good season

Prince Guanyue!

The name quickly spread among the people.

Meanwhile, news of the torrential rains in Tongzhou also reached Gaoping.

It's raining in Tongzhou!
The rain poured down relentlessly, as if it had ripped a hole in the sky, causing widespread panic.

Ironically, most of those who rushed to Gaoping from Tongzhou City and its subordinate counties, towns, and villages before the torrential rain arrived were poor people, while the wealthy families in the city remained unmoved. These people either did not believe it or believed it but refused to leave. The Fourth Prince was coming, and this was their closest chance to the Emperor and the nobility, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they could not bear to miss.

The Han family in the west of the city.

The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier. The young mistress was restless in the room. Her family had set off for Gaoping a few days ago, as her aunt had married into the family there.

Her father had already asked her aunt to buy a house in Gaoping. Firstly, they wouldn't have to live under someone else's roof, and the whole family could live comfortably. Secondly, regardless of whether the rumors about the flood were true or false, buying property was always a safe bet.

Before leaving her family home, her eldest brother came to see her and asked if they wanted to come along. She asked her husband, who not only said she was short-sighted but also mocked her family for blindly following others, which made her so angry that she stayed in bed all day.

The rain kept falling. The house, which had only been renovated three years ago, was leaking. It was raining heavily outside and drizzling inside. Han Dalang was throwing a tantrum because his books were soaked by the rain.

Just then, a servant boy ran in, dripping wet. Han Dalang hurriedly asked, "Has the Fourth Prince arrived yet?"

The servant boy said with a mournful face, "His Highness the Fourth Prince hasn't arrived yet, but, but..."

Han Dalang asked irritably, "But what?"

Servant: "However, the Tong River has breached its banks. I met a yamen runner at the city gate who came to report the news!"

Prefect Qian dispatched yamen runners to patrol along the Tong River, instructing them to return and report immediately in case of any incidents.

Han Dalang paused for a moment: "With such heavy rain, it's normal for the Tong River to breach its banks. Don't worry, don't worry, the Fourth Prince and the Ministry of Works will be here soon."

When the young mistress heard the words "Tong River breached its banks," her face changed drastically.

"Husband, please go and tell Father-in-law that we should go to Gaoping!"

Han Dalang glared at her: "What's the big deal? The Fourth Prince and the officials from the Ministry of Works will be here soon. It's just a minor breach in the dike; it will be repaired quickly."

The young mistress disagreed: "Husband, the government just reinforced the dikes this year, and our family even donated money. Yet the dikes still breached so easily. This shows how heavy the rain is. Even if the officials from the Ministry of Works arrived now, they wouldn't be able to fix it so easily."

Han Dalang was displeased and stormed off, saying, "What do you know, you woman!"

Watching Han Dalang's departing figure, the young mistress gritted her teeth.

Even during the day, the room was dimly lit. The Han family had strict rules, and no lamps could be lit in the room, even if it was dark, until the time for lighting them.

The young mistress couldn't even do some needlework to calm herself down.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed, illuminating the room brightly. The sound of a child crying came from next door; the child must have been startled awake.

The young mistress hurried over, took the child from the wet nurse's arms, and gently coaxed him, but the child kept crying, his voice filled with fear.

The child would usually wake up startled during daytime naps, but never as easily as now. The young mistress grew increasingly uneasy. It's said that children are more sensitive to danger than adults; could this be the reason?

"Someone, go and call Wufu over."

Wu Fu is the servant who just came back from outside.

Wu Fu had changed into dry clothes, but the short walk from the front yard was still soaked through despite him wearing a raincoat.

"Young Madam, are you looking for me?"

"Wu Fu, let me ask you, have you been to the city gate? Are there many people leaving the city now?"

Ever since the news spread that the Fourth Prince was coming to Tongzhou, Han Dalang had Wufu go to the city gate every day. Wufu knew the best about the situation outside.

Wu Fu said, "In the past, many people left the city every day, but recently fewer people have left, especially in the last few days. The rain has been getting heavier and heavier, so even fewer people have left the city. But some people are still leaving. Today I saw the Huang family's mule cart."

"That Huang family, the one with someone holding an official position in the capital, did they leave the city? Did the whole family go with them?" the young mistress asked.

Wu Fu nodded: "Yes, it's the Huang family. Their second master left the city early this morning with the old master and old lady, along with the women and children of the family. Only the eldest master and the third master stayed in the city. Today, as soon as I arrived at the city gate, I saw the eldest master and the third master of the Huang family braving the heavy rain and heading towards Gaoping."

