Yang Xi patted her son’s back to comfort him and listened to the situation outside with her ears perked up. The house was rented by Ye Shun, and Yang Xi and their party did not go out.

After waiting for a while, they heard footsteps. Ye Shun came out to open the door. It was unknown what he said, and the door was closed again after a while.

Ye Shun knocked on the door of the house where Zhou Yu lived, “Sir, the one who came just now was the head of the village. Miss Jiang came to the village to live with relatives in the south last night. They want to leave with you tomorrow.”

Zhou Yu opened the door and came out, making room, motioning Ye Shun to come in and talk. He frowned and asked, “How many people are there?”

Ye Shun shook his head to indicate that he would not go in and sit down, “Including Miss Jiang, there are six of us, including one maid and four servants.”

He paused and stretched out his hands, “Miss Jiang will pay you, ten taels of silver.”

Zhou Yu asked, “What did you say?”

Ye Shun: “I said to ask you, sir, and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

Zhou Yu said he understood, “Then we’ll talk about it tomorrow. You can go back and have a rest.”

Ye Shun hurriedly stopped the door from closing, “Sir, our family of four also wants to move south. Is it possible to go south with you, sir?”

Zhou Yu had long guessed Ye Shun’s intentions. “You chose to wait for us here, so you’ve already made your plans.”

Ye Shun admitted, “Sir, I can’t read much, but I have my intuition. The rumors of plague make me uneasy. I beg your permission.”

Zhou Yu disliked poor teammates. Ye Shun was very intelligent in his dealings with others, and he could serve as a walking map. “Okay,”

Ye Shun said with surprise. “Thank you, sir.”

He pulled out the silver he had been hiding in his pocket. “Here are five taels of silver. Please accept it, sir.”

Zhou Yu raised his brows—so he knew the Zhao family had given five taels of silver. He reached out to take the silver and said, “You should get some rest early too.”

Yang Xi waited until the noise outside died down before she slowly lay down with her son in her arms, pondering about the Miss Jiang the village head had mentioned.

They had confirmed the rumors were false because Yan Bing knew about King Jiang’s son-in-law. Why wasn’t this Miss Jiang afraid of the plague rumors? Why did it seem so strange?

In Zhou Yu’s room, Zhou Xiadi held the silver. “A five-tael silver ingot? Stolen during the house fire?”

Third Yan shook his head. “I was chatting with the two Ye brothers today, and they deliberately revealed that Ye Shun had been secretly hiding money, only giving half of his earnings to the family. It seems he had hidden quite a bit of it.”

Zhou Yu took off his shoes and climbed onto the kang. “It’s getting late, let’s go to bed.”

He didn’t care how much money Ye Shun had; he was thinking about Miss Jiang, who was going south.

The next morning, Yang Xi woke up to see a donkey and a shabby donkey cart in the yard. Ye Shun was loading things onto the cart with his two sons.

Yang Xi thought to herself, every trade had its own ways. Since they agreed to let the Ye family follow them last night, they’d already secured a donkey and a donkey cart this morning. That was quite a feat.

They hadn’t slept when the village head arrived last night, and Ye Shun hadn’t held back his voice. The Zhao family knew they had also given five liang of silver. Old Zhao was cheerful all morning and even asked if Ye Shun needed any help.

Yang Xi saw this clearly and understood in her heart: if the Ye family hadn’t handed over silver, the Zhao family would surely have felt unbalanced today. Once again, she sighed at how clever Ye Shun was—voluntarily bringing out five taels of silver and thereby smoothly aligning with the Zhao family.

Before they finished breakfast, the head of the village came again. This time, he did not come alone. Miss Jiang, who came to live with her relatives, was following him. Two carriages blocked the gate.

The head of the village came in with a dry laugh and approached Ye Shun, “Did you ask?”

Ye Shun said, “I’ve asked, Shū. The one making the decisions for the team is Zhōu Xiānsheng. I’ll take you over.”

