Chapter 112: Lu Miaoniang Eavesdrops on the Conversation

Cheng Su looked at his soft-hearted wife, looked at his own child who pursed his lips and said nothing, then looked at Shen Yue. After thinking for a while, he spoke to the brother and sister who were forcefully pulled up by his wife.

"Miao Jie'er, Yi Ge'er, we are a group of people that have been taken care of by your parents. It is reasonable to take you and your brother to the south. But I must say something in advance. Miao Jie'er, Yi Ge'er, you are well aware of our situation. You must have known something about the situation outside after seeing what happened last night. We cannot guarantee that we will be safe and sound on this trip. Therefore, you and your brother must think it through. If you must come with us, we can take you with us and will do our best to take care of you on the way, but we cannot guarantee your safety. What do you think?"

Xu Miaoniang's heart trembled when she heard this, but when she thought about the situation last night, and how the person in front of her was still safe and sound, and the whole family even had a dog (Desheng and Black Tornado rolled their eyes: No, we are wolves!), she strengthened her belief and nodded heavily.

Upon seeing this, the clan elders and the head of the village sighed deeply, and finally looked at the brother and sister deeply, told them to take care of themselves, and did not try to stop them. However, afterwards, when the clan members came to deliver horses to Li Yaoguang and the others, the young man took out a silver ingot of twenty taels from his arms and handed it to Xu Miaoniang.

He said, "Miao Jie'er, this is the money the clan leader and the village head asked me to give you and your brother. Please keep it."

Seeing Xu Miao Niang accept it, the young man finally couldn't bear it and couldn't help but persuade her again, "Miao Jie'er, I heard that you want to follow the young hero to settle down in the south. The journey is long and difficult, and there may be many dangers on the way. Have you really thought it through? Are you really not going to go with the tribe?"

Seeing Xu Miaoniang shaking her head silently, the young man sighed.

"Forget it, then you two should take care of yourselves. If things don't go well in the future, you should bring Brother Yi back. We will stay in the mountains behind us and won't go anywhere. You...ah, take care of yourself!"

Xu Miaoniang just nodded silently and watched the other party leave.

The ten-liang silver ingots were not big, but small and delicate. Xu Miaoniang held one in each hand and turned to enter the yard. When she passed the front yard, she could still hear General Shen, who was very handsome and capable, talking to the little girl.

"Miss Li, what are your plans next?"

"Miss Li is Miss Li, what's the small thing?"

"Ahem, sorry, Miss Li, I wonder what you are going to do next?"

"Originally, my family and I planned to go south along the canal, cross the river to Nanjing to rest, and wait and see the situation of the Qing court before settling down in the south. But the road became difficult to travel, and we went into the mountains by chance. Later, we met you by coincidence, which led to all these hardships... Logically, we should continue to go into the mountains, avoid the danger outside, and continue to go south, but..." But thinking of her uncle's leg and the conclusion given by Doctor Xu before, she became worried, "But I have to find a way to treat my uncle's leg."

After hearing Li Yaoguang's plan, Shen Yue was silent for a moment and then said, "I am grateful to Miss Li for saving my life." He remembered the life-saving grace in his heart. At this moment, there is no condition. He can only wait until later when he will repay her generously. Before that, it is best to take this family with him and protect them for a while. "Now my injuries have almost healed. According to the information I asked the villagers before, this place is not far from Wuding Prefecture. It just so happens that I have official business to go to Wuding Prefecture. How about we go together?"

Afraid that Li Yaoguang would not respond, he quickly added.

"Miss Li, Wuding Prefecture is a coastal defense fortress with sufficient troops stationed there. Hu Di is in a hurry to go south to plunder, so he may not be able to reach there in a short time. There are many good doctors in the prefecture, so I think Brother Cheng's leg can be properly treated. I can also replace the crossbow arrows you lost earlier. What do you think?"

Faced with Shen Yue's proposal, it has to be said that Li Yaoguang was very tempted, not because of the heavy garrison and crossbows, but because of the good doctor.

Li Yaoguang inexplicably thought of the jade ring that Doctor Wu stuffed into his pocket when he left Beijing. As the capital city, there must be a Qijitang there, right?
Doctor Wu’s medical skills are so superb. As fellow disciples, I think the other doctors in Qijitang should also have superb medical skills.

