Chapter 18
Ding Hao's job is similar to Liu Shiyi's, both are responsible for receiving and sending off guests, and interacting with people along the way. However, he jumped from being a house servant to this position in one step, and not a single steward disobeyed him.
Their status as humans was originally established by people, and these managers saw the majestic county magistrate, panting with excitement. But what about Ding Hao? County Magistrate Zhao called him "Ding Xian Di", and even the county magistrate's younger brother couldn't be a manager in the Ding family? Moreover, this task is a difficult job, assigned by Miss Ding, and it's not necessarily recognized by the master. Who would dare to compete with him? Therefore, all the managers were very polite to Ding Hao, and no one tried to sabotage his mission.
In the following days, the journey was still relatively smooth. Due to Ding Yuluo's special hospitality towards everyone, they were never treated poorly in terms of food and accommodation. On days when the journey was faster, he would even give them some extra money for wine, so he got the unanimous support of the entire logistics team. Long-distance transportation is hard work, and rushing on the road like this made everyone extremely tired, but no one had any complaints.
Ding Hao originally did grassroots service, and he was used to getting along with these people. With his patience, even those with severe intellectual disabilities who were not prone to violence could be handled, so there was no problem dealing with them. As a result, he quickly got along with everyone, and in just a few days, the people in Ding's household had completely gotten used to the new Ding Hao. Many people even envied him - after a high fever, his mind had opened up, and he had transformed from a clumsy and awkward person into someone who was skilled at handling situations and speaking eloquently. He handled matters with more tact than Liu, who was often in charge of receiving guests.
Even Ding Xiaojie, with or without reason, always sticks to his side, not only asking him for directions and arrangements, but also chatting idly. Looking at her expression, although the Ding family does not acknowledge this son, she seems to have acknowledged the existence of this older brother.
Following Ding Hao's suggestion, the grain team changed its uniform speed of advancement and rushed for two days, resting one night, to maximize their journey without making everyone too tired. Also, because they had many people, when rushing on a confirmed route, they immediately sent someone ahead to arrange accommodations and food in the next town, saving a lot of time. Roughly calculated, at this speed, they would arrive in Guangyuan only three to four days later than the original scheduled delivery time.
The Guangyuan side cannot have no surplus grain at all, and during the New Year's festival, many families prepared goods for the new year, and it would be late for three or four days. It should not cause unrest among the people or desertion of soldiers. Ding Yuluo finally put her mind at ease and arranged for someone to rush to Guangyuan to inform General Cheng Shiying in advance. A rare smile also appeared on her face.
On this day, passing through the town of Huan Shui, a large group of people had just entered the town when a team of horse-drawn carriages came rushing from the opposite side of the town. The four officials in front were wearing black gauze hats with four corners, dressed in a set of dark blue cotton-padded clothes, wearing blue cotton boots, and on top of that, they wore a large cloak made of sheepskin, with a waist knife hanging at their sides, swaying lazily as they walked.
Behind them, some catchers with water firewood, one by one frozen nose red, constantly drinking and scolding the hundreds of prisoners they escorted. Those prisoners were dressed in tattered clothes, disheveled hair, forehead tattooed with golden characters, apparently all exiled to the northwest as military laborers, they wore even thinner than the catchers, one by one frozen like radishes, shivering under the winter sun.
The two teams entered the town at the same time, and it suddenly became lively. The Ding family's team had many people and horses, but the other side was either a catcher or a prisoner, so the coachmen of the Ding family's team were nervous and the car slipped to the side. The two teams blocked the street tightly, and those catchers scolded when they encountered obstacles on their way.
At this moment, a bald-headed man sneaked into the crowd of onlookers. He had clear eyebrows and eyes, with a pair of peach blossom-shaped eyes, wearing a large monk's robe, his head was smooth and shiny without any hair or scars, estimated to be a young novice who had not yet received tonsure. Looking at his appearance, he was 70% handsome and 100% charming, if he fell into the hands of some good-looking men, it would truly be a rare treasure.
He stood in the crowd, searching around, and saw that it was the Ding family's carriage team. He hooked his mouth and showed a sly smile: "This is really damn evil, enemies meet on a narrow road."
