Chapter 24: Sheep Head Mountain
Chapter 24 Return to Sheephead Mountain
After listening to Zhou Anmin's story, Zhu Shenzui burst into laughter.
"So Li Hu's luck is pretty good?"
"Haha, this kid is really lucky. As long as he doesn't make a big fuss later and hides safely in Sheep Head Mountain, this matter will be over. But you have to remind this kid that he must never use the name Li Hu again. Those stupid mine supervisors are not good men and women. After suffering such a loss, you know that he can't guarantee that he won't make other moves while hiding in Sheep Head Mountain."
Zhu Shenzhui nodded. Zhou Anmin made sense. He had to remind Li Hu when he passed by Yangtou Mountain. However, Zhu Shenzhui was still a little worried about the Jinyiwei, so he immediately asked about their attitude towards this matter.
Zhou Anmin smiled and waved his hand. He told Zhu Shenzhui not to worry, saying that although the Jinyiwei knew about this matter, they had no intention of interfering.
Although the Jinyiwei and the mine supervisor both worked for the emperor, the eunuchs in the palace had been suppressing the Jinyiwei for many years, and the Jinyiwei had a bad impression of the eunuchs. That was why when the mine supervisor asked for help from the Jinyiwei, the Jinyiwei did not take it seriously at all, and did not take the matter seriously, otherwise there would be no such result.
As for taking advantage of the situation to report to the emperor, the Jinyiwei would naturally not do that.
After all, the mine supervisor is not just one person. There is a senior eunuch above him. Reporting this matter would not only do no good to the Jinyiwei, but would also bring trouble. So it is most appropriate for the Jinyiwei to turn a blind eye.
Now Zhu Shenzhui was completely relieved. There was no problem with Li Hu's identity, and he held Li Hu's lifeline in his hands. In addition, considering the kindness he had shown to Li Hu and Li Hu's upright character, it seemed that this man could be used.
Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzhui smiled and had a plan in mind.
Originally Zhu Shenzhui planned to stay here for a few days, but he didn't expect to find out about Li Hu so easily.
Now that he had the news and calculated the return time, Zhu Shenzhui prepared to return to Zhao Village tomorrow.
He told his sister and brother-in-law about his plan. Although his sister was reluctant and wanted him to stay at home for a few more days, his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin thought it would be better for Zhu Shenzhui to go back earlier.
The weather has been getting colder these days. After the first snow, there have been two more small snowfalls. It looks like this year's heavy snow will come earlier than in previous years. It will take several days to get back to Pingyang from Zhaocun. The road is not easy to travel, so it is safer for Zhu Shenzhu to go back earlier.
Although she knew that what her husband said made sense, Zhu Xiu'er was still reluctant to let Zhu Shenzhui leave. She held her brother's hand and talked for a long time. She also took out a waistcoat and gave it to Zhu Shenzhui. This was a waistcoat that Zhu Xiu'er had made for her brother a long time ago. She had wanted to wait for him to give it to him, but who would have thought that he had to leave after only two days. The next time they would see each other would probably be next year.
After staying overnight and having breakfast the next day, Zhu Xiuer packed up the things she had prepared for her brother and told him to be careful on the way. Her brother-in-law Zhou Anmin went out early in the morning, and when Zhu Shenzhu was saying goodbye to his sister, he came back in a hurry.
He told Zhu Shenzhui that he had found a carriage for Zhu Shenzhui to go to Yuxia Pass. This carriage was one of the teams transporting supplies to Yuxia Pass. He had already greeted the team leader and told Zhu Shenzhui to take their carriage to Zhao Village. Anyway, going to Yuxia Pass from here would pass Zhao Village. This way, not only would it save him the fatigue of traveling, but it would also make the journey much faster.
I thanked my brother-in-law, said goodbye to my sister, touched the heads of my two nephews, and told them with a smile that I would come to visit them again next year.
Carrying his bag on his back and holding his jujube wood stick in his hand, he waved goodbye to his sister and nephews and left the post station.
Zhou Anmin personally sent Zhu Shenzhui to the convoy heading to Yuxia Pass. He waited until Zhu Shenzhui got on the carriage and the convoy set off on time before saying goodbye.
Sitting in the carriage, Zhu Shenzhui looked back towards the other side of the official road. He vaguely saw his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin still standing on the side of the road looking towards him. It seemed that he saw Zhu Shenzhui looking at him. Zhou Anmin waved vigorously at Zhu Shenzhui. As they went further and further away, Zhou Anmin's figure could no longer be seen.
