Chapter 329 - Back to the Prefectural City (2/2)

Madam Zhang’s face turned bright red as she saw her fellow villagers all pointing and whispering. If there was a crack in the ground right now, she would have jumped into it already!

Yu Bo’s face became painfully flushed. With such a mother pulling him down, what could he do? His head hung down as if it had a thousand catties hanging from it. His voice was as quiet as the buzzing of a mosquito as he said, “Xiaocao, let me apologize on the behalf of my mother. I’ve spent most of the years studying outside and didn’t know my mother had done so many horrible things. I’m truly sorry…”

Even after hearing his apology, Yu Xiaocao didn’t have much of a good opinion of her younger uncle. Everything that Madam Zhang did was for the sake of money. Wasn’t the old woman so stingy for the sake of one person? Obviously, Madam Zhang did everything for Yu Bo’s studies and future. Now, Yu Bo pushed all of the blame onto his mother as if he was oh-so-innocent and pitiful as well. These two people were definitely truly mother and son. Their selfish personalities were exactly the same.

However, in the end, Yu Bo was still her younger uncle, and he had never done anything to harm them directly. For the sake of her grandfather, she wouldn’t make it too ugly, “It’s getting late. If Younger Uncle plans on taking the carriage with us to the prefectural city, then come up ah! The carriage is too small and seating four people is already pretty crowded. As for everyone else, we’ll have to say no!”

Qian Wen was only fourteen years old and could go by himself to the prefectural city for the examinations. Was Yu Bo like a five to six year old child and still needed his mother to come along?

Although Yu Bo wanted to resolutely refuse for the sake of his face, it would take him almost an extra day to transfer from the town to the prefectural city. Time was money and having extra time could be the difference between a good or bad result. Therefore, time was of utmost importance! He had no choice but to lower himself! Yu Bo took the luggage from Madam Zhang’s hands and silently climbed up the carriage. After he got on, he didn’t enter the inner area and instead sat next to the driver outside.

Zhu Junyang gave him a look full of disgust, ‘If you resolutely refused to sit on my carriage, then I would have seen you in a different light! However, you ride my carriage yet sit on the outside. Are you trying to throw a temper tantrum? Who cares about you?!’

Yu Xiaocao was also thinking the same thing as she sat on the inside. it was better that he didn’t come in! Less room to waste!

The inside of the carriage was quite spacious and could actually hold a fold-down table in the middle. There were also nooks that could hold some extra snacks and other items. The three of them had just eaten breakfast, so they weren’t interested in snacking at the moment. However, it would take them many hours to get to the prefectural city. If they just sat there the entire time, wouldn’t it be too boring?

Qian Wen took out a book and prepared to silently read aloud. However, Little Shitou got his attention, “Older Brother Xiaowen, the carriage will be swaying a lot, so it will injure your eyes to read here. Second Sister, think of a fun game for us to pass the time ah!”

Yu Xiaocao took out a deck of cards that she had made herself and smiled, “I’ve already made preparations! Come, let’s play ‘three peasants against the landlord’ [1]!”

“Oh, so ‘fight the landlord’ can also be done with three people ah!! Older Brother Xiaowen, ‘fight the landlord’ is a lot of fun and really easy to learn. I’ll teach you!” As Yu Xiaocao dealt the cards, Little Shitou explained the rules of the game to Qian Wen.

Since Qian Wen was a good student, he naturally wasn’t stupid, so he figured out how to play the game very quickly. Within moments, the three of them played excitedly in the carriage. Peals of laughter and delighted shrieks could be heard from time to time from the inner carriage.

Zhu Junyang was also quite young and was at the stage in his life when he was interested in everything. From time to time, he would lift the curtain in the carriage and look around. Luckily, he had good horsemanship, so even when he was crouching down, his horse was still obedient. Otherwise, he would have been thrown off long ago.

Head Steward Liu felt as if he was on tenterhooks as he watched his master repeatedly raise the curtain in the carriage. Finally, he spoke up, “Master, there’s quite a bit to travel before we get to the prefectural city. How about you go inside to rest a bit?”

The road from Tanggu Town to the prefectural city could be finished in four hours if Zhu Junyang spurred his horse at top speed. On a military mission, he could sit on a horse all day without getting tired, so why would he need to rest now? However, this gave him the excuse to enter the carriage. He had the driver stop the carriage while he swiftly entered inside.

With another large body inside, Xiaocao naturally couldn’t just leave him out to dry as the three of them played. Thus, the four of them started playing ‘fight the landlord’. Zhu Junyang’s luck was quite bad and he always pulled the landlord card without ever winning once. Before long, his handsome face had been stuck completely with scraps of paper. If you agreed to bet, you must accept the possibility of losing as that was part of the rules of the game. Although Zhu Junyang was a noble and respected royal prince, he still played by the rules.

Head Steward Liu stayed outside and could hear his master’s cheerful laughter from time to time. His spirits also rose. Miss Yu was truly incredible to be able to find ways to make his master happy. Many years had gone by and this was the first time in a long while since his master was able to laugh with such delight. His master was currently like a simple and happy child, similar to how he was more than ten years ago. It brought him back to when he first came to serve his master. At first glance, he saw his tiny master, running around the garden with delight and laughter…

With an entertaining card game, the usually long and monotonous journey became merry and short. Before they knew it, the carriage had already passed through the large gates of the prefectural city.

[1] three peasants against the landlord (三人斗恶霸) - one of the most popular card games played in China; aka 'Fight the Landlord'