Thinking of this, Li Yaoguang nodded decisively, "Okay, then we will go to Wuding Prefecture." Shen Yue was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately said, "Great! Wuding Prefecture is in the southeast by the sea, and we can't take the mountain road. We need to go east along the official road and go around the town. But don't worry, Miss Li, I have learned scout skills in the army. Let's try to hide during the day and move at night. I will explore the way ahead and ensure that you are safe."

There is no need to make such a guarantee.

No matter how high his Kung Fu was, he was alone. Even if he added her sneak attack ability with the golden finger, he would have no choice but to kneel when he encountered groups of Hu soldiers after using up all the weapons and medicines in his hands. So there was no such thing as being infallible, he just had to try his best to avoid danger.

Li Yaoguang did not comment on Shen Yue's assurance and did not take it seriously at all.

Shen Yue was disappointed. After all, he was still a young man. It was rare for someone not to believe in him and make him feel humiliated. Just when he was feeling depressed, Li Yaoguang took the opportunity to leave coldly.

"Okay, I won't say any more. I'll go see if my aunt has cooked. Since we have to leave, I'd better fill my stomach first, pack up after dinner, and then set off at night. Isn't it said that we should hide during the day and go out at night?"

Shen Yue...

Seeing Li Yaoguang getting up and walking away after saying that, he felt even more depressed. He wanted to call someone to talk to him again, but he didn't know what to say. He could only watch someone leave in such a cool manner.

Xu Miaoniang, who was eavesdropping outside, noticed the footsteps and quickly ran to the backyard with the two silver ingots in her arms.

Passing the brightly lit kitchen and without listening to the sound of Yang Ge'er coaxing his younger brother in a baby voice, Xu Miao Niang rushed into the upper room where her parents lived. According to her mother's instructions before she died, she moved a corner of the cabinet at the end of the kang and pulled open the partition. Sure enough, there was a package inside. Xu Miao Niang hurriedly took it out.

After lighting the oil lamp and spreading the things on the kang to count them, Xu Miaoniang discovered that there were only a few casual clothes belonging to her parents, herself and her brother, and wrapped inside the clothes were two vermilion lacquered boxes.

One of them she recognized; it was her mother's jewelry box, which contained all of her mother's valuable jewelry.
She didn't recognize any of them. She opened it and saw ten small ingots neatly stacked inside, like the ten-liang ingots in her hand. There were also a few thick papers on top. Xu Miaoniang looked at them against the light and found that they were four silver bills with a face value of twenty liang each.

These must be all the family's belongings.

Xu Miao Niang became more thoughtful. She pulled out the sewing basket that her mother used every day from the kang cabinet, and found her own and her brother's clothes. She sewed four silver bills into her bellyband and kept it close to her body. Of the twelve silver ingots, she only kept two for emergency use. She took the remaining ten and sewed six of them into inconspicuous corners of the hem of her own jacket, and four more for her brother's jacket, all of which were securely fastened.

While Madam Cheng was calling for dinner outside, Xu Miaoniang took the opportunity to call her brother over and asked him to change into the cotton-padded jacket she had made. Then, Xu Miaoniang quickly picked up two sets of clothes for herself and her brother and wrapped up her mother's jewelry box. She was originally going to throw away her parents' clothes, but after thinking about it, she decided to put them in as a keepsake.

The whole family, including Xu Miao'niang and her siblings, sat in the Xu's kitchen and ate a tasteless New Year's Eve dinner. It's not that the food was bad. Mrs. Xu had prepared everything for the New Year, and her aunt's cooking skills had improved a lot. The food was not bad, but it was tasteless because the old friends were not around, and it was sad to eat.

During the meal, Li Yaoguang told everyone what he had discussed with Shen Yue. Although Cheng Su was hesitant and afraid of the danger outside, with Shen Yue's guarantee and his wife and children's insistence, his position was not important, and the matter was settled.

As for Xu Miaoniang, she was a girl from a noble family and knew nothing. She only knew to listen to her mother and follow the steps of the powerful General Shen.

After the meal, the family quickly packed up and prepared to set off.