Chapter 84
There was a glimmer of morning light in the sky, and the Lin family had already gotten up and were packing their things.
Lin Shuge packed up the books he was going to take away one by one. Xie Chen came in with a bundle and put them into the wooden box along with the books on the table.
"Zhongxuan, why did you only pack these things?" Lin Shuge walked over and asked.
"I'm not at home often, so I don't have much stuff." Xie Chen didn't let him see it, and closed the box. "Brother, is there anything else you need to pack? I'll help you."
"We have to harvest the peppers in the garden. Let's take some away and leave the rest to Zhou Du and Xu Yu." Lin Shuge said while looking at the garden outside.
Xie Chen nodded and turned to pick peppers.
"Wait, I'll go with you." Lin Shuge shouted.
Outside the house, Lin Qingyuan was sitting in the yard holding Xiaobai, looking worried. Lin Xuan packed her things one by one. Seeing him like this, she angrily said, "Ayuan, go pack your luggage quickly. Big Brother said time is tight, what are you still sitting there for?"
"A Xuan, I... I feel a little uncomfortable." Lin Qingyuan said in a low voice with his head down.
Lin Shuge was about to rush out to comfort her but was stopped by Xie Chen.
Lin Xuan said, "Ayuan, I know you don't want to leave Ganzhou. I don't want to either. My elder brother and Erlang don't want to either. But now my elder brother has to go to Qingquan. You and I have always lived under my elder brother's protection. It's time for me to be sensible and let him worry less."
"Besides, wherever our family is, that's home. My eldest brother also said that Qingquan is very close to Erlang, so we can be together for a long time. Isn't that a good thing?" Lin Xuan said earnestly.
Lin Qingyuan understood the truth, but he was a boy who had never left home since he was a child. Now he was asked to leave his hometown and go to an unfamiliar environment. Although he had his family by his side, he was still nervous.
"Can I accompany you to pack your things? Don't let big brother worry. He has too many things to worry about." Lin Xuan said gently.
Lin Qingyuan nodded, put Xiaobai on the ground, and went into the house with Lin Xuan to pack up.
Seeing the two of them go in and seeing Lin Shuge's annoyance between his brows, Xie Chencai said: "They have grown up too, and they need to learn to accept some things by themselves. I know what my brother means, but the young eagle has to learn to fly on its own, and with A Xuan here, it's okay."
Xiaobai was placed on the ground with a confused look on his face. When he heard what was happening here, he ran over happily.
Lin Shuge picked it up and said to Xie Chen, "Let's go pick some peppers."
The peppers had already been picked, and there weren't many left, so the two of them picked all that they could, and left the ones that couldn't be picked for Xu Yu to pick. Anyway, Xu Yu had to take care of this yard.
When Lin Shuge picked a handful and was putting them into the basket, he took a look at the plants he had casually planted. After a summer, many of them had withered. When he wanted to reach out and pull out the useless branches, he unexpectedly saw a plant with a flower bud that looked very much like cotton.
The more he looked at it, the more it resembled it. He had only seen cotton buds before and had never recognized it. He hurriedly walked closer to take a look. He saw that the leaves on the outside were gathered together, and there was a layer of fine fluff on the outside. It was indeed cotton.
"Zhong Xuan, this is actually cotton. I was really clueless. I've been waiting for so long, and it's actually growing in my own garden." Lin Shuge was extremely excited and said, pulling Xie Chen's sleeve.
Seeing him so happy, Xie Chen thought it must be a good thing, "Brother, what is cotton?"
"Cotton can be used to make winter clothes. It is very warm and the cost is much lower than cashmere. If I had discovered it earlier, I might have planted a lot this year. Unfortunately, there is only one plant. I don't know where Dabu got it from. I haven't seen it in the past six months." Lin Shuge touched the leaves and said regretfully.
"Then I'll help my brother find it. I've taken note of the shape and will draw a blueprint later and then slowly look for it."
Lin Shuge was reminded, "Draw a few more pictures and I will give them to Zhou Du. If Dabu comes back to find me and finds out that I am not in Ganzhou, he will definitely go to Zhou Du to ask about it. Then Zhou Du can arrange for him to look for me." Lin Shuge said happily.
By then, the people of Ganzhou can also try various things.
Xie Chen replied: "Okay, I'll draw it now."
"I'll go get some paper and pen. Finally, there's some good news." Lin Shuge smiled with the corners of his mouth raised.
The early morning sun shone through the pear trees in the yard onto the table. Xie Chen wrote quickly and sketched out the appearance of a cotton plant in just a few strokes. Seeing how seriously he was drawing, Lin Shuge glanced at him for a few seconds and then stopped disturbing him, squatting down to harvest the peppers.
When he had almost finished, he walked over to see the finished product, only to see Xie Chen put the painting away in a flash.
"Zhongxuan, why are you putting it away?" Lin Shuge asked curiously.
"No, this one is not finished yet. I've taken it back to my room. You can take the rest yourself, brother." After saying that, he ran back to his room with the paintings.
Lin Shuge looked at his figure strangely, complaining in his heart that Xie Chen was becoming more and more mysterious. He picked up the painting and took a look. It was indeed well drawn. All that was left was to hand the painting over to Zhou Du.
At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door. Just as he was about to open the door, Lin Qingyuan ran out and said, "Brother, you do your thing. I'll do it."
He ran to open the door and saw Xu Yu and Qian Wancai, followed by Zhou Yuan.
"Brother, I'm looking for you." Lin Qingyuan said and went into the house.
