jdhmnovel Chapter 185 Intentional Seduction
Chapter 185 Intentional Seduction
When Xia's father and mother learned that Le'an Village was right next door, their feelings were incredibly complicated and conflicted.
But when Xia's father saw someone fall, he still called out to Xia's older brother, "Shengyou."
Brother Xia didn't stop; instead, the carriage sped up a bit.
“Someone has fallen,” Xia’s father reminded him again, “Should we go and check on them?”
Sitting in the carriage, Yin Rou listened to the commotion outside, her eyes filled with astonishment at the kindness of the Xia family.
Yin Rou hesitated whether or not to remind Xia's father not to give alms so easily.
Brother Xia sped up: "Father, I do business in Anning Prefecture and have seen many people stage accidents to extort money. They deliberately bump into carriages or horses and then try to make someone else pay. To put it bluntly, they're just using this opportunity to extort money from people!"
After his initial surprise, Xia's father nodded solemnly.
“The old woman just now clearly rushed forward with a purpose. If I had stopped, things would have been very complicated,” Brother Xia added.
Mr. Xia nodded seriously again: "Yes, we can't stop."
Brother Xia and Brother Xia Er exchanged a secret glance and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Yin Rou, inside the carriage, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The Xia family had sensible people, so she, an outsider, didn't need to remind them.
The old woman who had fallen wanted Brother Xia to stop the carriage. If Brother Xia would help her back to the village, she could let him see her daughter.
The old woman lay on the ground, looked up at the road surface that was no longer dusty but had been kicked up by the passing vehicles, and gritted her teeth in anger.
"How can people be so heartless these days!"
The old woman naturally blamed the carriage for not stopping to help her, but did not blame herself for failing to extort money through underhanded means.
* * *
Two more hours passed—
The carriage arrived outside Anning Prefecture.
Anning Prefecture was even more bustling than usual at this time, with long queues of people entering the city that stretched almost to the edge of the woods.
This year's provincial examination was held in Anning Prefecture City. All the candidates who were registered in Anning Prefecture City, as well as their families who accompanied them, came to take the exam.
When Yin Rou saw the words "Anning City", she couldn't help but be astonished.
If she remembered correctly, she had been taken out of the brothel in less than a day! How could she have... ended up in Anning Prefecture, Lingzhou, a place that required three days' journey?!
It took the team half an hour to enter the city.
Among the queuing crowd, someone sighed: "This year, tens of thousands of people have come to Anning Prefecture to take the imperial examinations. Including those of us who came with them, all the inns and other lodgings are full. Once we get in... we don't know where we'll be able to stay. Sigh..."
Many of the people who came were worried about housing and were trying to find solutions.
When it was the Xia family's turn in the queue, Brother Xia went through the household registration at the city gate and entered the city, heading directly to the prefectural residential area.
Anning Prefecture City doesn't usually register household registration locations, but during this period there are too many students and their families coming to take the imperial examinations.
Xia's father and mother were also worried.
Xia's mother said softly, "Our whole family is coming to the city... I don't know where we'll stay. We're afraid... we won't have anywhere to stay."
The carriage stopped in front of a medium-sized house.
"We've arrived," Brother Xia jumped off the carriage and took out the key to open the door.
Xia's father and the others jumped off the carriage, somewhat confused.
"What is this house?"
“This is my little sister’s house,” Brother Xia replied matter-of-factly.
Xia Mo gave Xia's father and the others a sweet smile.
When she learned that Xia Erge was preparing to pick up his books again, she thought about buying a house. However, before she could buy one, Huangfu Qian had already taken care of it for her!
"This..." Xia's father and mother exchanged glances, wanting to ask how they got here, but after looking at the situation, they decided to ask later.
"You go in first, I'll drive the carriage through the side gate. Second brother, go open the side gate," Brother Xia instructed.
"it is good."
Xia Erge nodded.
Clearly, Brother Xia also knew about this house.
Yin Rou looked at the house, her feelings somewhat complicated.
She thought the Xia family were farmers and would be very poor, but... this house alone is worth almost three thousand taels!
How could someone who can afford a two-courtyard house like this in the prefectural city be poor?!
"Father and Mother, we've renovated the house. The kitchen has been enlarged; that's where we'll be making braised dishes from now on," Xia Erge explained, describing the house's layout.
Xia Mo looked at Miao'er and Miss Lu, who were still in the carriage.
Miao'er and Miss Lu looked at Brother Xia.
Miao'er was originally a young lady, and she was used to being served. She gracefully stepped down from the carriage.
Miss Lu was originally Lu'er, the maid. She knew that when the young lady got off the carriage, someone would bring her a footstool, so she was also waiting.
"Are you planning to spend the night in the carriage?" Xia Mo asked the master and servants in the carriage without turning her head.
Miao'er gritted her teeth, jumped off the carriage, twisted her ankle, and almost fell.
Miao'er's face turned pale as she looked at Brother Xia, who was standing to the side without helping her up, and she couldn't understand why.
If you see a girl almost fall, shouldn't you reach out and help her?
Brother Xia met Miao'er's gaze and nodded politely, taking it as Miao'er greeting him.
Miao'er: "..."
She hid her grievances, but her eyes clearly showed that she was wronged.
Miss Lu had no choice but to jump off the carriage as well.
Brother Xia led the horse through the side gate, holding the reins.
As summer drew to a close, she met up with her brother Xia. She glanced at the two servants following her from a distance and whispered to her brother Xia, "Brother, did you notice?"
"What did you figure out? Are you saying their identities were switched?" Brother Xia asked in a low voice.
Xia Mo nodded vigorously and gave Brother Xia a thumbs up.
Brother Xia said softly, "It's only right to be a little cautious when you're traveling."
"But didn't you notice that she was deliberately getting close to you? When she was washing up this morning, she didn't go anywhere else, but she just went to your side. Whenever something happened, she would stare at you. Just now, when she got off the carriage, she was also looking at you, waiting for you to help her off the carriage," Xia Mo whispered.
"Men and women are different," Brother Xia gestured to Xia Mo not to go too far.
Xia Mo puffed out her cheeks and said angrily, "Big brother, are you blaming me for the sake of outsiders?"
"No, little sister, I didn't mean that," Brother Xia immediately explained, looking at Xia Mo nervously.
Xia Mo immediately put on a smiling face, playfully stuck out her tongue at her older brother Xia, and said, "Brother, as long as you know what you're doing."
"Little sister," Brother Xia looked at Xia Mo with a helpless yet doting expression.
"This house is divided into six courtyards. Remember to stay away from them," Xia Mo reminded her again, still not entirely at ease.
She possesses a powerful spiritual awareness, and her spiritual awareness thanks her, indicating that the master and servant have come with a purpose.
“Yes,” Brother Xia nodded solemnly.
After whispering something to her older brother Xia at the end of summer, Xia ran to her mother's side, acting coquettishly and clinging to her mother's arm.
"Mom, I've missed you so much, it's been two months since I last saw you," Xia Mo said sweetly.
Xia's mother loved it when her daughter acted coquettishly by her side. She smiled and said, "If you miss your mother, you should come back often, okay?"
"Hmm."