Aoyama

Chapter 218 Return to Beijing
At the hour of Yin, Su Zhou lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Xiaoman touched her forehead and whispered, "Sir, her forehead is a little hot, is there any good way?"

Chen Ji responded: "There is no good way, I can only use a handkerchief to dip it in water to cool her down."

Xiaoman took the white handkerchief, wet it again, and covered Su Zhou's forehead with it. She calmly reached her hand into Su Zhou's hair and felt around, but she didn't feel the remaining copper coins.

She sat back on the small stool beside the charcoal brazier in a sullen manner, staring blankly at the flickering flame in the brazier.

Xiaoman originally wanted to take advantage of Su Zhou's sleep to take a little revenge on him for holding her hostage, but when she thought that the other party was unaware, she felt it was meaningless.

To take revenge, you have to let your enemy know.

Chen Ji sat on the small bench next to her. Wuyun curled up into a ball on his lap and fell asleep early.

Tonight, we first had to assassinate General Wang, and then face a raid by the Secret Service. Now is a rare and peaceful time.

Xiaoman picked up the tongs and touched the charcoal basin, then asked, "Sir, I'll make a mat for you. Can you take a rest?"

Chen Ji hugged Wu Yun and said calmly, "No, I'm worried that someone will come to search the Chen Mansion again tonight, and I can't sleep."

Xiao Man said, "Oh!" She rolled her eyes and said, "Sir, I heard from the big brother of the military department that it was an official who assassinated General Wang tonight?"

Chen Ji hummed.

Xiao Man looked at him secretly and asked, "Do you want to become an official?"

Chen Ji's eyes flickered slightly, and he said nonchalantly: "I heard that officials are very mysterious and powerful, but I don't have a chance to become one."

Xiaoman lowered her voice: "There is a chance."

Chen Ji turned to look at her: "Oh?"

Xiao Man pointed at Su Zhou who was lying on the bed and said, "Sir, isn't the assassin here? She must be an official. Let's tie her up and force her to hand over the way of cultivation..."

Chen Ji was speechless.

Although Xiaoman is young, he is really shameless and has no martial ethics!

Come to think of it, the other party was sold to human traffickers since childhood, and he had to fight for a meal from the human traffickers.

When she arrived at Chen's house, she stayed with her aunt for a while, but she soon left, and she became a rootless duckweed again. Life as a third-class maid must have been very difficult. No one taught her right and wrong, so she could only figure out her own philosophy of survival.

The wild grass growing wildly on the cliff can only survive by constantly digging its roots into the cracks in the rocks and taking away limited nutrients.

But Xiaoman continued to bewitch him, "I heard that if you practice the way of becoming an official, as long as you don't get hurt, you will be immune to all diseases and live longer. There are many benefits. Not only that, when you become an official, you will stand tall and the people in the Chen Mansion will never dare to bully you again."

Chen Ji shook his head: "She is a friend of Prince Jing, and I am also a friend of Prince Jing. Although her actions are a bit extreme, I cannot take advantage of her at this time."

Xiaoman lowered her head and said, "Okay... I'll think of other ways to get you an official position later."

Chen Ji asked calmly, "You seem to know the official well?"

Xiaoman was flustered for a moment: "Ah? No, no, I just happened to go to a teahouse to listen to a storyteller telling stories, and they mentioned it..."

Chen Ji had two guesses in his mind. The first guess was that after his biological mother, Mrs. Lu, bought Xiaoman, she felt pity for her because of her pitiful life experience. In addition, Xiaoman was also smart, so Mrs. Lu taught her the Mandala Seal of the Jing Dynasty, wanting to train her as a confidant.

However, not long after Lu taught Xiaoman the way to be an official, he died or fled for some reason, and did not teach much else. As a result, Xiaoman was like an outsider except for the way to be an official.

The second guess is: Xiaoman was originally a member of the Military Intelligence Department of Jing Dynasty, and his official skills were also taught by the Military Intelligence Department. He was a person placed by his uncle. The awkwardness shown by the other party now was also acting.

Chen Ji thought about it again and again, and he thought that the probability of the first guess was high, and the probability of the second guess was low.

However, he did not need to practice official cultivation. Counting the mountain king, the sword species, and the "Covering Clouds" given by the Internal Minister, Chen Ji already had three cultivation paths.

While Chen Ji was thinking, he was brought back to his senses by a burst of noise outside the courtyard. He picked up Wuyun on his knees and opened the door to check, but saw Dongzhi, the first-class maid beside Liang, waking up all the maids in Qunfang Garden.

Chen Ji looked at the sky. It was still dark and the roosters hadn't crowed yet.

He held Wuyun in his arms, stood in front of the gate of Mingquan Garden and asked curiously, "Miss Dongzhi, what are you doing?"

Dongzhi bowed and said, "Reporting to the Third Young Master, the Master and the Madam have asked us to pack up our belongings immediately and leave Luo City at daybreak."

Chen Ji asked, "Are we going to Beijing with the Zhang family?"

Dongzhi smiled and explained, "Reporting to the Third Young Master, our Chen family is traveling alone and will not be traveling with anyone. By the way, you should also pack your things. The carriages have already stopped outside the mansion. The master and his wife are in the first carriage, the eldest young master is in the second, the second young master is in the third, and you and Xiaoman will be in the fourth."

After that, she ignored Chen Ji and turned around and shouted, "Everyone get up. Liqiu, you lead the people to boil water and cook, and the rest of you follow me to Wenyun Hall to pack up. Be careful today. If you break anything in Wenyun Hall, I won't be able to compensate you even if I sell all of you!"

……

…At the hour of Mao, the cock crows.

