Annual Ceremony

Chapter 46 White Dew (Part )

As the carriage started moving, they saw Zhenyi crying. Old Lady Dong and Mother Zhuo said, "Look at this tearful person. We have become the evildoers who kidnapped the little girl... Hurry up and tell someone to stop the car and return her to her home."

Mother Zhuo responded with a smile and patted Zhenyi's back: "Second Miss, the old lady and the servant are here."

Orange, who had jumped into the car early, rubbed the back of Zhenyi's hand to remind Zhenyi that the cat was there too.

As early as half a month ago, when Zhenyi was packing her luggage, Orange told Zhenyi that it would catch up - the way Orange told her was to squat in the bag that Zhenyi had just spread out.

Zhenyi was a little hesitant at that time. Juzi was already very old, and she was reluctant to let her travel far again.

As if Orange understood Zhenyi's hesitation, he sat even straighter and more majestically, raised his head, his cat ears slightly pressed back, his snow-white whiskers standing up vigorously, looking strong and vigorous.

Orange has always been independent-minded. Once it decides to catch up, it will chase after her even if it has to run, just like the year when it followed Zhenyi to Jilin.

Zhenyi still took the oranges with her.

At this moment, Zhenyi took one hand and held the big orange cat with soft and warm fur beside her, and leaned her head on her grandmother's shoulder.

Old Lady Dong embraced Zhenyi with one hand and wiped the tears from her face with the other: "Our Deqing has finished reading thousands of books, and now he is going to travel thousands of miles. How rare, how elegant, and how heroic is this?"

When Zhenyi heard this, she couldn't help but feel a sense of broadness and heroism in her heart. She stopped crying and hugged her mother, who always knew her best.

The wheels of the car rolled over the remaining chill of spring, and the sixteen-year-old Zhenyi embarked on her journey of thousands of miles.

Since she had to visit old friends along the way, she couldn't take the direct route to Shuzhong. The elders had already determined the route for this trip, and Zhenyi only had to follow it.

After leaving Jinling, we headed southwest, first to Suzhou Prefecture, where we stayed for more than ten days, and then continued south along Taihu Lake.

By the time we arrived in Hangzhou, it was already late spring, with soft green hills and lush willows.

This was Zhenyi's first visit to Hangzhou Prefecture, and she happened to encounter the emperor's grand southern tour.

In the 49th year of Qianlong's reign, Emperor Qianlong made his sixth southern tour, which happened to be tonight.

On the day when the emperor landed in the imperial ship, almost all the officials in Hangzhou Prefecture gathered to welcome him. Surrounded by countless runners, the common people who were separated from him by a long distance stood on tiptoe and looked up.

As a scholar taking the imperial examination, Wang Xichen was extremely excited to witness such a grand event. In this noisy and crowded spring day that made people sweat profusely, he knelt down in fear and trepidation in the direction of the emperor.

The endless crowd bowed down like wheat waves weighed down by a strong wind. Zhenyi followed suit, and her heart in her chest inexplicably beat violently along with the bustling atmosphere around them.

The emperor is rich and powerful, and is worshipped by people wherever he goes, but cats do not have to be worshipped.

Orange jumped a few times, stepped on the back of an official, and jumped onto a willow tree.

The kneeling official was startled. He turned around and saw a bold cat. He quickly lowered his head again and dared not make a sound or move.

Most of the common people and minor officials were still kneeling and had not stood up. After paying their respects, the officials who were surrounding the imperial carriage bent their backs, making their bodies lower than the other, so Orange was able to see the emperor's face.

Is that old man who looks to be in his seventies the famous Emperor Qianlong?
Orange squatted on the tree and flicked its tail twice, thinking that in two or three hundred years, it would live in the Emperor's house.

Juzi was only somewhat curious about the Qing emperor, and soon turned his gaze to the kneeling people. Zhenyi was among them - so Juzi thought again, modern times are better, people can stand up straight like cats, and don't have to kneel like this all the time.

The people shouted "Long live the emperor".

The orange held its head high and shouted in its heart, "Long live the new China, long live the people."

