Chapter 172 Still Not Giving Up (Pink Ticket 840 + Additional Chapter)
"Has it been sent to Mr. Min's hometown?"
Madam Chen's eyes welled up with tears: "Jinxiu left with Mr. Min's two sons."
Then why don't you leave?
Subconsciously, Shen Muqing's words had turned on the tip of his tongue and finally stayed in his throat.
"I and Madam Mian will stay... " Aunt Chen didn't pay much attention to Shen Muqing's expression, she said worriedly, "I hope General Dai can hold off that damned Wei Guo!"
Deeply shocked and saddened.
Chang Hui suddenly said, "Auntie, I...I need to go back for a bit!"
Are you worried about Liu Niang and her two nephews?
"Hurry back!"
Chang Hui turned around and ran out, ran two steps, then turned back, pulled out a few silver tickets from his sleeve: "This is the leftover money for buying horses..."
Pang De Bao was about to take over when Shen Mu Qing had already said: "You keep it! Don't tell Liu Niang!"
Chang Hui stared at the silver ticket in his hand, dazed for a moment. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, making his expression somewhat solemn and less casual than usual.
"Auntie, there are eight hundred taels of silver bills here. Can you lend me another twelve hundred taels?"
Pang De Bao's eyebrows slightly furrowed upon hearing this.
Aunt Chen shouted loudly: "You this rascal, don't you know what's good for you?"
Chang Hui ignored Pang Debao and Chen Yinniang's reaction, her eyes fixed on Shen Muqing without blinking.
Leave Kyoto before the news spreads... even so, it will still require a lot of money!
Shen Mu Qing nodded and instructed Ying Fen: "Give 1,200 taels of silver to Master Chang."
Aunt Chen pulled Shen Muqing's hand: "No! Even if we have money, we can't give it to you. Moreover, you don't have any money."
Shen Muqing simply patted Chen Niang's hand silently and looked at Ying Fen, whose expression was somewhat hesitant.
Ying Fen knew she had made up her mind and left at once.
Aunt Chen saw this and her eyes shot towards Chang Hui like a knife.
Chang Hui didn't have a guilty conscience, and he smiled warmly at Chen Niang.
Shen Muqing invited Aunt Chen to sit down and chatted with her casually.
"What's going on now? Can't Beijing be kept safe?"
Aunt Chen's tears flowed again. She took out her handkerchief and wiped the corners of her eyes, choking with sobs: "The Yuan Mong people broke through the Zi Jing Pass yesterday... If there is chaos, it will be these two days. Yesterday when I was serving tea to Master, I heard Wang Daren and Master say that they had urgently summoned General Zhen Guo and Liaodong General Dai Shenghui back to Beijing... I don't know if he can make it in time... If the city is broken, we will all be finished... Our Da She will become an orphan. Mistress, I heard that Xiao Sa also disappeared. Fortunately, Master did not listen to Zeng Ju, otherwise, one would have divorced and the other would have died..."
Shen Mu Qing listened to her becoming more and more absurd, coughed heavily, interrupting her: "Auntie has been taking care of Master for a long time, it's hard work. Do you want to go back and rest?"
Aunt Chen has indeed been worried and frightened during this period, and there is no one who can talk to her or share her thoughts. If it were usual times, she wouldn't say anything, but at this time, talking has become a kind of venting, a behavior that can alleviate the burden on her mind.
She tactfully ignored Shen Muqing and continued, "The Min family is a big family in Zhoushan, with many children. I also entrusted Jinxiu, when you return to the Min family, if there's a suitable candidate, remember to take care of your aunt..."
Shen Muqing looked at Chang Hui, suppressing a smile, and interrupted Chen Niang's words with a mixture of laughter and tears: "Auntie, I still have something to attend to here. Whatever it is, let's talk about it when we get back to the house."
Aunt Chen listened and smiled awkwardly, but her butt seemed stuck to the chair and didn't get up.
Shen Mu's eyebrows were slightly furrowed, just as he was about to persuade her, Ying Fen walked in.
She held a stack of silver notes in her hand and walked to Shen Muqing's side, saying softly: "Madam, there are only nine hundred taels - when I left, I left five hundred taels for Shi Niang..."
Darkness and silence are terrible things.
She forgot to go to the silver house and exchange gold for silver...
Shen Mu Qing looked at Pang De Bao.
Pang De Bao immediately pulled out a stack of silver bills from his sleeve, counted five and handed them to Ying Fen.
Ying Yun took it over without hesitation, pulled out three of the five silver tickets and added them to his own hand, then handed them to Chang Hui.
Chang Hui took the silver ticket handed over by Ying Feng and said to Shen Muqing: "Madam, please wait for two days. I will come to visit you again in two days."
Now that I have arrived in Kyoto safely, if Kyoto is breached, even with the help of Chen Hui alone, it would be impossible to ensure the safety of the Shen family and others... Whether he comes or not has become irrelevant.
Shen Mu Qing smiled and said: "There's nothing much left for me to do here. You should focus on settling down Liu Niang and the two kids instead."
Chang Hui smiled and said seriously "Auntie must wait for me for two days", then turned around and ran away.
It's not fair now, but since it was Pang Debao, she thought of him as Xiao Sa's person and didn't want to let him say that the Shen family had no rules, so she endured her discomfort and pouted.
Pang De Bao looked at him with a faint smile in his heart.
