Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 520 Arrived in the capital

As for food, Li asked the chef of the restaurant to prepare a lot of sesame oil tea, crispy fried dough twists, tea snacks, and small crispy biscuits with red bean paste and jujube paste fillings.

There were all kinds of food, all of which were filling and could be eaten directly. I filled a large food box with it, and told her to eat if she was hungry on the way, and not to get cold or hungry.

Shen Yu was a little dazed for a moment. She remembered that when she went to report to university, her uncle sent her to the station, bought her a big bag of food and snacks, and gave her the same instructions before sending her to the train.

The next day, Shen Yu's family got up very early. After breakfast and moving their luggage to the front door of the inn, they saw Qi Xi and two yamen runners driving over in a horse-drawn carriage, followed by Lu Lang and Liu Shun on horseback.

Seeing the carriage coming, they put on their long cotton robes for going out in winter, loaded all the prepared luggage onto the carriage, and under the earnest gazes of Li and his men, the group headed straight for the city gate.

Lu Langzhi drove them to ten miles out of the city. When he could not go any further, he stood there reluctantly, watching the car that Shen Yu was riding in go further and further away.

The carriage is from the county government, and there is the logo of Anping County Government on the body of the carriage. Although there are few pedestrians on the road in winter, it is very conspicuous and safe to walk on the official road.

After leaving Anping County, Shen Yu discussed with Qi Xi and the others that since we are all young people, it doesn't matter if the road is bumpy and we go faster, so we should try to get on with the journey as fast as possible.

Although I couldn't get here from the capital in less than three days like the messenger, I had to travel more distance every day. I couldn't take seven or eight days to get to the capital like I did on weekdays when I had nothing to do.

Qi Xi also knew the importance of this matter. The good health of the Empress Dowager would benefit the entire court, so he knew that what Shen Yu said was the truth.

So the two yamen runners and Qi Xi took turns driving along the way, traveling during the day and sleeping at night, and they even changed horses twice at the post station.

In less than five days, the dusty carriage of Anping County Government had stopped in front of the gate of Lu Taifu's residence.

Qi Xi first handed the two yamen runners and the carriage to the doorman, and asked him to notify the second steward in charge of foreign affairs, and take the two yamen runners downstairs to have a good rest and eat. He then took Shen Yu straight to the study in the front yard of Mr. Lu.

It was already past noon. As usual, Mr. Lu should have taken a nap by now and was reading and writing in his study, spending the afternoon.

Unexpectedly, the servant on duty in the study told him that Mr. Lu had gone to the palace to attend court since early this morning and had not returned yet.

I only sent someone to deliver a letter back, saying that the Emperor was very angry today because the Empress Dowager had no appetite.

He called all the cooks together and scolded them, and even broke a beloved jade paperweight on the desk.

Lord Lu and the court officials did not dare to leave and were now comforting the Emperor in the palace.

After hearing what the servant said, Qi Xi scratched his head, turned around and took Shen Yu to the old butler Lu.

As soon as Butler Lu saw the young girl following Qi Xi, he guessed who was coming.

He was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth: "Miss Shen, I didn't expect you to come so soon."

Shen Yu didn't know who the old man in front of him was, so he could only smile and nod.

Butler Lu hurriedly asked her to sit in the hall and left quickly.

After a while, the mother Huang that Shen Yu had met appeared in front of Shen Yu in a hurry.

Huang's mother was also full of surprise. After seeing Shen Yu, she hurriedly bowed to her and said, "Miss Shen, how are you? I didn't expect you to come so soon."

"Our Madam said this morning that it would take at least two or three days for you to come here."

Although Madam Huang was only an old maid in the mansion, she had been serving the Madam for many years. Now that she came to greet her in person, it was already a great honor for her.

Shen Yu had already made up for some of the etiquette of large families in the past few months, so he naturally knew what to do now.

After she bowed and greeted Mother Huang, the two of them didn't say anything else. Mother Huang immediately led Shen Yu to the back house to meet the lady.

As soon as the two of them entered the hanging flower gate in the backyard, they saw the lady-in-waiting leading two maids to greet them.

There was also a middle-aged woman beside him. She was of medium build and dressed in plain, homely clothes. Although she was not gorgeous, she was dignified and easy-going. She had a gentle smile on her round face and was silent and amiable.

When Shen Yu saw the lady, he hurried forward, knelt down and greeted her.

The lady smiled and held Shen Yu's hand to help her up: "Good child, you must have had a hard time on the journey. This is Xiao Si's mother, the second lady in our mansion."

According to her seniority, the lady-in-waiting was called the Second Lady of the Jing family.

But for Shen Yu, this person is her future mother-in-law, but she did not expect that the two would meet under such circumstances.

Shen Yu was very generous and knelt down to greet her: "My daughter Shen Yuzhi greets the Madam."

Lu Zheng's wife, Jing, finally saw the girl her youngest son had been dreaming of marrying, and hurriedly pulled Shen Yu up.

After helping Shen Yu up, Jing just looked at her and smiled. For a moment, she was so excited that she didn't know what to say.

The Shen Yu in front of him was not bright and beautiful, but had a pretty appearance.

Moreover, due to days of traveling, his clothes were a little wrinkled and his hair was a little rough.

But his cheerful and generous demeanor, and the smile on his face as clear as the spring moon, made the second lady fall in love with him at once.

The lady next to her saw this and said with a smile, "Look at our Second Lady. She was so happy when she saw Miss Shen that she couldn't say a word."

Only then did Jing come to her senses and realized that she had been holding the girl's hand and was really rude.

She quickly let go of Shen Yu. She didn't think the lady was making fun of her. Instead, she said happily, "Mother always makes fun of me. I'm happy about that."

As he spoke, he took off a jade bracelet that was soft and as warm as cream, pulled Shen Yu's hand and put it on, smiling and saying, "I didn't expect you to come so soon. I didn't prepare a gift in such a hurry."

"This jade bracelet was given to me by my mother when I got married. I originally wanted to give it to you when we got married, but I'll give it to you now."

It was given to me by my mother and I wear it on my hand every day, so it must be my favorite thing.

Shen Yu felt that it was not suitable and tried to take it off his wrist.

The lady smiled and said, "I have been talking about it for so many days, and now I finally see it today."

"Miss Shen, don't take it off. This is a pair of bracelets from the Second Madam. One was given to the eldest daughter-in-law, and the other is this one. She said she would keep it for the youngest daughter-in-law. Just wear it."

Jing also smiled and said, "Mother is right. Once I give this bracelet away, I will feel at ease."

Shen Yu thought about it but still took off the jade bracelet, carefully holding it in his hand, with a frank smile on his face: "Thank you, Madam, for your kindness. I like the bracelet very much."