It was indeed much faster to travel by horse carriage. We set out later than when we came, but arrived at Zhao Village earlier than when we came.
When they arrived near Zhao Village, Zhu Shenzhui got off the car and thanked the old leader of the team. The old leader smiled and said that it was not necessary. He and Zhou Anmin were old friends. Zhu Shenzhui was Zhou Anmin's relative. They were not strangers. It was just a small matter to give him a ride. The team did not stop in Zhao Village, but just passed by the official road not far from Zhao Village. Because they were transporting materials, they had a time limit, so they had to continue on their way.
After thanking the old master and saying goodbye, Zhu Shenzhui waited for the convoy to go away and headed towards Zhaocun. When he returned to Zhaocun and arrived at the temporary station in Zhaocun, Wang Chuer and his men were already waiting.
After asking about the situation, he found that everything was going better than he expected, and Wang Chuer and his team had already done what he had asked them to do. In this case, Zhu Shenzhui did not want to stay in Zhao Village any longer, and decided to return early tomorrow morning.
The next morning, Zhu Shenzui and others packed up and started their return journey. They camped in Dayuling Mountain as they did before. They had just set up camp and had not had time to boil water when snowflakes began to fall from the sky.
I stretched out my hand and a few snowflakes fell on my palm. I felt a little cool, and soon the snowflakes turned into snow water, making my palm wet.
Looking up at the sky, it was gray. This was the fourth snow in the past half month, and it was obviously much heavier than the previous three.
It looks like heavy snow will come soon in the north, so they have to hurry on the way back. If the snow gets heavier for a few days, the road will become even more difficult to travel on. It will be a big problem if they get stuck halfway.
Logically speaking, auspicious snow indicates a good harvest, which is a good sign.
But there was no joy on Zhu Shenzui's face. The end of the Ming Dynasty was the Little Ice Age, with more and more natural disasters and the climate being very abnormal.
Just like now, the winter is getting longer and longer, the temperature is getting lower and lower, and it is snowing so early. In a few years, in addition to the heavy snow, there will be consecutive years of drought in summer. The impact of abnormal climate is huge, and now it is just the beginning.
"Sixth brother, what are you looking at? What's so good about this snow?" After helping to set up the camp, Wang Jinwu came to Zhu Shenzui happily. Seeing Zhu Shenzui looking up at the sky in a daze, he could not help but ask.
"It's okay. Let me take a look at the weather. I don't know how severe the snow will be. If it continues to snow for a few days, the road will probably be difficult to travel on." Zhu Shenzhui said casually.
"Isn't it like this every year? It's just that the snow came a little early this year. But don't worry, after passing Yangtou Mountain, we will take the official road directly and it will only take a few days to go back." Wang Jinwu said with a smile.
Zhu Shenzhui nodded without comment, glanced at Wang Jinwu, and asked him how he felt about following the salt trade this time and what he thought about it.
Wang Jinwu said carelessly that he felt good and had no other thoughts. Apart from the fight with Li Hu at Yangtou Mountain, it was just an ordinary fight. When it came to fighting with Li Hu, Wang Jinwu's eyes lit up and he shouted that he would go to Yangtou Mountain tomorrow and when he saw Li Hu, he would definitely fight with him.
He has been thinking about the last fight these days and has thought of several ways to deal with Li Hu. He must try them out when the time comes. He is very confident that he can defeat Li Hu then. The more he talks about it, the more excited he becomes, and he can't wait to get ready to fight.
He laughed and scolded the brat, telling him not to think about these things all the time, but to think more about what happened along the way.
Since his uncle Wang Rong asked Zhu Shenzhui to take Wang Jinwu to the salt trade this time, he also planned to let him take charge of the business in the future. The salt trade was no small matter, and he might encounter various situations on the way. It was not as easy as Wang Jinwu imagined, and he still had a lot to learn.
He went to bed early, and when he woke up the next day, he found that the snow had stopped. Although the sky was still gray, it looked like it wouldn't snow again soon, which made Zhu Shenzhui feel a lot more relieved.
They continued their journey back and entered Yangtou Mountain two hours later. Not long after entering the mountain and walking along the mountain path, they heard some noise ahead.
Zhu Shenzhui and the others hurriedly stopped and reminded everyone to respond with caution. A moment later, several people appeared from the mountain path. One of them was walking in the front, trotting towards Zhu Shenzhui and the others at a rapid pace. He asked loudly as he ran, "Is it Master Liu? Hahaha! It really is Master Liu! I've been waiting for you for two days, and you've finally come!"
(End of this chapter)