Chapter 262 - 258: Malice_1

Translator: 549690339

Thousands of miles away in Yuzhou, Xiao Chengjun ordered the ship to anchor at the dock.

Wen Tian ran to him, tugging at his sleeve and cooed, “Brother Chengjun, are those boxes really for us?”

“Yes, everything you brought was lost in the shipwreck. Consider these items as compensation.”

Xiao Chengjun thought maliciously: Even if I let the village girl take them home, she and her family can’t use the fine silk and satin- better to give it to the Wen Family.

The Wen Family has been practicing medicine for generations with an illustrious reputation, and their grandfather is a famed physician of the Imperial Medical Bureau. It wouldn’t hurt for me to curry favor with Wen Jingyan by giving away these items.

If the women of the Jiang Family manage to return safely to their hometown, they can’t possibly do anything to me given their peasant status.

Being a military leader of Zhechong Prefecture in far away Luzhou, even if I killed them, it would be as easy as crushing ants for people like them.

Xiao Chengjun thought, coldly laughing.

Meep marrying a woman with the same name and surname as the rustic girl in my dream? Ridiculous. As if someone of her lowly status should have the same name as my wife?

The thought of this angered Xiao Chengjun, making him feel as sick as if he had eaten a fly.

From now on, anyone surnamed Jiang would be suppressed.

I cannot believe that I, the worthy heir of Xiao Family, would have anything to do with a Jiang family.

Wen Tian cheered, repeatedly thanking him, “Thank you, Brother Chengjun! You are so kind!”

Xiao Chengjun smiled and nodded, “No need to thank me. I’ll have Nan Zhu escort you home.”

Nan Zhu, standing nearby, furrowed his brows and tried to signal his master but was ignored.

Only after the young Wen sisters left, did Nan Zhu say, “Young Master. Why would you let the Wen Family have the Jiang Family’s things? If people find out, won’t it harm our reputation?”

While walking back to his cabin, Xiao Chengjun replied, “So what if they know? Can the Jiang family afford such things?”

“But…Many things in that box were imperial gifts. What if the palace hears of this…”

Nan Zhu followed his master, attempting to reason with him, “Not to mention, this will be hard to explain to the prince.”

Xiao Chengjun stopped in his tracks, turned around, and coldly stared at his servant, “If you don’t speak, and I don’t speak, how will the palace know?”

Noticing his master’s anger, Nan Zhu hung his head and did not dare speak further.

Ah, his young master was perfect in every way, except for his stubbornness. Once he took a dislike to someone, he would try to find any way to make their life miserable.

He prayed that Jiang family’s mother and daughter would make it home safely and preferably never cross paths with his young master again.

A few days later, Xiao Chengjun’s ship finally arrived in Luzhou.

As he had been delayed on the journey, he arrived just after his older brother, Xiao Mo, returned home.

His stepmother’s son Xiao Chengyu ran over, standing at a distance, curious and staring at his two elder brothers.

Xiao Mo came over and patted his head, then went straight into their father’s study.

At five years old, Xiao Chengyu glanced at his second brother, saw he didn’t interact with him, snorted, and didn’t bother with him. He ran that his elder brother into the room.

Xiao Chengjun thought briefly and then entered his father’s study.

An hour later, the two brothers emerged from the study having finished talking to their father.

Xiao Mo glanced at his younger brother and asked, “Did you send the Jiang family back?”

“Yes.” Xiao Chengjun nonchalantly responded, “I sent someone to take them back.”

Xiao Mo nodded his head and walked towards the outside, “You should come with me to Zhechong Prefecture to report, we’ll arrange your duties there, then we can discuss other things.”

As they walked out of Moon Gate, Xiao Mo faced his brother, “You are still young. Consult a few people before taking any action to avoid mistakes.”

“Yes!” Xiao Chengjun replied, “I will certainly be cautious in my actions.”

He came to gain experience and naturally couldn’t afford to make mistakes in official matters, otherwise he would fail the assessment and it would be in vain.

As for Yingbao and her companions, they finally reached the dock of Qinchuan County a few days later.

After getting off the boat, Yingbao found a post station to send out the letters she had written.

