Later, Chu Huaigui's wife saw that her aunt was living a carefree life in Miaozhou and was filled with resentment. Just then, the Third Prince had some matters that required the help of female relatives, so Chu Huaigui's wife had to come from the capital. In the following years, Chu Huaigui kept his wife away from getting close to the wives of officials and merchants in Miaozhou, for fear that they would see something from his wife.
After Chu Huaigui's wife arrived, this concubine didn't have a good life. Fortunately, she had saved up some money in the previous years, and with that money, she and her maids lived quite well in recent years.
This time, Madam Chu hurriedly returned to the capital from Miaozhou without taking the master and servant with her. The reason was that Madam Chu knew there was no way to survive if they stayed. This concubine was a smart woman. Over the years, she knew that what Chu Huaigui had done was not a good thing. She just didn't expect that in the end, she would leave her master and servant behind as cannon fodder.
The aunt gritted her teeth and said to the maid, "These next few days, keep an eye on what's happening outside and don't do anything rash. Once the road from Miaozhou to the outside world is repaired, you can go back to your hometown."
The maid asked in surprise, "I'll go back to my hometown. What about you?"
Auntie smiled gently and said, "Of course I'm staying. You go back and find a good family to marry into. We're sisters, so at least one of us can have a way to survive. Why do you think I want to stay in Miaozhou?"
The maid was shocked and whispered, "Madam, do you know something shameful?"
The aunt sneered twice and said, "You stay in your room for the next few days and don't go anywhere. Once the road from Miaozhou to other places is open, you can take the money we've saved over the years and go back to our hometown. Remember, hurry up and find an honest man to marry. Don't stay in your parents' home. The people in both of our families are heartless."
At this point, tears streamed down the aunt's face. The two women, mistress and servant, hugged each other, not daring to cry loudly, but sobbing quietly.
Zhao Niangzi, who was in charge of cooking, came to Xu Zhi and said that there were not enough vegetables at home. It was the time when vegetables were ripe and in large quantities, but because of the flood, all the vegetables in the fields were washed away. Where could there be any vegetables left?
Xu Zhi thought of the things her older brother Xu Di had brought over, which included a lot of dried seafood. She asked Bai Ying to find them, soak them, and then the family ate cold seaweed salad and stir-fried seaweed for several days.
On the fourth day after Xu Di arrived in Miaozhou, the Chen family, carrying a lot of medicinal herbs, arrived in Miaozhou City covered in mud and water from the simple post road that had been built to a nearby county.
The team was led by her third uncle, Chen Zhaozhi. Xu Zhi never expected that her family would receive news of the accident in Miaozhou and then quickly prepare medicine. They made their way to Miaozhou with great difficulty, simply because she was there.
With red eyes, Xu Zhi poured tea for Chen Zhaozhi. Chen Zhaozhi smiled and said, "Look at our Ninth Miss, what are you doing? Why are you shedding tears?"
Chen Zhaozhi brought several members of the Chen family with him. When they saw Xu Bai and Chen Yuyuan, the young men happily hugged each other.
Xu Di was now puzzled. The Chen family had already arrived, so why hadn't the imperial court arrived yet?
Chen Zhaozhi said to Xu Di, "Our Chen family has a warehouse in Wuzhou, upstream of the Miao River. Whenever it rains there, they send us messages at breakneck speed. We had prepared these medicinal herbs long ago, and your mother also helped us find a few prescriptions for epidemic prevention. That's how we got here."
Xu Di thought of all the roads and bridges he had crossed along the way and felt very grateful to his maternal family for their continued support of him and his sister.
Chen Zhaozhi said, "I was thinking of taking my kids out to see the world. What's the use of always staying at home studying and practicing martial arts? Studying and practicing martial arts is for the purpose of making a name for yourself in the future. If you don't go out and see the world now, and you're always staying at home building cars, how can you make any progress?"
Xu Di nodded repeatedly. He saw Xu Bai and Chen Yuyuan happily pulling their cousins outside. Xu Di told them to be careful and arranged for several guards before letting them go.
As soon as Xu Bai and his men stepped outside, they saw a little girl standing at the gate next door. She waved her hand and called out loudly, "Brother Xu Bai, Brother Xu Bai, are you going out?"
Xu Bai looked closely and saw it was Miao'er. He ran over and said with a smile, "Yes, I'm going out. Look, those are my cousins. I'm going to take them to the city gate. I heard that the water in the Yun family's lotus garden has receded, and there are fish in many places. Let's go see if we can catch a few. If we can catch some, I'll give some to Miao'er, okay?"
Upon hearing this, Miao'er clapped her hands happily and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, Brother Xu Bai, then you should go quickly."
A few teenagers walked along the still muddy road toward the city gate on the north side. Xu Bai had heard from others that because the Miao River had passed through this area, many low-lying areas were left with water after the water receded, and many fish from the river had stayed there.
Walking down the street, the youngest child of the third uncle's family put his arm around Xu Bai's neck and said with a smile, "Whose little girl is that? She's so pretty."
Xu Bai thought of the lively Miao'er and said with a smile, "She's from the Feng family next door. They have three daughters, all of whom are beautiful, but this Miao'er is a lively person who can talk to anyone."
Accompanying Uncle Chen Zhaozhi this time were Yu Qiao from Uncle Chen Zhaozhi's second uncle's family, Yu Han from Uncle Chen Zhaozhi's third uncle's family, and Yu Kang from Uncle Chen Zhaozhi's fourth uncle's family. The group of them had studied and practiced martial arts together in the past, but later Wu Muyue took Xu Bai and Chen Yuyuan to Jiangnan, and the group of them were separated.
Chen Yuhan put her arms around Xu Bai's neck and asked with great interest, "I heard that your uncle, who is a third-ranked scholar in the imperial examinations, took you two on a trip all over the country. What did you think of it?"
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