The beautiful maids in the Chen mansion shuttled back and forth, registering the items to be taken away from the mansion one by one and loading them onto the horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts outside Cuiyun Lane.

The door of Zhang's house was tightly closed, and it was quiet, as if he was not in a hurry to leave Luocheng.

In the early morning mist, Chen Ji and Xiao Man carried a large wooden box through the Chen residence and stuffed it into the carriage. A servant came forward to help, but he politely declined.

Dong Zhi saw this and hurriedly stopped them: "Third Master, just put the box on the oxcart behind. There is no need to put it in the carriage and take up space. The oxcarts are all covered with oilcloth, so there is no need to worry about snow or rain."

Chen Ji got out of the carriage, patted the dust off his palms, and explained with a smile: "I have worked so hard to save up this property, it will make me feel more at ease if I keep it with me."

Dongzhi turned around and went back to the house, put away his smile and muttered softly: "Oh, if you haven't seen the world, you would think there are so many treasures stored in it."

After breakfast, the Chen family got into the carriages and set off in a hurry as if they were fleeing. They didn't miss Chen Liqin and Liang anymore, and didn't even look at the Chen Mansion again. Instead, the maids cried together.

Some of the maids in the Chen Mansion were going back to Beijing, while others stayed to look after the family business in Luocheng, and they parted ways. For people of this era, the distance between Luocheng and Beijing was a lifetime.

In front of Chen Ji's carriage, Li Qiu wiped her tears with a handkerchief and told Xiao Man: "Don't be silly and stubborn when you return to the Chen family mansion. Control your bad temper. Sometimes you have to be patient."

Xiaoman's eyes also turned red: "Well, I know Sister Liqiu, but I can't help it."

Li Qiu was so angry that she laughed. She tapped her forehead with her finger and said, "You little bitch, you never listen to me. You will suffer someday. Then I will demote you to a third-class maid. Without me, what will you do?"

Xiaoman squatted where the groom sat, tears falling down her face: "Sister Liqiu, you are doing well in Luocheng. When you are old enough next year, find a good family to marry as soon as possible. After you get married, you must write me a letter..."

Li Qiu cried and asked, "Why, do you want to give me some more dowry?"

Xiaoman shook her head, wiped her tears and said, "No, I'm just congratulating you."

Li Qiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I loved you in vain!"

Chen Liqin's calm voice came from the first carriage: "How long are you going to cry? Let's go."

The servant beside him waved his arms and said, "Let's go, let's go."

The driver sat sideways on the side of the carriage, whipped it, and the carriage started slowly.

Li Qiu took two steps forward and stuffed the cloth bag on his shoulder into Xiao Man's arms: "When you go to the capital, don't worry about the people and things in Luo City, just live a good life!"

"I know!"

As the car was shaking, Xiaoman leaned on the car and looked back. She looked at the door lintel of the Chen Mansion that was getting farther and farther away, and the maids standing there, and her tears could not stop flowing.

After a long time, she got back into the car and sat down in a daze: "Sir, are we leaving like this?"

Chen Ji huddled together with the wooden box, holding Wu Yun in his arms: "Li Qiu treats you well?"

The light from the window passed through the gap in the curtains and gently sprinkled on Xiaoman's face. "What is considered good in this deep mansion? If you want to say that it is 'good' like saving my life, then there is definitely no such thing. It's just that Wang Gui sometimes makes things difficult for me. When it is clearly time to eat, he suddenly asks me to fetch water and sweep the floor. When I finish the work and come back, there is only inedible rice crust left in the pot. At this time, Sister Liqiu will secretly leave a bowl of rice for me, and that is considered very good."

Chen Ji hummed: "See what she gave you."

Xiaoman opened the bundle and found that it was filled with bath beans made by Liu Ji in Dongshi, rouge cream from Nanshengji, and a stone ink pen from a time-honored brand in Dongzhe...

Chen Ji subconsciously covered Wuyun's ears. The next moment, Xiaoman was sitting in the car crying loudly like a child who had not grown up.

At this moment, a burst of noise interrupted the crying.

A maid rushed out of the Chen Mansion, crying and chasing after the carriage, and followed Chen Wenxiao's carriage closely: "Second Master, won't you take me with you? You said you would take me to the capital with you, and I was pregnant with your child!"

Chen Wenxiao panicked and ordered the servant: "What are you still standing there for? Take her away!"

The servant pulled the maid away and gradually disappeared in the cold mist behind him.

The Chen family had a total of eight horse-drawn carriages, twenty-two ox-drawn carts carrying valuables, and took away eighteen maids and more than forty servants. Wang Gui sat on the last ox-drawn cart without saying a word. Now that he had lost his status as a butler, he could not even ride in a horse-drawn carriage.

After walking for about half an hour, the convoy arrived at the north city gate.

Suddenly, someone outside the car shouted, "Master Chen! Hahaha, Master Chen, why didn't you let me know before you left? You made me wait here!"

When Chen Liqin heard the familiar voice, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

He drew aside the curtain and looked, only to see Zhang Zhuo, his first wife Xu, Zhang Xia, and Zhang Zheng sitting in a teahouse in front of the city gate eating tofu pudding and golden fried dough sticks.

At the gate of the city, the Zhang family had hundreds of carriages lined up in a long procession, which was extremely spectacular. Not only were there groups of maids and servants, but they even hired people from the Luocheng Liang Escort Agency to escort them.

Zhang Zhuo wiped his mouth and walked out of the teahouse, laughing cheerfully: "Master Chen, I have been waiting here for a long time, let's go back to Beijing together!"

(End of this chapter)