Chapter 214: Amusement (3)
After leaving Zhongnan, they entered the terrain of Huainan and followed the Shang family father and son to rush up the mountain with those people. Obviously, another batch of people was replaced, and they looked younger and more energetic. On the first night in Huainan, it was spent on a mountain road in a horse-drawn carriage. Jiang Wanru brought two children and slept in a tent at night. In the morning after waking up, she took the two little ones directly to the river bank and washed them with some cold water.
Jiang Wanmu held a comb and other hairdressing tools in one hand, while holding Jiang Lanyu's hand with the other. She called out to Jiang Feiyang, "Feiyang, hold your sister tightly, don't let her fall." Jiang Feiyang, who was running ahead, immediately turned back and tightly held Jiang Lanyu's hand, smiling at Jiang Wanmu and saying, "Mother, rest assured, I will hold Lanyu's hand tightly." Jiang Wanmu smiled and praised him, "Feiyang is a capable older brother." Jiang Lanyu nodded in agreement, "Mother, yesterday big brother recognized one more character than before."
In the small world of Jiang Lanyu, her brother Jiang Feiyang was invincible and powerful. She was second only to him. On their way back, they met Fang Zhengniang and Bi Lümu and son. Jiang Feiyang and Jiang Lanyu greeted them happily, causing Fang Daxiang to chatter nonstop. Jiang Wenyu glanced at the gloom in Fang Zhengniang's eyes, looked at the calmness in Bi Lü's eyes, and thought for a moment before speaking: "Auntie, Bi Lü, you'd better let Fang Zheng come pick you up and take you back."
Fangzheng's daughter smiled happily when she stood up, but Bi Lu gave her an unhappy glance and whispered to Jiang Wanyu: "Xiao Lan, I overheard them talking last night. From their conversation, they seem to be doctors who are useful to the government. We're following the Shang family back to Beijing, so even if we take our time on the road, at least we can gain some experience. If we really get into trouble in the future, mentioning our journey together now will make them willing to lend a hand."
Jiang Wanru smiled and glanced at Fang Zheng's mother, nodding to Bi Lu and saying: "On this journey, there must be some inconvenient places, especially with Da Tong. Since you've thought it through, why not accept the situation with a smile? Besides, the Shang family has been taking good care of us." Her gaze fell on the mountain road, where small, simple tents had been set up overnight, and now people were laughing as they packed them up. Jiang Wanru's face was filled with a warm smile, and she said: "Life should be spent smiling like this, it's really a comfortable and happy life."
She smiled and glanced at her mother-in-law, who lowered her eyebrows again. She followed with a smile: "Yes, at least we sleep on the carriage at night, don't worry too much. I see my family's Big Tong, these days are all happy." The Big Tong in her arms suddenly cried out "yah yah". Jiang Wanru smiled and glanced at her mother-in-law, saying: "Auntie, maybe this is your last long trip outside, you can put your heart at ease and enjoy it slowly."
Jiang Wanru is actually right, ordinary people usually don't travel far, only merchants will often go out for business. Moreover, the transportation in Ning Dynasty is not very developed, from the capital to Zhongnan, this road takes a horse-drawn carriage, and even if it's smooth, it takes more than a month to reach the destination. This road often hears news of heavy rain washing away roads, so halfway through, you'll have to stay at an inn for some days. Like their trip with the Shang family this time, although they were delayed on the way due to something and had to rush, at least they would travel a little further every day.
Jiang Wanru felt that she had done her best to comfort Fang Zheng's mother, and the little lazy Jiang was already pulling on her hand, calling out "Mother, come quickly." Jiang Wanru hastily nodded in agreement with Bi Lü, then pulled along her own children who refused to let go, and quickly walked away on the mountain path. After Jiang Wanru and her two children had walked far away, Bi Lü carried the child and walked ahead, turning back to see the gloomy expression on Fang Zheng's mother's face, she couldn't help but sneer and say: "Mother, it is a blessing for the Fang family to have met such a master as Xiao Lan. We should be grateful."
Fang Zheng's daughter walked closer to her and said, "If it weren't for Fang Zheng and Jiyuan being of one mind for her sake, she wouldn't necessarily have such a comfortable life today." Upon hearing this, Bi Lü coldly smiled and said, "Mother, without Master Xiao Lan, the Fang family would still be serving as slaves to the Jiang family. Don't look at how well-behaved Xiao Lan is; she's just putting on a show for your sake. If the Fang family hadn't met Xiao Lan, they wouldn't necessarily have such good days today. But that doesn't mean that if Xiao Lan didn't meet you, she would be having such good days."
"Look at the Shang family, they know that Laziness is a lazy person, but they are still willing to take her as their fifth daughter-in-law. This shows that Laziness must be a very capable person. I think we have dragged her down, she only set up those two shops in Beijing for our sake, so that we can settle down. If it were not for us, with her character, she could have lived a stable life without any worries. Mother, you should think about Fangzheng and Datong's future, following the Shang family to Beijing is a great opportunity. The Shang family would not normally associate with people like us, now that we have this chance, we must welcome them with a smile."
