Chapter 320 "I'm back after all."
(Thanks to Listening Doll for casting 4 monthly votes.)
The third day of the eighth lunar month was unusually cloudy and rainy.
It had been more than thirty days since it had rained, but finally, in the middle of the night last night, after several deafening claps of thunder, an autumn rain began to fall gently.
Two carriages were parked in front of Li Shiyue's house. The family was preparing to go to the prefectural city for Li Wangming's autumn examination.
The autumn imperial examinations were scheduled to begin on the ninth day of the eighth lunar month, and consisted of three sessions, each lasting one day, with a two-day interval between sessions.
Li Shiyue and the others planned to go a few days early to visit Li Wangming. Although they couldn't be of much help, it was always good to have family around.
Although Li Shiyue and Li Wangming had some disagreements, they were still family for over a decade.
Moreover, Li Shiyue understood that if Li Wangming recovered, their family would also benefit.
If Li Wangming passes the exam, the next step is to prepare to travel to the capital to participate in the metropolitan examination.
Andong is far from the capital, so one must first take a boat to Dongmu, and then travel overland from Dongmu to the capital.
Even for someone with fast legs, the journey would take at least a month. If something unexpected happens along the way and delays the trip, it could take more than two months to reach the capital.
Of course, if Li Wangming didn't pass the exam, there was no need to worry about going to the capital.
Li Shiyue stood at the door, wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat. Looking at the chicken coop that her mother insisted on taking onto the cart, her lips twitched slightly, and she felt truly helpless.
"Mother, what doesn't the city have?"
If you want to stew a chicken for your second uncle to nourish his body, you can just buy a whole one. Why go through all this trouble?
Li's mother carried the chicken coop to the empty space behind the cart. After placing it there, she called Shitou to go home and get a winnowing basket from the kitchen, saying that she wanted to cover the chicken coop to prevent the rain from getting on the chickens.
With everything in place, Li's mother looked at the chicken coop covered by a winnowing basket with satisfaction. She looked up and explained to Li Shiyue with a smile, "Mother knows, in the city, as long as you have money, you can buy anything."
But the chickens we raise are top-notch!
They're fed bran and shriveled beans; they're very well-fed, much better than other people's.
Even in the prefectural city, you definitely can't buy chickens like ours, so of course I had to bring them with me.
Making soup with chicken like this will definitely be good for your second uncle!
Li Shiyue felt somewhat helpless, but she could only agree to her mother's words and urge her to get in the car quickly so she wouldn't get wet in the rain anymore.
Li Xiatian was absent from the group that went to the prefectural city this time. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, nor was it because she was married to Jiang Huai that she couldn't go.
Rather, she had been feeling unwell a few days prior. Although it was just that she was eating less and was a little sleepy, it was still quite different from her usual self.
After all, the Li family, from Li's mother and Zheng Meiniang down to the three sisters Li Shiyue, Shitou, Li Qiutian, and Li Xiatian, even Li Wangming who was rarely at home, were all strong, able to eat and sleep well, and rarely got sick.
Li Xiatian's sudden change was quite a stark contrast to her usual self.
The first thing Li Shiyue thought of was, "Could she be pregnant?"
A woman who used to be strong and healthy, like a young calf, suddenly stopped eating some things without saying a word. Her appetite decreased significantly, and she became lethargic.
And since she is still newly married, most people would probably think she is pregnant, right?
So, Li Shiyue took Li Xiatian to find Jin Daping.
After taking her pulse, Jin Daping asked Li Xiatian a few more questions, mainly about the date of Li Shiyue's last menstrual period and the date she had slept with Jiang Huai.
"I think I vaguely felt something, but it might be because it's still early in the pregnancy, so I don't dare to say for sure that I'm pregnant."
Come back in half a month, let me feel your pulse and take a look, then I should be able to understand it more clearly.
But you should not leave the hospital for the next two weeks, and you should not share a room with your husband. You should rest more. If you really don't feel like eating, then eat less.
If you're sleepy, then sleep;
In short, just follow your own body's natural rhythm.
Thus, Li Xiatian, who was suspected of being pregnant, could only stay in Lijiatun and watch Li Shiyue and the others drive the carriage away from the village and onto the official road toward the prefectural city.
The rain has been falling for a day and a night, giving the parched earth a chance to drink its fill.
Sitting on the cart shaft, driving the cart, Li Shiyue looked at the farmland on both sides of the road and couldn't help but wonder how she should adjust the road ahead and how she should travel in a way that would be better for herself and for Lijiatun.
Suddenly, Li Shiyue turned around to look at the back of the carriage. Soon, the clattering of hooves came from afar, and she saw two horses galloping towards her carriage.
With a "whoosh," the two horses galloped past Li Shiyue's carriage, one after the other. Li Shiyue lowered his right arm and looked up at the people on the two horses who had already run some distance ahead.
"Two Taoist priests?"
Although the drizzle slightly affected visibility, Li Shiyue's eyesight was not significantly impaired. She saw the two men on horseback with their hair styled in a cow-nose style and wearing blue Taoist robes.
The style of this Taoist robe is quite different from the clothes worn by ordinary people. Once you've seen it, most people wouldn't mistake it for something else.
When Li Shiyue and her entourage arrived outside the city and were queuing to enter in the light rain, she jumped off the carriage, stretched her arms and legs by the roadside, and glanced around to see the two Taoist priests in robes and with their hair in cow-nose styles just a few feet away!
Yan Xuefei felt someone staring at her from behind. She turned around, reached out and lifted her straw hat, looking in Li Shiyue's direction.
Li Shiyue didn't expect Yan Xuefei to turn around and look at her. However, she wasn't embarrassed by being caught, and naturally nodded to Yan Xuefei in a friendly manner.
Seeing that Li Shiyue was just a thin woman, and that she didn't see any hostility in Li Shiyue's eyes, but only some curiosity, Yan Xuefei nodded to Li Shiyue and then turned away.
Yan Xuefei stopped paying attention to Li Shiyue, because she and Li Mingfeng had passed through many cities along the way after leaving Qingyun Temple.
The further they went from Qingyun Temple, the more curious glances they received wherever they went.
Yan Xuefei was already somewhat used to it, so she wasn't too surprised.
Li Shiyue returned to her carriage, jumped onto the shaft, and sat down again. As she looked at the horse's rump, she began to ponder.
"No way? No way?"
The female Taoist's face and eyes, especially her eyes, were exactly the same as Jiu Niang's!
Could this female Taoist priest be Jiu Niang's mother?
While Li Shiyue was pondering who the female Taoist priest was, Li Mingfeng, carrying a water pouch, walked over from the front. He first handed Yan Xuefei the water pouch he had just paid to fill with water before asking, "Junior Sister, what's wrong?"
"Have some water first. You haven't stopped for a while on this journey, you must be thirsty, right?"
"It's nothing. I just felt someone was watching me, but when I turned around, it was just a farm girl."
He must have never seen a female Taoist priest before, which aroused his curiosity.
Taking the water pouch, Yan Xuefei realized she was quite thirsty from her journey. After asking Li Mingfeng if he had already drunk some, she uncorked the pouch and began to sip the water.
Setting down her water pouch, Yan Xuefei looked at the plaque hanging high at the city gate and thought to herself, "I've finally returned."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
