The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 833 - 811: The Road

Chapter 833: Chapter 811: The Road

Old Zhou thought for a moment and said, "There seem to be three routes, besides the imperial road, there are two other paths to Luojiang County. However, one of them is quite far from our Qili Village, and the other is right next to the imperial road, not far from it. After the imperial road was repaired and became easier to travel on, no one took the other path anymore, and in these years, it has become overgrown with wild grass and fallen into disuse."

"Then, twelve years ago, if you guys needed to rush by carriage to Luojiang County, which route would you have taken?"

Old Zhou thought for a moment and replied, "Back then, this main road from our Qili Village to Luojiang County hadn’t been built yet. There were also two paths to return by carriage. One was the closer one, bumpy but fast. The other was the one I said had fallen into disuse. That path used to be frequented by traders, so it was relatively easy to travel on."

Ms. Qian fell silent for a moment then said, "My sister-in-law had just come over from Shangzhou at that time, she was exhausted from the journey. Two always had a compassionate heart, he might have chosen the easier path to travel."

County Magistrate Tang asked, "Does that path connect with the mountain where Zhou Yin and his wife were found?"

Old Zhou and his people nodded together.

County Magistrate Tang then invited Manbao and Bai Shan, "Shall we all go have a look later?"

Old Zhou immediately said, "Lord Tang, that road is not easy to travel. How about I let my fourth kid go with you? He knows the way."

County Magistrate Tang smiled and nodded his head, "That would be best."

As they were speaking, Nanny Liu brought in two bowls of porridge, and Bai Shan greeted her to place the porridge on the table beside where he and Manbao were sitting.

Upon seeing this, Old Madam Liu immediately understood and said with a chuckle, "You’ve been uneasy all morning, haven’t you eaten enough? Then hurry to the side room and eat."

She then told Nanny Liu, "Go to the kitchen and get some small dishes and steamed buns, young people are growing and eat more."

County Magistrate Tang was smilingly watching Manbao. He had had breakfast at the same table with Bai Shan that morning, he didn’t think Bai Shan hadn’t had enough to eat.

Ms. Qian also quickly understood. When they had left, Manbao hadn’t even come to the courtyard for breakfast, but she didn’t say anything in front of outsiders.

Manbao glanced at County Magistrate Tang and then at her parents, made sure they wouldn’t sneak off while they were eating breakfast, and then took her bowl and went with Bai Shan to the neighboring room for breakfast.

Bai Shan was not very hungry, so he didn’t eat, but after she had half a bowl, he pushed half of the meat porridge in his bowl towards her and whispered quietly, "It turns out we had the same idea, do you think we can find something?"

Manbao said, "Let’s give it a try."

Nanny Liu then brought over a steamer of small buns and a dish of pickled vegetables.

Manbao thanked her and continued eating, Bai Shan also felt a bit hungry after seeing her eat, finished the porridge in his bowl, and followed suit with two small buns.

Nanny Liu looked on and couldn’t help but smile with pursed lips, she also urged, "Young Master and Miss Man should eat more, later on, you’ll be climbing mountains, and out in the wilderness, there won’t be anything warm to eat."

Manbao and Bai Shan nodded together, Manbao added, "Fill the water bag with some hot water, it should still be warm by midday."

Nanny Liu laughed and agreed, "Yes," and went to prepare their travel snacks and items.

But this time, not only Daji and Zhou Silang would follow them, but Nanny Liu’s son Liu Gui was also going. He didn’t bring anyone with him and stood quietly beside the carriage.

It wasn’t until County Magistrate Tang was about to get on the carriage that he saw him, and he couldn’t help but pause, asking, "Who is this?"

Old Madam Liu explained, "He’s a family servant. For the past four years, he has been quietly searching the mountains but has not been able to find the thing. He is very familiar with the mountains, so let him accompany you."

Lord Tang nodded at last.

He had boarded the carriage within the Bai Family’s compound, unseen by anyone except the Bai Family’s servants and the husband and wife, Old Zhou.

Upon exiting the gate, Bai Shan and Manbao climbed onto the carriage, but they didn’t enter the carriage compartment, instead, they sat on the shaft with their legs dangling. When villagers saw them, they asked, "Manbao, what are you going to do?"

Manbao replied, "Just going out for a walk, to see the county town."

The villagers were used to such sights and curiously asked, "Why isn’t the Second Young Master going with you?"

Without a second thought, Bai Shan said, "He hasn’t gotten up yet."

"Oh," the villagers understood and laughed, "Was last night too rowdy for him to get up?"

Bai Shan wasn’t wrong. Bai Erlang hadn’t gotten up yet. When he finally crawled out of bed to find his friends to play with, he discovered that his two companions had gone to the county town.

Bai Erlang, displeased, turned around to seek other friends to play with.

Today, the temple fair was still bustling, and a group of young boys loved to mingle in the excitement, so they urged Bai Er to join them at the fair.

Bai Erlang hesitated, "My father forbade me from going, said it’s enough to go on the right festival days. There’s no need to go again today."

"Whether you play at home or outside, it’s all the same. Why make such a distinction?" one of them said, "Bai Shan and the others have also gone out to play, haven’t they?"

"I also saw the Bai Family’s servants heading to Dali Village. It looked like they were delivering something to the Daohe, the young Taoist priest. If your dad asks, just say you were helping Bai Shan deliver something."

Bai Erlang was swayed by their persuasion and couldn’t help but nod, "Okay."

Meanwhile, Bai Shan’s carriage had just reached the official road, and Zhou SiLang stood on the shaft for a long time before he could make out where the path was. The Yi Family property was overgrown with weeds, barely revealing the former path.

Daji glanced at the "path" and pulled the carriage off the official road onto a nearby clearing to stop, then unloaded the carriage.

Lord Tang also alighted from the carriage. Since only they were around, there was no need for him to hide.

He stepped forward to look at the vague remains of what used to be a path and asked, "Does it connect directly with the official road?"

"No, this is just an extension. If you are coming from Yizhou City, you would take the straight path inside that leads directly to Luojiang County," Zhou SiLang said as he took out a sickle to clear the way, with Liu Gui following to help.

Lord Tang followed closely behind them into the path, curiously asking, "Why was this road abandoned?"

"When the official road was fixed and they stopped collecting tolls, naturally no one used this one anymore," Zhou SiLang tilted his head and thought carefully, "I remember when I was a kid, there would be soldiers setting up roadblocks on the official road to collect money. Since the official road was in bad shape, everyone preferred not to use it. Next to it was this little path, small but still passable for a carriage. If you met another vehicle coming your way, you just had to move aside to let it pass. It was better than the official road, so everyone started using this path."

"I can’t remember when, but the adults started removing the roadblocks and had us work on restoring the official road. This little path was neglected and over the span of eight or nine years, it became what it is now."

Lord Tang nodded, then turned to ask Liu Gui, "Have you checked this area before?"

Liu Gui replied, "We’ve come here, but didn’t find anything."

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