Divorced woman with child travels through time

Chapter 295 Is it worth it?

Both Brother Nie and the refugees were very satisfied.

On the training ground, Chen Xuanyu and Xiao Hao and the other children were practicing darts like crazy. Ever since Chen Wenfang was taken away, the children have been in a diligent and hardworking atmosphere. Every morning they practice martial arts for an hour, in the afternoon they practice darts for an hour, and in the evening they practice standing meditation for half an hour. Chen Xuanyu took the lead, and as he led the way, all the children followed suit on their own. Because of this, Aunt Liu, who cooks, specially asked Uncle Liu Hai to bring back twenty piglets this year, because these kids can eat so much.

After bringing the piglet home, Da Xiong saw that the adults in the family were busy in the fields, taking care of all the pigs, chickens, and ducks, and working very late every day. So, during dinner, he volunteered to stop practicing his martial arts and take charge of taking care of the poultry on the farm.

Brother Nie disagreed, saying that the children were the future of the village and that adults could take care of them.

But Da Xiong persisted, and Shi Tou looked on with some heartache and said, "What are you doing? You're clearly the most diligent and hardworking when it comes to practicing! You even said that you'd like to find Chu Yi after you've mastered the skills, and that you want to join the army and become a general in the future."

Everyone looked at him. After hesitating for a moment, Da Xiong finally spoke up, "There are so many of us. We can't just eat and not work."

With rice in his mouth, Chen Xuanyu thoughtfully said, "How about this, from now on, all of our children will spend half an hour every day cutting pig feed, feeding the chickens and ducks, and helping with the work."

In the past month or so, he has come to understand a lot. Everyone looks at him with pity, but only he knows what his mother sacrificed. He wants to grow up quickly and find his mother.

Big Bear nodded happily.

Uncle Liu and Brother Nie exchanged a glance and smiled. They were both pleased to see that Chen Xuanyu had grown up and knew how to help with chores at home.

In the military camp, Wang Hanyang was scolding Dazhuang, "You child, how could you help him cover it up? Tell me quickly, when did he leave, and how long has he been gone?"

Wang Hanyang raised his hand, wanting to hit him but unable to bring himself to do it.

Dazhuang knelt with his head down, remaining silent, and muttered, "I won't say anything. If you want to hit me, hit me. He left the camp without permission, so I'll take the punishment for him."

Wang Hanyang sighed deeply and helped him up. "Never mind, he was just trying to save his mother." It turned out that Chu Yi had heard somewhere that Chen Wenfang had been taken away and had left the camp without permission.

Lu Xiong came in and said, "That brat Chu Yi has probably been on the run for three days now. He must have found out about us at the restaurant when he went to town to buy supplies. What do we do now? Can we catch him?"

"They've gone too far, we can't catch them. Forget it, let's just focus on leading our troops well. By the way, have the rewards been issued yet?" Wang Hanyang asked.

"I got a captain's position, but that bastard Yang Shouzhen demanded two hundred taels of silver as a wager before giving me the documents. Damn it, I'll definitely kill him later." Lü Xiong said indignantly.

"Don't rush things. Having a title makes things easier, but he'll get his comeuppance eventually," Wang Hanyang advised. "This is only temporary. Didn't he say he'd be promoted once he reported the success in suppressing the bandits?"

"Brother trusts him? I reckon he'd only promote my second brother if he got promoted himself..."

“That’s fine too. If we don’t send him away, how can we get ahead? And if we don’t get ahead, how can we protect the people below us?” Wang Hanyang said thoughtfully.

"It's going to cost a lot of money..." Lu Xiong felt very distressed.

“What does that matter? Silver is the most useless thing. Second Brother is right. Chaos is coming. The most important thing is to have a large population and plenty of food,” Wang Hanyang said firmly.

Lu Xiong said no more. When his second brother left, he gave the silver to Wang Hanyang in front of everyone. He also said that as long as there was a promotion, no matter how much money it cost, he could buy his way up. In this way, once everyone got promoted, Lijia Town would be their root, and they had to protect their foundation.

A month has passed, and just like when he was searching for his wife before, Wang Erniu thought bitterly, perhaps he was born to bring misfortune to his wife. Why did he have to be separated from his wife and children again after only a few years of good life? Moreover, it seemed that there was some force that he could not resist that was stopping him, making him lose his clues just when he was about to touch his wife.

In the capital, Wang Erniu had no other choice. He stood wearily in front of a majestic and imposing mansion. After hesitating for a long time, he finally handed the jade token in his hand to the middle-aged old soldier guarding the gate.

"Brother, could you please pass this on and say that Wang Erniu requests an audience?"

The old soldier glanced at him sideways, took the jade token, then quickly stood up straight, saluted, and said, "Please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

Wang Erniu nodded with his head lowered; he dared not act rashly here.

A quarter of an hour later, the old soldier quickly came out of the mansion and respectfully ushered him inside, saying, "This way, please!"

Wang Erniu followed him through a side gate, passed through several courtyards, and arrived at a secluded, elegant cottage in a bamboo grove. From inside the cottage came an old voice, "Erniu, do you really think it's worth it to use such a country girl to repay this enormous favor?"

Wang Erniu knelt down and kowtowed, saying respectfully, "Your Highness, I do not regret this decision."

The aged voice laughed loudly, "Very well, you may go back now. Come here in three days, and I will give you an answer."

Wang Erniu kowtowed three times and said, "Thank you, Your Highness!" before leaving with the old soldier.

Wang Erniu had just returned to the inn.

"Uncle, you're back!" Chu Yi called out excitedly, looking travel-worn.

"How did you get here? How did you find me?" Wang Erniu asked, looking surprised.

Chu Yi lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong and said softly, "I was worried about my godmother, so I secretly caught your messenger pigeon and found you."

Wang Erniu sighed, looked at Chu Yi who was just as haggard as himself, reached out and patted his head, saying, "You've had a hard time. You're a good boy. Your godmother will be alright."

Chu Yi inexplicably burst into tears. He wiped away his tears and said, "It's okay, Uncle. I found a clue. There's a servant in Prince Zhao's Deqin Mansion that I know."

"How did you meet?" Wang Erniu asked curiously.

“That’s Xiao Ding, a former servant of Li Qingshan’s household. I met him when I was a wanderer,” Chu Yi explained earnestly.

"Good boy, how many days have you been waiting here? You've worked hard." Wang Erniu was very touched.

Chu Yi grinned and said, "It's not hard work, it won't take many days. I threatened him, if he doesn't tell me where my godmother is, I'll report him."

Wang Erniu chuckled and patted his head, pulling him down to sit. He earnestly explained, "You're sitting very well, but you're still too naive. How could a child be so lucky as to become a servant in the Prince's mansion? He must have someone backing him. If you dare threaten him, his backers will definitely not let you off the hook."