The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 85

"At that time, your father was the registrar of Wuyang. During his tenure, the military governor of Caizhou rebelled. Your father refused to associate with the rebels and resigned his post to return to the court. Afterwards, the court promoted him to the position of registrar of Xiangcheng. The emperor personally bestowed upon him a scarlet fish-shaped pouch. At that time, he was famous both inside and outside the court and was highly praised."

Alas, I never imagined that he would later fall ill and die here in Liuzhou. If you hadn't come looking for him, how many people would still know about this?

Although Zhao Laizhang had heard his mother recount his father's glorious past many times since childhood, he couldn't help but burst into tears again when a stranger mentioned those events.

How have you been staying here these past few days?

“I usually stay at a Han Chinese family's house surnamed Chai outside the city,” Zhao Laizhang replied, wiping away his tears.

"Do you lack money these days?"

The saying goes, "A poor family needs money on the road." When traveling, money is needed everywhere, and the expenses will certainly be considerable.

"Thank you for your kindness, Master Liu. I am not short of money. When I passed through Dingxiang City, a kind-hearted gentleman surnamed Zhang gave me ten taels of silver and some copper coins, and I still have more than half left. However, I am not sure how long I will need to stay here, so I dare not spend it carelessly."

"Oh, I'm relieved. Ten taels of silver is quite a lot. It seems you're in good luck and have a benefactor. Could you be a member of the Zhang family in Dingxiang City?" Liu Zongyuan guessed.

“It doesn’t seem so,” Zhao Laizhang replied. “One of my benefactor’s sworn brothers runs a restaurant in the south of Dingxiang City. I stayed there for one night. The young man surnamed Zhang lived in the backyard, so he should not be from a prominent family.”

In his view, most family members cherish their reputation and are unwilling to be too closely associated with business matters, at least on the surface.

"Well, you can stay at the government post station here. Search around the city and beyond; you might run into someone who knows the truth."

I will also arrange for the yamen runners to post notices inside and outside the city and in various counties to inform the villagers of this matter; perhaps there will be some success.” Liu Gong explained his next arrangements.

Although he was demoted as the governor, he was still the head of a prefecture and still had some power, which could save Zhao Laizhang some money.

"Thank you very much, Master Liu. I am deeply grateful." Zhao Laizhang stood up and bowed.

If the government issues a public notice, those who see it will naturally pay special attention to the matter, making it easier to spread the word and greatly increasing the chances of finding the burial site.

On the afternoon of the Dragon Boat Festival, the crowd that had gone out to watch the dragon boat races returned. Xu Tian immediately saw Wang Anping, who was leading the group, approaching with a joyful expression. He couldn't help but feel a little strange. Were the dragon boat races really that exciting?

“Xu Tian,” Wang Anping said, walking over quickly, “Zhenniang is pregnant.”

Xu Tian was slightly taken aback, then realized that the steward's mother was pregnant, which was truly a joyous occasion.

"This is truly a joyous occasion, congratulations!" Xu Tian patted Anping on the shoulder and offered his congratulations.

Wang Anping grinned and said, "That's not all the good news, Ma Yuan's wife is pregnant too."

Xu Tian was stunned again. This was too coincidental; the shop was celebrating two happy occasions today.

"Congratulations to the people of Mayuan as well!"

With two happy events happening at once, the shop naturally had to celebrate them.

Xu Tian later learned how the good news was discovered. It turned out that Ma Yuan's wife felt something was wrong with her body that day, and on her way back in the afternoon, she went to a specialized medical clinic for a diagnosis, which is how she found out she was pregnant.

The stewardess who accompanied them also underwent a check-up and was discovered to be pregnant as well.