Chapter 90: Chapter 90: There Will Be a Turnaround 1
Translator: 549690339
Jiang Sanlang, carrying his daughter, stepped out of the courthouse, surrounded by Chunniang and his parents.
Chunniang, her eyes red from anger, took Yingbao from her husband,
“Sanlang, let’s go home and talk.”
Jiang Sanlang remained silent, thinking over the situation.
The family of five boarded their mule cart. Jiang Sanlang took the reins and headed for the city gate.
Yingbao suddenly remembered Wu Daozi and urgently said, “Father, mother, let’s go to the inn first, I still have to thank Uncle Wu.”
She had promised to give gourd seeds to Wu Daozi and even said she would take him to Simen Town to see the large gourd. It would not be right for her to break her word. Moreover, she also wanted to invite Uncle Wu to her village in order to gift him some golden eared Xue’er mushrooms.
“Okay, Dad also wants to express his gratitude to Mr. Wu for saving Baobao.” Jiang Sanlang cracked his whip and directed the cart toward the inn.
The inn was called Gao’s Inn. You could see its colorful flags fluttering from a distance.
The mule cart stopped at the entrance of the inn. Yingbao was the first to jump down and run toward the inn, where she ran into Wu Rui, the servant of Uncle wu.
“Uncle Wu, has Uncle Wu finished handling his official business?” she asked.
Wu Rui was delighted to see Yingbao as well, “I was just about to look for you. Our master is still busy. He specifically asked me to come over and escort Miss back home.”
Yingbao replied, “That won’t be necessary, I’m with my grandparents and parents, there’s no need to trouble Uncle Wu.”
Wu Rui smiled and replied, “If that’s the case, I will let our master know.”
Jiang Sanlang and Chunniang approached and bowed to Wu Rui, “Thank you, young master, and your master for saving my daughter. We wanted to express our gratitude to Master Wu. Could we do so at your convenience?”
Wu Rui waved his hand, “No need for formalities, my master said he was just lending a helping hand by bringing Miss back. He also said if he had some free time, he would come to your village to see your giant gourd.”
Then, in a low voice, he added, “There are still a lot of uncertainties about your case. My master advises you to be patient. Once the new county magistrate takes office, he will be sure to reexamine your case.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Sanlang’s eyes lit up, quickly thanking him, “Thank you for telling us.”
Yingbao asked, “Uncle Wu, are you and Uncle Wu going to stay in the county town?”
Wu Rui replied with a smile, “For the time being, yes.”
“Then where will you be staying? When I go home to fetch the gourd seeds for Uncle Wu, where should I find you?”
“Miss, don’t worry. When the time comes, I will pick up the seeds from your home. Our master is just renting a place at the moment, we’ll be moving in a few days.” Wu Rui replied cheerfully.
“Alright, then.” Yingbao had a rough idea of where Wu Daozi held office.
Although this servant hadn’t explicitly spoken, his words hinted that his master intended to settle down in this county.
When an incoming officer decides to stay in a certain county, it usually means he has arrived at his destination and is just waiting to take up his post.
This was good news. From now on, she will have to butter up Uncle Wu frequently.
At the very least, it could be convenient if she needed to report complaints about Xiaohei.
After saying goodbye to Wu Rui, the whole family gradually cheered up, their previously worried expressions disappearing.
With Wu Rui’s words, they knew this case still had a potential turning point. Jiang Sanlang felt greatly relieved.
“Once the river work ends, it’ll almost be December. I’ll come back to the county town at that time.” Jiang Sanlang already had an idea who Mr. Wu was, but he still felt the need to express his gratitude properly for rescuing his daughter.
Yingbao nodded, “And I want to come too.” She was still worried about the large lump on Wu Daozi’s neck.
The last time the Han Family had taken their case to court, the County Magistrate wasn’t Uncle Wu which indicated that something unusual had happened to Wu Daozi in the year and a half that followed, forcing him to resign and leave.