Previously on the ship, she borrowed Li Xu’s pen and ink to make a list of all the money and gifts she had received in the Imperial Palace. She also wrote down another list of the expensive items she had seen in Beijing, including those she had taken a liking to but didn’t buy. She then stuffed all these lists into an envelope, placed it in a waterproof pouch, and sent it using Li Xu’s identity as a scholar.

She estimated that the prince would receive it soon.

If he didn’t, it was all right, after all, she had written many copies. When officials came to buy medicines from her, she could have them take the letter back with them then.

Actually, the truly valuable items were all stored in her cave dwelling. In those boxes were nothing more than irrelevant clothing and shoes.

That’s right, there were also lots of fruits and dry food. With such hot weather, they must have gone bad in the boxes.

The group of five hired two mule carts and set off early in the morning. By noon, they returned to Dongchen Village.

Just as she had sent Li Xu and his mother to their school, she saw her brother, Jiang Wu, running over.

“Mother! Mother! Sister! You all have returned…” Jiang Wu hugged his mother, Chunniang, and started to sob.

Chunniang held her son and asked with a choked voice, “Is everything at home okay? Where’s your father?”

“Father has gone to the fields, I’ll go call him!” Jiang Wu struggled to extricate himself from his mother’s arms.

Chunniang let go of her son and watched him dash off.

Yingbao told Li Xu, “You and your mother will live here in the future. Feel free to use anything in the house. I’ll send over some more food later.”

“Thank you, young doctor.” Li Xu helped his mother sit down on a stone bench in the school courtyard, then he ran to open the house door.

The house was spacious, fully furnished, even wooden cabinets for clothes were provided.

The kitchen was equipped with pots and utensils, though the iron pot was a bit rusty and the bowl cabinet and water tank were full of dust.

Even so, it was still way better than his own home.

He will fetch water to clean up everything later, then this place will become his home.

After Chunniang and the coachman unloaded Li Xu’s and his mother’s belongings, they led Yingbao home.

Chen Zhao had gotten off the cart when they passed through Xichen Village and ran home with his bag. The entrance of Chen’s house still had red paper door gods pasted on it, indicating some kind of celebration.

Entering their own courtyard, Chunniang unloaded everything from the cart. After paying the fare, the two coachmen left with their carts.

Jiang Wu and Jiang Liu, heard the noise and ran over.

The old lady saw Yingbao and held her tightly, calling her, “my darling,” incessantly.

“My darling girl, why have you become thinner?”

Jiang Liu stroked Yingbao’s cheek, lamenting, “You must have suffered out there, haven’t you?”

Yingbao shook her head with a grin, “I didn’t suffer, I even earned quite a lot of reward money.”

As she spoke, she took two silver bracelets from her bag and handed them to her grandmother, “I bought these from Beijing. They’re the latest design. Try them on.”

The small gifts she bought for her family weren’t listed on the inventory, which made her feel safe to bring them out. If someone came to investigate, she would have her explanation ready.

Jiang Lao Han asked, “Yingbao, is the noble person’s illness cured?”

“Yes.” Yingbao: “I also told the nobleman about our village and asked him to order the release of Grandfather Chen’s family. He’s agreed.”

Although Murong Xian agreed, the pardon documents or letters still needed the Emperor’s approval. This had to be relayed down from the Zhongshu Province, so it was a slow process.

Jiang Lao Han heaved a sigh, “No wonder the Lizheng came to notify Chen Clan Leader to go to the County Government yesterday afternoon. It seems they’re not going to execute them, but rather to bring their people back.”

Jiang Liu said, “Indeed, the moment the Lizheng arrived, he scared the Clan Leader of the Chens to death. Early this morning, the Chen Clan Leader and his wife were sobbing their way to the County Government, sigh, who knows what their status is now?”

As they were speaking, Jiang Sanlang returned.

“Father! Father!” Yingbao waved at her father.

Jiang Sanlang ran over in a few steps, lifted his daughter in his arms, his eyes filled with tears of excitement, “Bao’er, you’ve all come back.”

He glanced at his wife and held back his desire to embrace her in public.