was because my nose was itchy.
However, after the sneeze, her eyelids twitched again.
I still remember the last time my eyelid twitched was when the Qian family came to cause trouble.
--
Outside Xing'an Village, some people saw lanterns submerged in water.
They fished it out and took a look. They found that the paper was wet and rotten, with black clumps on it. It was filthy. The person who picked it up threw the rotten lantern away.
There are quite a few cases like this.
After all, the floodwaters had just receded, and many places were still wet.
In some of the submerged villages, after the water receded, some people quietly returned to the village, or people from other villages, to see if they could salvage anything useful to take back with them.
“Honey, look, there seems to be a lantern hanging on that tree.” The woman pointed to a crooked tree and continued, “Go and take it down quickly. We can keep the paper to paste on the windows later.”
The man quickly climbed the tree, found the lantern hanging on a branch, and noticed words written on it. He took it with extra care.
The man climbed down from the tree and said, "There are words on this lantern. Could someone have hung it up on purpose?"
Unfortunately, they were illiterate and didn't know what was written on it.
The woman didn't care about any of that: "Whoever hung it, it's ours now that we saw it. Give it to me quickly, I'll take it down right away, lest someone sees it and snatch it away."
Recently, many people have been searching around the villages, and they frantically grab any good stuff they find.
The paper for this lantern doesn't look thick; you could tear it off and carry it with you.
"Honey, I think this handwriting is beautiful. Be careful when you tear it. I'll take it back to my third son; he's a scholar."
"A broken lantern is nothing to people. If I give it to you, they'll just use it to cover their windows. Don't try to do me a favor. Besides, people don't care about such a small favor." The woman wasn't as fussy as him. Although there were words written on the lantern, the paper wasn't wet, so it didn't affect its use. However, the woman tore it very carefully and didn't damage the words on the paper.
In the past, they would take advantage of the city's lantern festival to collect discarded lanterns and use the paper to cover the windows.
The man hesitated, but couldn't persuade his wife otherwise, so the two continued looking for other people, and soon more and more people arrived.
Some people even got into a fight over something.
The couple weren't from this village, and when they heard that some villagers were returning together, they quickly slipped away.
"drive."
"drive--"
On their way back, they heard the sound of horses' hooves from afar. The couple quickly moved to the side. Since the flood in Changzhou, most of the people who could ride horses were government officials, so something important must have happened.
However, when a group of people rode by, they discovered that they were carrying the flag of a security escort agency.
Two days later, the man was called by his fellow villagers to build a house. They said the government was recruiting workers, paying forty coins a day and including lunch, and many people wanted to come.
"It's been almost a month, and I'm afraid Lord Jiang is in grave danger."
"Lord Jiang is a good official. If he hadn't told us to move out in advance, we wouldn't be able to survive."
"May God bless Lord Jiang."
But most people know that this hope is slim.
"Breaking news! Lord Jiang might still be alive!" someone suddenly ran up and said.
"Lord Jiang has been found?"
"Not yet, but someone found a lantern with writing on it. The handwriting looks a lot like Lord Jiang's. However, the lantern was wet, so not many words could be recognized. The yamen has already sent people to look for the lantern."
The man who was working perked up his ears upon hearing this. A lantern, a lantern with words on it.
"A notice has been posted at the government office."
Someone shouted, and everyone dropped what they were doing and rushed over.
A literate person read the notice aloud.
"...The yamen is indeed looking for lanterns with words on them. If anyone finds one, bring it to the yamen and you will be rewarded with...one hundred taels of silver."
Upon hearing that it would cost one hundred taels, everyone was shocked and wished they could abandon their work and go find the lantern with the words on it.
A few days ago, a man who actually found a lantern with writing on it hesitated and waited until he finished his work before going home.
--
Inside the yamen, looking at the wet paper with only the words "help" remaining, Jiang Heng desperately wanted to know where his father was trapped, but the other words were too blurry to read.
"Second Young Master, once the notice was posted, many people came to the yamen with lanterns bearing the words, but after comparison, none of them were found."
A reward of one hundred taels of silver is a huge temptation for ordinary people. Some people try to pass off fakes as genuine or take a chance, which makes comparing the handwriting more troublesome.
"Tell your subordinates to be careful and check everything thoroughly. Make sure they don't miss anything or make any mistakes."
"yes."
On the other side, the man took the paper from his home and put it in his pocket. When he arrived at the yamen, he found a long queue outside the yamen, with everyone holding a lantern. The lanterns were colorful and very lively.
He hesitated, for he didn't even have a lantern.
"Go on," the woman beside him pushed him.
The man whispered, "We don't have any lanterns."
“So what if there are no lanterns? But we did take them off from lanterns. Is the yamen looking for the lanterns? They're looking for the words on the lanterns. Regardless of whether it's true or not, hand them over. It's a hundred taels of silver.”
The woman saw things more clearly; it was only her husband who was indecisive and hesitant in his actions.
Fortunately, they were obedient.
Inspired by the woman's suggestion, the man, with a "let's give it a try" attitude, reluctantly joined the queue.
The clerk in charge of comparing the characters looked at the paper handed to him. Having seen so many imposters, this one wasn't even a lantern.
Just as he was about to speak, upon seeing the words on the paper, he jumped up, turned around, and ran into the yamen.
--
This is Xing'an Village.
"Uncle Xu, the water looks much shallower."
Previously, they could only observe from the mountain, but now they can go down to the riverbank.
We also saw the bridge that had been washed away.
"Yes, in a few days, we should be able to wade across the river. Then I'll have my son escort the young master."
Thank you.
Jiang Liangxu didn't stand on ceremony; he genuinely wanted to leave.
The word has been circulating in the village lately that the Master is leaving.
After thinking it over for several days, Xu's eldest granddaughter finally mustered up the courage to stand in front of Jiang Liangxu: "Teacher, do you really want to go back? Isn't it good for you to teach here?"
Jiang Liangxu was writing on the board when he heard this. Without pausing or raising his head, he said, "What you say is strange, young lady. Of course I want to go home. You have family, and I have family too. My misfortune this time must have made them worry."
"What if the young master has no family?"
Jiang Liangxu's face immediately darkened. "Miss, please watch your words."
"Da Ya, come here." The appearance of Grandma Xu interrupted her eldest granddaughter's words. She looked at Jiang Liangxu apologetically and said, "Young master, the wooden planks you requested have been prepared by the child's grandfather."
"Thank you. I will memorize the entire book now so that the children can study more easily in the future."
“That makes sense,” said Grandma Xu, as she pulled her eldest granddaughter toward the house.
Suddenly, a voice rushed towards the Xu family, shouting as it ran: "Old Man Xu, Old Man Xu, come out quickly! There are a lot of people at the village entrance, and there are also soldiers."
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