Chapter 554 (2/2)

But people did not know that the Duan Mu family had already defected to Qian Zhou. The court knew about this a long time ago, but it had not been announced for the sake of avoiding panic. Duan Mu An Guo also knew that his situation had definitely been exposed; however, he still wantonly allowed these officials into the city to celebrate his birthday. Perhaps there was some sort of agenda hidden here.

Feng Yu Heng stayed beside the Lu family and successfully entered Guan Zhou. This was her first time coming to the North. Snow continued to fall, and the snow on the ground was high enough to cover her shoes. Stepping on it caused a crunching sound.

But she did not display any sort of novel expression. In fact, not even a smile could be seen on her face. This caused madam Lu to begin to ponder. When the three got back in the carriage and continued toward Song Zhou, she asked: “Qian Xi, as I see it, you seem to have been to the North before?”

Feng Yu Heng shook her head, “I have never been here before.”

“Oh, it does not seem like it.” Madam Lu revealed a cautious expression, saying: “The people that come to the North for the first time are mostly intrigued by the world being covered in snow and ice. Why is it that you don’t look intrigued in the slightest by this?”

Feng Yu Heng faintly sighed, “At first, I should have felt intrigued, but this heavy snow caused me to remember the Winter disaster from last year. So many people died. It was so scary.”

When she spoke, she looked quite sad, which caused the couple from the Lu family to recall the previous Winter. That Winter disaster had affected practically the entirety of the North. Not even Xiao Zhou was spared. Feng Yu Heng saying it like this had managed to dispel madam Lu’s doubts. She nodded, saying: “That’s right! That Winter disaster was truly too frightening. The snow was so high in Xiao Zhou that it went up past the waist. I have never seen such a heavy snowfall. Even in the North, I had never seen it before.”

With the conversation becoming heavy, the people no longer had any desire to continue speaking. They simply leaned against the carriage and went into a daze. She looked to be in a daze; however, her mind continued to race. She was thinking about everything that could happen after entering Song Zhou.

The carriage continued for another five days and finally arrived in Song Zhou.

Compared to Guan Zhou, the security at the entrance was even stricter. In fact, people from the outside needed to register. There were even some suspicious people that needed to provide their household registration.

Madam Lu tapped her forehead and said to Feng Yu Heng: “When we bought you, we really forgot to ask them for your household registration.”

Feng Yu Heng also said with a bitter expression: “Even if it was asked for, it would probably have been pointless. It’s impossible for young master to have brought that sort of thing when leaving home. After all, there is nobody around He Tian Prefecture that would have the ability to cause any trouble for him.”

Madam Lu felt that what she had said was reasonable, thus she nodded and said: “It’s fine. In any case, we are related to the Duan Mu family. When we came in the past, they never investigated us too closely.”

Reality would probe madam Lu to be correct. Upon seeing the identification provided by the Lu family, they immediately brought someone out to escort them to an inn to rest.

When madam Lu entered the city, she had her head held high. She was very proud and happy. It seems that she was a step above the rest.

The person escorting them finally stopped before a three-story inn. Pointing inside, he said to madam Lu: “This is the inn prepared by the great leader for the officials that have come to celebrate his birthday. Would madam please take care. There is a specially prepared nice room for you and lord magistrate Lu.”

Arriving in this place, madam Lu’s position was much higher than that of magistrate Lu. It was to the point that the servant would look to her for instructions. Magistrate Lu had immediately become the one of lower standing. He did not seem to be unwilling. He obediently followed the madam into the inn, as a servant led them to their room.

The nice room was composed of two rooms. The masters slept inside the inner room, while the servants would naturally stand guard and sleep in the outer room. Feng Yu Heng quickly brought the luggage out then helped madam Lu sit down. While pouring tea, she very happily said: “Everyone says that when coming to the North, even a third rank official would be inferior to others. Back when I was in the Fung manor, master also said it. Even if he had come to the North, he would need to wait for leader Duan Mu to welcome him before he could meet with him. But this servant saw that the servants here are very polite to madam. Thinking about it, madam is someone that is quite important here. This servant is truly fortunate to be at madam’s side.”

Madam Lu was flattered to the extreme and immediately smiled, “That’s true. Although I am from one of the Duan Mu family’s branch families, I have come to the North quite a bit in the past few years. It’s natural that I would be closer with the family.” She spoke while glancing at magistrate Lu then added: “Moreover, didn’t we have a daughter of a concubine marry over here. Although it is not particularly related to me, she is one of my Lu family’s people. At the very least, they would need to give us a bit of face. Husband, “She turned and said to magistrate Lu: “At a later time, inquire about that girl’s situation. Since we are here, we should go and pay her a visit.”

Magistrate Lu nodded, “But of course. Otherwise, there would be no purpose in sending her here.” While saying this, he stood up and moved to the window to look out. Looking was fine; however, upon looking, he let out an “ah” sound in surprise. He then turned around and said to madam Lu: “Madam, something outside isn’t right!”