kingnovel Chapter 1297 Recognize relatives?
Chapter 1297 Recognize relatives?
As the carriage drove out of the main street, it encountered a caravan.
The caravan was very grand, stretching as far as the eye could see, and the leading carriages had sandalwood frames and agarwood shafts, their luxury immediately apparent.
As they were about to pass each other, both lead cars slowed down.
Just then, the car coming from the opposite direction suddenly stopped.
The coachman glanced into the main street, then cupped his hands and asked Hua Duo, "Excuse me, young lady, how do I get to the county government office? Do I have to cross this street?"
Hua Duo pulled on the reins, and the carriage came to a near stop.
Before she could speak, the people who had caught up from behind asked the driver, "What are you going to the county government for?"
The driver frowned slightly but did not answer.
The old woman who had been walking alongside the carriage caught up and said in a gentle tone, "Gentlemen, our master has some private matters to attend to and wishes to see Lord Shen. We heard from the servants of the Shen family in the prefectural city that Lord Shen returned to Tongan County in the past two days, so my master has come here. I wonder... is Lord Shen in the county office?"
Although the old woman was extremely polite in her words and actions, the villagers were still wary: "What do you want with our magistrate?"
It wasn't that they wanted to get to the bottom of things, but rather that in recent months, far too many people had come to the county looking for their master, and they were either wealthy merchants or local gentry.
If adults had to meet with everyone, how exhausted would they be?
"Is your master a businessman?" a county resident guessed.
As soon as he finished speaking, several other villagers nodded in agreement.
Over the past year, they have seen a lot of the world in Tongan County.
When ordinary officials travel, they emphasize proper ceremonial processions and dignified official carriages, unlike these carriages in front of us, which are extremely extravagant from the front to the back, blatantly telling others – I am very rich.
The old woman smiled upon hearing this: "You all have excellent eyesight."
After saying that, she quickly changed the subject: "Excuse me, gentlemen, is the county government office accessible from here?"
Before the county residents could speak, a voice came from the third carriage, full of impatience: "Why are you wasting your breath talking to them? Just go to the county government office to find your sister."
The villagers were taken aback and all looked at the carriage.
The carriage curtain was drawn tightly shut, and the only way to tell that the person was a girl was by her voice.
but......
elder sister?
What sister?
Who is whose older sister?
Whom is this girl calling "sister"?
Questions filled the minds of the county residents, when a deep male voice rang out from another carriage: "Zhu'er, you must not be disrespectful to your second sister's people."
These words stunned not only the county residents, but also Shen Zheng, who was chatting idly with Yu Shizhang in the carriage.
"You have a younger sister? The second oldest in your family?" Yu Shizhang asked in surprise.
Shen Zheng was even more taken aback: "I didn't know."
There shouldn't be any, right?
No, it shouldn't be.
Her adoptive father had no children and only took her in to raise. Where did she get any brothers or sisters?
The street corner fell into dead silence.
A few breaths later, the discussion among the county residents erupted.
"What did they just say? They said... we are that girl's second sister's people?"
"It seems like... what does that sentence mean?"
"What else could it mean! That girl means she's our master's sister!"
"What sister?! Miss Nan Shu isn't... Anyway, she's definitely not Miss Nan Shu!"
"I know! They're definitely trying to establish a connection with us!"
The county residents nodded in agreement.
"What do you mean by claiming kinship? Don't talk nonsense!" The girl called "Zhu'er" spoke up again: "Although my Meng family is not a famous or prestigious family, we are still a well-known family in Yanzhou. We would never do something like claiming kinship indiscriminately!"
"Yanzhou?!"
The county residents were greatly shocked.
Yanzhou is right next to the capital! It's a hundred and eight thousand miles away from Liuyang Prefecture! How could this family have chased us all the way to Tongan County?
At this point, Shen Zheng finally understood the situation.
This group of people claimed to be family members of the original owner and had come to Tongan County to reunite with their relatives.
As for whether it is true or false, we do not yet know.
Nevertheless, her mind went blank for a moment.
After all, she is Shen Zheng, but not "Shen Zheng".
Shen Zheng was raised by the old scholar, while she grew up eating food from an orphanage.
If we're not talking about any connection between her and the original owner's blood relatives... then the only remaining bond is probably this physical body.
Yu Shizhang was even more bewildered than she was, opening his mouth several times but unable to utter a single word.
Of the three people in the carriage, only Xu Yunyan quickly regained his composure: "My lord, why don't I go down and negotiate with these people?"
After spending more than a year together, he had long been able to read the subtle emotions in her eyes.
Such as this time.
Her eyes weren't particularly bright; besides surprise, there was a hint of bewilderment and detachment within them, as if she were watching a lively event that had nothing to do with her through a thin mist.
Seeing that she didn't answer, Xu Yunyan lowered his voice and gave her another option: "My lord, whether they are your blood relatives is still undecided. How about we return to the prefectural city first?"
Yu Shizhang snapped out of his daze and immediately replied, "That's right, whether they're real or fake, we can't let ourselves be led by the nose! If they really were your family, why would they have let you wander outside for so many years? Let's go! Let's go home first, whether they come or not is up to them!"
Shen Zheng slowly came back to her senses.
That's right.
Regardless of which "Shen Zheng" she is, she has her own things to do.
Compared to the livelihood of ordinary people, recognizing relatives is as insignificant as a feather.
"Let's go," she said softly. "It's getting dark, we need to get back as soon as possible."
Xu Yunyan nodded upon hearing this, but did not get out of the carriage. Instead, he lifted a corner of the curtain and said to Hua Duo, "Hua Duo, hurry up and get going."
Hua Duo withdrew his gaze from the opposite carriage and pulled on the reins.
Seeing this, the people all received Shen Zheng's hint and scratched their heads, looking around.
"Hey, it's getting dark. Let's go back."
"Yes, yes, my family is about to have dinner, so I'm going home too."
"Hey, are you going to the county government office?" A "kind" villager pointed the way to the Meng family: "It's over there, hurry up."
Old woman Meng was slightly taken aback, feeling that something was amiss, but she still nodded to the driver.
The two carriages started moving again.
Just as the last carriage of each side passed each other, the man from the Meng family who had spoken earlier suddenly called out and stopped the carriage.
He leaned out of the carriage and called out to Shen Zheng's carriage, "Second Sister?"
"I bother!"
Sitting in the second carriage, Cui Jinyin finally couldn't hold back any longer and reached out to lift the curtain: "What's wrong with this guy! The teacher hasn't even acknowledged them yet! And he's already calling out to them? Has he no shame!"
Yu Nanshu's expression was also unpleasant, but she still suppressed her resentment and pressed down on the hand that was lifting the curtain: "Don't make a sound, wait for Sister Shen to decide how to handle this matter."
Cui Jinyin clenched her fists, but ultimately did not lift the carriage curtain.
When he spoke again, he was gritting his teeth: "Who knows if they came here to freeload? Now that you have an official position, are valued by His Majesty, and are respected by the people, they've come looking for you. What were they doing before? Why didn't they come looking for you sooner?"