Chapter 78
Peng Wang County was not small in area. They needed to traverse the entire county city.
Entering from the east city gate and leaving from the west city gate, the whole process would take about two hours.
On the way, the officers had to replenish some supplies, so when they arrived at the west city gate, it would at least be around dusk.
Staying overnight in Peng Wang County was inevitable, so after entering Peng Wang County, Peng Wang did not urge everyone to hurry.
They went shopping for some necessities while walking and stopping along the way.
The Fang and Xie families each had twenty taels of silver. Under the officers turning a blind eye, they also bought some daily necessities.
However, they did not dare to be too extravagant. After all, there was still a long way to go in the future. It would be difficult to spend all the hard-earned silver too quickly. It had to be used at more critical moments.
The Mo family people were much more generous. Let alone He Zhiran having countless silver, the amount of silver sent by Third Sister-in-law and Fourth Sister-in-law's natal families was not small either.
Seeing their silver finally having a use, the two sister-in-laws were very enthusiastic.
They would buy things they saw fit all the way. By the time the carts were full and could not hold any more items, they reluctantly stopped.
The He family members all had long faces, watching others buying things while the feeling was indescribable.
With the two sister-in-laws' contributions, He Zhiran did not participate this time.
It was only when they passed a woodware store that she became a little interested.
She discussed with Peng Wang, "Big Brother Peng, can I buy two more carts?"
Peng Wang knew He Zhiran's intention. They had more and more items and it was indeed a little inconvenient to carry them.
However, he still rejected it.
"Sister, I'm afraid you don't know that in a few days, we will encounter a lot of mountain roads, and there is even a section we have to climb over the mountain to get through. At that time, even the two carts you have now will not be able to keep up.
I advise you that if you want to buy carts, wait until after we have crossed that mountain."
He Zhiran did not know that they would have to cross mountains and ridges along the way.
"Since this is the case, I'll listen to Big Brother Peng."
Although she did not care about the money for buying a few carts, and it would not hurt to throw them away after using them for a few days, they still had special identities after all, and it was better not to be too high-profile.
At the same time, she also considered one thing, that is, food supplies could not be replenished too much for the next period of time, so as not to be too heavy burden when climbing the mountain.
Just as He Zhiran was thinking about specifically how to do it, when she looked up, she saw Master Cui, who had purchased dried wolf meat from them, was warmly greeting guests to enter in front of the nearby restaurant.
He Zhiran had long heard about Master Cui's purpose of buying so much dried wolf meat, which was nothing more than to host some poetry meeting.
Today must be the day the poetry meeting was held.
She was not interested in this. She lowered her straw hat again, not wanting to have any more intersection with the other party.
At this moment, a discordant voice suddenly came from ahead.
"Fei Nanyu, you poor worthless fool. You took advantage when someone helped you last time to deceive us of 100 taels of silver. You still dare to show up in front of us?"
"Fei Nanyu, take a look at yourself in the mirror to see what kind of virtue you have. This is a poetry meeting hosted by Master Cui. It is not something that every Tom, Dick and Harry has the qualifications to attend."
"Get lost quickly. If you're slow, be careful brothers will not be polite to you."
He Zhiran looked in the direction where the voice came from, still the few students she saw in front of the bookstore last time.
A few people trapped Fei Nanyu in a corner and verbally attacked him.
Fei Nanyu stood with his back straight, not the slightest bit afraid.
"As fellow scholars, why can I not attend the poetry meeting?"
As Fei Nanyu spoke, those students gradually closed in on him.
"You extorted money from us and still dare to unabashedly call yourself a scholar?"
At the same time, the students had already made gestures to attack.
Master Cui heard the voices here and ran over to see what was going on.
More and more onlookers were also attracted over.
The small alley was soon crowded with people and impassable.
Master Cui looked at the few young men dressed as students in front of him.
"Why are you making trouble when I'm hosting a poetry meeting?"
In front of Master Cui, the students naturally did not dare to attack Fei Nanyu again. They soon put on flattering faces.
"Master Cui, you don't know. This person defrauded us of 100 taels of silver a few days ago. Yet today he came to the poetry meeting to make trouble with our money. Naturally, we can't let such a person enter."
At this time, Fei Nanyu's face was already showing anger. He saluted Master Cui with clasped hands.
"Student Fei Nanyu has the honor of being a scholar. I ask, am I qualified to attend the poetry meeting you host?"
Master Cui answered without hesitation: "Of course you are qualified."
He paused and then said, "However, having just heard what they said about your improper behavior, if no one recommends you, I absolutely wouldn't allow you to enter the venue."
Just as Fei Nanyu was about to say something to defend himself, a figure in white holding a fan suddenly jumped down from the second floor and landed lightly between Master Cui and Fei Nanyu.
Nan Qi did not hide his identity.
"If this prince personally recommends this gentleman to attend the poetry meeting, does Master Cui think it’s feasible?"
When Master Cui saw Nan Qi, he quickly kneeled before him and saluted.
"Prince Qi really makes me feel inferior. You don't need any recommendation to bring people to the poetry meeting."
Nan Qi revealed a satisfied smile. He looked kindly at Fei Nanyu, "Let's go. Come with me to the elegant room upstairs."
In the instant Nan Qi appeared, Fei Nanyu's expression changed slightly, but soon returned to normal.
However, this small movement of his did not escape the eyes of He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye who were not far away.
Like He Zhiran, when Mo Jiuye heard the name Fei Nanyu, he paid full attention to everything here until the moment Nan Qi appeared, then he fully believed He Zhiran's words.
He saw Fei Nanyu salute Nan Qi neither humble nor pushy, "Thank you, Prince, for your favor."
After speaking, Fei Nanyu followed Nan Qi into the restaurant.
Seeing this scene, the students were instantly dumbfounded.
They never imagined that Fei Nanyu would actually gain the favor of Prince Qi.
If Fei Nanyu told on them in front of Prince Qi, not only would they be finished, but their families would also be implicated.
At this time, everyone watched as Fei Nanyu followed Prince Qi into the restaurant, and had lost interest in watching those students acting pitiful.
Seeing the onlooking crowd gradually dispersing, Peng Wang called to the prisoners to continue moving forward.
Coming out of this busy commercial district, Peng Wang came to He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye.
"Sister, the one you saved is clearly not an ordinary person to have caught Prince Qi's eyes."
He Zhiran could hear the probing tone in Peng Wang's voice.
"Big Brother Peng jests. How could I possibly know he's acquainted with Prince Qi? I just happened to see a group bullying an individual at that time and found it unbearable."