After Wufu left, the young mistress was so angry that she tore the handkerchief in her hand to shreds.

The eldest master of the Huang family and Han Dalang were classmates. The eldest master had sent away the old, weak, women and children in his family long ago, but Han Dalang did the exact opposite. Not only did he not leave, but he also wouldn't let his wife and children leave. This is not stupidity, this is wickedness!
The child cried again, and the young mistress gritted her teeth and suddenly made up her mind.

"Meixiang, go see where Grandpa went?"

A moment later, Meixiang returned: "Master is in Chunmei's room."

The young mistress sneered, thinking he had changed his schooling location or gone to the old master's room to discuss countermeasures, but little did she know he had gone to find a concubine.

"Go, carry all the boxes we packed up a few days ago to the porch, and have Old Chen prepare the car, and have him call all his sons along too."

Several maids and the Chen family were her attendants. Back when her family was about to leave for Gaoping, the young mistress had already packed up her valuables, but the Han family refused to leave, so those things were useless.

Now she doesn't want to wait anymore. She still has a child, and she doesn't want to take the child with her to die with the Han family. She's not without support; she still has her maternal family, her loving parents, and her older brother.

Ever since the Yue family went to Gaoping, the young mistress has been constantly saying that she wants to go with them. Han Dalang is so annoyed. She's all talk and no action. In order to be with her family, she doesn't even care about her husband's promising future. The Fourth Prince is coming to Tongzhou. What a great opportunity this is, but she insists on leaving. It's really hateful.

Han Dalang turned around and went to Chunmei's room. Chunmei had served him since she was a child. He originally thought that after giving birth to his legitimate son, he would make Chunmei his concubine. However, the legitimate son was already a year old, but the young mistress still refused.

As soon as Han Dalang entered the house, Chunmei shyly told him that her period had been more than ten days late.

Han Dalang was overjoyed: "Mei'er, you're pregnant? That's wonderful! If that shrew still refuses to move you to a new house, I'll divorce her!"

Chunmei hurriedly said, "Master, please don't say that. If Madam hears this, she will definitely not forgive Mei'er." Han Dalang sneered, "She dares! I only tolerated her a little before because of her elder brother's sake. I didn't expect her to become even more outrageous and refuse to give you a proper title. Now, her family has gone to Gaoping, that poor and desolate place. She probably won't be able to come back in this lifetime. If she is sensible and obedient, that's fine. But if she is still ignorant, I will divorce her and marry a gentle and sensible woman."

Chunmei stepped forward, hugged his waist, and pressed her face against his: "Mei'er had a dream. In the dream, a little fairy boy chased after Mei'er, calling her 'Auntie'."

Han Dalang was overjoyed: "Really? Mei'er's baby is definitely a boy!"

Outside, the rain poured down, but inside, spring was in full bloom. A servant came running to deliver the news, but was stopped outside by Chunmei's maid: "You have some sense. The master dislikes being disturbed at this time."

It was two hours later when Han Dalang finally learned from the servant that the young mistress had taken the child out of the mansion in the rain.

The young mistress's mule cart struggled forward in the heavy rain. Strangely enough, ever since leaving the house, the child stopped crying. The tiny infant seemed to know something, his eyes wide with curiosity.

"Young Madam, the rain is too heavy. Why don't we find somewhere to take shelter?"

The young mistress looked at the child and said, "It's been raining non-stop, and we can only take shelter for a short time. We might as well hurry on our way and wait until we leave Tongzhou. Maybe the rain will let up then."

She had done her research beforehand. Besides Tongzhou, there were three other places where news of flooding had spread, while Gaoping was in another direction. In other words, as long as one left the territory of Tongzhou, there would be no risk of flooding.

But the rain was too heavy; it was raining even harder outside the city than inside. As soon as they left the city, the mule refused to go any further. Old Chen was extremely anxious, and the young mistress was at a loss.

"Hey, sir, what's going on? Has the car broken down?"

Amidst the sound of rain, a clear voice rang out; it was a woman's voice.

Several people dressed in straw raincoats were seen riding horses and walking towards this direction.

Old Chen was startled. The sky was getting darker and darker. Could it be that he had encountered a robber?

Old Chen's sons grabbed the wooden sticks they carried with them and stood in front of the car to protect it.

Upon seeing this, the woman smiled and said, "Uncle, don't panic. We're not bad people. We just wanted to let you know that the rain is too heavy and the road ahead is even more difficult to travel. If you don't have anywhere to go for the time being, you can take shelter at the teahouse on the mountain. There are inns on the mountain, and the terrain there is very high. Even if the floodwaters inundate Tongzhou City, we won't be afraid. The floodwaters haven't come yet, so you should go up the mountain as soon as possible."

