Chapter 8: Ke Yue's Search for Relatives

  The girl covered her eyes with her hand to block the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves, moved her numb hands and feet, looked around, saw two people standing in front of her, and assumed a fighting stance, saying: "What do you want? If you're not afraid of death, come on..."

  "Hey, you're a strange girl! We saved you, and you don't even thank us. Why do you want to fight with us instead?" Tian Hao was puzzled.

  "You're all just a bunch of black-hearted people, none of you are any good." The girl snorted.

  "Where did you see that we are not good people?" Aqui stepped forward and said angrily, "You don't know a good person's heart, like a dog biting Lu Dongbin!"

  "You're no different from them, aren't you? I won't be fooled by you again," the girl said disdainfully.

  "Oh, I get it. Just now we pretended to be robbers and that's how we saved you, but you actually believed it?" Tian Hao suddenly understood.

  "Are you really not mountain bandits?" the girl asked half-believingly.

  "Do we look alike?" Tian Hao spread his hands apart.

  "She looked so clean and elegant, yet it's really not like that." The girl carefully sized up Tianhao again, then glanced at Aqui, clasped her hands together in a fist, "So this young lady was mistaken! Thank you for saving my life!"

  "Alright, no need to thank me! We also have a long way to go, let's part ways here. This horse is yours." Tian Hao said as he turned around and called out to Ah Gui, "Ah Gui, let's go!"

  Just as they were about to leave, a voice called out from behind: "Please stay, gentlemen! May I ask your honorable surnames and names?"

  His name is Zhou...

  "Alright! No need to say more!" Aqui said half a sentence before being stopped by Tianhao. He turned around and said to the girl, "It's just a small matter, don't worry about it, we'll meet again someday if fate allows it, goodbye for now, miss!" Then he turned around and was about to leave.

  "The two gentlemen refused to leave their names, and I won't force them. However, there's still one more thing that needs to be troubled with!" The young lady stepped forward a few steps.

  "Miss, please speak!" Tianhao stopped in his tracks and turned around.

  "Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to Mingwu County? How far is it from here? After all this fuss, I've lost my sense of direction."

  "Oh? You're going to Mingwu County?" Tianhao and Aqui exchanged a glance.

  "I have a relative there, I'm going to look for him. Do you know that place?" The girl seemed to put all her hope on the two of them.

  "Let me tell you the truth, we are from Mingwu County." Ah Gui said with a proud smile, narrowing his eyes.

  "Really? What a coincidence! May I ask about your personal life?" The girl was extremely surprised.

  "Tell me," Tian Hao said.

  "She lives in Zhoujiazhuang, a suburb of Mingwu County, and her name is Jiang Yuxin."

  "Ah!" The two cried out in unison.

  "Do you know her?" The girl also looked at Tian Hao and Er Duo with a puzzled expression.

  "She is our family's second mistress..." Ah Gui couldn't help but say.

  "Really? That's great! I've finally found home." she exclaimed with surprise.

  "That's my second sister. May I ask what your name is? Why are you looking for my second sister?" Tian Hao asked in confusion.

  "My name is Jiang Keyue, and Jiang Yuxin is my aunt. My family was originally a large household in Jiangnan, and I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, without any worries. My father's discipline was very strict, and my brothers and I received good education from a young age. My grandfather and father were merchants for generations, and our family accumulated a lot of wealth. However, in recent years, natural disasters such as floods and droughts occurred frequently, and the peasant uprising army rose up, causing great damage to our family's production. My grandfather unfortunately passed away due to illness, and our family's business began to decline. Later, we also suffered from a fire, and our family became even poorer. My father sent my two older brothers out to make their own way in the world. Our family relied on selling small gold and silver items to barely get by. To avoid the war, I was sent by my father to seek refuge with my aunt in Mingwu County over a month ago. It took me a month to arrive here. Unexpectedly, this morning I was ambushed by a group of bandits, put into a sack, and taken to the mountains to be a 'press gang' wife. Luckily, you two rescued me and I escaped...". Jiang Keyue couldn't help but shed tears as she thought about her sad past.

  "Come on, Xiaoyue, don't be sad. Now that you've found us, it's like finding a home. We'll take responsibility for sending you to your aunt's side, so rest assured." Tianhao comforted Jiang Xiaoyue.

  "Really? I was worried that I didn't know the way." Jiang Keyue was very surprised.

  "Originally, I was going to study with Shu Tong today, but unexpectedly ran into you on the way. That's also fate! This place isn't suitable for lingering, let's walk and talk as we go." Tian Hao said, leading Jiang Keyue's horse over.

  "Do you want to go read books? I've caused trouble for you, or should I just go myself?" Ke Yue felt a bit embarrassed.

  "It's over 50 miles away from home, it would be very difficult for you to get back on your own, let us send you back instead. If anything unexpected happens again, how can I explain it to my second aunt?" Zhou Tianhao said solemnly.

  "That's too kind of you!" Jiang Keyue was overjoyed.

  "It's this late, you must not have had lunch yet?" Zhou Tianhao looked up at the sky and saw that it was already past noon. Thinking about what had just happened, he was certain that Jiang Keyue hadn't eaten lunch yet. Jiang Keyue silently nodded in agreement. Tianhao handed her some dry rations and took out another water bottle from the luggage on his horse's back, placing it beside her.

  "Hey, young master! You've even prepared a water bottle? Just now you were fighting with me for a drink of water!"

  "I won't prepare another one, you drink so greedily, the two of us will die of thirst halfway!" Zhou Tianhao teased.

  Jiang Keyue finished the dry rations, drank some water, and suddenly felt a surge of energy. She wiped her mouth, tightened the canteen cap, and handed it back to Zhou Tianhao. "Shall we get going?"

  Zhou Tianhao mounted his horse first, "We set off..."

  Zhou Tianhao led the way in front, and the three of them rode their horses at a gallop towards Zhoujiazhuang.

  Before nightfall, the three of them finally returned to the Zhou residence. Tian Hao, not bothering to rest his fatigue, took Jiang Keyue to meet the second madam. The second madam almost didn't recognize Jiang Keyue at first glance, and only after careful examination did she realize it was her own niece.

  "It's been years since we last met, and Yueting has grown into a big girl. If I saw you walking on the street, I really wouldn't be able to recognize you. How did you end up here? Is your family doing well?..." The second lady was overjoyed to see her niece and blurted out many questions at once.

  Jiang Keyue saw her aunt and immediately recognized her, she rushed forward and hugged her tightly. Tianhao saw the situation and quietly left.

  When asking about the situation at home, Jiang Keyue's tears couldn't help but flow out again. She told the second lady about the things that had happened at home in the past few years, and how she was robbed on the road and rescued by Zhou Tianhao. The second lady listened and also couldn't help but shed tears...

  The two of them shed tears for a while, feeling sorrowful. The second lady comforted Jiang Keyue, saying: "Keyue, you've come to your aunt's side, just like coming home. Your aunt is your own family. I'll go talk to the old master later, and from now on, you can just stay by my side and do things." Jiang Keyue nodded lightly, "Everything will be done according to Aunt's arrangement!"