Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 786: Marriage of Sorrow (3)_1

Chapter 786: Chapter 786: Marriage of Sorrow (3)_1

Looking at the smile on Mo Yan’s face, Liu Tinglan felt envious. At least her dear friend had something to look forward to. As long as the person she liked was willing to wait a couple of years, their love could culminate into marriage, unlike herself, who couldn’t even afford to hope.

Thinking of the marriage arrangement with the Du Family and that gentle-as-breeze man, a trace of sadness flashed across Liu Tinglan’s face before she mustered a smile and joked with her good friend.

An hour later, the group that had gone to inspect the vegetable plot returned. Chu Heng found Mo Yan and requested that fresh fruits and vegetables be sent to the palace every day.

The Imperial Palace had hot springs at the country estate to grow vegetables in the winter, but the amount was limited and costly, and the quality was far less than that of the greenhouse vegetables of Liu Yang Village, with fewer varieties at that: a monotonous rotation of greens and radishes.

This was a big business deal, and Mo Yan didn’t have the courage to decline, so she agreed. She would talk to the farmers involved in planting later. There was just one condition she insisted on: the palace’s buyers must pick and transport the produce themselves each day.

To this, Chu Heng agreed without any hesitation. Even if Mo Yan hadn’t mentioned it, he would have offered to do so himself. That way, if any issues arose from these vegetables, neither the Mo Family nor Liu Yang Village would be implicated.

After having lunch, everyone proposed to take their leave.

Knowing they each had their own affairs to attend to, the father and daughter of the Mo Family did not insist they stay. They gave each family a basket of vegetables and two jars of treasured grape wine as a parting gift.

Shen Ji, who didn’t have a carriage, had hailed a street carriage to visit the Mo Family; for the return trip to the city, he could only hitch a ride with either the Han Family or the Liu Family. The Liu Family had brought only one carriage, and with girls already inside, it was not proper to let a grown man sit with them. The Han Family had two carriages, so Shen Ji joined Han Zhiyun and the Han boys in one, while Lady Han and her daughters took the other.

Upon reaching the city, Shen Ji excused himself early, disembarked from the carriage, bade farewell to the Han Family, and approached the Liu Family’s carriage. Through the open door, he saw Liu Tinglan sitting to one side at first glance.

Their eyes met, both surprised by the sadness in the other’s gaze, and involuntarily, they both looked away. Yet it felt like a crack had been opened in their hearts that no matter how one tried, could not be filled.

Shen Ji stood at the street corner, watching the Liu Family’s carriage grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared, then turned around, a deep sense of loss washing over him. He hailed another carriage, not to his residence, but to a place in the North Market known as Changchun Lane, where the Du Family, who were related by marriage to the Liu Family, lived.

...

In the evening, Lizhong, who was supposed to stay at the shop, came back and called Mo Yan out of the kitchen.

"Yan girl, today I didn’t need to go to the Escort Agency. They came by themselves and returned the deposit we gave them earlier, saying that Mrs. Du has disappeared. Since she left on her own, there’s no compensation from the agency. Look at this..."

Mo Yan was surprised, "If Mrs. Du didn’t return to the Escort Agency, then where did she go?"

After parting on bad terms yesterday, she had decided to forcibly send Mrs. Du back to her hometown to prevent her from causing more disturbances. However, she hadn’t expected Mrs. Du would actually not return to the Escort Agency. As a woman, it was highly unlikely she would travel alone for thousands of miles back home. Could it be that she returned to Jing City, intending to stay and continue to find ways to save Chen Ji?

As for the possibility of being kidnapped, it wasn’t entirely out of the question, though unlikely, given that Jing City and its surroundings were under the Emperor’s control, where criminal acts were rare. Moreover, Mrs. Du was no longer young and enticing, making it improbable for someone to take such a risk.

Lizhong shook his head and said, "I asked at the Ministry of Justice’s Prison, and no one has seen Mrs. Du! If she doesn’t go there, perhaps she has left Jing City alone."

Mo Yan thought for a moment and said, "Then let’s not worry about it for now. Grandfather Li, you often visit the Ministry of Justice’s Prison; if she shows up there, let me know."