Zhou Yu and the arrogant peacock man locked eyes. The peacock man was also surprised, raising his eyebrows. He was deeply impressed by this group; it was the first time someone had called him ignorant!

The Tóu Biāoshī warily sized up the sixteen people, gesturing for the biāoháng to make way. “Please.”

Guan Yi didn’t want to cause trouble, so he loosened his grip on his knife, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and led the way, galloping away through the opening.

The sixteen-person group quickly rode away, disappearing from sight in no time.

The Tóu Biāoshī’s expression was serious. “Travel through the night.”

Zhou Yu and Third Yang exchanged a glance. They returned to the carriage; they both thought the peacock man was dead. It was truly unexpected.

They traveled through the night, only finding a place to rest briefly in the morning. After a simple breakfast, they continued their journey.

An hour later, the escorting group encountered government troops.

The group was stopped by the troops. The leading officer questioned the Tóu Biāoshī and signaled the constables behind him to check the group’s registers to confirm if there were any suspicious individuals.

After the officers left, Yang Xi and his group learned that the officers were investigating bandits.

Zhou Yu and Third Yang, along with other officials, left to question the Tóu Biāoshī, and upon receiving accurate information, the two returned to their carriage.

As the group set off once more, Yang Xi was left bewildered after hearing it. “The Guan family’s eldest son was ambushed and killed by mountain bandits on the way back to the prefectural city, and then the bandits wiped out the Guan family as well?”

Zhou Xiaodi found it hard to put into words. “So the peacock man is the Eldest Young Master Guan?”

Zhou Yu said, “If the officials’ description is accurate, then it is indeed Eldest Young Master Guan.”

Zhou Xiaomei covered her mouth and exclaimed, “But what I saw yesterday, Eldest Young Master Guan, was clearly alive and well.”

Zhou Xiaodi was speechless. “Not only was he alive and well, but he personally led the bandits to wipe out his own family.”

Yang Xi came to her senses. “What I saw yesterday, the young master of the steward was clearly the leader, so he orchestrated the robbery and murder himself?”

What kind of deep-seated hatred was this, that he actually led people to wipe out his own family and robbed them of all their money!

Zhou Yu was also shocked. “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

He thought he was an arrogant young master, but he turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing!

Zhou Xiaodi was extremely curious about the steward’s grudge. “What kind of deep-seated hatred could there be?”

Yang Xi was also curious and looking forward to arriving in the prefectural city to rest that afternoon.

The escort team traveled quickly and arrived in the prefectural city earlier than expected. Because the bandits were subject to particularly strict checks upon entering the city, it took them half an hour to get in. The streets of the prefectural city were much quieter after the massacre. The group found an inn to rest, and Third Yang and Zhou Xiaodi went out.

After Yang Xi finished washing up, Third Yang and the others returned. While drying her son’s hair, Yang Xi listened to Third Yang recount the information he had gathered.

Third Yang looked as though he had broadened his horizons. “Tsk, tsk—Master Guan married an heiress from a family with no heirs and considerable wealth. The very next year, she gave birth to Guǎn Dàgōngzǐ, but after the delivery, she fell ill and didn’t survive the confinement month. Master Guan was heartbroken and observed mourning for his wife for three years. After those three years, he rose step by step, first passing the xiùcái exam and then the jǔrén exam. After becoming a jǔrén, he remarried a widow and treated the widow’s son as if he were his own.”

Yang Xi, hearing “treated as his own son”, remarked, “Interesting.”

Third Yang had examined the servant’s body; every blow was fatal. “Sister, Master Guan has a particularly good reputation in the prefectural city. It’s said he dotes on his eldest son. When his eldest son was kidnapped and killed, Master Guan fainted several times from grief!”

Zhou Yu looked at Third Yang speechlessly, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Zhou Xiaodi blinked. “Master Guan can pretend, but the eldest son can pretend even better.”

Yang Xi thought to herself that Eldest Young Master Guan had been even more decisive—his wings fully grown, he no longer bothered to play along and simply wiped them out, killing his own father!

Zhou Yu said, “Once we step out of this room, no one is to mention the Guan family again.”

