130 Chaos

When Zhou Jia arrived at Tongzhou, he had just returned to Osmanthus Alley when Lin Yuxuan came looking for him. Zhou Jia welcomed him to the central room and sat down.

Young Master Lin looked at Zhou Jia and smiled. “Brother Zhou, you’re too disloyal. You slipped away too quickly. If you didn’t know, I would have been in trouble. I was pulled out to drink every day by them. I drank so much that I almost vomited.”

Zhou Jia looked at the troubled Lin Yuxuan and cupped his hands at him. “Brother Yuxuan, you know that something happened at home and that my fiancée is managing such a big family alone. I have to go back and take a look! Sigh! How did you know that I came to Tongzhou?”

Lin Yuxuan waved the invitation in his hand proudly and looked at Zhou Jia. “I guess you also received Governor Xia’s invitation, so I stopped you! Do you know why his family invited scholars to the banquet?”

Zhou Jia smiled and shook his head. “I’m really not sure. Do you know? Tell me.”

Lin Yuxuan looked over. “His family used to be considered a big family in Tongzhou, but they’ve been declining in recent years. I heard that he still has a legitimate daughter who’s not married yet. There are also many illegitimate daughters in his family, and all of them are good-looking. I guess he wants to choose a son-in-law among us.”

Zhou Jia clapped his hands and said with a smile, “I have a wife now. You should choose one properly.”

“Me.” Lin Yuxuan pointed at himself and laughed out loud. “I was still thinking of waiting for some high official from the Imperial Court to find a son-in-law after Spring Quarter High! However, we have to be careful tomorrow.”

Zhou Jia smiled and nodded. “I know what to do. Thank you, Brother Lin!”

Lin Yuxuan stood up. “Alright, look at me. I smell of alcohol. I’ll go back and rest for a while before washing up. I’ll see you at the Xia residence tomorrow.”

“Alright, I’ll send you off.” Zhou Jia sent Lin Yuxuan home to freshen up and went to Shen Wu’s house, which was behind the garrison office.

When he arrived at Shen Wu’s house, his old housekeeper took the gift box and bowed to Zhou Jia. “Mr. Zhou, you’re too polite. My young master has something on and went out. I’ll report to him when he comes back.”

“Old man, I’ll be in Tongzhou for the next few days. Please tell Brother Shen when he comes back.”

“Yes, Mr. Zhou,” the old man replied with a bow.

In the evening, Shen Wu came to Osmanthus Lane. He handed over the congratulatory gift and smiled. “Congratulations, Top Scorer. I heard that you can’t even be found after the release of the results.”

Zhou Jia also cupped his hands and said with a smile, “Brother Shen, don’t you know me?! I’m most afraid of drinking and socializing. This time, I only came to Tongzhou because Governor Xia sent out an invitation. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come out when I was hiding in the countryside.”

Shen Wu glanced at Zhou Jia and whispered to him, “Qingzhou is already in chaos. Someone gathered the refugees to cause trouble and burned down the government office with the mob. Even the magistrate didn’t escape.”

Zhou Jia was stunned for a moment before sighing. “How could this be? Didn’t the Imperial Court use the food transported from Tongzhou for disaster relief?”

Shen Wu sneered. “Relief? What can we use to help? The food was intercepted before it reached Qingzhou. The mob has robbed all the families and shops that haven’t left the city. Great Qi is restless at the border. The tip-off says that a large number of refugees are coming this way. Tongzhou might not be safe before the new year. The city will no longer let the refugees enter the city. You have to be careful when you live in the countryside.”

Zhou Jia was shocked when he heard that. As expected, his peaceful days were over. “Thank you, Brother Shen. Be careful too. If you need help, look for me in Phoenix Village.”

“Alright, I still have work to do. I’ll go back first. Let’s meet again after the New Year,” Shen Wu replied readily.

After Zhou Jia sent Shen Wu off, he felt a heavy weight in his heart. He turned around and went out to the medicine shop to buy some Golden Injury Medicine and medicinal herbs for cold and cough. He also went to Blacksmith Xu’s shop to buy some black market arrows and short arrows for crossbows. After setting them up, he went to the shop to ask Ji Xiang and Zhao Cai to send the goods out as soon as possible and not accept new orders.

