Priceless: A widow with a baby asks the prince to marry again

The large ship was travelling with the wind at a very high speed and soon even the entire shore was out of sight.

But Liu Rusi and Chu Shiyu on the boat were more united than ever before, both were dissatisfied with the old Taoist priest!

"That Taoist priest is disheveled, totally unlike the immortal demeanor of the master of Baitian Temple as described by others." Chu Shiyu narrowed his eyes, afraid that he was not trying to deceive people. Yue Qianzhang was just a blind cat that caught a dead mouse! He deliberately left some ambiguous notes to lure people into taking the bait! He was so nervous that he was still suspicious!

"Look at him riding lazily on the cow's back, and I can't tell where he is going or in which direction." Liu Rusi's expression was cold. This old man seemed leisurely and didn't seem to be doing any serious work. How could she be at ease leaving a child that young there and not take care of him for a whole year!

Chu Shiyu and Liu Rusi exchanged a glance, and then he said in a deep voice: "Why don't I send a small boat back to find the person, and ask the old Taoist if you have any doubts."

Do you really want to arrest him? But it's better to arrest him. Even if he can't be taken back to Baitian Temple, we can understand in person what kind of mentality he has to wander around outside for a year without going back. Liu Rusi nodded in agreement.

Seeing that she agreed with him, Chu Shiyu's unhappiness suddenly turned into joy. It was a rare feeling to be on the same front with her. In another sense, it made them closer?

The small boat carrying a man and a horse quickly reached the shore, and then the man rode back on the horse, looking for the old Taoist priest who rode the cow.

Chu Shiyu ordered his men to take down the sails and reduce the speed, and then several people sat down in the barge, drinking tea while waiting for the guards to bring people back.

However, after waiting for half an hour, they saw the same man and his horse galloping back alone. The man bent his bow and drew his arrow, which hit the side of the ship. Immediately, a guard stepped forward to take down the arrow and handed it to Chu Shiyu.

Chu Shiyu frowned slightly and took off the note tied to the arrow.

"We arrived at the dock but did not see any bulls, let alone the bull rider. We have ordered the dock officers to search for them but have not found any so far. I am reporting back now."

"Didn't find it?" Liu Rusi asked doubtfully.

Chu Shiyu lowered his eyes and frowned in confusion. "It took only a moment from the time I met the Taoist priest to the time I sent out the boat. It would also take only a moment to rush back to that place. The Taoist priest didn't seem to be in a hurry to run away, so how could he not find it?"

"Perhaps the old Taoist has walked into the nearby forests. It doesn't matter if we can't find him. He is someone we have never met." Liu Rusi thought that he was deeply troubled by the prophecy note, and couldn't help but comfort him: "I don't know much about your past, but just hearing a little bit makes me feel refreshed. How can your life be framed by just a dozen words?"

Chu Shiyu raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, but his eyes were still lowered and his expression could not be seen clearly...

Seeing that he was no longer bitter and resentful, Liu Rusi stopped comforting him and turned to Mei Hong and said, "Please ask Doctor Ma to come over for me. It's a rare opportunity to be on a boat, so I can ask him for medical advice."

"Yes." Mei Hong was already familiar with this job and immediately turned around to ask for help.

Chu Shiyu rubbed his fingers and quietly looked up at Liu Rusi, whose attention was no longer on him. He was secretly annoyed. Why didn't she say a few more words of comfort?

I should blame myself for not suppressing my joy just now, and my frown relaxed too quickly...

He sent a message to the guards on the shore, asking them to continue searching nearby. However, Chu Shiyu no longer took the old Taoist priest to heart. There was no news of flooding in the upper reaches recently, and there was no sign of heavy rain in this section. It would be difficult for the remaining few days on the river to cause any more waves. He would avoid the more dangerous lower reaches of the river, and might take the Huai River, which had less flood conditions. Moreover, he would not take the Huai River unless necessary.

Thousands of miles away in the southwest, there was a quiet and peaceful mountain villa a little further away from Jinyan City. At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

The door creaked open, and the gateman of the villa, although dressed as a servant, asked politely and humbly, "Brother, do you have any important business to visit Heguang Academy?"

"I'm the postman from Jinyan City. I have a letter to send to Yue Qianzhang of Heguang Academy. Your academy is so hard to find..." the postman complained.

"A letter from Director Yue?" The concierge hurriedly took the letter from the courier, took out a dime of silver with his other hand and handed it over, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, brother. The courier who came before you all look familiar. Were you newly assigned to this area?"

"I just arrived here this year and have never been to Jinyan City before. However, your academy is indeed remote. I rode my horse around the mountain for half an hour before I saw a small path."

The messenger reluctantly but firmly pushed away the small change. They often received secret messages, and the most taboo thing was to accept gifts from others. Otherwise, once there was suspicion of leaking secrets, the money received might become dirty and difficult to wash away... But fortunately, the monthly salary for this job was not low, and each delivery would receive an additional subsidy based on the situation.

The concierge stopped handing out small change and instead said with a smile, "Thank you for taking up so much time and effort. Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea and rest for a while?"

"I... will just sit at the door for a while. You can quickly give the letter to your dean! If he wants to find a place, I have walked around Jinyan City in the past two months. He can ask me. Maybe I know how to get there." The messenger took great effort to say the instructions from his superiors naturally...

The concierge was full of doubts. Why did the messenger speak so strangely? He had just arrived in Jinyan. Why did he think the dean needed to ask him for directions? The concierge became alert and stopped inviting the messenger in. He just let him sit outside the door and told him that he didn't need to say hello if he wanted to leave - meaning he should leave quickly.