Third Yang covered his mouth, indicating he wouldn’t. Yang Xi waited for Third Yang to come downstairs to order food before speaking. “Tóu Biāoshī also guessed that it was Young Master Guan but didn’t reveal a word to the officials.”

Zhou Yu took the much chubbier son into his arms. “The biāoháng travels this official road regularly, and the biāotóu doesn’t want to offend the mountain bandits.”

Reporting it would bring no benefit and would instead invite endless trouble, so the biāotóu chose to remain silent for the sake of profit.

Yang Xi was still a little scared. “Young Master Guan is such a ruthless person; I wonder if he’s the type to hold grudges.”   

Zhou Yu said, “He doesn’t seem like it. He was just surprised to see me and didn’t seem angry.” 

Yang Xi dressed her son, saying, “It’s best to leave Jiangzhou as soon as possible.”

Zhou Yu sighed, “This journey has been full of twists and turns.”

Yang Xi felt a pang of sadness. “Yes, it is.”

After a night’s rest, they set off the next day. They were lucky; the escort agency was transporting goods to Yizhou, allowing them to travel across two prefectures.

As they became more familiar with each other, they learned the name of the head escort, Bai Xiao, the second-in-command of the agency, which was the largest escort agency in Yizhou.

Traveling with the escort agency ensured their safety and broadened their horizons considerably.

They encountered bandits twice along the way. Although the escort agency was clearly not afraid, they still paid the toll. Tóu Biāoshī said that anything that could be resolved with money wasn’t a problem.

He added that these bandits only sought wealth, not lives, and only robbed merchant caravans, never ordinary people.

Yang Xi and her group benefited greatly from traveling with the escort agency. Zhou Yu reciprocated, explaining things thoroughly to Tóu Biāoshī when he asked questions.

The escort agency traveled quickly, arriving in Yizhou in less than half a month.

Yang Xi and her group changed into light cotton-padded jackets. Snow was rarely seen anymore; the falling snow was too light to stay on, and the landscape was lush and green.

The only downside was that the further south they went, the damper and colder it became, and it took them several days to adjust.

Upon entering Yizhou, Bai Xiao said, “Xiānsheng, please don’t stay at an inn. Come rest at our escort agency so I can show you hospitality.”

Zhou Yu, not wanting to trouble him, shook his head, saying, “Yizhou is very close to Ruizhou; there will be opportunities in the future.”

Bai Xiao said regretfully, “We rarely go to Ruizhou; otherwise we would definitely escort you there.”

His master had taught him much, and he was grateful and respectful, even considering keeping him there, but his master’s attitude was adamant.

Zhou Yu said, “We are already very grateful to the Second Master.”

Bai Xiao laughed heartily. “Xiānsheng, please come to Yizhou city in the future and let us entertain you.”

Zhou Yu smiled. “Alright.”

The group parted at the city gate, and Zhou Yu and the others found an inn to rest.

Zhou Yu and his companions were very happy that they had been able to reach Ruizhou before the Lunar New Year.

The group planned to rest for two days in Yizhou Prefecture. Exhausted from their continuous journey, they spent the day strolling through the streets. Having never been to the South before, they were overwhelmed by the sights.

Yizhou was incredibly prosperous; apart from the Zhou family, everyone else looked like country bumpkins, making their group quite conspicuous.

The shops were dazzling, and the exquisite goods made the Wu and Zhao families hesitate.

The Zhou family, being of official descent, entered a cloth shop with great pomp. The shop assistants were very welcoming, not looking down on customers because of their clothing, and even if they didn’t buy anything, they wouldn’t be rude but would still be politely seen off.

Yang Xi remarked, “The South’s wealth is well-deserved.”

It wasn’t just the geographical location; look at how Southern merchants do business.

Zhou Yu added, “The competition is fierce, too.”

“That’s true.”

The group then parted ways; the Wu and Zhao families returned to their inn, while Third Yang and Zhou Xiaodi went to South Street to watch the street performances.

When it was time for dinner, Yang Xi frowned. “Why haven’t Third Yang and the others returned yet?”

(End of Chapter)

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