You are my golden finger

Chapter 156 Go to Jiuchang again (9)

"Sister, my luggage is packed. Are we going to Jiuchang County tomorrow?" An An, this little funny guy, wearing a baseball cap, carrying a backpack, and pulling the suitcase that Lin Xijin gave him, walked into the hall in a proud manner.

"An An, you actually picked up some good stuff, and your sister hasn't even said let's go yet!" Jia Jia exclaimed.

"An An, do you want to go alone first?" Xin Lan teased An An.

"No, I'm just being prepared." An An answered confidently.

"Wow, our An An can use idioms now. That's great! Wait until Brother Xu comes tonight and ask him. If he says it's okay to go, then we'll go."

An An, who was praised by Lin Xijin, was as proud as a peacock with its tail spread. Jia Jia and Xin Lan could no longer sit still after hearing this and quickly ran to pack their luggage.

"Sister, can the four of us go together?" Xihui asked.

Xinfeng and others also looked at Lin Xijin expectantly.

"Is everything alright at the Imperial College? Have you talked to the Master about this?"

"No problem. The teacher also encourages us to go out and experience life more. Some of our classmates wanted to go with us, but I thought it would be better to let them go on their own, so I didn't agree to their request."

"Well, you did the right thing. We are going there to provide disaster relief and we don't have time to take care of them. If we take them with us, we have to take care of their food, clothing, housing and transportation and be responsible for their safety. We don't have that much time." Lin Xijin affirmed Xihui's approach.

In the evening, when Murong Xu came over for dinner, An An was the first to rush over, hugged his arm and asked, "Brother Xu, can we set off for Jiuchang County?"

"An An, you are still young and haven't grown taller yet. Why don't you go, okay?" Murong Xu teased him deliberately.

"No, An An has grown up. I can serve porridge, I can distribute medicine, I can sweep the floor, I can do many, many things. I want to go!" An An was afraid that he would not be taken with him, so he counted on his fingers the things he could do.

Murong Xu touched his head and said with a smile: "Oh, our An An is so capable? Then we must bring An An with us. Let's set off tomorrow, okay?"

"Oh, let's go to Jiuchang! Let's go to Jiuchang!" An An cheered and informed everyone.

Murong Xu also brought in money raised by everyone in the palace, a total of 650,000 taels, mainly from the emperor, the empress dowager, the queen, and the imperial concubine, and the rest from some concubines who had a good relationship with them.

In the past few days, families and sisters who have a good relationship with Lin Xijin have also sent silver coins as shares, totaling more than 900,000 taels. With the investment from family members, the total amount is over one million taels.

In this way, there is a clear source of funds for the construction of the new area for disaster victims.

A while ago, news of the thefts in the Shangshu Mansion and the Grand Princess Mansion spread out, causing a sensation in Kyoto, and the two families reported the matter to the police.

The government took over the case, but after a thorough investigation, they could not find any clues.

Later, under the leadership of the royal family, the dignitaries in Kyoto donated money and grain to the disaster area, but the Shangshu Mansion and the Grand Princess Mansion had no money or grain to donate, which caused everyone's criticism.

"Have you heard that the Shangshu Mansion and the Grand Princess Mansion donated neither money nor grain for disaster relief this time? They said that the money and grain were stolen."

"How could it be such a coincidence that they were not stolen during normal times, but were stolen during the disaster relief? I suspect that these two families were trying to avoid donations of money and food, so they cried thief and tried to escape."

"Yes, I think so. I heard from the government that there was not even a footprint left in the warehouse, and there was no sign of theft at all. The two governments must be unwilling to donate money and grain, so they staged such a drama themselves."

These rumors quickly spread among the streets and the market, which was of course due to the help of Murong Xu's men.

The emperor was also quite disappointed with his once beloved daughter, and became much more distant from her after this incident.

Princess Yuyao was furious. She thought about her enemies a hundred times, but couldn't figure it out. She also wanted to suspect Lin Xijin, but after some investigation, she found that Lin Xijin had been in Jiuchang County to provide disaster relief, and there were only a handful of people left in Kyoto. It was impossible for so much food to be moved away overnight.

The government was too embarrassed to say that the two families had committed embezzlement, so they reported the results of their investigation to the emperor, who ordered a halt to the investigation. In the end, the matter was left unresolved.

"Let's go!" Everyone loaded their luggage onto the carriage, and An An, the commander-in-chief, was responsible for giving orders.

The security guard who acted as the coachman raised his whip, and all the carriages set off.

Lin Xijin only loaded two carts of finished medicines on this trip, so the convoy was not large. When he arrived at the city gate, Murong Xu's convoy was already waiting at the city gate. Since there were some donated materials, Murong Xu took them with him this time, so there seemed to be quite a lot of carriages.

There were many vehicles and the cargo was heavy, and the disaster area was basically stable, so everyone was not in a hurry to travel, and the convoy moved slowly on the road.

It was almost dusk, but the fiery red sun had not yet set, still emitting its residual power, scorching the earth. The convoy was still more than a hundred miles away from Jiuchang County.

This stretch of road was winding, and the lanes were narrow at some bends, making it difficult to pass other cars. There were two carriages shunting by the side of the road, one of which was completely covered.

"Help! Help!" A faint cry for help came along with the crash of the carriage. Although the sound was not loud, it was still heard by Lin Xijin and others.

"Sister, An An heard someone shouting for help!" An An reminded.

"Sister, we heard it too." Xijia and Xinlan echoed.

"Lin Dong, go and take a look." Lin Xijin ordered.

"Yes, master."

Lin Xijin asked the children to stay in the carriage and followed. The next carriage parked on the side of the road saw someone coming and four strong men jumped out.

"Who are you? What do you want to do?" Four strong men shouted loudly, but there was tension in their voices.

"Open this carriage and take a look." Lin Dong said.

"These are the valuables we are escorting. You can't afford to pay for them if they are damaged. We can't let you see them." A big man said firmly.

The four men stood guard beside the carriage cautiously, and the two coachmen also jumped out of the carriage and stood guard together.

"Help!" a weak voice came again.

At this time, Murong Xu and An Yi came over. Without letting these people argue, they ordered, "An Yi, Lin Dong, go ahead."