Chapter 314: Chapter 314

One carriage belonged to Li Lixing, and the other was given to Li Xing’an by the County Magistrate.

Li Xing’an’s was a new carriage, and Li Lixing’s was an old one.

The two carriages were about the same size.

Li Lixing’s carriage carried Mu Yuanxiu and him.

Li Xing’an’s carriage carried the siblings.

Li Xing’an was quite satisfied with this arrangement because he could finally keep Mu Yuanxiu further from his sister.

As everyone arrived at the courtyard gate to board the carriages, the County Magistrate also appeared.

He wore casual clothes and had his hands behind his back.

Everyone looked at him; some called "My Lord," and some called "Master."

The County Magistrate smiled kindly and first nodded to Li Xing’an and his sister, "It’s still early, no need to rush on the road, and be mindful of the road conditions. I’ve asked Qin Hu to accompany you; if anything happens along the way, you can consult him."

Li Xing’an clasped his hands and saluted, "Thank you for your concern, My Lord."

Li Yuzhu and Mu Yuanxiu also greeted the County Magistrate.

Li Lixing wore a fine summer shirt and a small blue hat, looking very spirited, and he happily cried, "Father."

Seeing his son, the County Magistrate’s face turned stern, "I send you to the countryside not for leisure, but to gain knowledge. Next time I see you, I expect you to report what you’ve learned, and if you haven’t, hmph!"

The County Magistrate huffed heavily.

Li Lixing, reminded of his mother’s threat to cut off his allowance, quickly nodded like a pecking chicken, "Understood, Father, I will study hard."

The County Magistrate’s Wife, holding Aunt Tian’s hand, approached with a smile, "Alright, alright, let them set off quickly. Once the sun rises, it will get hotter. Fifty miles is not particularly near, and the road outside the city is not easy to travel. It takes an hour to reach there."

If they hurry, they wouldn’t need that long; they could arrive in half an hour. However, speeding would cause excessive jolting. Having traveled back and forth twice, Li Xing’an never allowed the carriage to go fast, always maintaining a steady pace.

He worried that the bumps would be too much for Li Yuzhu.

The County Magistrate also nodded, "Yes, go ahead, go ahead."

After waving goodbye to the County Magistrate and his wife, everyone boarded their respective carriages.

Li Xing’an drove his own carriage, with only Li Yuzhu sitting inside.

Only one person inside the carriage could lie down and sleep.

Li Lixing’s carriage carried him and Mu Yuanxiu.

The driver was the big government official, Qin Hu. Qin Hu wasn’t wearing his official uniform, but casual clothes.

This was intentional on the County Magistrate’s part.

On one hand, to drive for Li Lixing, and on the other, to supervise and protect him.

After all, they only had one son, and no matter how laissez-faire, they couldn’t just let him be without any oversight.

Moreover, Li Lixing wasn’t one to be easily managed; he always acted fearlessly, which worried the County Magistrate.

At that moment, the dawn sun was just rising, as the two carriages briskly departed the County Magistrate Mansion, catching the morning sun rays.

The carriages passed through the streets, exited the city gate, and sped along the official road.

Unlike the previous time, Li Lixing was lively like a little monkey, chatting noisily along the way.

Even the normally taciturn and honest Qin Hu found him annoying, wishing he could stuff his ears with cloth.

But Mu Yuanxiu appeared calm, leaning on the soft cushion of the carriage, leisurely flipping through a book.

Despite the heat, the weather was clear, and the carriage journey was smooth, returning to the village by mid-morning.

Li Lixing, as if he hadn’t seen the village for years, lifted the curtain to look outside, finding everything novel.

Flocks of ducks on the walk, two waddling white geese, an old buffalo swishing its tail to chase flies from a mud pit—all excited him to yell out.

Some passing elder men heard his voice and raised their eyebrows in confusion.

Qin Hu sighed inwardly, no wonder the County Magistrate couple had sent him to the countryside; were they annoyed by Li Lixing’s noise?

Entering the village, after about a quarter of an hour, the carriage reached the Li Family’s house.

Li Lixing was the first to jump off the carriage, heavily banging on the door, "Open up, open up, we’re back!"

Qin Hu tied the horse and went to move the luggage.

It wasn’t his first time at the Li Mansion; he had been there twice already.

The first time he came with the County Magistrate’s Wife to bring Li Lixing, and the second time to accompany him to a banquet. This was his third visit.

Being a distant relative of the County Magistrate, his sending Qin Hu along with Li Lixing put his mind at ease.

Mu Yuanxiu got off the carriage, untied his mule from the back of the vehicle, secured it to a small tree outside the courtyard gate, and walked over to help Li Xing’an with the luggage.

