C171 Enter Jinling City
C171 Enter Jinling City
It was fortunate that Chief Steward Shi was experienced in handling these matters, and would point out Shen Jingli where he should be concerned. Otherwise, with just Shen Jingli alone, he might not be able to prepare it even in ten to half a month.
In the blink of an eye, it was time for them to depart. Shen Jingli woke up early in the morning, commanded the guards to load up all the prepared gifts, and also instructed the kitchen to load the food up the carriage.
After Mu Chen finished his breakfast, he saw two large carriages full of gifts and organized carriages. He stepped forward and hugged Shen Jingli, and said: "It's been hard on you."
"It's not hard at all. It's basically all managed by Chief Steward Shi." Actually, he was just moving his mouth. Many of the things that needed to be done and carefully counted were done by Chief Steward Shi.
"Then the reward will be great." Mu Chen said, "Didn't I say it already, these things can be prepared at the Golden Ridge, why would they need to travel thousands of miles to get there?"
"Third Young Madam said that this shows her sincerity." Although he didn't know what was the point of being sincere, he still had to listen to his elders' advice. "Don't worry, we are on the official road, and Second Uncle hired an escort from the escort office. Nothing will happen."
Something like a bandit robbery was not in his consideration at all. He was just worried that he would be too tired.
Mu Chen hugged Shen Jingli tenderly for a while before the husband went to fetch Xun Er and Huaixin together.
Knowing that Huaixin wanted to go back to the clan with him, Chang Zai took a leave of absence early in the morning and came to send him off.
"Don't be naughty on the road, you must listen to the lord and mistress." He used to come here to take care of Huaixin's clothes, and also put the money that he and Shen Yue'er had advanced together, into the pocket of the shirt he was wearing, "There's one tael of silver here. After we go to Jin Ling Mountain, if there's anything you want to eat or want to buy, let Big Sister Jin Yu or Big Brother Nian Hua help you buy it."
Huaixin nodded obediently, he hugged Chang Li and rubbed his chest as he said sullenly, "Alright, I will listen to brother."
His little face was filled with reluctance, and he often felt pain in his heart. But in his heart, he knew that the Young Master was sticking to Huaixin, and would definitely not let him stay in the capital.
Chang Lai kissed Huaixin's face, coaxing him, "Don't be sad, you're just going out with Young Master to play, and will be back very soon."
"But I want my brother to come along too."
He knew that his little brother was thinking about him, so he came here often to be very happy. He affectionately rubbed his little head and said, "When big brother earns a lot of money, I'll take you along to play, okay?"
"Alright."
"Huaixin, Huaixin, where are you, we are going …"
After changing into a light cotton attire, Xun Er ran over happily to find Huaixin. When he saw Huaixin sitting in his usual place, he immediately put on a face filled with displeasure.
"Huaixin, we are leaving. Get down quickly." The little tyrant arrogantly said.
Huaixin rubbed his red eyes and climbed down from Chang Li's embrace, then hugged his arms reluctantly. "Big brother, I will be back soon, very soon …"
He talked about many things that happened very quickly and with great determination. This made Chang Zai feel very gratified, and his younger brother was slowly growing up as well.
Xun Er held Huaixin's hand and walked towards Mu Chen and Shen Jingli.
Leading Xun Er and the others to sit in the horse carriage, they bid farewell to Nanny Jin and the others, and then the caravan headed towards the east gate.
"..."
Mu Yu waited at the city gate for a long time before finally seeing County Prince's Mansion's carriage.
Because they had not left the city yet, the carriage was traveling very slowly. Seeing that someone was coming to stop the carriage, the coachman immediately pulled on the reins to make the horse stop. He looked at the person carefully and turned to Mu Chen: "Old master, it is the Prince from far away."
Just as Mu Chen opened the curtain, Mu Yu had already stepped on the bench and climbed up. He turned his head and ordered the personal attendant, "You go to the servant carriage in the back."
The servant put away the bench and turned to run to the servant carriage at the back, afraid that the coachman would suddenly drive away and leave him alone.
After leaving, Mu Yu turned back and said goodbye to Mu Chen, and squeezed into the carriage.
The carriage was very wide, and Shen Jingli was sitting inside with his two children, telling them a story about a wolf that had arrived.
"Brother in law, how have you been?" Mu Yu greeted Shen Jingli generously and reached out to hug Xun Er, "Xun Er, did you miss your uncle?"
"Uncle." Xun Er shouted obediently as he brought the half-eaten dessert to Mu Yu's mouth, "Uncle, Red Bean Cake, you eat it."
Mu Yu did not mind him eating the leftovers, and immediately ate it with gusto, as if he was eating some rare delicacy. In the end, he even praised Xun Er with all his strength, "Xun Er is so obedient, at such a young age, you already know how to be filial to your uncle, the red bean cake you gave him is also delicious."
Looking at the way he doted on his daughter, Mu Chen said lightly, "Didn't you say that you don't like sweets?"