The head of the village glanced at the donkey cart, “You bought the Li family’s donkey cart. Are you going to leave too?”

Ye Shun nodded, “Yes, Shū. I don’t feel well. You should make preparations early.”

The village head sighed, “Life is hard.”

Upon hearing the noise, the Yang Xi family quickly finished their meal. The village head came over to clear the dishes.

The village head entered the courtyard, constantly sizing things up. Seeing that this team had many men, he felt rather intimidated, and once he stepped into the house, his back bent slightly.

The village head had a sharp eye for people, and at a glance, he recognized who was Zhōu xiānsheng. “I’m just here to ask on their behalf—would Xiānsheng be willing?”

Their village was small; if it were a larger one, he’d be able to straighten his back a bit.

In the morning, Zhōu Yù had already discussed it with his wife, and they understood well that whether they truly agreed or not, they would still follow along. “Since you had agreed to let Yè Shùn keep us in the village, we’re grateful and won’t make things hard for you. If Miss Jiāng wants to come along, then let her— we’ll set out shortly.”

The village head smiled with relief and put down the bundle in his hand. “This is the agreed-upon ten taels of silver.”

Third Yang opened the bundle, confirming it was correct, before putting it away.

The village head said, “Then I won’t bother you anymore.”

Ye Shun followed him out, lowering his voice, “Shū, this Miss Jiang, who came to seek relatives—she isn’t simple, is she?”

His Shū didn’t look like he was being bribed to do something, but rather like he was afraid.

The village head quickly glanced at the gate and said in a low voice, “You should be more alert along the way.”

After that, he left quickly.

Before leaving, Zhou Yu took out the five taels of silver given by the Ye family and divided them first. The ten taels given by Miss Jiang were also divided among the Ye family. The Ye family made a lot of money before they left.

Ye Shun and his two sons were very happy and more determined to follow because they saw fairness.

Until the team left the village, Yang Xi did not see Miss Jiang in the carriage. Miss Jiang was sitting in the carriage all the time, and two carriages followed behind the Ye family.

Ye Shun was a living map. Ye Shun and Zhou Xiaodi drove the Zhou family carriage together. As they drove, he explained how many villages there were nearby. He also said that there was a shortcut with fewer villages, which could allow them to leave Jiazhou faster.

Yang Xi listened all the way, pointed to her head, and said in a low voice, “Ye Shun is a talent!”

Ye Shun had an excellent sense of direction and a great memory, comparable to a modern navigation system. What a great guy!

Zhou Yu said, “What a shame! If he could read and write, he could have achieved something different.”

Yang Xi also sighed. Even in modern times, there were still illiterates, not to mention the ancient times when illiteracy was everywhere. Many talents were buried like this.

After a long day of traveling and no lunch break, the husband and wife deliberately tested Miss Jiang, but the result of the test made them feel heavy.

That night, staying in the wilderness, Yang Xi glanced at the end of the team while cooking. Finally, he saw Miss Jiang disembarking from the carriage. Her eyes widened, but it was a little dark, and she could no longer make out her face. She could only make out her general features. She looked good.

Yang Xi said to Third Yang, who was lighting the fire: “When we followed the caravan, you became familiar with the guards in one day. Why didn’t you go over to them today, but stayed quietly?”

Third Yang lowered his head, “Hey, my Jie and Jiefu were testing Miss Jiang. Miss Jiang obviously has problems. I am not stupid enough to go over to her.”

Yang Xi laughed, “You are so cunning, you are the only one who can deceive people.”

Third Yang said cheerfully, “Jie, don’t you think Yan Bing is more like a lady in seclusion now?”

Ever since the team added Miss Jiang going to the south, Yan Bing has been hiding in the car and has rarely shown up. He wore a mask when he came out and kept muttering to himself, “It’s better to be careful. It would be terrible if she knew him.”

Yáng Xī coughed. “If too many days pass, it’ll instead show that she has a problem. She can’t keep hiding forever.”

(End of this chapter)

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