With the arrival of the emperor, the Jiangnan area became more prosperous, attracting countless literati to sing praises. Zhenyi was immersed in the atmosphere and felt dazzled by it.

As we continued our journey south and were about to leave Zhejiang, we saw many ragged and gloomy people. They were either beggars and refugees who had been driven out, or poor people who had been captured and forced to serve in the army.

A man was walking slowly, leading a donkey. Both the man and the donkey were very thin. The donkey's back was sunken, while the man's back was hunched.

When resting on the road, Wang Xichen also chatted with the people who were serving. Those people talked a lot about how they dug canals, paved roads, and planted flowers and trees for the emperor's southern tour, even though they were not allowed to appear in the light of the prosperous era.

After leaving Zhejiang, the feeling of separation became even stronger - while the emperor was traveling, he was also inspecting river works, observing the people and officials, exempting taxes and granting rewards. Every word the emperor said casually was like golden rules in the ears of the accompanying officials. After layer after layer of interpretation, they formed one order after another, which were passed down layer by layer, and finally became one heavy and urgent project after another, and all fell on the people without exception.

So free labor was being recruited everywhere, and when the recruitment was not enough, they started to arrest people from house to house. Some people who had been hiding were dragged by the braids by the officials, taken to the village entrance, kicked to the ground, and whipped in public. Their screams, cries and pleas for mercy were heartbreaking and terrifying.

Zhenyi witnessed many common situations along the way, and she felt that the brilliant colors of the prosperous times before her eyes faded, and her mind slowly calmed down.

When they entered Fujian and were near Jianning Prefecture, Zhenyi was even horrified to hear that imperial troops were searching for members of the Tiandihui in the area and that they had even set fire to a village in order to reveal the whereabouts of the Tiandihui members.

Old Mrs. Dong told her entourage not to discuss the matter or mention the name "Tian Di Hui" in order to avoid getting into trouble.

Zhenyi kept silent, but often became dazed and distracted.

The journey was very slow. In addition to visiting relatives and friends, Wang Xichen also practiced medicine along the way. Zhenyi often followed behind her father, helping him pack his medical box and write prescriptions. Zhenyi was meticulous and good at research, and often asked her father for advice. Gradually, she could help diagnose some simple illnesses.

Most of the time, the medical fees were not generous. If he met a really poor patient, Wang Xichen would refuse to collect the medical fees, but it was better than nothing and at least it subsidized some of the expenses along the way.

Although the journey was slow, it was fulfilling. There were new sights and new things to see every day. Zhenyi had a lot of things to do. In her spare time, she often read or studied mathematics, or wrote articles or poems about what she saw and felt along the way.

Zhenyi's essays are full of insights into people's livelihood, but she also followed her grandmother's teachings and did not leave any extreme words.

What he wrote most often were landscapes, mountains, water, and landforms. He also wrote about food. Zhenyi especially loved fish. This was one of the reasons why Juzi believed that Zhenyi was a cat. The second reason was that Zhenyi had an extraordinary curiosity since she was a child. It is said that curiosity is the greatest contributor to scientific progress. In this case, wouldn't cats be very suitable to be scientists? It is reasonable to infer that Zhenyi, a scientist, is a cat, right? Juzi has his own perfect logic.

——Zhenyi wrote seven or eight poems about sea bass alone. Occasionally, she would draw two small fish and some water splashes, or a dish of steaming sweet and sour fish next to the poems.

Every time Juzi looked at Zhenyi's increasing number of manuscripts, he wondered, is this Zhenyi's travel diary?
In Zhenyi's rich, vivid and curious "travel diary", there are occasionally some words of distress, such as when she encounters a difficult problem in mathematics but has no one to ask for help - although Wang Xichen is a cultured man, he is not good at mathematics. If it comes to asking for advice, Zhenyi can now be his teacher.

On this day, Zhenyi sat at the desk facing the lamp, one hand on her chin, the other holding a pen and writing slowly: [Since my grandfather passed away, I have no teacher to follow, and no one to ask questions or doubt. Although I may have learned something, I can never be perfect, and I often feel disappointed...]

The experienced and heavyweight paperweight Mr. Orange couldn't read the words, but he could understand Zhenyi's disappointment, so he sighed in his heart - it said, a child like Zhenyi would require a dozen cram schools to cope with it.

