With Cen Xiao gone, Madam You and Yin Zhihua felt a great weight lifted off their shoulders.
Just as they were about to send someone to bring You Xinyan to be taught a lesson, someone came to report that You Xinyan had died at Foguang Temple!
Yu and the Yin Jia people looked at each other, completely bewildered.
This news was so unexpected and so sudden!
However, they quickly accepted the news, thinking it was good that he was dead, that such a scourge on the family was dead!
Although the person was dead, they still had to deal with the aftermath of You Xinyan's death. Yin Zhihua led people to Foguang Temple to investigate the case, and You Xinyan's family members discussed the matter and prepared another three thousand taels of silver to compensate Yang Cui.
The two compensations cost nearly six thousand taels of silver, which angered the You family. Unable to find trouble with You Xinyan, they turned their attention to Chen Shujun, feeling that Chen Shujun, as her mother, had not treated her daughter well. They then locked Chen Shujun in the clan temple.
...
Yang Cui secretly met with Lin Zhongqiang.
"Your eldest son is twenty this year. The Joyful Class is short of a waiter to serve tea and water. Lunch is provided, and the salary is five hundred coins a month. Are you interested?"
Lin Zhongqiang was immediately overjoyed.
It's so hard to find a job these days, but he knew Yang Cui wouldn't give him anything for no reason, so he asked, "What do you need me to do?"
“Lin Mingcai is very likely not dead. He may have contacted his family. Keep a close eye on him, as well as Lin Gouya, Lin Qi, Lin Sanjin, and the others. Tell me immediately if there are any clues.”
"Lin Mingcai isn't dead? How is that possible? Could he possibly be resurrected?" Lin Zhongqiang found it unbelievable; he had witnessed Lin Mingcai's burial.
“If I had known, I wouldn’t have come to you,” Yang Cui said. “If there are no problems, have your son go to the Joyful Class and find Manager Deng tomorrow. He knows what to do.”
"Okay, I'll let you know as soon as I have any news."
Lin Zhongqiang felt that Yang Cui wouldn't speak without reason. Lin Mingcai was indeed cunning, and perhaps Lin Shikang had helped him pull off a clever escape.
With someone surnamed Lin keeping an eye on the Lin family, Yang Cui felt much more at ease. If Lin Mingcai was really not dead, he would definitely contact his family and seek refuge with Lin Shikang. Cen Xiao had already sent people to secretly keep an eye on Lin Shikang.
...
Lin Shikang and his party have arrived in Wutong County.
They were resting at a tea stall on the official road at this time.
"Waiter, bring out all the good food you can find!" Fan Shi shouted loudly as soon as she got off the carriage, starving.
"Our shop has steamed buns and sweet buns, as well as chicken soup and vegetable noodles. What would you gentlemen like to eat?"
"Give us twenty steamed buns to tide us over, then quickly cook some noodles, we still have a long way to go."
"Alright! Gentlemen, please wait a moment."
The tea stall was run by a father and son; one was busy getting steamed buns, while the other was busy cooking noodles.
When Madam Fan saw that it was just vegetable noodles without a drop of oil, she angrily rebuked, "No meat at all? What kind of business are you running? My son is the magistrate of Ganning County, a dignified county magistrate, and you're trying to fool us with vegetables? Are you tired of living?"
"Mother, please say less!"
Seeing that Fan was about to reveal her true colors again, Lin Shikang's face turned very ugly.
Lin Shih-kang immediately apologized to the tea stall owner: "I'm sorry, shopkeeper. My mother's words are not very pleasant to hear. Please forgive her."
"No, no, we dare not." The father and son repeatedly said they dared not, and knelt in front of Lin Shikang. "We never expected you to be such an upright and just official. We were blind. Atai, hurry back and catch two chickens to kill and cook for you and the old lady."
Lin Shikang quickly stopped him, saying, "No need, we still have a long way to go. Vegetable noodles are just fine too."
Lin Shikang, barely suppressing his anger, said to Fan Shi, "Mother, eat quickly. We must reach the post station before dark, or we'll have to sleep in the wilderness."
Only then did Madam Fan give up.
Lin Shikang had quite a few people with him on this trip: eight guards, Donkey Egg, Cow Egg, Lin Mingfu, plus his family of three, making a total of fourteen people. Their daily food expenses were quite high, and Fan Shi felt the pinch every time it came time to settle the bill.
"I have no money left, so you can pay for your own food," Madam Fan said irritably, glancing at the guards who were drinking soup.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone was dumbfounded.
"Mother, what nonsense are you talking about?" Lin Shikang was so angry he was about to explode. Why did he have such a troublesome mother?
With a weak foundation and extreme danger ahead, if I don't treat my guards generously, who will be willing to risk their lives for me in the future?
I just told her a few days ago not to be stingy with money, not to be stingy with money!
It's only been a few days, and they've already shown their true colors again.
Lin Shih-kang had an urge to sew his mother's mouth shut.
"Brothers, my mother wasn't talking about you, please don't misunderstand," Lin Shikang immediately explained to the guards.
"I'm talking about them. They only get fifty taels of silver a month, and we have to pay for their food every day. Do they think our money grows on trees? What dangers have we encountered along the way? They're just eating and drinking for free!"
The guard, Ma Quan, had a fiery temper. He threw down his chopsticks and was about to speak when his older brother, Ma Ming, grabbed his shoulder. Ma Quan had no choice but to sit back down reluctantly, his face full of displeasure.
Ma Ming stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Since the old lady thinks we brothers are not worth the money, Lord Lin, Gan Ning and I will not go. Thank you for your care along the way, Lord Lin. We will take our leave here and meet again."
"I've wanted to quit this job for ages! Pay the bill and let's go!" Ma Quan angrily threw down the money for the meal that the four brothers had paid for.
Lin Shikang became anxious.
Gan Ning is dangerous. If we enter someone else's territory, eight guards might not be enough. Now, four of them will be driven away in anger. What will happen when we reach Gan Ning?
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