Chapter 586 - 586: Moving the Army

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

After Li Yu scattered the rice seeds, she set off for the capital the day before the Qingming Festival.

The next day after returning to the capital, she went out of the city to pay respects to the ancestors and went to Wang Family Village to take a look.

Han San grabbed dozens of the chicks raised in the bamboo forest and put them into the bamboo basket. Ruyi then pulled the chicks to Liang Village.

Li Yu’s family returned from the Wang Family Village and went to the hot spring manor to play for two days before returning to the city.

As soon as she arrived home. Grannv Yang came over with the visiting card and said to Li Yu, “Madam, that Madam Lin brought two boxes of gifts yesterday and sent them over. She begged to see you.”

Li Yu glanced at the invitation. “Send it back and tell her that there’s no need to send the invitation.”

“Yes.” Granny Yang left.

Zhou Jia said to Li Yu, “Her husband wants to stay in the capital to work and has taken a fancy to the position of Shanyang County’s county magistrate. I heard that he even went to apologize to Uncle and was chased out by him.”

Li Yu asked in confusion, “I heard that the Su family is a rich family. Why are they still seventh-grade officials after so many years?”

Zhou Jia smiled and said, “Although he didn’t take bribes or violate the law, he didn’t make any achievements during his tenure. After the previous Minister of Official Personnel Affairs had his property confiscated and was exiled, who would dare to take bribes and promote him openly?”

Li Yu thought of Qi Zhanpeng, whom Mr. Wen had mentioned previously. “Is the Scholar Qi you said you liked still living in Sir’s medical center?”

“He’s been helping out at the medical center since you left. Even Seven Pounds said that he’s a good person. I recommended him like the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs. He might be appointed in the next few days.”

“Oh!” Li Yu thought of how Chu Sihai had been walking for more than ten days with Yang Mu. “I wonder how the Chief Shopkeeper and the others are doing in the mountains? Has he found any traces of the bandits? Also, have Chu Qing and the others found the bandits hiding in the sharp mountain depression?”

Zhou Jia calculated. “It takes less than half a month to reach the sharp mountain depression from here. It will take more than half a month to walk the mountain path. According to this, they will only have reached the sharp mountain depression at most.”

“Ah Qing will reach Le County in a few days.” Li Yu turned to look at Zhou Jia.

“Xiao Xi, why do I feel a little uneasy when I think of Ah Qing these days?”

Zhou Jia looked at her and smiled. “Ah Qing has already established his family. He’s the parent official of a county. You have to be happy and not worry about them. Besides, when we were in Yunzhou, he also came to the capital alone!”

Li Yu didn’t feel this way in the past. She kept feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn’t tell why. She could only say, “I’m probably thinking too much!”

Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu’s expression and knew that she was still worried. He comforted her gently, “Yu’er, Le County is not far, but it’s more than half a month away. If you’re still worried in a few days, let’s go to the escort agency to hire an escort to take a look.”

Li Yu nodded. “I’ll go rest for a while. The children are in the garden. Get someone to watch them.”

Zhou Jia smiled and said, “Yes! Rest well.”

Chu Sihai and Yang Mu traveled day and night and arrived at Liang Village after noon on this day.

The two of them appeared at the entrance of the Liang Family Village with dark circles under their eyes and unshaven beards. They knocked on the courtyard door.

Zhao Cai hurriedly welcomed the two of them in. When Zhao Cai saw that there were only two of them, his heart skipped a beat. “Why are there only the two of you? Where are the other strong men?”

“They’re fine,” Chu Sihai panted.

Yang Mu was so tired that he sat on the ground after entering the courtyard. Uncle Zhou and Little Loach hurriedly helped him up and brought him into the house to sit on a chair.

Chu Sihai panted and said to Zhao Cai, “Hurry up and prepare the horses. I’ll enter the capital immediately.”

Seeing his exhausted appearance, Zhao Cai nodded and said, “It’s still half a day away from here. You should eat something first. I’ll go get the horses.” Chu Sihai nodded and slumped onto the bamboo chair under the eaves. After a while, he began to snore.

Aunt Zhang cooked a large bowl of noodle soup and Zhao Cai woke the two of them up.

Chu Sihai and Yang Mu ate a hot meal. After Chu Sihai finished the last mouthful of soup, he exclaimed, “Sigh! I’m finally alive.” He wiped his mouth and said to Yang Mu, “Brother Yang, rest here and go home. Wait for me to find you.”

Yang Mu nodded. “Master Chu, take care.”

Chu Sihai waved his hand and followed Zhao Cai out of the courtyard. Zhao Cai untied the reins and handed them to Chu Sihai. “Head Shopkeeper, be careful.”

Chu Sihai cupped his hands at Zhao Cai and jumped onto his horse to gallop towards the capital.

After Chu Sihai and Yang Mu left, Ding Si and his three brothers hid in the tree for the night.

The next day, at dawn, two bandits, one tall and one short, crawled out from behind the waterfall. Ding Si and the rest saw the two of them carrying a machete and walking hurriedly past the forest up the mountain.

Ding Si gave Ding Jiu a look, and the two of them slid down the tree and followed. The two bandits swaggered in front, not expecting anyone to follow them.

The tall bandit complained in front, “Damn it, I just came back with the leader yesterday. The soles of my feet are still hurting. Today, we’re going to the sharp mountain cave again.”

The sharp mountain cave! Ding Si and Ding Jiu’s eyes lit up when they heard that. It seemed that Shopkeeper Chu had brought people to the right place. The two of them continued to listen attentively.

“Brother He, look at what you’re saying. Everyone knows that Boss values you the most. He’ll bring you along wherever he goes.” The short bandit’s tone was fawning. “Brother He, how long are we going to stay in this mountain? These days are a little difficult for a group of men!”

Brother He revealed a smug smile. “How would I know about these things? Only the higher-ups know about these things. Just endure it! If you endure it, you can live a good life.”

The shorter man nodded. “I think many of our brothers can’t take it anymore, especially those from Liang Village.”

“Pfft.” Brother He spat. “These people are the worst. They’ve enjoyed a few years in Liang Village. We’ve suffered here. After coming here, they’ll get angry when we let them do more work.”

Ding Si, He Ding, and Ding Jiu followed behind. After four hours, the two people in front climbed to the top of the mountain and sat on a rock to eat some dry food.

After they ate pancakes, they got up to pat their butts. They then walked to a large locust tree and pushed aside the vines under the tree before burrowing into them.

Ding Si and Ding Jiu hid in the bushes and waited for about half an hour, but the two of them did not come up. They came out of the bushes and walked to the locust tree to push aside the vines. A narrow path appeared in front of them, but the two of them were nowhere to be seen.

“Chase quickly,” Ding Si said with a wave of his hand.

The two of them hurriedly ducked through the vines and onto the path. The road was steep and straight, and they could fall off a cliff if they weren’t careful. After chasing for a while, they turned a corner and saw two bandits walking ahead with sabers.

Ding Jiu looked around and whispered into Ding Sits ear, “Fourth Brother, what should we do?”

Ding Si said in a low voice, “Follow them into the valley before attacking..”