It turned out that this man was the thief who escaped to Qing Shui Town. He was originally a habitual thief, and when he was stealing from a wealthy family in a certain place, he became infatuated with the mistress of the house and forgot his profession due to their passionate affair. Later, they were discovered, chased and beaten all the way until they escaped to Qing Shui Town.
He had originally wanted to steal more goods in Qing Shui Town and continue to flee, but seeing that County Magistrate Zhao was extraordinary, he took action against him. Unexpectedly, after stealing the things, he found that what Zhao Jie treasured like a precious jade was not jewelry, but an official seal. His courage was indeed not small, holding on to the teachings of his ancestors "thieves do not walk empty-handed", he wanted to use this official seal to extort money from County Magistrate Zhao, but unexpectedly fell into Ding Hao's hands.
When he was tied up, those militiamen and local braves stripped him of all his valuables. Later, when County Magistrate Zhao sent Ding Hao out of the town, he used his shrinking bones technique to slip out of the ropes, and escaped wearing only a thin shirt. As soon as he left the town, the cold wind made him shiver with cold, his lips turned blue, and he looked like a sparrow.
Fortunately, heaven does not cut off a man's road, and he didn't escape far before running into a wandering monk. He took advantage of the monk's unpreparedness, knocked him down with one stick, stripped off his monk's robe, and escaped swiftly. From then on, he pretended to be a monk all along the way, begging for food and taking rides on passing carts, quickly fleeing from Linqing County.
He still had the monk's degree on his body, and when he met a temple on the road, he wanted to go to the temple to spend the autumn wind, and first mix for a few days in it to get through this winter. Unexpectedly, this half-road monk did not understand the rules of the monks, and the hanging single was not always possible. Every year from January 15th to April 15th, July 15th to October 15th, these six months were the period when monks could travel around, visit other temples, find teachers, and learn Taoism. Except for these six months, other temples did not receive the hanging single monks who came to visit.
The time was not only wrong, but his bald head was also suspicious. Only a great monk who had received the full precepts could travel freely and stay in temples. His shiny bald head at most made him look like a young novice, which did not match the identity written on the degree certificate. The knowing guest monk became suspicious and after a round of questioning, the answer given by Zhu Su was inconsistent, and he knew he had been exposed. He quickly made an excuse to go to the toilet, climbed over the wall at the back of the thatched cottage, and escaped in panic again, this time losing the degree certificate as well.
Wearing a monk's robe, he begged for alms and food from passersby. After much difficulty, he finally arrived at this small town by the river, only to encounter the Ding family's caravan again. As the Ding family's caravan approached, Bai Suo gritted his teeth in hatred, his eyes flashing with anger. He picked up a stone from the ground, hid it in his sleeve, and pretended to watch the scene unfold before him. Just as the first large cart was about to pass in front of him, Bai Suo suddenly reached into his sleeve, flicked his finger, and sent the stone flying out, hitting the mule's eye squarely.
The mule, although strong, had extremely weak eyes. This time it was in pain and let out a loud bray, then suddenly galloped forward. The four constables opposite were caught off guard and hastily retreated to both sides, stopping their bodies and cursing loudly. The mule cart continued to move forward, knocking over the prisoners and colliding with another cart pulled by a donkey, which was finally stopped by the cart's wooden frame.
Across the street, a donkey cart was carrying dozens of black jars filled with pickled vegetables. After being hit, several dozen jars shattered, and the juice and vegetables spilled all over the ground. Bie Xiang chuckled to himself, shrank his neck, and walked away quickly.
Those few insolent people were enraged, and with a loud shout, they pointed at them and said: "You rebels! How dare you rush at the master? Come on, come on, overturn their carriage for me and teach them a lesson!"
The bailiffs holding the water firewood shouted a few times, and those prisoners who were just pitiful suddenly became like fierce dogs released by their masters, barking and rushing towards the grain cart of the Ding family. They punched and kicked, overturned the cart and smashed the goods, hitting whoever they saw and smashing whatever they saw. Whatever they liked, they stuffed into their bosoms, like a pack of mad dogs. The street was instantly in chaos, with people and horses tumbling about in all directions...