"How can ordinary red bean cake be compared to the red bean cake that Xun Er gave?" Mu Yu answered in all seriousness, and then continued to extend his hand to play with Xun Er who was in his embrace. Xun Er began to giggle from the tease, call him uncle, and burrow straight into Mu Yu's embrace.
Mu Yu seemed to like teasing Xun Er a lot. Xiao Wushan revealed a happy smile on his face.
Huaixin didn't know Mu Yu, so he timidly hid in Shen Jingli's embrace, but seeing how happy he was playing with Xun Er, he couldn't help but turn his head and peek at them, feeling that it was really interesting.
Seeing that they were having fun, Mu Chen poured Mu Yu a cup of warm water and said: "If you just run out like this, what should we do about the yamen?"
"It's alright, Master Feng is here." Mu Yu said indifferently.
Seeing his expression, Mu Chen knew that he was not well, and it should be the Dehui County Lord and Old Lady Mu giving him more pressure.
The horse carriage slowly made its way to the appointed place with Old Master Mu. From afar, Mu Jing's voice could be heard.
"Fourteenth Brother, sister-in-law …"
"Eldest brother, eldest sister-in-law …"
Once the two voices fell, Mu Chen opened the curtain and saw Mu Jing and Mu Jin waving at them from afar.
"Why is Jin'er with Mu Jing?" Mu Yu also stuck his head out and asked curiously when he saw Mu Jin standing together with him.
"He has been sleeping in the Western Mu Mansion recently, and will be following Sixteenth Brother to the army camp."
Mu Yu nodded and returned to the carriage.
After sharing the group with the Third Old Master Mu, Mu Chen and his brothers sat in the same carriage, while Shen Jingli and his two children sat in the same carriage.
The distance between the capital and the Golden Ridge was quite far. It would take at least half a month to travel on the official road by carriage.
After leaving the capital, Shen Jingli felt completely refreshed, he enjoyed the scenery around him happily. From time to time, he would ask Jin Yu and Nian Hua to tell him about the local customs and stories.
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Jin Yu and Nian Hua had never read before, so she had never read any custom stories before. She could only tell them from listening to the old servant's stories, which Shen Jingli did not mind, and listened with relish.
Huaixin was a little dizzy as he lazily leaned into Shen Jingli's embrace, moaning and calling him "brother".
Shen Jingli told Jin Yu to find a piece of ginger, cut it into pieces and stuck it on Huaixin's navel. Then, he fed him some water to coax him to sleep.
Xun Er originally wanted to play with Huaixin, but seeing that Huaixin was not feeling well, he obediently laid in his embrace, looking at him and even asking him about his situation from time to time.
"..."
Jin Ling was only a day's journey away from the wealthy Yangzhou city. Jin Ling was a medium-sized town, and even though it was not that big, there were still people coming and going in and out of the streets compared to the capital city. The reason was that it was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and there was a large river that flowed through it.
Therefore, it could not be said that there were no poor families within the Jinling City, but their basic standard of living was not any worse than that of the capital.
Because there were a lot of merchants on the streets, there were a lot of porters and coachmen driving the carriages. There were also a lot more food stalls selling food on the roadside.
When the carriage entered Jinling City, it was already dusk. There were many small stalls selling goods on both sides of the street. Shen Jingli lifted the curtain to look outside and felt that this small town was filled with people, it was even more lively than the capital city.
"This Jinling City is really bustling, with people coming and going busier than the capital." Jin Yu also opened the curtain on the other side, looking at the hawkers who were shouting outside, she couldn't help but be in high spirits.
"It's true, I want to see it too." When they saw the bustling scene outside, they could not help but exclaim, "It's quite lively here in the capital. It's not as lively as here at night."
The smell of jujube floated in the air. It was sour and was mixed with the smell of glutinous rice. Nian Hua sniffed his nose and drooled, "Jujube cake and glutinous rice cake, they smell so good."
Jin Yu glared at Nian Hua with disdain and knocked on his head. "Look at you, look like a puppy that hasn't eaten for a few days."
"Who are you calling a puppy …" He retorted, unconvinced.
"Whoever answers will be the winner." Jin Yu was intentionally opposing him.
Huaixin's car sickness was slightly better, he also lied down by the window and looked outside, saliva dripping from his mouth, like a doggy salivating over food.
"You want to eat it?" Shen Jingli caressed his head and asked.
"Yes." Huaixin nodded strongly.
"I'll get someone to buy it for you later."
"Thank you, Mama." He had lost the Mama since a very young age, and did not experience the warmth the Mama gave him. But after reaching the County Prince's Mansion, Shen Jingli had always been good to him, and let him feel the warmth of the Mama.
Shen Jingli didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Was he really going to be his Daughter-in-law?
Mu Family Village was still a few kilometers away from Jinling City, and they stayed at the tavern with the largest Jinling City that night.
Mu Chen's family of three plus Huaixin, were living in the same room, and would be leaving for Mu Family Village tomorrow. Shen Jingli was a little apprehensive, so he pulled Mu Chen along to discuss the matters of the Mu Family Clan.