Chapter 1165: Staying Over

Because the two of them had been to the places near the capital, they did not stop to travel for the first three days. It was only on the fourth day that they began to slow down.

The two children went around using the names Qi Chen and Qi Jin, and claimed to be visiting on a study tour. No one suspected anything along the way.

It was mainly because their temperament and staffing matched such an identity.

As the Crown Prince, Little Treasure was most concerned about the actions of the regions’ officials, the standard of living of the people, income and expenditure, and so on.

Therefore, every time he arrived at a place, he would stay for two days. He would either stay at the residence of a farmer to ask about farming strategies or go to the local academy to visit the local teachers and ask about the various policies of the local county office. Otherwise, he would loiter at teahouses to listen to all kinds of gossip.

Along the way, they had seen all kinds of people, and things were mostly going smooth. At least they did not encounter anything strange. Hence, the two children treated this training as a trip. The guards beside them also felt relaxed. Even if the two young masters would shout outside from time to time or suddenly asked to watch the sunrise and sunset, they endured it.

The guards felt that if it was so easy to accompany the Crown Prince out to train, they might want to fight for the opportunity again next year. Although the two young masters sometimes had strange ideas, it was really good to be able to see the scenery, eat delicacies, and experience various customs.

However, this was impossible.

Due to their rush, the group of people missed the inn along the way. The guards had no choice but to run over and let the young masters choose. “There’s a small village about ten miles ahead. If we don’t stay there, we’ll have to set up camp here.”

Little Bear rubbed his stomach and said, “I haven’t eaten vegetables for two days.”

Little Treasure also said, “I haven’t showered for two days either.”

“Then I’ll get them to speed up and try to reach that small village as soon as possible.”

At this moment, the sun was already setting in the west, and there were shorter daylight hours during spring. No matter their speed, the sky would be completely dark by the time they arrived at the village.

When the group of people stopped at the entrance of the small village, Little Treasure asked the guard captain to negotiate with the village chief while they waited outside.

The villagers panicked when they heard the sound of horse hooves. Although the world had been peaceful for the past few years, the chaotic times more than ten years ago had etched too deep in their memories. Those above the age of 20 panicked. Fortunately, the sound of horse hooves stopped outside the village, so the villagers did not panic and flee.

Not long after the guard captain entered the village, he brought out two old men.

Little Treasure and Little Bear quickly dismounted and said apologetically, “Sorry for disturbing you at this hour.”

The old man heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the kind-looking and young Little Treasure and Little Bear. He hurriedly smiled and said, “You’re guests from afar and we should be apologizing for the delay in welcoming you instead. Young Masters, please come in.”

Perhaps knowing that the guests were harmless, the villagers peeked at them from behind the wall.

The village chief invited them to stay at his home and said with a smile, “Esteemed guests, please stay here for now. I hope you won’t mind putting up at my humble abode.”

“No, we’re the ones disturbing you.” Little Treasure sat down on the stool indifferently and asked, “Judging from the relatively small size of your village, there ought to be other bigger villages nearby. But we haven’t encountered any other villages on the way here?”

Smiling, the village chief said, “Our small village is indeed the only village in a 20-mile radius. Our village was built when the Imperial Court recorded the refugees back then. The other large villages weren’t willing to accept so many of us, and we didn’t want to live on the whims of others, so we occupied this piece of land to build houses. The government office assigned us freehold fields nearby to farm, and it took more than ten years for our village to reach this scale. Don’t think that our village is small now. In another ten years, there will be no less than 50 families in our village.”

Along the way, Little Treasure had learned how strong their reproduction ability was. Thinking of what his Fourth Aunt had said, he smiled awkwardly. “It’s a good thing to have a thriving population.”

“Yes, exactly.” The village chief was obviously very proud of this.

The guard captain knew what the Crown Prince wanted. He hurriedly turned around and took out a lot of raw meat from the carriage and handed it to the village chief. “Here is some meat. Please help us prepare two dishes as our young masters haven’t eaten yet.”

The village chief swallowed his saliva and quickly carried the meat away. The guards then brought over rice and white flour. The village chief sighed. “Rich people are indeed different. They bring so many good things along with them even on a trip.”

Not daring to be negligent, the village chief led his men to start a fire and cook. As there was meat and rice, they only needed to pluck some vegetables from the vegetable garden, which they had plenty of considering they were a farming family.

A few pots of simple stir-fry dishes were quickly placed on the table. If it was in the capital, Little Treasure would definitely not touch his chopsticks. However, when he was outside, he had to settle for simpler fare. Little Treasure took a pair of chopsticks for the village chief and invited him to sit down and eat.

As the three of them chatted as they ate, Little Treasure and Little Bear developed a certain understanding of this village. After eating and drinking their fill, they took a shower and went to bed.

Little Bear and Little Treasure slept on the same bed. Because Little Bear was around, although the guards were guarding outside, they also closed their eyes to rest.

When they heard the commotion, the guards almost fell off the stool. Little Bear had already sat up and was listening with his round eyes. After confirming that it was crying sounds, he opened the door and went out.

The guard on duty rubbed his eyes and said, “Second Young Master, the sound seems to come from a family at the end of the village. It’s quite far away. Do you want to go take a look?”

“Maybe it’s because their families are arguing. It’s not a good idea for us to interfere in their family matters, right?” Another guard disagreed.

Little Bear’s hearing was better than theirs. Coupled with his extraordinary internal energy, he listened for a while before his expression darkened. “I think someone died. Hurry up and check on the situation.”

The guards jolted awake and hurriedly ran to check on the situation.

Little Treasure also got up and asked in a daze, “What’s wrong?”

Little Bear lifted the blanket and covered him up, then said in a deep voice, “It seems like someone died. I don’t know what happened.”

The guard who ran out quickly carried a young lady into the house and said anxiously, “Master, this young lady is still breathing. We should let Doctor Zhang take a look at her.”

Since their sons would be away for a prolonged period, Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran naturally equipped them with the best. Other than guards, they also sent imperial physicians.

Because Imperial Physician Zhang was young, healthy, and had good medical skills, he was chosen.

However, no matter how healthy Imperial Physician Zhang was, he slept like a dead pig after rushing on the road for a few days. When he was dragged out of bed by the guards, he was still a little dazed.

The guard nagged in his ear, “This is your first opportunity to shine. If you don’t show off your competence, the masters might just send you back. After all, Second Young Master has always disliked you.”

Imperial Physician Zhang immediately woke up. The young Prince had always felt that he slowed them down and was already tempted to send him back to the capital. He couldn’t let Prince find a reason to do so.

Imperial Physician Zhang hurriedly carried the medical box to save her.

The seven or eight-year-old girl had been suffocated by something like a pillow or blanket. If it weren’t for the fact that the guards who went to check the corpse had strong internal energy and found that she still had a slight pulse, she would have really been dealt with as a corpse.

Imperial Physician Zhang quickly pried open her mouth and hit her chest a few times. He then used a needle on her. After some effort, the child coughed a few times and spat out a pile of filth.

Imperial Physician Zhang quickly helped her up and turned her head slightly to the side so that her trachea would not be blocked due to her vomit.

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