After the sticky, humid and hot summer ended, Zhenyi, who had stayed in Fujian for a while, continued on her journey with her family. Before leaving Fujian, they passed the border with Jiangxi, changed boats and took the water route, heading west to Guangdong.

The oars in the boatman's hands stirred the river water, rippling the water in circles, shaking off the green and yellow autumn leaves on the bank of Yinjiang River, calling for another year's White Dew solar term.

Wang Xichen stood at the bow, looking far to the west with a hint of sadness in his eyes. After crossing the river, he would reach Jiaying Prefecture, which was the place where his father had governed before his death.

Zhenyi stood beside her father, and Juzi lay at Zhenyi's feet, with its two furry white front paws casually crossed and stacked. The cat shook its whiskers, riding the cool autumn breeze, walking on the white surface of the river, enjoying the autumn scenery on both sides of the river, thinking complacently, it was rare for ancient people to travel thousands of miles, so cats that travel thousands of miles should be even rarer, right?

Unexpectedly, something even rarer happened after landing:

It is impossible for every step of the journey to a remote place to be smooth sailing. There are occasional twists and turns along the way, but it is the first time that I have encountered a vicious bandit running towards me with a knife in hand.

There were dozens of bandits rushing over with knives in hand, shouting ferociously. Even though I couldn't understand their accents, I could still understand their threats.

They demanded the mule cart and property, and held the two drivers, who were kneeling with their heads in their hands, at knifepoint. They also dragged the women out of the carts. When Wang Xichen saw his mother and daughter being threatened, he rushed forward in fear and anger, but was pinned to the ground by the two bandits, who stepped on his back and held them on both sides with knives.

"...Don't hurt my father! Don't hurt him!" Zhenyi blocked her grandmother with one trembling hand. Her legs were tense and numb as if she had lost consciousness. She quickly raised her other hand to take off the two jade hairpins in her hair, which were not expensive at all, and immediately handed them over: "I'll give them all to you!"

In this situation where the enemy is much more disadvantaged than us, there is no possibility of a head-on confrontation, let alone an outsmarting one. It would be a great luck to be able to keep one's life.

At the edge of Zhenyi's skirt, Juzi bent over with his hair standing on end. He lowered his ears and head, ready to rush out to protect Zhenyi at any time.

Zhenyi was extremely frightened, but her other hand quietly clenched a carving knife hidden in her sleeve, protecting her grandmother who had been ill for several days.

Both the man and the cat were on edge and held their breath, waiting for the bandits' reaction.

Although Zhenyi was afraid, she felt that she might be able to win the gamble and save her life. She noticed that some of these thieves were covered in blood, and some were carrying bags. They didn't look like they were here to rob...

The Wang family did not travel rashly. They inquired about every road again and again. They would rather believe it and take a detour to avoid places where bandits were rumored to roam. They also did not dare to take too remote paths... Thinking of this, Zhenyi became more certain of her guess that these people must have escaped through this place.

Since you are escaping, there will most likely be pursuers behind you, so the best strategy is to take the property and drive away quickly. If you really kill someone with a knife, you will surely provoke a desperate resistance, which will definitely waste time in escaping. The noise will also make your whereabouts be exposed faster. Under the premise that there is no grudge between the two parties, this is obviously not cost-effective.

A thief grabbed the jewelry that Zhenyi handed over.

The fingers were rough, and the nails were blunt and thick. When they scratched across Zhenyi's palm, it was like a knife, cutting through her deepest fear.

The leader gave orders impatiently, asking people to quickly collect their belongings and occupy two mule carts.

There were two forked roads behind them. Those people turned the car around and drove onto the road without tracks. The remaining people used knives to force the Wang family members to the other road and threatened them, "Get out if you want to live!"

As he said that, he pushed the person out.

The driver and the Wang family immediately supported each other and ran away.

Upon seeing this, the bandits put away their knives, turned around and quickly caught up with their companions.

After running for more than a hundred steps, when they reached the corner of the road and were hidden by the grass and trees, Zhenyi suddenly stopped, holding her grandmother. Although she was still shocked, her eyes asked for instructions: "Grandmother..."

