Transmigrated into a seven-year-old child, my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Lian and the others actually bought a carriage and had already set off. Now they have no idea how far they've traveled in the carriage.

Qiaodun pouted: "Mother, I want to ride in a carriage too. I don't want to walk anymore."

Li Chunhua's eyes flickered slightly as she fell into deep thought. She still had over 500 taels of silver notes on her, so buying a carriage wasn't out of the question.

Besides, the situation is much better now than before. If they were walking, it would take forever. She just didn't know if He Mu could drive a carriage.

Thinking of this, Li Chunhua turned her head and asked, "Zhaofu's father, have you ever driven a horse-drawn carriage?"

He Mu smiled, unable to contain his joy: "I've done this before, but it wasn't for long. Overall, it was fine."

Li Chunhua was overjoyed: "That's good! Let's go! Let's buy a horse-drawn carriage too."

Zhao Fu and Qiao Dun were overjoyed.

They decided to buy it without hesitation. After finding out where the livestock shop was, the group went straight there after leaving the restaurant. Finally, after some haggling, they bought a carriage for 30 taels of silver.

Afterwards, I took a stroll around the county town and bought some daily necessities, rice, flour, and cooking oil. It was getting dark.

Li Chunhua looked up at the sky and thought for a moment: "There's no rush. Let's find an inn to stay in first and continue our journey tomorrow morning."

He Mu felt a pang of heartache: "Staying at an inn will cost a lot of money. Chunhua, I don't know how much money you have left, but you have to be careful with your spending. Right now, we don't have any way to make money, and every penny we spend is a penny less."

Li Chunhua shook her head dismissively: "It's okay. Money is meant to be spent. If it's gone, we can earn it again. The key is that we can live more comfortably."

She realized that if she didn't spend the money, the banknotes were just worthless paper.

This money needs to circulate and fully utilize its characteristics. Right now, we're fleeing from disaster, living one day at a time. Who knows if we'll even live to see tomorrow's sun rise?

Besides, these necessary expenses are still necessary, and they can also ensure a more comfortable journey and speed up the travel process.

Originally, Li Chunhua had her own plans for this money. When she went to Hengnan Prefecture, she would be unfamiliar with the place and would have to start from scratch. That's when the money would come in handy.

If the imperial court provides housing, then there's nothing to worry about. If the imperial court doesn't provide accommodation, then if necessary, she can buy a house first, and then consider the rest later.

In short, having money gives you confidence; having money in hand makes you feel at ease.

There were only three inns in the county town. Li Chunhua looked around and asked about the prices. The cheapest inn charged 50 coins for a room.

The innkeeper was a short, stout middle-aged man who looked at them with indifference, despite their tattered clothes.

“Okay, we’ll take two rooms!” Li Chunhua said, preparing to take out her money.

Upon hearing that they wanted to stay at the inn, the innkeeper immediately put on a smiling face, his wrinkles so deep they could trap a fly: "Madam, you're very lucky. These two rooms are right next to each other in a superb location."

He Mu's eyes widened: "50 copper coins a night? That's too expensive!" He Mu shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, Chunhua, let's not stay at this inn."

Seeing that He Mu and his companions were dressed in tattered clothes, looking like they couldn't afford a place to stay, the innkeeper had no intention of taking them in.

Hearing He Mu's words, the shopkeeper became even more impatient, looking down on them with disdain and sizing them up and down.

With an impatient look on his face, he said, "This is the cheapest inn in this county. If you can't afford it, you'd better leave now so you don't block other people's way."

"I don't have many empty rooms left in my inn, only two, and there are plenty of people vying for them! If you can't afford them, you'd better leave now!"

Hearing that there were only two rooms left, Li Chunhua became even more anxious. Just as she was about to say something, she heard someone behind her ask, "Manager, do you have any rooms left?"

Li Chunhua turned around and saw that the person who asked the question was a young man. She hurriedly said, "No more, no more! I've already booked the last two rooms. You'll have to look elsewhere!"

The man was somewhat disappointed when he learned that the last two rooms had been booked by the woman in front of him. He looked at Li Chunhua with a pleading expression and said, "Auntie, my wife is six months pregnant. Please, have mercy and give us one of the rooms."

Only then did Li Chunhua notice that behind the man was a young woman, heavily pregnant, who looked to be seven or eight months along.

Li Chunhua got annoyed: "Who's your aunt? You're making me sound so old! Besides, there's a proper order to things."

The man looked a little embarrassed after being scolded by Li Chunhua. His wife, who was following behind him, looked at him with exasperation and poked his head with her index finger: "You're such a blockhead!"

After saying that, he smiled apologetically at Li Chunhua and said, "Big sister, I'm really sorry, my husband is bad with words."

Hearing that the other party wanted to stay at the hotel, He Mu was secretly delighted, but he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he seemed a little embarrassed: "Chunhua, look how big her belly is. Let's not compete with her for the room. Why don't we just give it to them?"

Seeing their hesitation, the innkeeper wanted to yell at them: "Do you still want to stay or not? If not, don't bother others."

"Alright, innkeeper, we only need one room. Let them have the other one."

He Mu wasn't the only one happy to hear that Li Chunhua only wanted one guest room; the young couple was too.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, sister-in-law!"

So they only asked for one room, and there was only one bed in the room, but there were five of them. How were they supposed to arrange things?

After much deliberation, Li Chunhua decided to give the bed to Zhao Fu and Qiao Dun.

They slept on the ground. Zhao Feng and Li Chunhua were side by side, while He Mu was on the other side.

Having been fleeing famine for so long, enduring wind and rain, I'm now staying in an inn. Although I'm sleeping on the floor, it's still much better than being outside.

At least there's a roof over my head, so I can sleep peacefully.

Listening to the breathing sounds around him, He Mu tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Li Chunhua wasn't far from him, but he didn't dare to act recklessly because Qiao Dun, Zhao Fu, and Zhao Feng were also there.

During this time, he had been trying to find ways to get closer to Li Chunhua, but Li Chunhua always seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally keeping him hanging on, making him restless and uneasy.

……

It was late at night. Inside a grand and imposing mansion, Governor Chen Jing paced anxiously back and forth in his study with a solemn expression and his hands behind his back. Yao Miao, standing to the side, lowered her eyes and glanced at Chen Jing from time to time.

Chen Jing stopped and asked again with a gloomy face, "What you just said was true?"

Yao Miao, his eyes unwavering, clasped his hands in a respectful bow: "My lord, every word I have spoken is true. If there is even a single lie, may I be struck by lightning."

This was the third time Chen Jing had asked him, which showed that he was also very shocked by the matter.