Before leaving, Xu Mo said a few words to Zheng Ruqian in a low voice.
Zheng Ruqian's face changed, but he did not speak.
Soon, the carriage bumped away.
Jiang Sheng asked worriedly, "Is it really okay to leave Second Brother to harvest vegetables alone? What if he runs into those scar-faced men again?"
Xu Mo glanced at Fang Heng, who was groaning in the carriage, "Don't worry."
After just a couple breaths of that broad bean powder, Fang Heng had been bedridden for three full days.
What that powder would do to the men in black was still an unknown.
Chang Yan shivered and wrapped his jacket tighter, "Fourth Brother, where did you get that broad bean powder? It's so powerful."
Wen Zhiyun scratched his head. He didn't know either.
But when Doctor Wu gave him the beans to grind, he kindly reminded Wen Zhiyun to wrap a scarf around his nose and mouth, and not breathe in even a tiny bit, otherwise he would take no responsibility.
"Speaking of which, Doctor Wu is really kind-hearted." Jiang Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, and looked towards Wen Zhiyun again, "Fourth Brother goes fishing for three days and drying nets for two, yet Doctor Wu doesn't get mad. He still pays the usual wage. What a good boss."
Wen Zhiyun's lips twitched, stopping himself from speaking several times.
That damned, peerless good boss. Wu himself also goes fishing for three days and drying nets for two, occasionally slipping away to gather herbs on some mountain. Leaving little Wen Zhiyun alone to silently gather medicine, sometimes even forced to reluctantly diagnose patients in his stead.
Taking the medicine gathering boy's wage, but bearing all of the work.
Fortunately, Wu was an absent-minded, unconstrained person. Whenever Wen Zhiyun asked for leave, he readily granted it.
When he learned Wen Zhiyun was going to the prefectural city, he even cracked a big grin, "Good lad, maybe we'll bump into each other in the city."
Wen Zhiyun shivered.
It'd still be better not to meet.
The Dayu Dynasty had vast lands and abundant resources, with counties far apart, not to mention the distance between a prefectural city and a county city.
Jiang Sheng and Xu Mo took turns driving the carriage, and ran for a full four days before seeing the gates of the prefectural city.
Over the past few days, Fang Heng had taken medicine and finally recovered from the aftereffects of the broad bean powder. He took the reins on his own initiative, looking at his elder brother and little sister who had eaten a mouthful of dust, "You've worked hard driving the carriage these days."
At first, none of them knew how to control a donkey cart or horse carriage. But now, almost everyone had learned, improving tremendously.
But the most skilled was still the third brother, Fang Heng.
All donkeys and horses became much more obedient in his hands, not needing whips or bits to control their speed, let alone starting and stopping.
If Zheng Ruqian was here, he'd probably be red-eyed with dissatisfaction and shouting again.
Jiang Sheng sighed, she missed her second brother a little.
Before, when Zheng Ruqian went harvesting for seven or eight days at a time, she didn't feel anything was amiss. But today, going to a new place for the first time without him felt strange.
"Don't worry. Old Two will come join us after delivering the vegetables." Xu Mo patted her little head, "Like we said, we'll never separate."
Only then did Jiang Sheng reluctantly show a smile, her gaze falling on the gates of Anshui Prefecture.
Then she froze.
She had seen the broken temple in Shili Town, then the streets in the town, and the gates of Xieyang County. Jiang Sheng had thought her horizons were already broadened.
But this moment, the majestic, magnificent gates of Anshui Prefecture still shocked her.
This wasn't carved beams and painted rafters, nor man-made ramparts. Rather, the gates were hewn directly from the mountain itself.
Even the four characters "Anshui Prefecture" were carved straight into the surface of the mountain. No red paint outlining them, no gold foil overlay. Just the simple, innate color of the mountain stone, lofty and imposing, inferior to none.
Below the gates were sixteen soldiers wielding long spears, standing guard on both sides, mighty and stern.
Carts and people split into two lanes. On the left were the faster carts, on the right were commoners carrying shoulder poles.
Seeing this, Jiang Sheng was somewhat surprised, "The prefectural city has poor commoners too."
A place so grand and wealthy, even the streets were twice as wide. Shouldn't the people be twice as rich too?
"Silly girl." Xu Mo laughed kindly, "What place doesn't have poor families? Prefectural cities, county towns, market towns, poor and rich are everywhere, only more or less."
"Forget just a prefectural city. Even the capital of the Dayu Dynasty, Fengjing, has poor people too."
Jiang Sheng nodded thoughtfully.
So the prefectural city had poor people too, just not as poor, or fewer in number.
Shili Town had rich people too, just far too few, or not as wealthy.
Then would the buns in the prefectural city taste twice as good as the county's?
Jiang Sheng opened her mouth, eyes full of anticipation as she eyed the big white steaming buns just taken out of the pot, the crispy fried pork pockets just fished from hot oil, and the fried crispy chicken wings with meaty drumettes.
The older brothers were all trying not to laugh.
Only Jiang Sheng, who had wandered destitute before, was so obsessed with food, because it was something she had once clung to corners coveting but unable to obtain.
But after eating, they had to discuss another matter.
Where to stay in this huge prefectural city.
Xu Mo knitted his brows in thought, "Renting a room at an inn for the night is one way, but since we'll be here for over half a month, might an inn be too expensive? If it comes down to it, we can rent a house for the month."
"Renting also requires paying the property agent fees." Fang Heng stopped the carriage, "Let's ask the inns their rates first."
The six of them could get two rooms, one for Jiang Sheng and one for the other five brothers to squeeze into, keeping costs down being the goal.
But unexpectedly, the prices in the provincial city were shockingly different.
Just a lower room at the inn cost a hundred copper a day. Renting for half a month would be three taels of silver gone.
Fang Heng's face darkened as he turned to ask the rental rates at the real estate agency.
"Hey kids." But the front desk clerk called out to him, "Looking for a cheap room? We just refurbished a wood shack in the back, pretty big, only fifty coppers a day. What do you think?"
Fang Heng looked back at Xu Mo.
The two chose to go take a look first.
The clerk wasn't lying. The wood shack was very spacious and bright, just old facilities, like the cleaner mudbrick houses in the village.
This was nothing to the Jiang siblings, who had even lived in a broken temple before. What was a mudbrick house?
They immediately signed the contract, paying to rent it for half a month.
They hadn't brought too many things on this trip, just two sets of spare clothes each, and the books, brush, ink, paper and inkstone Xu Mo needed for the exams.
After learning the prices in the prefectural city, Jiang Sheng was glad she had bought so much stationery for her brother in the county seat. At least they wouldn't be taken advantage of here.