"Master, there is a letter for you." The servant handed the letter to the old man sitting in front of the desk with both hands.

"Just leave it there."

The old man then finished marking the test paper in front of him, then picked up the letter on the desk. He frowned slightly when he saw the lacquer seal on it, and then opened the letter as usual.

As soon as he unfolded it and saw the handwriting on it, he was somewhat surprised and picked up the envelope to take a closer look. Sure enough, there was the same handwriting on it, which read: ...Heguang Academy, to Mr. Yue Qianzhang.

"Father, why are you so happy?" A thin man approached and asked. The man had an elegant temperament, but some black scabs on his face affected his appearance.

Yue Qianzhang smiled and handed over the letter in his hand and said, "Ziqian, come and take a look at this."

Yue Ziqian took the letter, took a quick look at it and showed a little appreciation, saying: "Although it doesn't have the handwriting of a master, it is clean and clear, and very pleasing to the eye."

"In this world, the most difficult thing is to be clean and clear!" Yue Qianzhang sighed slightly, and then continued: "The font is straight and not slanted, showing its character, but the turning point is not hard and the pen tip is not good, which shows that it is gentle and does not like disputes... It is always said that the handwriting reflects the person, but this time I don't know where I made a mistake."

"Why do you say that, father?" Yue Ziqian read a few lines and knew that this was Mrs. Liu, who his father was talking about and who had done them a favor.

"Alas, although Madam Liu has done us a great favor, deep down, I always suspect that she is a cunning person who uses her beauty to seduce her master. The advice she gave that day was also opportunistic..."

Yue Qianzhang said with some shame: "But look at her calligraphy, it has no fancy techniques, how can it be charming and pleasing?"

"Father, you read the words right, but you read the person wrong."

Yue Ziqian smiled brightly, handed over the letter and said, "Madam Liu said that it was inconvenient for her to go to the capital to manage the affairs of the southwest, and she modestly said that she was not well-educated and could not take on the responsibility of the academy. Then she mentioned her origin, a remote mountain village east of Jinyan City, and her uncle was worried about the two elderly and two children in the family and her unreliable biological father. Madam Liu was worried that her uncle would be overworked, so she asked us to visit him occasionally on his behalf."

Yue Qianzhang read the contents of the letter carefully, and soon he said with shame, "I got the wrong person! This person is obviously a reasonable person! A person who is considerate and caring!"

However, as he watched, the other expressions on Yue Qianzhang's face disappeared, leaving only confusion and solemnity, and the wrinkles on his face left by the years became deeper and deeper.

"But what difficult things are written in the second half? Why is it so solemn?" Yue Ziqian had not finished reading the letter.

Yue Qianzhang put the letter down, thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Madam Liu asked us not to mention Prince Duan in the village. If anyone asks about the people around her, we should conceal Prince Duan's identity and name, saying that we are not familiar with him and only know his name is Qin Yi. Or someone might think that Qin Yi is her husband Qin Lie... Don't agree or refute."

"Madam Liu is not the concubine of Prince Duan? What does this mean?" Yue Ziqian read it carefully several times, but still could not figure out Madam Liu's intention.

Yue Qianzhang frowned and stood up and said, "Let's go to Dongshan Village now. Maybe we will know when we get there."

The father and son surnamed Yue quickly prepared their carriage and walked out of the Heguang Academy. A man dressed as a messenger approached them and asked eagerly, "Is it Dean Yue who is going out? Where are you going? I am the messenger who just delivered the letter. If it is convenient for you, how about we go together?"

The father and son looked at each other calmly, and Yue Ziqian said, "This trip is to Jinyan City for some important business. If you want to go back to the city, you can come with me."

"Go to the city?!" The messenger was obviously embarrassed. His superior brought instructions along with several letters, saying that if people from Heguang Academy wanted to go to Dongshan Village, he could lead the way for them, but they didn't need to ask explicitly.

Why the master gave such an order was not for him to consider. All he had to do was obey the order... But what should he do now? Should he wait for them every day to go to Dongshan Village?

Yue Ziqian observed his expression and said, "We may have to go somewhere else, so we can only go halfway together."

The messenger calmed down again and said with a simple smile: "Then let's go together. I still have a package to deliver. Maybe we will go the same way!"

The postman was very comfortable with this. He could really go with them at any time. He had brought the local specialties that his master had asked him to prepare, and he could just send them over in the name of Madam Liu. His master had already instructed that one or two people would go to Dongshan Village regularly in the future to secretly take care of the family in Dongshan Village, but they were not allowed to publicize the address of Dongshan Village.

The father and son looked at each other again, and Yue Ziqian smiled and said, "Then let's go down the mountain together. The carriages and horses of the academy are all ready at the foot of the mountain."

The mountain where Heguang Academy is located is very high, but the academy is only located on the flat part of the lower mountainside, so there are only a few steps to reach the foot of the mountain.

Along the way, the father and son did not talk to the postman. The postman led out the horse tied in the woods, and the father and son got on the simple but stable carriage and headed towards the official road in the south.

"Father, what do you think is strange about this messenger?" Yue Ziqian asked his father who was in the same car with him in a low voice.

Yue Qianzhang was a retired official from the imperial court, so he still had a lot of experience. "There is a seal of Prince Duan on the envelope. He will not let anyone take it over casually with this seal."

Upon hearing this, Yue Ziqian also reacted and asked quietly: "Then this messenger is Prince Duan's man?"

Yue Qianzhang nodded silently. The last thing he wanted to do since his retirement was to have anything to do with these supreme rulers...but he had nothing to do with this Prince Duan before, but now he is involved.