"Second Miss, let's go quickly! Be careful, they may chase us again!" Mother Zhuo urged panic-strickenly.

Wang Xichen also looked at his daughter: "Zhen'er!"

"Father! Those people are running for their lives. Someone is chasing them!" Zhenyi said quickly, "They took another road and threatened to drive us away from this road because they are afraid that we will be left behind and expose their whereabouts! If we keep running like this, running far away will be exactly what they want!"

Wang Xichen looked at his daughter in surprise, but he could hear another noise. He was immediately startled, thinking that those people were chasing him again, or maybe it was another group of people. They were also extremely vicious! They couldn't get involved in such a dangerous dispute!
Wang Xichen was about to say something else, but he heard his mother say firmly: "No, it was the soldiers!"

"It's the sound of horse hooves!"

There had been no rebellion or disturbance in Jiaying Prefecture, and the emperor was out of the capital on an inspection tour, so military alerts were put in place everywhere... The sound of such large and dense horse hooves could only be from soldiers!
Mrs. Dong acted promptly and asked Qisheng and Taoer to report the news. Juzi was worried and ran ahead to scout the way so that she could stop Qisheng and Taoer if something went wrong.

The visitors were indeed soldiers.

With Qisheng's guidance, the soldiers and horses quickly chased after them. Their troops were well-organized and their horses were strong and swift. In less than half an hour, they had captured all the bandits and naturally brought back the robbed property of the Wang family as well.

The reason why the Wang family chose to turn around and report the news was because they wanted to recover their property.

But in a place like this, when it comes to money, soldiers are not necessarily easier to deal with than bandits. The young Zhenyi could not have imagined the dangers, but Old Lady Dong had already thought about it.

The old lady and her family saluted the officers and soldiers, but they were not in a state of fear. Instead, they raised their hands to salute and explained their identities and purpose: "... We came here from Jiangning Prefecture to visit Mr. Zhao, the co-magistrate of Jiaying Prefecture. We encountered bandits who robbed us on the road. Fortunately, the officers and soldiers rescued us..."

The old lady spoke in Mandarin and was calm and composed. The leading officer looked at Wang Xichen, who was saluting, and asked, "What is your last name? Who are you to Zhao Tongzhi?"

These officers and soldiers also spoke Beijing dialect and wore military uniforms with yellow banners.

Wang Xichen had already made up his mind, and answered in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "My surname is Wang, and Zhao Tongzhi was originally a subordinate and good friend of my father."

These words were all true, except that they did not mention Wang Zhefu's experience of exile. This foreign officer obviously did not hold a high rank, being just an assistant. Wang Zhefu had been dismissed from office ten years ago, and it was impossible for him to know everything about all the previous officials of Jiaying Prefecture by heart.

Sure enough, when the other party heard this, he raised his hand to return the greeting, then asked his subordinates to return the property and mule cart, and sent two people to escort the Wang family to Zhao Tongzhi's mansion.

Mrs. Dong thanked her calmly. Upon seeing this, the man believed it even more and gave up his unnecessary thoughts.

The old lady was not afraid of the hidden meaning in her words being "exposed". For one thing, when Zhao Tongzhi saw her, he would at most call her "sister-in-law" in public, but he could not openly call her "the old wife of my former Shangfeng family who was convicted and exiled" -

Even if she had a madness and really shouted like that, with her right in front of her, could the two soldiers still openly take back the property and mule cart? The property was not so abundant that it would make people risk their lives like that.

Zhenyi thought the same, so she accepted the escort of the two soldiers with peace of mind. On the contrary, Wang Xichen felt uneasy and a little bit uneasy, but having just experienced such a life-and-death crisis, his reaction was normal and did not show any abnormality.

In the car, after being out of danger, the brave and unparalleled Orange finally began to retch due to stress in Zhenyi's arms. While retching, Orange thought that this time Zhenyi would have to write a thrilling diary.

Three days later, Zhenyi, who had finally calmed down, started writing a "diary", with a picture of a fat cat with its mouth open and retching.

　Appearing late at night (Good night everyone!
　
(End of this chapter)