Transmigration: From Farmer To Empress
Chapter 110: An Old Friend Seems to Visit During the Second Watch_1

Chapter 110: Chapter 110: An Old Friend Seems to Visit During the Second Watch_1

In addition to the shops lining the streets, there were also numerous street vendors who carried their goods in baskets, traveling through the alleys. It was Wen’er and Wu’er’s first time going out, and they felt that their eyes weren’t enough to take in all the new sights. Their big eyes, like black grapes, showed curiosity at everything they saw, whether it was the selling of firecrackers, New Year cakes, or rouge powder. Especially when they passed by a stall where clay figurines were being molded, the two children, hand in hand, stood in front of the stall, staring with wide-eyed curiosity and excitement at the life-like clay figures.

The vendor, noticing the children’s well-dressed appearance which suggested they came from a well-off family, enthusiastically tried to make a sale: "Young masters, why not have a clay figure made? They’re quite cheap, just eight copper coins each. If both of you want one, I’ll give you both for fifteen copper coins!"

Wen’er was quite mature for his age. Although he loved the lifelike clay figures, he hesitated to spend money carelessly. When he heard that two clay figures would cost fifteen coppers, he shook his head quickly, just like a rattle-drum, leading his younger brother away by the hand.

"Do you like them? If you do, let’s get one!"

Lady Du followed the children from the back, watching them with a gentleness. She pulled both of them by their hands and led them back to the stall. To the small vendor, she said: "Go ahead, make one for each child."

Seeing his business secured, the sculptor gladly uttered, "Sure!" He began kneading a piece of dough, shaping it into a rough human form in just a few moves. He took a toothpick, made some points, and a chubby, adorable little figure appeared before everyone. He colored the small dough figure, and Wen’er’s lifelike figure was done.

"Look, it really looks like him!"

Cai Fei took the dough figure and handed it to Lady Du, both of whom laughed and agreed that it looked like him.

In the meantime, Wu’er’s clay figure was also completed. The two little guys, holding their clay figures, were so happy that they squinted their eyes and couldn’t close their mouths.

"Oh, isn’t that Shopkeeper Li?"

Lady Du noticed Shopkeeper Li, who had saved her a few days earlier, and hurriedly brought the children forward to greet him.

After a few days’ absence, Shopkeeper Li’s complexion had significantly worsened. His round face was so pale that it lacked any color. Behind him was a box carriage, and the servant driving the carriage was familiar to her; she remembered him as the servant who had given her one hundred taels of silver at the Zhou Family’s house.

Shopkeeper Li had intentionally got off the carriage when he saw Lady Du.

His injuries had been severe, and he had almost lost his life. Several of His Highness King Qin’s servants had also been injured, two of whom were now incapacitated and could no longer practice martial arts. The rest were severely injured. They had stayed in Yushu County City for two days to recover to the point where they could barely walk. Once they could move, they hastily returned to look for King Qin. The Guard driving the carriage had the lightest injuries among them, but he was also gritting his teeth and toughing it out. He had nearly fallen off the carriage several times. If it weren’t for his mission to find the Master, he might not have had the determination to travel from Yushu County City to Qingyun Town.

Shopkeeper Li glanced behind Lady Du and said with a smile, "I was just about to visit the mansion, but I happened to run into you here, Madam."

Lady Du laughed and said, "No need for formalities, Shopkeeper. What brings you here?"

Manager Li stroked his white beard, saying, "There’s no urgent matter. I just wanted to see how Cai Wei has been. I haven’t seen her for a few days. I wonder what she’s been busy with these past few days?"

Lady Du laughed with a touch of nostalgia, "Wei’er is a sensible girl. She handles all the responsibilities of our restaurant at home. She is always busy, taking care of every detail personally. She’s too busy to take a break. Even I, her mother, feel too idle in comparison!"

Seeing Lady Du sigh without any other expression on her face, Manager Li knew there were things she was not aware of. He didn’t delve into it and made small talk with her for a little while longer. He then bid her goodbye, holding his chest as he slowly returned to his carriage.

Once back in the carriage, Chai Feng, who was leaning against the wall of the carriage, asked in a low voice, "Old Li, did you learn anything? Has Miss Mu done anything unusual these past few days? Should we look for her now?"

Manager Li shook his head, catching his breath, "No rush, let’s first return to my shop and rest for a while. Once we have a good rest, we will visit the Mu Family tonight to find out the truth."

Several severely injured men were crammed in the carriage, having braved the severe cold for most of the day, they could hardly hold on. They all agreed with Manager Li’s suggestion and allowed the horse carriage to take them back to Li’s Record and Cloth Store.

The White Tiger and Miss Mu were close, a fact witnessed by Chai Feng et al. Hence, their rescue and their master being carried off by the White Tiger were probably orchestrated by Miss Mu. Therefore, approaching her to get the master back was highly likely to be the right move!

Once Manager Li left, Lady Du took several children to the ’Fuwang’ teahouse in the town. She had heard in the morning that the teahouse had invited a performing troupe from the provincial city to perform that day. Lady Du used to love watching performances the most, and of course, would not miss such a great opportunity.

In the past, when a troupe was invited to perform at her parents’ home, she would stealthily watch and listen from afar. She was intoxicated by these fictitious stories. The daring elopement with Mu Zhongqing could be attributed to the related stories she watched in these plays!

The children had never heard a live performance before. When they heard their mother planned to take them to enjoy one, they were thrilled. They all walked behind her, excited and full of anticipation, and entered Fuwang teahouse majestically.

The troupe invited to perform at the Fuwang teahouse was the famous "De Yun Troupe" from Bianzhou, which ordinarily didn’t deign to perform in such small places. Only because they were in town to pay respects to Old Madam An the day before, they decided to take up the gig at Fuwang teahouse on short notice.

As soon as Lady Du entered the teahouse, she instructed Auntie Liu to book a private compartment. There were many curious eyes in the teahouse. She was a young woman, and although Fei’er was still a child, she was already a maiden. It wasn’t suitable for them to be gawked at by others.

Once they had booked the compartment, the attentive shop assistant led the family upstairs.

As they were going up, a man in his thirties was coming down from upstairs. His gaze lingered on Lady Du, and his expression froze for a moment before it turned into one of bewilderment.

Lady Du was strict about maintaining a lady’s decorum. She would not dare to look directly at other men, especially when she felt that man was looking at her intently. She quickly lowered her head, holding her children, they went upstairs as if fleeing.

The man watched Lady Du’s retreating figure, thoughtful. This woman looked so much like the Fourth Miss from Duke An’s Mansion. If Duke An’s Mansion hadn’t announced that the Fourth Miss died prematurely more than ten years ago, he would genuinely believe ’she’ was ’her’.