Chapter 433: Chapter 434: Traveling

Wang Caiyue stood there, aggrieved. "Mother, what about me? What should I do?"

Li Cuicui pursed her lips. "If you’re really that idle, take a few of the nieces-in-law and tidy up the areas in front of and behind my house. That way, the two children won’t trip and fall when they’re running around later."

Wang Caiye couldn’t help but mutter again, "Why are they so precious? Which of our family’s children didn’t grow up taking tumbles? It’s just that woman from the Jin family, always so fussy."

Li Cuicui shot a sharp glare at her. "Fine, don’t do anything at all. Just keep that mouth of yours shut."

Seeing that Li Cuicui had arranged everything, Gu Sanbu looked at her and said sincerely, "Da Shi’s wife, you have truly borne the Gu family an incredible son."

Gu Wenheng was already the Magistrate of a city at such a young age. If one dared to dream big, his future was full of promise.

Li Cuicui smiled and glanced at her other sons who were present. "I think as long as they aren’t lazy and don’t shirk their duties, every one of them is incredible."

By the time Jin Qianqian left the county seat, news of Gu Wenheng’s promotion to Magistrate had already spread, thanks to Housekeeper Fu’s intentional leaks.

The madams who had originally planned to pay a visit prepared new gifts, each one even more lavish than the last.

But Jin Qianqian was unaware of any of this. At that moment, she was being welcomed into the home with great enthusiasm by everyone.

Li Cuicui held Gu Ben Can in her arms. "If we had known you were coming back, we would have waited a couple more days for you. Then you would’ve had company on the road."

Jin Qianqian said, "The news came too suddenly. Besides, it wouldn’t be easy to accompany my husband on a long journey with two young children. So we decided to come home to stay for a while and spend time with you, Mother. We’ll head to Lu City after the spring."

Li Cuicui stroked her little grandson’s head. "That makes perfect sense. I wonder if the place Seventh is going is even colder than here. What’s it like? Is it a good place?"

Jin Qianqian replied, "I honestly don’t know yet. Once I get there, I’ll be sure to write a letter back and tell you, Mother."

Li Cuicui gently patted her arm. "You’re a mother yourself now, yet you’re still so cheeky."

Jin Qianqian gave her a wide grin before being pulled away by her sisters-in-law to chat.

Gu Benluo looked around at all the curious faces, peering this way and that. Other than his grandmother and his Fourth Uncle, everyone seemed like a stranger to him.

His adorable appearance made all the women of the Gu family want to pat his head and hold him. Eventually, he got so scared that he followed his little brother and hid in his grandmother’s arms, which made Li Cuicui beam so wide she couldn’t close her mouth.

「In stark contrast to the warmth of the family home, Gu Wenheng was currently traveling down a muddy road.」

A stream of complaints came from the carriage behind him. "This is supposed to be an official road? It’s like this? Don’t these people ever bother to maintain it? Or do they just never leave their homes?"

Jiang Shiniu, who was riding ahead to scout the path, was already covered in mud. He used a stick to probe every puddle, making sure the carriage wheels could pass through before giving a hand signal to the driver, Hong Dabi.

Their pace slowed to a crawl. Time ticked by, and they had long missed lunchtime, but they still hadn’t made it out of this stretch of muddy road.

Gu Wenheng took out the beef jerky Jin Qianqian had packed in his carriage. He had Ming Feng give a handful to each guard, while he leaned back against a pillow, chewing on a piece himself without much appetite.

He Gaofei’s guard, Le Yimu, clutched his stomach and once again looked at the group ahead with envy.

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Because his master’s carriage was following Mr. Gu’s, he had a clear view of everything the front party said and did.

Throughout the journey, even the treatment of the guards and driver in the lead group was enough to make him green with envy.

Whatever Mr. Gu ate or used, the people around him received the same.

He was nothing like his own master, who was completely out of touch with the world. The man would just stay cooped up in his carriage, letting the pastries inside go bad rather than spare a single crumb for his men.

Seeing a relatively flat and dry patch of ground ahead, Jiang Shiniu rode over to ask, "Sir, there’s a place up ahead suitable for a break. Should we stop and rest?"

Gu Wenheng lifted the curtain to take a look. "Inform the others behind us to prepare to rest. We’ll eat some dry rations and then continue on our way."

Ever since they had shared a meal, the other three officials had unanimously agreed to follow Gu Wenheng’s arrangements for the rest of the journey. This had saved him a lot of trouble.

After all, they had agreed to it themselves. Even if they had objections, they could only keep them to themselves, and Gu Wenheng wouldn’t have to listen to dissenting opinions every time.

No sooner had the carriages been pulled to the side than He Gaofei and the others, each rubbing their backs and bottoms, carefully disembarked with the help of their attendants.

Seeing Gu Wenheng still had the energy to be stretching his body, Lu Shenggen asked with some curiosity, "Doesn’t Mr. Gu feel like these bumpy, potholed roads are enough to shake a person’s bones loose?"

Gu Wenheng certainly wasn’t going to show off at a time like this that his carriage had been modified with shock absorbers. "Just pad it with more cotton quilts. If it gets too uncomfortable sitting, you can stand up. That should at least lessen the impact a bit."

Lu Shenggen glanced at Ming Feng, who stood beside Gu Wenheng without a trace of fatigue. "The people around Mr. Gu are truly remarkable."

Ming Feng was speechless. ’What did he just say? Did I sleep too much in the carriage and miss something?’

Gu Wenheng just smiled without offering an explanation. He stood quietly to the side, watching Jiang Shiniu and his men busy themselves with setting up a stove to boil water.

He Gaofei’s men also mingled in, lending a hand here and there. This way, they wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of setting up their own stove to boil water later.

"Mr. Gu, we’ve been traveling for so many days now. We should be about halfway there, right?" Wu Yichen asked worriedly, staring at the equally muddy road ahead. "Is the rest of the road like this too?"

Gu Wenheng thought for a moment. "We’re more than halfway there. As for the rest of the journey, if we run into bad weather, it’ll probably be even more difficult."

"Worse than this? Is there anything more difficult?" Wu Yichen was incredulous. "This is an official road. Don’t the local government officials manage it?"

Gu Wenheng said, "That depends on the time of year. Even if they were to repair it, they would only level the ground after spring begins.

The heavy rains a while back washed everything out, so it’s normal for the road to be muddy and full of potholes.

Luckily, we haven’t run into any blizzards these past few days. Otherwise, you can imagine, we’d probably have to get out and walk."

"It can’t be that bad, can it?" Wu Yichen looked up at Gu Wenheng. "Have you traveled this road before, Mr. Gu?"

Gu Wenheng replied, "No, I haven’t. But an elder once mentioned it to me. That’s why, no matter how difficult the road ahead is, we have to keep pushing forward. Otherwise, the longer we delay, the more we’ll suffer later."

’I’ll take a longer rest at the next stop,’ He Gaofei had been secretly thinking. ’We can wait for the mud to dry before continuing.’ Now, it seemed that plan was no longer feasible.

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