Zhao Cai looked at Zhou Jia in confusion. “Young Master, business is getting more and more popular now. Why should we stop?”

Zhou Jia told the two of them the news. When they heard it, they were also stunned. Ji Xiang said unhappily, “It looks good, but there’s trouble again. Why can’t there be a moment of peace?”

Zhou Jia comforted them gently. “There will always be a silver lining. Ji Xiang, bring all the medicine home and get someone to drive out the goods and deliver them.”

Ji Xiang bowed. “Yes, Young Master. I’ll set off now.”

After noon the next day, Zhou Jia went to the Xia residence and saw that the entrance was filled with carriages. Governor Xia and Young Master Xia stood at the door to welcome the guests.

Zhou Jia entered the Xia residence. When Lin Yuxuan saw Zhou Jia in the pavilion, he waved at him. “Come, Brother Zhou, I’m here!”

When Zhou Jia entered the pavilion, High Scholar Xu Tong, who was sitting at the side, saw how familiar the two of them were and said sarcastically, “It’s really difficult to invite Top Scorer Zhou! I sent a few invitations, but your servants all said that you weren’t around. Why are you here again today?”

Zhou Jia glanced at him and said indifferently, “Brother Xu, please forgive me. I was in the countryside and couldn’t come to the appointment.”

Lin Yuxuan patted Xu Tong and said with a smile, “I know that he’s indeed not in Tongzhou. He has long returned to his hometown.”

At this moment, Governor Xia walked in and said to them with a smile, “Why are you all sitting here? Young people, don’t just sit here. Go to the garden and admire the flowers!”

Lin Yuxuan said loudly, “Sir, we’ll go now.”

As he spoke, he pulled Zhou Jia into the garden. Along the way, he saw that the garden was filled with colorful chrysanthemums.

Lin Yuxuan pointed at the pots of ink chrysanthemums and praised, “Brother Zhou, look at these pots of ink chrysanthemums in the Xia family. The flower plates are huge, the stamens are thick, the petals are like silk, and the flowers are as black as ink. They’re really top-grade chrysanthemums. Yes! Not bad, not bad!”

Zhou Jia pointed at the wild chrysanthemums on the flower rack and said with a smile, “I still like these wild chrysanthemums. Look how festive they are. At a glance, they give off a lively feeling.”

At this moment, the two of them heard a coquettish laugh. A girl walked out gracefully from behind the flower rack and bowed to the two of them. “I didn’t expect the Top Scorer’s explanation of the flowers to be so unique.”

Zhou Jia glanced at her, frowned, took a few steps back, and turned to leave.

Lin Yuxuan looked at the girl and said with a faint smile, “I didn’t know you were here. Sorry for disturbing you.” With that, he chased after Zhou Jia.

The maidservant behind the girl watched unhappily as the two of them walked away. “Miss, this Top Scorer is really rude. He left without even saying goodbye.”

“I couldn’t say much.” The girl looked at Zhou Jia and Lin Yuxuan’s backs and thought to herself, What a pity. These two are not people who can be controlled by others.

The girl turned around and said to the maidservant, “Xiao Cui, let’s go!

Zhou Jia and Lin Yuxuan were not in the mood to admire the flowers, so they simply went back to sit in the pavilion. They sat for a while until the banquet ended before going home separately.

When Zhou Jia left the city the next morning, he realized that there were a few more guards at the city gate. They also interrogated the people entering and exiting the city even more tightly. As long as they did not have a travel pass, they were not allowed to enter the city. There were also many people waiting to enter the city outside the city.

When Zhou Jia returned to Phoenix Village, he frowned and said to Li Yu, “Yu’er, when I left the city this time, I realized that the number of guards at the city gate has increased. Shen Wu said that he would only close the city gate before the new year. I’m afraid we have to think of a countermeasure.”

Li Yu thought for a moment. “When the time comes, someone will really rob us. The only way is to stop them outside the village. I’ll go find Uncle Chen and tell him about it. I’ll get him to block a few entrances and build two walls at the main road at the village entrance to seal the village.”

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