Even through the carriage curtain, Mingzhu was so embarrassed she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.
This Old Cabbage Stalk is really outrageous and unreliable.
This guy is definitely doing it on purpose; he's determined to let others know about his ambiguous relationship with her, so he won't be able to get married in the future.
Wu Zhenhai may not have other skills, but he has an endless supply of these kinds of petty schemes.
Mingzhu was so angry that her face turned red. She whispered to the driver to hurry up and leave, instead of making a fool of herself by circling around here.
Wu Zhenhai watched the carriage leave, still chuckling to himself.
"You two," he said, pointing at the two men fighting, then changed his tune, "Go ask that girl who she likes. In my opinion, you're both toads trying to eat swan meat; doesn't pursuing a woman require using your brain and heart?"
"If you insist on a fight to the death, find a secluded spot and fight until you're bloodied and battered—nobody will care. Get lost!"
He was in a good mood today, so they were lucky to avoid a beating.
Wu Zhenhai mounted his horse again and headed eagerly towards the Prince's Mansion.
That little ingrate! She didn't even tell me she was leaving after all these days, almost making me a drunkard. I'm going to find her and give her a piece of my mind!
"Mingzhu, why didn't you leave?"
"Is the sea your property? Why are you meddling in other people's business?"
"The sea doesn't belong to me, it belongs to you."
"..."
As for Tang Zhuyun and Linlin, traveling day and night in the winter was truly arduous.
However, upon seeing impoverished people along the way who were barely clothed, he felt that complaining was simply pretentious.
If she had been born into or transmigrated into such a family, she would probably have died long ago.
That evening, heavy snow fell, quickly covering the ground with a thick layer.
Linlin discussed with Tang Zhuyun, "Mother, the snow is too heavy. Let's rest here in Linzhou for a day or two. At this rate, it won't delay our return to the capital for the New Year. We should be back before the Lunar New Year."
After the Lunar New Year, all the shops are closed, and it's not easy to find a place to stay or eat.
Tang Zhuyun agreed, and then Linlin fetch some silver to buy wine and meat to reward the guards.
They were the ones who suffered the most along the way.
Since the snowstorm is too heavy and we'll have to stay for a day or two, let everyone get some rest.
Linlin gave the order to have wine and food prepared.
However, he was still worried that these young guards might relax once they had wine and meat, so he kept a close eye on them and had them rotated to ensure that there were people on night patrol.
They booked all the inns in Linzhou.
Two or three hundred people were stationed to patrol the place where Tang Zhuyun lived, and these people were not allowed to drink alcohol.
Even so, after having dinner with Wen Heng in his room and talking for half the night, Linlin did not immediately return to her room to rest. Instead, she left the inn to check on the situation in other places.
Reassuringly, no one neglected their duties, and everyone drank in moderation, preventing any major incidents.
The snow fell heavier and heavier. Zhao Qing, who was beside Linlin, offered to hold an umbrella for him, but Lin Lin refused.
Zhao Qing's father was originally a valiant general, but he died on the battlefield. Linlin selected Zhao Qing from among his brothers to keep him in service.
Linlin stepped through the ankle-deep snow, the snow crunching softly.
Zhao Qing held a lantern in his hand and tucked an umbrella under his arm, carefully protecting him from the side.
Linlin suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Zhao Qing, did you hear anything?"
Zhao Qing listened intently, but could only hear the footsteps of the guards not far away.
He shouted for the guards to stop, and then, amidst the sound of wind and snow, he heard a faint sobbing.
"Young Master, I'll send someone to check."
"Um."
After a while, the guard came to report, "Young master, it was a woman with a little girl of five or six years old. They had nowhere to go under the wall... The woman is already silent..."
Linlin said, "Then help with the burial, find a new home for the little girl, give her some money... Wait, I'll leave this matter to the innkeeper later."
The innkeeper is familiar with the local area and should be able to arrange a reliable family for us.
The guard hurriedly obeyed and left.
Zhao Qing sighed repeatedly upon hearing this.
Linlin replied, "You are not allowed to mention this matter in front of Mother when we return."
"Yes."
"Let's go," Linlin said.
How many poor people are there in this world?
He could save one if he saw one, but he still saw too few.
Only by working diligently and eradicating poverty from the very foundation of the nation can the people truly be freed from the suffering of hunger and cold.
The next day, Linlin arrived early to pay her respects to Tang Zhuyun.
Tang Zhuyun was looking out the window.
Yesterday's heavy snowfall has now turned into fine, salt-like snowflakes, blanketing the land. The inn's courtyard is covered in a blanket of white, except for an old plum tree in the corner, its red plum blossoms adding a touch of warmth to the scene.
Linlin entered, carrying a vase with several plum blossoms braving the cold and snow.
Tang Zhuyun smiled and took it, "I was just thinking of cutting a few branches, but then I realized we might be leaving tomorrow, and I'd be reluctant to part with them. You've made the decision for me."
She's already starting to enjoy the blessings of having a son!
"The plum blossoms in the Prince's Mansion in our capital should be in full bloom by now," Linlin said with a light smile.
"Can we leave tomorrow?" Tang Zhuyun asked.
She recalled how, years ago, under the plum tree in the Prince's mansion, the Prince of Jin secretly pinned a flower in her hair... It really had been a long time since they last met.
"We should wait until the weather clears up before we leave," Linlin said. "Mother, let me take you for a walk."
"I'm not going," Tang Zhuyun said. "I stayed here before when I went to the border town. I know there's a Lady Shen Temple, but I'm not going to join the crowds."
The fact that another time-traveling colleague was invincible back then only serves to highlight how pathetic she is.
Others rely on their own abilities, while she relies on her man and son; it's really embarrassing to admit.
Linlin closed the window a little smaller, leaving only a narrow crack, which blocked most of the wind and snow.
"Isn't Mother curious why the ancestors of the Prince of Min's Residence's Mansion had so many gold bars stored up?"
"Hmm?" Tang Zhuyun's curiosity was immediately piqued.
Linlin said coldly, "I don't actually know either..."
Tang Zhuyun: I don't know what you're talking about...
Who has this good child learned bad habits from?
Linlin noticed her disappointment and suppressed a laugh, saying, "But I think I can guess it!"
"It's fine if you guess it, you can just make up a source, as long as it sounds nice." Tang Zhuyun said, reaching out to fiddle with the stamens of the plum blossom.
"Mother, back then, Lady Shen was incredibly wealthy, her wealth rivaled that of a nation."
"Isn't that Mianmian?" Tang Zhuyun muttered.
Mianmian gave birth to a daughter, who was one day older than Wuji.
It is said that when Huaishang gave birth to his daughter, he held her and cried his heart out.
It's not that I'm biased towards boys, but I'm just crying for him. He's already driven crazy by his own mother and wife, those two spendthrift old women, and now this triple dose of wastefulness has hit him.
What could he do? He was desperate too!
But since this is my own child, I can't just strangle him.
The Prince of Jin comforted the Huaishang, saying, "If you raise him yourself from a young age, he won't be so wasteful."
Huaishang gave his beloved daughter a name he considered to be very beautiful.