Xu Yu came in first, and seeing him packing peppers, he said, "Are you really going to leave?"
Lin Shuge smiled and said, "We have to obey the imperial edict of Yandu."
"Is there really no way around it?" Xu Yu said unwillingly.
Lin Shuge sighed and said to the three people, "Come in and sit down."
Xie Chen heard the noise in the yard and poured a few cups of tea out of the house.
"I was originally going to look for you, but since you took the initiative to come to me, it saves me some trouble. You should have heard that I am about to leave Ganzhou, and the person who will take over as the county magistrate of Ganzhou is Ding Wenhong, a descendant of the Ding family." Lin Shuge said.
"The Ding family? Why don't the Ding family stay in Yandu and enjoy the prosperity of the imperial capital, but come to my cold and bitter place of Ganzhou? Could it be that there are some treasures here?" Xu Yu said sarcastically.
"Your Excellency means that the Ding family may have some plans?" Zhou Du said.
"Otherwise, Ganzhou is probably being targeted by someone now." Xu Yu hurriedly said.
Lin Shuge looked at the three of them, all of them had worried brows, and Xu Yu's eyes were full of fire.
"I want to release the art of printing. Anyway, papermaking is now popular all over Dayan, but printing has not yet spread." Lin Shuge suggested.
"My lord, do you want to make the special things in Ganzhou no longer special?" Qian Wancai said.
"Yes, just like papermaking, if every county knows how to do it, it won't be too eye-catching. Besides, Ding Wenhong has great ambitions but little talent, and he has the support of the Ding family, so you must not confront him, just show weakness on weekdays," he looked at Xu Yu, "As for other things, if he really asks you for them, try to push them onto me, saying that I control all the core methods, and you are just following his orders. It just so happens that Xiang Ligu wants to go to Qingquan with me, so it's not your fault anyway."
He looked at Zhou Yuan, "If he interferes with the cashmere, you can tell Xiye Country. The little prince of Xiye Country and I have a good personal relationship. I will write to him and make an agreement. When it comes to the diplomatic relations between the two countries, Yandu will not sit idly by."
Although cashmere is dominated by the Zhou family, because of the trade relations with the Xiya Kingdom, it is considered a trade between the two countries. If the Ding family wants to intervene, they have to think carefully.
"No, how can we let you worry about everything? If Ding Wenhong is a playboy, and he really competes with the people for profit, we can just join forces and report him to the county magistrate's office. Envoy Wei is a decent man, he will definitely not tolerate evil." Qian Wancai said in a firm tone, with a hint of unwillingness to refuse.
"Nothing, I am on the same level as him. Even if I report it to the Ding family, it won't make a fuss about such a small matter."
"No, how can this be possible?" Xu Yu retorted.
Lin Shuge said, "At least I am an official. Besides, from what Master Wei said, the Ding family seems to still want to use me. You don't have to worry."
After listening to this, Xu Yu thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Let's not talk about this anymore. We are actually here to say goodbye."
"Ganzhou has benefited from your hard work these days, and we have also achieved today's success thanks to you. Now that it is a foregone conclusion that you are leaving, we naturally have to see you off." Xu Yu said seriously with reluctance in his eyes.
Qian Wancai opened the bundle he had been holding, "This is a gift from all the merchants in Ganzhou. You are going to Qingquan alone, and you don't have much money with you. If you take these, it will be convenient for you to do whatever you want when you get there."
Lin Shuge didn't even look at it, "No need to do that, I will find a way when I get there."
The three of them looked at each other, and seeing that he was determined, they had no choice but to give up. Qian Wancai and Zhou Yuan had nothing else to do, so they left, leaving Xu Yu alone.
"It's a good thing that you are here. I don't plan to sell this yard, so please help me take care of it. The peppers in the yard should be ready for a few more crops, so remember to come and collect them when the time comes." Lin Shuge looked at Xu Yu, who had a lonely look on his face, and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.
"I was thinking of waiting for you to recover before discussing the next play with Lu Yuechuan. Why are you leaving now?"
Lin Shuge suddenly remembered that he didn't know that Lu Yuechuan was also leaving, so he asked, "Did you know that Lu Yuechuan was going with me?"
Xu Yu had a look on his face that said, "What? He's going too. What about my play? What about my legend book?"
"Nothing, nothing. I'll supervise him and ask him to mail it to you after he finishes writing it, or you can send someone to pick it up."
Unexpectedly, Xu Yu sneered and said, "I had to personally supervise and urge you two to submit your manuscripts every day. Now that you are in Qingquan, you should be happy and carefree. Why would you care about my life or death?"
"No, no, don't worry, I promise."
Xu Yu looked at him doubtfully, "If you lie to me," he looked at Xie Chen who had been silent, "I will come to you in person."
Lin Shuge naturally agreed, and finally persuaded Xu Yu to leave.
"Let's go, Zhongxuan, keep busy, there are still a lot of things to pack." He was quite exhausted both physically and mentally.
"By the way, you have finished your work. When will you return to the Eternal Tunnel?"
Xie Chen and he put the peppers on a string and packed them up together, and replied: "My superiors and I have asked for a few more days of leave. I will send you to Qingquan County before I go back. I will not be at ease until I see my brother arrive in Qingquan County safely."
Lin Shuge thought about what he said about the Qingquan bandits and nodded. He would take Ayuan and Axuan with him. Lu Yuechuan and Xiangligu were not good at martial arts, and Zhongxuan was a strong martial artist, which would provide an extra layer of security.
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