This accident could relate to his health condition or it could be that a direct, elder relative of his passed away, meaning he had to return home for the mourning Deriod.
Another possibility was that he had offended his superior and had his title revoked.
No matter what, Yingbao didn’t want any of these possibilities to come true.
As they exited through the city gate, Jiang Sanlang pulled the reins to stop the mule cart and told his father, “Dad, you take the reins. I need to get back to work on constructing a river canal. I won’t be able to accompany you home.”
Old man Jiang, aware that his son had had to bribe the supervisor to come out, nodded in agreement, “Okay, just be careful. It seems there is a donkey cart for passengers over there, you could hire one to return, it could save you some energy.”
“Okay.” Jiang Sanlang hopped off the cart and watched his father head home with the mule cart.
Yingbao stuck her head out of the cart’s curtain, waving to her father, “Dad be sure to come home early.”
“Alright.” Jiang Sanlang replied with a serene smile, “You all be careful on the road.”
It was only when the mule cart was out of sight in the distance that Jiang Sanlang turned around, walked into a nearby grove, and changed into the dirty old clothes that he wore for river construction work from the bundle he had with him.
After thinking for a moment, he wrapped a single garment around his face and head, tried it on, and then took it off again.
Having packed his bundle and tied it around his waist, he left the grove, slowly walking back toward the county town along the official road.
By the time old man Jiang managed the mule cart home, it was already dusk.
As soon as Yingbao entered, she saw her two younger brothers run to her, throwing their arms around their sister and crying.
“Alright, alright. Look what Sister has brought for you?” Yingbao took out the books, calligraphy practice paper, brushes, ink and paper she had bought in the county town.
Having received his share of the books and calligraphy practice paper, Xiaowu suddenly stopped being sad. Wiping away his tears, he now looked at his sister with a resentful look on his face.
Xiaojie, on the other hand, happily received his character forms and immediately began flipping through them.
Yingbao patted the two on their heads, smiling, “You two should study hard so that you can become high-ranking officials in the future.” So they could have her back when the time came.
The next day, before Yingbao had gone to school, Lady Wen came over with her daughter and son to visit her.
Wen Shu, holding Yingbao’s hand, anxiously asked, “Yingbao, have those bad people who captured you been punished yet?”
“Yes, they were sentenced to five years.” Yingbao felt anger rise within her at the memory.
“I heard that the Han sisters hired those assassins. How were they sentenced?” Lady Wen asked.
Yingbao made a face, “Chen Ergou took all the blame for the crime. The Mingfu judged the Han sisters to be innocent.”
Lady Wen sighed, she had expected this outcome.
Having lived in this mountain village for a while, she had come to understand a little bit about Chen Changping’s family.
The brother-in-law of the Han sisters worked under the County Magistrate. Compared to the rootless and baseless Jiang Family, he was far superior.
Just a little manipulation and the Han sisters would be acquitted.
What’s fortunate is that the Jiang family didn’t suffer a major loss and getting the child back was already a miracle in itself.
It’s just a pity that they themselves didn’t know anyone in the county, otherwise they would have tried to pull some strings.
But, on the other hand, even if they had attempted to pull strings, it would have been useless given the fact that the criminal took all the blame. The final sentence would still have been the same.
“The important thing is that she’s back.” Lady Wen patted Yingbao on the head. “From now on, I’ll come to your house to give you lessons every other day.”
Anyway, this child is still small and there’s no hurry to start learning medicine.
Yingbao shook her head, “There’s no need to trouble teacher, I’m not scared of bad people.”
She was determined to go to school every day.
If a situation like the last one were to occur again, she would take a knife from her heavens’ palace and stab the person.
She had been startled the previous time and hadn’t had time to react before she was restrained. She would definitely be extra careful in the future.
After chatting for a while, Lady Wen took her children and bid goodbye.
Before leaving, Wen Shu gave Yingbao another book, “Rest at home for the next few days. Look through this book, The Classic of Shen Nong, when you have time. I will be giving you a quiz in the future..”