After the woman finished speaking, she and her companion walked forward. Not far ahead, there was a mule cart parked there.

"Young mistress, did you hear that? That woman said the mountain is a good place to take shelter from the rain."

The young mistress had just heard what the woman said. As a native of Tongzhou, she naturally knew about the teahouse on the mountain. Han Dalang had even held poetry gatherings there, but she had never been there.

"Is the mountain that the woman mentioned reliable? Can our mule cart go up there?"

Old Chen said, “Young Madam, the teahouse on that mountain has been open for decades and is considered a well-established brand. You can rest assured. There are steps and a horse path leading up the mountain. Usually, there are sedan chairs available, but with such heavy rain, the horse path must be muddy, and there probably won’t be any sedan chairs left. We can leave the car at the foot of the mountain and have my son lead the mule along the horse path. I will escort you up the steps. It will be hard on you, Young Madam.”

The young mistress wasn't afraid of hardship; she was only worried about the children. Even if it was hard, it would only take an hour or two. But if it were to get from here to Gaoping, with such heavy rain, she didn't know if they could make it.

"Old Chen, you carry Bao'er on your back and hide her in the raincoat. Just protect Bao'er and don't worry about me!"

The mule cart turned around and returned to the city. The water in the city was already above knee-deep, but fortunately the terrain was flat, and the mules could still move forward. After a hard time, they reached the foot of the mountain and saw several carts floating in the water in the distance. It seemed that some people had already taken their mules up the mountain, just like them.

Old Chen tied the child to his back with a cloth strap, put on a raincoat, and the child only cried twice after leaving his mother before obediently hiding in the raincoat.

Supported by two maids, the young mistress stepped onto the stone steps. The rain quickly blurred her vision, and she walked carefully with each step.

Suddenly, Old Chen shouted, "People are coming down from upstairs! Young mistress, be careful!"

The maidservant quickly helped the young mistress to the side, but the newcomers stopped in front of them. They were two young men wearing straw raincoats.

What they were carrying on their shoulders were actually sedan chairs.

"Want to ride in a sedan chair? We guarantee a safe ride!"

The young mistress was overjoyed and was about to agree when Old Chen said, "Young mistress, be careful, they don't speak with a local accent."

One of the men said, “We are indeed not locals. My second young lady is kind-hearted and worried that the steps would be slippery and cause accidents, so she specially asked us to stand guard here. If we see the elderly, weak, women and children going up the mountain, we will lend a hand. Don’t worry, we have already carried many people up the mountain in the past two days.”

Before Old Chen could say anything more, the young mistress remembered the young woman she had met outside the city gate: "The second young lady you mentioned, has she left the city yet?"

"Oh, you were also sent by the Second Miss? It's too dangerous to leave the city at this time, so the Second Miss went outside the city herself and, seeing that some people were leaving, told them to come up the mountain."

The young mistress nodded. She didn't know why, but she suddenly believed the second young lady, whom she had only heard but never seen.

"Alright, please carry me up the mountain."

She climbed onto the sedan chair and asked Old Chen to give her the child, but Old Chen refused. He didn't understand the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket, but he did.

If these two were bad people, he wouldn't have been able to save the young mistress, but he could still protect the young master and help him escape.

But on the mountain, the scene was quite different.

The teahouse no longer had its usual quiet and leisurely atmosphere. Xiuxiu and the staff used the largest pot to boil ginger soup. People who had been caught in the rain felt warm all over after drinking a bowl.

Xia Dachuan glanced at the sky and muttered, "Why hasn't the Second Miss come back yet? It's raining so hard. If I had known this would happen, I would have gone with her no matter what."

Another guard advised, "Don't you know the Second Miss's temper? Even if you want to come along, she won't let you. Don't worry, Miss Lingbo and the four guards are all here. The Second Miss will be fine."

Yes, for this trip, the old man entrusted all four of his bodyguards to Zhao Shiqing. With them around, the old man felt at ease letting his beloved granddaughter come to Tongzhou.

"Someone else has gone up the mountain!"

A little girl's voice came from outside. She was the youngest daughter of the teahouse owner. The adults were all very busy, and she was young, so she helped run errands.

"Quickly bring a few bowls of ginger soup; there's a baby coming up the mountain."

"Oh dear, the baby can't drink ginger soup. Boil more hot water and give the child a bath." (End of Chapter)