Biqing finished speaking, quickly cleaned up herself and her son, then stood up and said to Fang Zhengniang who was looking down at the water: "Mother, I'll take Daxia and leave first, you can take your time." Biqing carried the child to Jiang Wanyu's carriage, where she saw that the three of them were eating dry rations inside. Jiang Wanyu looked down and saw the two of them, then moved slightly to the side of the carriage, reached out and picked up Fang Daxia, smiling at Biqing: "Come, have some dry rations. Jiuniang just came to say that Shang Daifu's group has already gone up the mountain, we'll need to stop here for a while."
The green climbed onto the carriage, and saw Jiang Feiyang and his sister taking turns eating dry rations. She smiled at Jiang Wanyu and said: "Xiao Lan, looking at the smiling faces of these two siblings, I feel like all my worries have disappeared." Jiang Wanyu was tearing a small piece of dry ration into pieces to feed Fang Daxiang, and upon hearing her words, she looked up and laughed, saying: "When Daxiang grows up, your days will be as carefree as theirs. Every day, I look at these two siblings, and there's nothing that troubles me."
"Alas, looking at Jiang Wan's behavior towards Fang Daxiong, she sighed and said: 'I'm afraid there will be more trouble. You should know your mother's temperament by now. With only a small amount of ability, she thinks her own abilities are greater than others. The whole family has been catering to her all along, and she has become accustomed to it. The more capable Fang Zheng is, the stronger her temper becomes. In the past, she would only be domineering at home, but now she's slowly learning to do so outside as well. Last time's incident was originally caused by her meddling in other people's business, but after causing trouble, she kept saying it was others who were wrong.'"
Every family has its own unspeakable troubles. Today, someone else's troubles are hard to speak of, but who knows when it will be our turn to face the same difficulties. In such matters, Jiang Wan couldn't say anything to Bi Lu, she could only gently pat her hand and say: "Perhaps in Zhongnan, Auntie was too lonely, that's why she became like this. When we return to the capital, you'll have many acquaintances and things to attend to, and with Fang Zheng taking charge of matters, Da Tong will be relying on you, your thoughts will turn back to home again." Bi Lu smiled and nodded: "I hope so."
On this day, the Shang family didn't have to wait for long before someone came down from the mountain and directly informed Mrs. Shang and her group to go rest at the front station, no need to wait for the people on the mountain anymore. The woman in Jiang Wanru's carriage, happily came over to pass on the message, several people sat back into the carriage, the horse carriage slowly started moving forward, two women excitedly said to Jiang Wanru: "Miss Jiang, the masters found a large patch of medicinal herbs on the mountain, it seems that these days of effort were not in vain." After listening, Jiang Wanru also felt happy, but she immediately asked: "Is it convenient for our group to stay at the station?"
The relay station of Ning Chao is generally used for people with official status to stay, or for relatives of government officials to visit and temporarily stay when passing through. Although the two women had a doctor's identity, they actually didn't have any clear official status. The two women smiled and nodded, and the older woman said: "Originally we were going to stay in the guest house as usual, but I heard that our Ning Chao won another big victory at the border. The officials from Huainan came over and said that the master and young master are going up the mountain to pick herbs for the soldiers, if others want to inquire about news, it's likely to be leaked out. We, as entourage personnel, might as well move directly into the relay station."
That young woman smiled and said: "When I was a child, my parents followed the old master to Zhongnan. We once stayed at a post station. That place is more comfortable than an inn, and there is hot water for bathing from morning till night. When we came, the lady sent word that Young Master Yang and Lazy Miss had not taken a medicinal bath for several days, so today they should take a good bath to clear the dampness from their bodies." They had been on the road for over ten days, and in the inn, Jiang Wan had only been able to wipe herself and her two children with warm water. Hearing this, she naturally smiled.
She looked at the two women with a relaxed expression, speaking in a low voice: "I feel like I've got something sticky on me, and after washing with hot water, just thinking about it makes me feel comfortable." The older woman suppressed her smile, while the younger woman couldn't help but burst out laughing, saying: "The inn is really not suitable for bathing. When I stayed in that room the other day, I even heard Lin's wife talking in her sleep, calling out 'mother'." The older woman chuckled and lightly slapped the younger woman on the back of the head, saying: "If Lin's wife finds out about this, with her temperament, she might not be able to hold her head up for days."
Jiang Wanting also knew Lin Shu, a woman who had always been by the side of Mrs. Shang. She was elegant in appearance and extremely strict in her demeanor. Whenever Jiang Wanting thought about how she would call out "mother" in her sleep at night, she couldn't help but burst out laughing. Pointing at the young woman, she said: "I used to think you were a straightforward person who spoke your mind, I didn't know you were so good at joking around. No wonder Ninth Sister told me earlier that with all of you accompanying us, the time spent in this carriage would be much more enjoyable. It turns out that all these days, you've been hiding this talent."
An elderly woman looked at Jiang Wanru with a resentful expression and said, "Miss Jiang, this matter can't be blamed on us two. We usually only know that you follow the old master and young master to do big things, thinking that your temperament is not frivolous. When we came over, we were worried that our two mouths would disturb you. Moreover, since the old master and young master had a hard time finding herbs, they didn't dare to speak or laugh loudly in front of you." Jiang Wanru listened to her words and became more reasonable, smiling and pointing at her, saying, "Go on, let me hear more, it's completely my fault." The two women saw Jiang Wanru's calm and dignified expression, smiled together and said, "Miss Jiang, we know that this time we were too petty-minded."
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