Along the way, Ying Fen took charge everywhere, and Shen Muqing followed her. At a glance, she was the head housekeeper, and Pang Debao naturally looked at her with different eyes.
He walked over and handed five silver notes to Ying Fen: "Take it first."
Ying Fan said in a low voice: "I don't know how Xiao Gongzi's matter is going either. There are many places that need to be hit, you'd better keep it for yourself!"
Pang De Bao smiled and said: "A family doesn't speak two different languages. Miss, just accept it, and your aunt will not be annoyed even if she comes."
Yingfen suddenly remembered what Chen Yiniang had said earlier.
If Xiao Gongzi is really gone, it's better for the two families to sever ties... otherwise, if Niangniang gets a reputation for being unfaithful to her husband, everything will be ruined.
She shook her head and walked over to Shen Muqing's side.
"Manager Pang, you'd better keep it yourself. We'll return those 500 taels of silver in a couple of days."
Two servants were pushing, and a small maid sent by Shen Muqing came in to report: "Young lady, Master Wang has left."
Shen Mu Qing listened attentively and his spirit was lifted. He instructed Ying Fen, "You take Pang Guan Shi down to have a cup of tea, I'll go see Old Master."
As she spoke, without waiting for Chen Niang to respond, she quickly passed by the little maid and hurried towards Shen Zhen's study.
Shen Zhen's face was very solemn, and he walked back and forth in the house with his hands behind his back.
Seeing Shen Muqing enter, her brow furrowed even more tightly.
"Sir, Master Wang has arrived and said something."
Shen Zhen sighed: "You child, what are you doing back at this time? The refugees from the Zi Jing Guan have already reached Da Yuan... Wang Da Ren has come to consult with me, whether or not to close the city gate?"
Close the city gate?
If Yuan Meng people come, won't those who escaped from Zi Jing Guan be...
"What did you say?" Shen Muqing asked hastily.
Shen Zhen bitterly smiled: "Of course we have to close the city gate - if we let the Yuan Mongol spies take advantage of the situation and sneak in, the capital will be finished."
Shen Mu Qing's eyes dimmed for a moment before he slowly spoke: "That Dai Sheng Hui... will he be able to make it?"
Shen Zhen shook his head: "I don't know!"
Shen Mu Qing murmured: "Then, Your Majesty doesn't have any news either?"
Shen Zhen sighed again.
Shen Mu's eyes welled up with tears and fell down in streams: "That... that Xiao Xiao..."
Shen Zhen walked over and patted Shen Muqing's head: "Silly child... just consider that you two don't have a destined relationship."
The anxiety and fear of these days have finally accumulated.
She buried her face in Shen Zhen's shoulder and burst into tears.
Shen Zhen did not adapt to such intimacy.
After a long time, his stiff body slowly relaxed in an instant.
Having a good cry, Shen Muqing felt a bit better and her mind cleared up.
"Does the old master know what the situation was like at that time?" She sobbed, "The emperor transferred troops from Gansu, Qinghai, Guizhou, Yunnan and Liaodong to Xuanzhou. Can you ask, how were the various armies deployed at that time? Which route did Xiao Sa take? Is there anyone who survived on the side of Gansu?"
"Don't you believe?" Shen Zhen looked at Shen Muqing with some surprise.
"Missing doesn't mean dead, it just means he's gone. I want to see him alive, and if not, then his body!"
Shen Zhen wanted to speak but stopped himself.
"Master, please help me! I know I'm being stubborn, but I won't believe he's dead until I see his body with my own eyes... I've heard that during earthquakes, some people get buried underground and are only a few feet away from rescuers, but because it's dark, the rescuers don't notice them and walk right by, missing their chance to be saved... Master, maybe he's just injured and waiting for us to rescue him somewhere... " As she spoke, tears streamed down her face. "As long as there's a glimmer of hope, I won't give up..."
Shen Zhen said quietly: "I'll go to Wang's mansion tomorrow."
"Thank you!"
"Silly child!" Shen Zhen sighed helplessly.
Soon, Shen Zhen's side had definite news.
Xiao Xiao's Gansu soldiers and Dai Gui's Liaodong soldiers were together. When the army was defeated, Dai Gui had gone to find Xiao Xiao, asking him to retreat to Huaiyuan with him, but Xiao Xiao refused, saying: "A great man should return wrapped in horse hide." He led a group of people who were willing to follow him to search for the lost emperor... Another group followed Dai Gui and retreated to Huaiyuan... No one can say clearly what happened to him.
He sat quietly for a moment, then said: "Can I ask again? Can I find the last person who saw him?"
Shen Zhen exhorted her: "This is what Dài Guì told me in person - if I hadn't asked, he wouldn't have said it no matter what! Mù Qīng, at that time the soldiers were in chaos and the Mongols took advantage of the situation to attack the city all the way, the officials and soldiers of Huáiyuán retreated all the way, our people didn't even have a chance to turn back and look for... Think about it, even the Emperor himself was nowhere to be found, if we could, how would we not go to rescue?"
"Think of a way to ask around... go ask again... there must be someone who saw him after Dai Gui..."
Shen Zhen looked at his daughter who had become as thin as a skeleton and couldn't help but feel heartbroken, turning his face away.
The father and daughter were in deep sorrow when a servant came in and said: "Sir, Madam, Master Changhui requests an audience."
The gates of Kyoto have closed... why hasn't he left yet at this hour?
See you tomorrow at the usual time!
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