Traveling to an ancient peasant family: I got rich by doing business

The beautiful woman was still sitting in the carriage, she was talking to the snack vendor through the curtain. The coachman was standing on the side, with a jade plaque with the word "戚" hanging around his waist, and a plum blossom-patterned "戚" flag fluttering in the wind, very conspicuous.

Li Yu watched quietly, without going up to talk to her, but asked the lady next to her about the woman's identity.

"I don't know her, I've never seen her before." The old lady muttered, "She seems to have just appeared these days. Girl, why are you asking her?"

"I just think this lady is pretty and want to know what kind of rouge she uses." Li Yu lied without changing his expression, turned aside and continued to follow in a hidden place.

She was lucky today because the woman was shopping and the car was moving very slowly, so she was able to keep up.

Finally, she watched the carriage enter a small courtyard in the east of the city.

There was no house number in the yard. Li Yu observed for a while, noted the location and left. She didn't plan to ask other people about the woman's situation. If she asked too many people, it would be too conspicuous and easy to be discovered. She thought of other ways.

*

It was Li Yayi's turn to be on duty today. He took his brothers for a walk on the street and bought some braised meat on the way back.

As soon as he took a bite, he frowned in dissatisfaction. This braised meat was really disgusting, without any taste at all. It was far from the one made by Boss Li from Huangmei Town.

Next time he goes to Huangmei Town, he must buy some braised meat, buy more!

Li Yayi was just thinking about it when he heard someone calling him.

He turned his head and almost spit out the meat the next moment. He just thought of Boss Li, and then this man stood in front of him. He really didn't know what to say.

Letting the brothers go back first, Li Yayi stopped and talked to Li Yu.

"How have you been lately, sir?" Li Yu greeted familiarly.

"Not bad." Li looked behind Li Yu and saw that there was no cart, so he knew that she didn't bring the braised meat. He felt a little disappointed. "Why did you come to the county? Did the people from Liujia Village bully you again?"

"No, your majesty scared them away. After that day, they didn't dare to come to my house again." Li Yu complimented him and then said, "I sent my younger brother to take the county exam today. He entered the examination room and I was walking around the city. Who knew I would meet you, what a coincidence."

Li Yayi knew that Han Zheng was going to take the imperial examination. In addition to this time, he had dealt with Li Yu three times and naturally understood the basic situation of her family. However, he did not expect that Han Zheng would take part in it this year.

If he had talent and could pass the imperial examination in the future... Li Yayi's attitude towards Li Yu improved. It would be beneficial for him to make friends with scholars.

*

Li Yu exchanged a few pleasantries with Li Yayi and then invited him to have tea in a teahouse not far away.

Li, the servant, was thirsty and agreed immediately.

The two sat down in the lobby of the teahouse. Li Yu ordered some fine tea and snacks and chatted with him. After chatting for about a quarter of an hour, Li Yu said, "I have heard people say that a high official from the capital has come to Jiangyang County these past two days. Sir, is that person really there? Why didn't I see him?"

Li Yayi didn't take the question seriously. He took a sip of tea and said, "There is indeed such a person, but he is not from the capital, nor is he a high-ranking official. He is from Nanzhou Prefecture. He is a gentleman and is said to be very famous among scholars. Our Jiangyang County is not famous. What are the high-ranking officials from the capital doing here?"

Then why did the traveling merchant say he was from the capital? He even said it in a very convincing way.

Could it be that those pursuers deliberately made up a lie in order to find Qi Yue?

Li Yu was startled and decided to be more careful.

"By the way." Li Yu poured a cup of tea for Li Yayi. "I met a very beautiful woman in town today. She was about the same age as me. I wonder which family she was from." As she spoke, she described the woman's appearance.

Li Yayi said: "You must be talking about Miss Shen. She is the daughter of Mr. Shen in the county. She used to live in the south and just came back recently. In our Jiangyang County, there is no one more beautiful than Miss Shen."

After he said this, someone outside called Li Yayi, and Li Yayi immediately stood up and ran out to see.

It turned out that it was the county magistrate who was looking for him.

"Boss Li, I have something else to do, so I'll leave first." Li, the yamen servant, bowed.

Li Yu said, "I am sorry to bother you, sir. If you have something to do, you can leave. I will stay for a while. The tea here is much better than the one in Huangmei Town."

Li Yayi didn't suspect anything and ran away quickly. Li Yu sat for a while and then got up and left.

If that woman was really the Miss Shen mentioned by Li Yayi, then she had to be even more careful. Otherwise, why would she, with the surname Shen, use the flag of the Duke Dingguo's Mansion?

Yesterday, when she was steaming buns, she saw that Qi Yue was fine, so she asked him to draw their family flag. Qi Yue's painting skills were limited, so naturally the painting was not very good, but he drew the basic shape, the same as the one hanging on the woman's carriage.

*

When she returned home at noon, Li Yu did not hide what happened today and told him everything she saw and heard.

Hearing Li Yu's description of the jade plaque and the flag with the word "Qi" on it, Qi Yue excitedly said that they were from his family, but after Li Yu described the woman's appearance, he hesitated.

"I don't have a very pretty teenage sister in my family." That was his aunt, who was also 25 years old this year. And his aunt looked different from the person Sister Li was talking about.

Li Yu: "Then the news we heard in the town is most likely false. The carriage and the jade token are also traps."

Qi Yue's eyelids drooped. It had been more than a month. Why hadn't his family come to see him yet?

The longing that had been pent up in his heart for a long time suddenly burst out, and Qi Yue sobbed, tears streaming down his face.

Li Yu hurriedly wiped his tears, "Your mother loves you so much, she will definitely come."

"Sister Li, can you take me to see that beautiful sister and the carriage this afternoon?" He wanted to confirm it with his own eyes.

Li Yu: "Okay, but you have to promise me that no matter whether she is or not, you have to stay calm."

Qi Yue: “Yeah!”

*

In the afternoon, Li Yu pulled the carriage, pretending to be an ordinary shopper, and took Qi Yue to the street outside the courtyard where the woman lived.

There was a wonton vendor on the street, so she ordered a bowl and ate it slowly.

After eating, he went to the small teahouse next door to buy a pot of tea, sat by the half-open window, ate melon seeds while paying attention to the movements in the courtyard. As for Qi Yue, he stayed in the carriage the whole time to avoid being discovered.

After waiting for more than an hour since the end of noon, the woman finally came out.

This time she did not take a carriage, but walked, probably to avoid suspicion, she wore a visor on her head. The man who accompanied her was not the groom from the morning, but a handsome man.

The moment Li Yu saw the man for the first time, all his doubts about the woman disappeared, and he was immediately sure that the woman was a member of the gang that was hunting Qi Yue, because the man standing next to the woman was the man with a notch on his right ear.

*

Because he had prepared himself mentally in advance, even though he was sure that the woman was not a member of the Qi family and everything was a trap, Li Yu was not too upset. He just spent some effort to comfort Qi Yue.

Only after he cried himself to sleep did she go to the yard to rest.

At the same time, in the examination room of the county exam, Han Zheng put away his finished papers, spread out his blanket, and prepared to sleep. Not far from him, the county magistrate who was inspecting the exam looked at him with an inexplicable expression.