The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 896 - 874: Overnight Stay

Chapter 896: Chapter 874: Overnight Stay

The next morning, Manbao and Bai Shan suggested leaving in opposite directions, entering the forest path directly. Once out of the woods, there was no need to detour, and without trees and vines in the way, walking was much faster.

Zhou Silang and Bai Erlang had no objections; they too wanted to leave early. Always staying in the woods, and not being hunters themselves, they always felt it was stifling.

Daji glanced at them, remained silent, and followed them in the opposite direction. After walking for over two hours, they reached the exit.

Standing on the path, Zhou Silang turned to head towards the village, but Manbao quickly grabbed him.

"Since we’re already here, let’s not waste any time. Let’s go directly to the county town and meet County Magistrate Yang."

Bai Shan nodded.

Zhou Silang and Bai Erlang instinctively followed Manbao and Bai Shan’s lead towards the county town, and Daji paused before catching up.

Bai Shan smiled and proudly raised his eyebrows at Manbao.

When they arrived at Luojiang County, it was not yet time for County Magistrate Yang to go to the office. He was resting in his study. Manbao checked the time on the system and decisively pulled Bai Shan to knock on the side door of the County Governmental Office.

The gatekeeper who opened the door saw the three of them, immediately opened the gate, and cheerily asked, "Miss Man, Young Master Shan, and Young Master Bai Er, when did you come back? Weren’t you studying in Yizhou City?"

Manbao replied generously as if it cost nothing, "We missed Lord Yang, so we came back. Is Lord Yang at home?"

"He is. I will go and inform him right now. Please, sit in the gatehouse for a moment," he said, promptly finding his colleague to run and report to County Magistrate Yang.

Upon hearing that Manbao and the others had arrived, County Magistrate Yang guessed something must have happened. As he got up, he said, "Quickly bring them here."

He personally went there, and the gatekeeper, seeing this, knew the young master was eager to meet them and didn’t delay, hurried out to fetch them.

Meanwhile, with servants rushing to report and summon people, Yang’s wife, Ms. Cui, who was also in the back courtyard, naturally received the news.

"Madam, the lord has gone to meet them in person. The servant and others have inquired, and they are the lord’s friends, two young men and a lady who often used to visit the County Governmental Office."

Ms. Cui thought for a moment and then said, "Have the kitchen prepare some snacks for them. Send someone to keep an eye on it, and if there’s nothing special, I’ll go over and meet them later."

She was concerned that if suddenly appearing, they might hesitate to speak their minds.

The servant went to carry out her orders.

County Magistrate Yang and Manbao’s group met halfway. His gaze slid over the package on Zhou Silang’s shoulder as he smiled and gestured for them to head to his study, simultaneously giving Wantian a look.

Once they entered, Wantian sent all the servants in the courtyard out, guarded the gate himself, and didn’t let anyone near.

Ms. Cui’s servant saw the servants streaming out of the study, hesitated for a moment, then quietly turned and left, going back to report to Ms. Cui.

In the study, Manbao had already opened up the package and said, "We found this under a cliff; it belongs to my uncle."

Then he looked at Daji.

Daji took a large oilcloth-wrapped package from his bosom and handed it to County Magistrate Yang. Bai Shan said, "This should be what we were looking for, the item my father entrusted to Uncle Zhou Yin."

County Magistrate Yang opened it, leafed through the inside, and his expression turned increasingly grave. After a while, he looked up to meet five pairs of gleaming eyes. Manbao stared intently at him and asked, "Lord Yang, can you understand this?"

County Magistrate Yang paused and then said, "I do understand it, why?"

"We can’t understand it," Manbao unabashedly and assertively said, "Could you explain it to us?"

County Magistrate Yang gathered the items and said, "Children shouldn’t know too much."

Bai Shan immediately pressed his hands down on the oilcloth package, seriously saying, "Lord Yang, if you don’t tell us, we’ll have to take the items back for Grandma Liu to see."

Manbao nodded firmly, "Exactly."

They feared Grandma Liu wouldn’t tell them, which is why they came to Lord Yang first. If even Lord Yang wouldn’t tell them, then what was the point?

Thinking it over, Yang Heshu said, "Alright, but this matter is too vast to explain in a short time. I will send a message to Tang He, and when he arrives, we can discuss it together."

Only then did Bai Shan release his hold and together with Manbao urged him, "Then send someone now, depart immediately. If they ride swiftly, they could arrive by night and Tang County Magistrate could come by tomorrow morning, probably arriving by afternoon."

Bai Shan glanced at the sky outside and pondered, "It looks like it’s getting dark. Should we stay overnight in the county town?"

Despite the blazing sun hanging in the sky outside, Manbao nodded, "Right, it’s spring, the days are short, and it gets dark quickly."

County Magistrate Yang really wanted to throw these troublesome kids out.

He looked at Daji and asked, "If they don’t return, won’t your Old Madam worry?"

"Not at all," Bai Shan quickly spoke before Daji could, "We came here directly from the mountains, and when we entered the mountains, we told them we might stay for four or five days. We even brought enough provisions for five days."

Manbao nodded, "Exactly."

There was no problem with the Zhou Family; after all, their kids are wild and have strong opinions, something ingrained in them since childhood. Plus, they had Zhou Silang with them.

What else could Daji say?

He could only stand silently behind, as a servant, naturally obeying his masters.

County Magistrate Yang massaged his forehead, obviously uneasy about them staying outside, and then said, "Then stay here tonight. Wantian—"

Wantian swiftly approached the door in response.

"Go have a courtyard prepared for them to rest."

Wantian acknowledged the order but did not leave immediately; instead, he stood guarding the door.

Bai Shan and the others continued to watch County Magistrate Yang.

County Magistrate Yang then said, "This is a serious matter, let’s wait for Zhihe to arrive before discussing it further. We don’t even know the situation in Yizhou City right now."

Yizhou City?

Yizhou City was naturally calm. Only their classmates and teacher had noticed Bai Shan and Zhou Man’s sudden return to Luojiang County.

Of course, Old Master Guan as well.

After discovering that Bai Shan and Zhou Man had left Yizhou City for Luojiang County, Old Master Guan took no action, naturally discovering they had visited the County Governmental Office before leaving.

County Magistrate Tang had secretly kept an eye on the Guan family but found that Old Master Guan did nothing except inquire about Bai Shan and Zhou Man; he didn’t even contact the Yizhou prince’s court.

With some suspicions in his mind, County Magistrate Tang would not take any action lightly without evidence concerning such a potentially life-threatening matter.