Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 255 - 254: Returning Together

Qin Yao wanted to ask Ding Shi to travel together, and Ding Shi happened to be coming to find her as well.

As soon as they met, they didn’t need to say much; they immediately agreed to travel together.

"How many guards has Young Master Ding brought?" Qin Yao asked.

Ding Shi replied, "Two guards, plus the driver and me, a total of four people, one carriage, and two horses."

Qin Yao explained her situation, "We are two families, you know Liu Li, right? He also studies at the Kaiyang County Academy."

When Qin Yao mentioned Liu Li, Ding Shi laughed, "Yes, I know him. He passed the main exam, ranked thirteenth in the second class, if I remember correctly?"

Qin Yao nodded, he did remember correctly.

Although Ding Shi was only nominally registered at the county academy and rarely stayed there long, since they were all from the same academy, they had met a few times, just not very closely.

After agreeing with Ding Shi on the time to meet at the city gate tomorrow, Qin Yao returned to the inn and called Liu Li and Liu Ji together to announce the news.

Liu Li had no objections; in fact, he was quite looking forward to it.

Although Ding Shi was younger than them, he had a great reputation at the academy.

Firstly, because he had Mr. Ding as a scholar father.

Secondly, because he had a reputation for being knowledgeable from a young age, plus the influence of the Ding Family in Kaiyang County, many people paid attention to him.

However, the Ding Family had their own resources, so Ding Shi hadn’t frequently visited the academy in the past two years, only appearing occasionally when the dean gave important instructions.

This time, since both of them from Kaiyang County had made the list together, Liu Li naturally wanted to take this opportunity to make connections for future mutual support.

Of course, young gentlemen from big families might not necessarily want to associate with him, but Liu Li thought that at least becoming familiar along the journey would be nice.

Liu Ji did not have the privilege of offering an opinion.

Qin Yao said, "Then it’s settled, we meet at the city gate at 7 a.m. tomorrow."

Liu Ji’s preparations were almost complete, Liu Li followed suit and asked Da Zhuang to have the cook make a lot of baked cakes, and also bought two big bones to cook soup on the road.

He also wanted to bring some smoked meat, but unfortunately, couldn’t find any in the city, so they had to keep it simple and travel light.

But no matter how light, they had bought many miscellaneous local specialties during their stay, filling the carriage to the brim.

With departure set for tomorrow, Qin Yao’s family of six went to bed early after dinner.

At first light, Liu Ji was the first to get up with a yawn and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Once the food was ready, Qin Yao and the four children had their luggage packed, and the inn staff had been instructed to lead the horses to the back gate of the inn.

After a simple breakfast, they loaded the luggage, checked out, and finally were on their way home.

The four Da Lang siblings felt a bit reluctant, lingering over the inn for a while before getting on the carriage one after another.

Da Zhuang’s preparations were also nearly complete, and when Liu Li boarded, the two families headed to the city gate.

Both parties arrived at the city gate almost simultaneously, with familiar-faced guards from the Ding Family nodding and greeting Qin Yao with a smile.

Qin Yao smiled back, "Everyone’s here."

"Let’s go." Ding Shi squatted on the carriage beam, confirmed everyone was present, nodded at Qin Yao, and got into the carriage to sit down.

The wheels rumbled forward; it was still early, and there were few people under the city gate, the sound of the horse carriage reverberating in the gate tunnel.

Once out of the city gate, their view became significantly brighter.

The four Da Lang siblings poked their heads out of the carriage window again, looking back at the towering walls of the Prefecture, feeling like this past two weeks was a dream, so wonderfully and unrealistically joyful.

However, thinking about the small courtyard on the North Slope of Liu Family Village, the walls of the Prefecture paled in comparison; that was their root, their home.

"Mother, I bought lanterns for Sister Jinhua and Da Mao, do you think they will like them?"

Si Niang leaned halfway out of the carriage door, sweetly resting on Father’s broad back, turning her head to ask Qin Yao, who was sitting by the carriage beam.

"Of course, they are gifts carefully chosen by you, Si Niang." Qin Yao replied with a smile.

The little girl giggled immediately, her small body shaking, and Liu Ji shrugged his shoulders, "It’s hot, Si Niang, go inside the carriage." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

By the end of May morning, once the sun appeared, the heat rose quickly. While it was certainly warm in winter, in the summer, not so much.

Si Niang hummed, poking her small fingers against Father’s back as if to vent, then crawled back into the carriage.

The back carriage door could be opened, and with both doors open, sitting inside allowed a breeze through, pleasantly cool.

The small table inside the carriage had been put away, covered with bedding and mats, giving the four children plenty of room to roll around.

Liu Ji glanced back, full of envy.

Unfortunately, since the women beside him hadn’t gone in to lie down, what qualifications did he, a poor man, have?

From leaving the city to reaching Shangguan Road, they were joined by people from nearby farms heading to the early market; the fields along the road were lush green, promising a bountiful harvest this autumn.

Such harmonious people and scenery left Liu Ji confused, "Wasn’t the outside supposed to be chaotic?"

Why was it different from what Qin Yao had mentioned earlier?

Qin Yao reminded him not to jump to conclusions, as they had only traveled five hundred meters, not even a full li.

To truly leave the Prefecture’s range, they had to reach the two-li distant hill.

There was only one main road leading to the Prefecture, and in urgent times, officials would set up checkpoints there.

Seeing what Qin Yao said, Liu Ji nodded, deciding to wait and see.

The group continued forward; due to the carriage, their speed wasn’t fast.

After another fifteen minutes, they finally saw the checkpoint hill, a place without a checkpoint before, now had a two-meter-high barrier erected.

A team of about a dozen government officers guarded there, only letting people out, not in; anyone wanting to enter had to show a travel pass.

Before reaching the checkpoint, Qin Yao and her group heard a lot of people, gathered together, their words indistinct but revealing a sizeable crowd.

The Ding Family’s carriage led the way, with a guard riding ahead to assess the situation, quickly returning to report:

"Young Master, the checkpoint ahead is surrounded by one or two hundred people wanting to enter the Prefecture, mostly refugees from neighboring provinces, judging by their appearance, they seem to be people with some influence locally."

At any time, those with money and power could always obtain information faster than ordinary people and take early action to avoid disasters.

After reporting to Young Master, the guard then followed Ding Shi’s instructions to go to the rear and inform Qin Yao of the situation ahead.

"There’s no danger, let’s keep to ourselves. However, you should be more cautious since you are in the front; if you encounter beggars or refugees asking for food along the road, don’t stop, mind your own way, and don’t meddle."

Only Qin Yao dared to instruct like this; Liu Ji worried that her words might upset Young Master Ding.

After the guard relayed the message, he went back to inform Ding Shi.

Ding Shi thought that matters involving beggars should be judged based on the situation and weren’t a big deal, but he still noted Qin Yao’s advice and instructed the driver to follow what Qin Yao said.