256 Little Ah Yu’s Birthday
This time, Zhang Zhan was going to Yongding County as the county magistrate, so he brought more than ten officials with him and his usual servant.
“My Lord, there are a few commoners blocking the way outside. Are you going to chase them away?” the servant asked through the carriage curtain.
“Bring them over first and ask what’s the matter.”
Zhang Zhan did not expect to handle a case before he even took up his post.
However, he did not expect that these commoners wanted to sue the former county magistrate.
The previous county magistrate had been arrested for corruption and imprisoned in the prison of Wanning City. Soon, he would be executed.
Before he was imprisoned, his family’s money had already been confiscated. Those who should be arrested, chased away, and punished had already been dealt with appropriately.
Unexpectedly, there were still fish that escaped the net.
“This commoner originally didn’t want to disturb my Lord, but if I waited until my Lord returned to the county office, I’m afraid this commoner and the others would have died long ago!” A few commoners cried bitterly and told him about their matters.
It turned out that the previous county magistrate had plundered a lot of money and even raped the commoners. He did not even let off those who were already married.
The women who had been forcefully taken were not in Yongding County. Instead, they were raised elsewhere by the county magistrate. Their families, who missed them, had also searched for them in every way possible, but they could not be found.
Later on, when the county magistrate fell, they thought that the women might be released, but after waiting for a long time, they did not see anyone.
Zhang Zhan: “Why didn’t you report this matter at that time?”
“My Lord was busy with disaster relief at that time. Everyone had a hard time and wanted to live. We didn’t want to waste my Lord’s energy to find our family.” A man in blue cried, “We didn’t expect my Lord to leave so quickly. Later on, we went to the county office to look for County Lieutenant Cao, but the county lieutenant said that he couldn’t interfere in this matter.”
Another person gritted his teeth and said, “Not only that, but the next day, we encountered a group of local hooligans. They said that we had offended someone we shouldn’t have offended and beat us up ruthlessly! My poor brother couldn’t take it and died in less than two days!”
“That’s right, my Lord. We heard that the new county magistrate was about to take office, so we bolded ourselves to stop my Lord on the road.”
It was not that they had just happened to stop Zhang Zhan today, but that they had been guarding here for more than two months. Every day, they only ate the wild vegetables and fruits beside them to fill their stomachs, afraid that they would miss the county magistrate’s entourage.
They still had to hide because they had previously encountered two groups of people coming to investigate. It was obvious that they wanted to stop them from complaining.
Zhang Zhan was shocked. “There’s actually such a thing?”
In that case, there was something wrong with the upright County Lieutenant Cao.
Otherwise, the commoners would not have deliberately avoided him and come here.
However, he could not come to a conclusion about this at the moment.
Zhang Zhan called a few officials over. “There’s a fork in the road ten miles further. Go north from that fork and you’ll reach the nearest Nanhe Town. There’s a Wang family in Nanhe Town that runs a bun shop. Hand these people over to the Wang family. You guys stay in Nanhe Town first. When I want to summon them, bring them over as witnesses.”
Those officials were from Wanning City. They usually received the Zhang family’s favor, so they naturally agreed.
On the 15th of August, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Wang Family was dressed in a festive manner. It was not because they wanted to celebrate the festival, but because it was Little Ah Yu’s birthday.
Previously, Little Ah Yu had been schemed against and vomited blood because of her birth characters. Old Madam Wang brought Wang Chuangui to the eastern neighboring county personally. The two of them stayed there for more than ten days. Old Madam Wang even thought of a way to sneak into the Xie Manor. While the Old Master of the Xie Manor was holding a banquet, she used the identity of a kitchen maid to establish a relationship with the servants.
Then, she found out about Little Ah Yu’s background.
It was said that she was born on the night of mid-autumn on the 15th of August. The entire residence was celebrating, but no one cared about the courtyard where Ah Yu’s mother was.
It was only when the hunting dogs in the residence suddenly started barking and ran towards the courtyard that the patrolling servants followed the hunting dogs.
They saw a woman lying in the courtyard covered in blood and tears.
On the dress beside her lay Little Ah Yu, who was also covered in blood.
Everyone in the residence vaguely knew that the child in her stomach should not be the Old Master’s because the Old Master had never taken a look at the child after it was born. He did not even give her a name.
However, when her mother saw that the moon was as perfect as jade that day, she gave her the name Ah Yu (jade).
As no one delivered the child for her, no one knew the exact moment of Ah Yu’s birth. However, it was definitely the 15th night of August.
Therefore, on the 15th of August, the Wang family celebrated Little Ah Yu’s birthday.
After this day, Little Ah Yu would be five years old. Or according to the Chinese method of reckoning, six years old.
Little Ah Yu was extremely happy.
She thought that it was her third birthday. A few days earlier, she informed her teacher and her other classmates to let everyone come to the house to liven things up.
Originally, many families had planned to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival at home. However, the children were clamoring to celebrate Little Ah Yu’s birthday. The adults had no choice but to let them go.
There was a large bowl of longevity noodles in front of Little Ah Yu, and a plate of mooncakes beside it. Wenwen, Yang Liu, and the others were looking at the longevity noodles in front of her.
For some reason, they felt that the bowl of noodles Ah Yu ate was different from the ones they had eaten for their birthdays in the past.
Naturally, it was different. Old Madam Wang and Liu Shi specially asked Little Ah Yu to take the Myriad Spirit Water and the wheat from the spatial pocket. The wheat was ground into powder with a stone mill, and the vegetables were also provided by Little Ah Yu.
The entire bowl of noodles was filled with essence and fortune.
Not to mention the nutrients inside, just the fragrance was especially tempting.
When Little Ah Yu saw her friends’ gazes, she ran to the kitchen without a word and brought over a stack of bowls.
Everyone had a bowl, a pair of chopsticks, and a large bowl of longevity noodles.
The longevity noodles were long and unbroken. Everyone watched as Little Ah Yu broke the noodles.
This was because this was the first time the Wang Family had celebrated Little Ah Yu’s birthday. Coupled with the occasion, it was naturally a little grand.
Other than the neighbors in town, Wang Chuanfu also used a mule cart to pull the villagers over.
Village Chief Hu, Old Master Hu, Elder Ma, and the others were all present.
There was also Wang Chuanman, who had already made two trips back and forth. As he had helped the village sell their excess crops, every family had surplus food and money. Everyone was busy buying land and building new houses.
They were very happy to join in the fun.
For a moment, the courtyard of Old Wang’s house was filled with voices. It was even more lively than the streets.
The adults were busy greeting each other and did not have time to care about the children.
Slurp!
Slurp slurp-
The longevity noodles were divided into seven or eight bowls. Everyone took a bite and it was gone.
“Ah Yu, your family’s longevity noodles are so delicious! When it’s my birthday, can I come to your house to make longevity noodles?” A little boy wiped his mouth after eating, his eyes as bright as the stars in the sky.
“Alright.” Little Ah Yu agreed and changed her words. “I have to ask Mother and Grandma first because I don’t know how to do it. It depends on whether they’re willing.”