Chapter 1005: Chapter 841: Where Did the Grandmother Come From?

The man wasn’t scared off by Gu Chengyu’s coldness. What he’d just said was just an opening line. Since everyone was unfamiliar with one another, they had to find a topic, didn’t they?

"I am heading to Yingnan Mansion in Jiangnan. I wonder if Young Master’s destination is the same as mine?"

"So you gentlemen are going to Yingnan Mansion. That’s rather unfortunate then, for our destinations are not the same."

In fact, to get to Changtian Prefecture and Hangtian Prefecture, one had to pass through Yingnan Mansion first.

The final destination of these four was likely not Yingnan Mansion either, but if the leader put it that way, wouldn’t that allow them to share the road with Gu Chengyu and his party?

No matter where they claimed to be going, they had to end up on the same road.

"Then may I ask where Young Master is headed? Since we’ve run into each other on the road, it must be fate. Why not travel together? That way, it can save us all quite a bit of trouble. Rest easy, Young Master, I am but a humble traveling merchant. My surname is Wang, given name Hezhou. Those three behind me are my followers. We bear no ill will. I wonder what Young Master thinks?"

After Wang Hezhou finished speaking, he looked at Gu Chengyu with great expectation.

Gu Chengyu found it a bit strange. These four ignored their own affairs and instead came over to curry favor with him—why?

Could it be that this man had already recognized him? After a brief reflection, he decided this was highly likely.

After all, he was handsome, few could compare. That was a very obvious feature, even if thinking so was rather shameless.

It was nothing strange if these men recognized him. When he became top scorer in the imperial examination, he’d even paraded through the streets on horseback. Plenty of people in the Capital could recognize him, but he could not possibly know everyone.

These four were also going to Jiangnan, so they were certainly connected to the Jiangnan flooding. It seemed they wanted to cozy up to him so they could monitor his every move.

Gu Chengyu naturally would not agree. They weren’t acquainted anyway; he could just flatly refuse.

"Brother, there is something you do not know. Two years ago, I was studying at an academy in the Capital. But just a few days ago, a servant came to report that my grandmother at home is gravely ill. Only then did I hurry back toward my hometown. I have been traveling day and night along the way, not daring to relax in the slightest, only hoping to get back early to visit my grandmother. I must ask Brother for your understanding! Judging from Brother’s appearance, you must not be in such a rush to return home. I shall not delay you further, so I’ll take my leave. Let us part ways here, and meet again if fate allows!"

At this moment, Gu Chengyu’s face showed anxiousness, with a trace of sorrow. Then he gave Wang Hezhou an apologetic smile. Before Wang Hezhou could react, he squeezed his legs against the horse’s belly and sped forward.

Zhu Lang was a fine steed. Even if it could not compare to a legendary thousand-li horse, its breed was very precious.

Moreover, in the past two years, Gu Chengyu had often used the Spiritual Spring from his space to feed it, so Zhu Lang was not only spiritually aware, its speed was also extremely fast.

Ming Mo and Ming Yan had long been watching the movements of these two men. When they saw Gu Chengyu spur his horse in a mad dash, the two of them immediately followed.

Only when all three had vanished in a streak of dust did Wang Hezhou finally come back to his senses.

"Grandmother? He’s really good at making things up!" Who in the court didn’t know that Gu Chengyu came from a peasant family, with a stepmother to boot. His father was no spring chicken; where would a grandmother come from?

The three behind him saw their master suffer a rebuff and couldn’t help but find it amusing.

One of them urged his horse forward, intending to ask what was going on, but unexpectedly Wang Hezhou suddenly ordered, "We’re turning back the way we came!"

The other three were all stunned when they heard this. Why? Weren’t they going to Changtian Prefecture? Were they not going anymore?

"My lord, are we not going to Changtian Prefecture?"

"We are! But when I drew near that youth just now, I smelled a bit of blood on him. We’re going back to take a look. We might just find some clues."

Wang Hezhou thought of how, after Gu Chengyu and his party had been on their way for so long, they’d only covered such a short distance. It was very likely they’d already crossed blows with those two men just now. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

If they really had fought, then those two followers at Gu Chengyu’s side were not to be taken lightly.

He didn’t know the older one of the two, and figured the man likely didn’t have much skill. But that burly man’s breathing had been long and steady, his Inner Strength profound; his martial arts should be quite strong.

If this master and his two followers could retreat with their whole bodies intact and without a scratch, it showed those two followers had some real ability.

He had long seen that those two followers were not weak, but for such a young youth to also have that kind of skill really made him click his tongue in wonder.

As for Gu Chengyu himself, he subconsciously ignored him. A scholar who passed the imperial examinations to become an official—how could he know any martial arts? He certainly wouldn’t have time to learn.

As for the smell of blood on Chengyu’s body, he linked it to the two followers. It must have rubbed off when they were together.

It seemed that the burly man must have been badly injured, perhaps even finished off by the two of them. For such a capable expert, Wang Hezhou could only feel envy.

Gu Chengyu hadn’t expected that, even after he ordered Ming Mo and the others to clean up all traces, Wang Hezhou would still pick up a flaw from the smell of blood.

Previously, there had been no blood splashed on Gu Chengyu at all. Plus, it had been a bit windy today, so the little trace of blood scent that had gotten on him should have long since been blown away.

Who would have thought Wang Hezhou’s nose was that keen?

...

"Well? Have you found him?" Hu Maoshen frowned and looked at the Government Official making his report.

This Government Official was someone he’d borrowed from the Yingnan Prefecture Magistrate, brought to Changtian Prefecture to run errands for him.

Once on site, he still had to rely on the local snakes for help. He was a stranger here, and the servants he’d brought had even less idea where to start.

"My lord! This humble one has asked many people, but none of them know where Mr. Qian is now. However, two surviving Government Officials said that at the time, they personally saw Chen Zhao rescue Mr. Qian."

Hu Maoshen had a bit of a headache. He had already arrived in Changtian Prefecture and was temporarily settled in a village that hadn’t been flooded.

Not long after he arrived in the village, he heard the villagers say that more than half of the people from the other villages had already left and were all heading north to Hangtian Prefecture.

The villagers in the village he was in were wavering because the terrain here was high. Otherwise, they would probably have left with the people from the other villages long ago.

After all, it is hard to leave one’s homeland. Unless absolutely necessary, who is willing to abandon their home?

The migration of the common people was something Hu Maoshen had to deal with. But where to move them and how to resettle the disaster victims—those were all things that needed careful consideration.

"Send people out to search again. You must find Qian Hui Chun. Also send people to the government office and see if there are any useful case files left."

Hu Maoshen was actually not too worried about Qian Hui Chun’s safety. Since he had escaped at the time, he was most likely still alive now.

He only feared that, having been scared witless by the flooding, Qian Hui Chun might not dare show his face again.

After thinking it over, he summoned another man over.

"Go spread the news that Qian Hui Chun’s eldest son is still alive. I don’t believe he’ll stay hidden once he hears that."

Out of Qian Hui Chun’s whole family, only the eldest son survived, because the eldest son could swim. At the time, the government office had already been mostly flooded. Those old, weak, women and children who couldn’t swim naturally could not survive.

On top of the force of the water, it was difficult even for able-bodied men to survive, and most who did owed it to sheer luck.

In the end, the fact that Qian Hui Chun at least had an eldest son left alive meant his line was not completely cut off.