Li Xing’an glanced at Li Lixing, and said with a somber face, "Be gentle with the hammering, my door isn’t as sturdy as yours, be careful not to break it."

Li Lixing stuck his tongue out at him, then shouted loudly, "Open the door! We’re back!"

Just as his words fell, the door opened.

Second Young Master Li Xingsheng stood with arms akimbo looking at him, sneering, "Why are you here again?" This troublemaking little brat!

Li Lixing proudly straightened his neck, "My dad and mom told me to come and live here for a long time, I brought my winter clothes."

It’s summer now and bringing winter clothes means staying for at least half a year?

Second Young Master Li Xingsheng chuckled.

"Old second, come quickly to move the stuff." Li Xing’an beckoned to Second Young Master Li Xingsheng.

Second Young Master walked over to see, "Looks like there’s quite a lot, what’s in there?"

"There’s food and supplies." Li Xing’an said, he untied the two large chests strapped to the back seat of the carriage, and then untied various other large and small parcels.

Li Yuzhu took out a bow and a bag of arrows from the carriage and handed them to the Second Young Master, "Second Brother, I bought this for you in the county, a bow and a hundred arrows."

Second Young Master was surprised to receive them, "A bow? Third Sister, how much did you spend on this?" He remembers, bows are not cheap, Third Sister is so generous! She got him a bow!

"It’s alright, not too expensive." Li Yuzhu smiled and said, "I bought it with the money from selling medicine pills and mosquito repellent."

Actually, it wasn’t enough, she also added some consultation fees given by the Sang family and the County Magistrate’s Wife.

In total, she spent six thousand cash, that’s six taels of silver.

The bow cost two thousand five hundred cash, and the hundred arrows cost three thousand five hundred cash.

Just one arrow costs thirty-five cash each, no wonder when Mu Yuanxiu was shooting leopards, he picked up the spent arrows, turns out one arrow is so expensive.

She inquired from the government official, her purchase was just a regular bow, if bought in the Capital, the price would be even higher. They said, the cheapest bow set with a hundred arrows in the Capital would cost ten taels of silver. Chapters fırst released on novel(ꜰ)ire.net

As for the most expensive ones, there’s no upper limit, the bows used by Princes, hundreds of taels of silver a set.

"Come on, wear it on your shoulder, and let me see if you look more majestic." Li Yuzhu hung the bow on Second Young Master’s shoulder.

Second Young Master laughed and said, "The bow bought by my sister, of course, I look majestic wearing it." He patted the bow, boasting to Li Xing’an, "Old third, take a look at this bow!"

Li Xing’an sneered, "It’s nothing much, shoot a rabbit and I’ll praise you! Simply wearing the bow without shooting anything, standing there is no different from a scarecrow target dummy." He felt envious, Third Sister really... not buying him one!

"Hmph, just wait, I’ll head to the back mountain shortly and bring back two wild rabbits!" Second Young Master sneered.

"Alright, I’ll be waiting for you to improve our meals!" Li Xing’an snorted.

Second Young Master put the bow on his back and went over to help move the items.

There were many items, Li Yuzhu had sorted them into categories.

However, according to the family’s habits, everything would be moved to the North Courtyard for the parents to view first and then distributed.

Second Young Master tucked one item under his arm and carried another in his hand, cheerfully heading towards the courtyard.

Mu Yuanxiu also joined in to help.

The tall Qin Hu, after moving Li Lixing’s items down from the carriage, also came to assist with Li Xing’an and his siblings’ items.

Once all the items were moved into the courtyard, Li Xing’an and Qin Hu drove the carriage into the courtyard.

The Li Family’s house wasn’t as fancy as the County Magistrate Mansion.

There was only one large gate.

The three-tiered steps weren’t high, the horse could easily enter the courtyard.

Inside the courtyard’s left side, in front of the reversed rooms, grew a row of bamboo, behind the bamboo was an empty space, by the courtyard wall was a shed reserved for the carriage.

Last time Qin Hu stayed in the reversed rooms, this time Li Xing’an arranged for him to stay there again.

The room size is the same as that of Li Xing’an and his siblings.

Qin Hu moved his personal items into the reversed rooms, then helped Li Xing’an move items into the North Courtyard Main House.

As for Li Lixing, he carried his little flower dog and followed Li Yuzhu to meet Prince Luling and his wife.

It was close to lunchtime, plus the weather was hot, everyone stayed home resting.

Li Yuzhu and Li Xing’an’s return brought quite a bit of liveliness to the quiet home.

Everyone gathered in the North Courtyard Main House.

Li Lixing seemed more polite than last time, upon seeing Prince Luling and his wife, he immediately greeted them politely, "Lixing pays respects to Uncle Li, Aunt Li."