Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Because he was somewhat involved in the robbery, Xia Yu felt deeply guilty about the people who were killed that night. Although they bought the grain for the villagers, Xia Yu still felt uneasy.

Since the weather had warmed up, it would be impossible to keep the body alive if each family held a funeral separately. So the villagers discussed it and decided that several families would handle the funeral together.

Zhang Youtie's family offered one hundred taels of silver as condolence money to each of the families who died in the banditry, and the families who received the money expressed their deepest gratitude to Zhang Youtie. However, Xia Yu knew that this amount of money was insufficient to make up for the pain of those families who had lost their fathers and mothers, and it would be even more difficult to soothe the grief of families who had lost their sons.

After this incident, the patrolmen no longer dared to be careless. Before the summer harvest, they spent their days either working in the fields or practicing diligently, patrolling the village conscientiously every day.

Moreover, what happened here has attracted the attention of other nearby villages, and now patrol teams have been established in each village. Fortunately, various wild vegetables have now grown, and elm seeds and locust flowers are also coming to market. Although many families have run out of food, they can still make ends meet with these things and not starve to death.

The gloomy atmosphere in Zhangjia Village only improved after the summer grain harvest. Seeing the wheat being stored away, many people's faces showed long-lost smiles.

Just when Xia Yu thought all her worries were over, Shen Jingheng from the capital suddenly sent a letter, urging Xia Yu to go to the capital immediately. Moreover, she was to take Shen Luo with her this time, and Xia Yu was absolutely required to protect Shen Luo's safety.

Upon seeing the contents of the letter, Xia Yu was dumbfounded. He was being asked to protect Shen Luo's safety? Was Shen Jingheng out of his mind? He had so many bodyguards at his disposal, yet he wanted her to protect Shen Luo?

Just as Xia Yu was puzzled, Li Taifu arrived at the Zhang family home escorted by a group of people, including Shen Luo and Chang Yun.

In the study, Li Taifu's words surprised everyone present.

"What? The First Prince has passed away?" Zhang Youtie slumped into his armchair, unable to recover for a long time.

"How is the Emperor?" Xia Yu asked anxiously.

"I heard that His Majesty has vomited blood twice, and I'm afraid his days are numbered." Grand Tutor Li's deep voice was filled with sorrow, after all, the Emperor was the child he had watched grow up.

"The Emperor has no sons; the world is likely to descend into chaos!" Zhang Youtie murmured.

"Grand Tutor, given the current situation, the capital may not be safe. Why did the Lord still allow you and Xiaxia to go to the capital together?" Zhang Youtie suddenly asked.

"..." Li Taifu did not speak in response to Zhang Youtie's question, but only glanced at Xia Yu.

"Dad, you can go out first. I need to talk to Grandpa for a bit," Xia Yu said weakly as she sat down in her chair to Zhang Youtie.

“Xiaxia, you…” Zhang Youtie was worried.

"Father, you can go out now. Your daughter is fine. Grandpa won't hurt her," Xia Yu replied in a deep voice.

Although Zhang Youtie was very worried, he also knew that Li Taifu loved his daughter even more than his own father did.

After Zhang Youtie left the room, Grand Tutor Li sat down next to Xia Yu and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"Xiaxia, Luo'er is the Emperor's son."

So unexpected was the news that Xia Yu's pupils constricted in shock. She was speechless for a long time before finally finding her voice.

"Therefore, Lord Shen asked me to protect Luo'er well and escort him to the capital."

Grand Tutor Li looked at Xia Yu and nodded solemnly.

"Zecheng (Shen Jingheng's courtesy name) said that you have a magical artifact that can hide things. He doesn't know if this artifact can hide people. If it can, he hopes that you can hide Luo'er in it and bring her to the capital."

Seeing Xia Yu hesitate, he dropped another bombshell.

"The death of the eldest prince was not an accident. That person wanted to destroy the emperor's hopes, leave him childless, and ultimately cause the throne to fall into the wrong hands."

After seeing the shocked expression on Xia Yu's face, he continued...

“Several princes of the imperial clan are not behaving themselves in their territories. They are arbitrarily increasing taxes, plundering the people, and strengthening their own armies. Among the various forces, the Prince of Ding’an is the most powerful. He is treacherous, narrow-minded, cruel, and tyrannical. He is not a good candidate to be a ruler. If he ascends the throne, the people of the world will never have a peaceful life again.”

“Prince Ding’an, Prince Ding’an, why does this name sound so familiar? It's like I’ve heard it somewhere before.” Xia Yu couldn’t remember when she last heard news about the prince mentioned by the Grand Tutor.

Seeing Xia Yu lower her head in silence, seemingly deep in thought, Grand Tutor Li stopped speaking. He knew that this matter was indeed too sudden for her, and she should think it over carefully.

Having said all that needed to be said, Grand Tutor Li did not disturb Xia Yu's contemplation and quietly got up and left the room.

"So it was him! I remember now." Xia Yu looked up excitedly, only to find that she was the only one left in the room. Li Taifu had left sometime earlier.

The second time their family bought people, Zhao Mancang and Aunt Zhou, weren't they from the territory of the Prince of Ding'an in the Southern Province? Their explanation at the time was that they fled to escape the Prince of Ding'an's ever-increasing taxes, coupled with crop failure. However, they were robbed of all their possessions shortly after leaving their prefecture. Having no other choice, they sold themselves at a brokerage firm, which is how their family bought them back.

I remember thinking at the time that those robbers were probably people sent by the Prince of Ding'an in disguise.