Outside the city gate, there were a line of prisoners who were going to be sent to Qiongzhou for exile. Wu Boyong was wearing shackles and shackles, and his expression was dejected. A convict who was unwilling to travel thousands of miles to exile Qiongzhou kept shouting in the direction of the inner city that he was wronged, and the messenger stepped forward for a while, dragging him to the front of the team.

Second Master Wu called the leading messenger aside, quickly stuffed him with a bag of silver taels, and asked him to take care of Wu Boyong along the way, the errand took the silver taels, and said, "Second Master Wu, don't worry, there are instructions above, Master Wu will definitely arrive in Qiongzhou safely." ”

Wu Erye secretly said that it seems that it is right to give Qin Xiangye a gift, it must be Qin Xiangye who takes care of the people below, and he can't help but feel a little kind to Qin Jitong.

Zhuang Zhiyong on the side heard a little other meaning, what ability did Wu Boyong, who was already an exiled prisoner, have the ability to let the prime minister under one person and above ten thousand people take care of a messenger, and Wu Boyong must arrive in Qiongzhou alive. What does this mean? can persuade the emperor to change Ling Chi to exile, according to reason, Qin Xiangye has completed what Zhuang Zhiyong entrusted, and did not harm the Wu family, leaving Wu Boyong a way to live. Even if Wu Boyong dies tomorrow on the way to Qiongzhou, he can be regarded as leaving a whole corpse, and it has nothing to do with Qin Xiangye, why should he take such special care of a prisoner. Zhuang Zhiyong secretly thought that there must be a lot of articles in this, but he didn't know what the other party was trying to do.

Zhuang handed the packed baggage to Wu Boyong, and while the errand was not paying attention, he lowered his voice and said: "Big brother has already taken care of everything in Qiongzhou, and before you arrive in Qiongzhou, the Guangling business will be opened." If you have something to contact, you can send a letter directly to Guangling firm. Zhu Xiaohu, the grandson of Steward Zhu, went to Guangling at the end of the year to act as the proprietor and went to Qiongzhou, he will take care of you. Take care of everything, think more about our daughter Yuanniang, we are all waiting for the day when you come back alive, we must live. ”

Wu Boyong squeezed Zhuang's hand tightly, and when the time came, the messenger urged him to set off quickly and drive away the prisoners.

Zhuang let go of his hand ruthlessly, and a tear hit the back of Wu Boyong's hand, Wu Boyong looked at Zhuang deeply, and then slowly followed the prisoner team forward without looking back.

Zhuang Zhiyong came over to comfort Zhuang: "Let's go, let's also set off to rush back to Yangzhou, Yuan Niang is still waiting for you at home." ”

The maid moved the stool and helped Zhuang to get into the carriage, Wu Erye and Zhuang Zhiyong followed the carriage on horseback, the two were silent, and after a while, there was a whimper in the carriage, Wu Erye looked at Zhuang Zhiyong and asked what to do, Zhuang Zhiyong shook his head and signaled that she didn't care, just let her cry and vent. Zhuang Zhiyong looked at the carriage and was distracted, in the past year, the Zhuang family and the Wu family have been running around for this case, and now I don't know if this ending can be regarded as good or bad. For the Wu family, it is a good ending, the uncle of the Wu family was saved, the Wu family was not implicated, although the business was impacted, the court did not withdraw the appointment of the Wu family and the two Huai salt industry chief merchants, Wu Boyong fell, and continued to appoint Wu Zhonghe, the second master of the Wu family, as the chief merchant. For the banker, I'm afraid this is not a good ending, at least not in Zhuang Zhiyong's heart. Zhuang Zhiyong thought ruthlessly, he would rather Wu Boyong die in prison, so that even if his sister really became a widow, he would have a reason to take his sister back to the Zhuang family directly, even if it was an aunt and grandmother at home, it would be better than being a widow in the Wu family. What's more, with Second Master Wu's submissive temperament, it is really difficult to support the Wu family's huge family business. There is also Yuan Niang, who should have been the life of the eldest daughter of the Wu family, but now without the protection of her father, I don't know what she will look like when she grows up, and she has a nominal eldest daughter.

Zhuang Zhiyong secretly thought that he must protect Yuan Niang and not let her be bullied. If the Wu family values Yuan Niang, if they don't value this granddaughter, the Zhuang family will simply take Yuan Niang back to the Zhuang house to raise her well, and the Zhuang family does not lack that bit of silver.

The carriage went all the way to Zhili, Wu Zhonghe beckoned everyone to find an inn to rest, Zhuang Zhiyong thought about it and agreed, there are still hundreds of miles away from Yangzhou, and he can't go back for a while, and he has to change to the waterway, just stop to rest and purchase supplies.

The maid helped Zhuang get out of the carriage, and Zhuang Zhiyong set the room. After settling Zhuang's house, he watched Zhuang's go upstairs, and the maid accompanied him into the house, and then left the inn and took the little maid to order a merchant ship back to Yangzhou.

Zhuang entered the room, the sound of the fisherman's horn and the sailing of the merchant ship came from the window, recalling all the sweetness of being with Wu Boyong when he first married into the Wu family, and couldn't help but feel sad, sitting in front of the window and crying silently. Seeing this, the maid quietly withdrew from the room, not daring to disturb the Zhuang family.

Thousands of miles away in the Wu family compound in Yangzhou, the old housekeeper was overjoyed, ran quickly to the backyard, stood outside the door and said respectfully: "Old lady, the second master has a letter." ”

"Bring it in." The old lady's eager voice came from inside the house, "What did the letter say?" ”

"Old lady, it's good news, the uncle's verdict has come down, sentenced to exile in Qiongzhou, the uncle and the second master of the Zhuang family have already taken care of the escort all the way to the errand service, and the local officials in Qiongzhou have also been dealt with, and the Zhuang family came forward to open the Guangling business in Qiongzhou, and at the end of the year, Xiaohuzi was sent to take care of the business, and Xiaohuzi will take care of the uncle in Qiongzhou in the future. I heard that this time Qin Xiangye also made a contribution, so that the uncle could save his life. The second master, uncle and grandmother have already set off from the capital to catch up in Yangzhou, and it is estimated that they have now passed Zhili and will be back soon. The emperor also allowed the second master to continue to serve as the chief merchant of the two Huai salt industries. This time, he finally saved the day, but he suffered the uncle, exiled to Qiongzhou, and didn't know when he would be able to come back. After replying, the old butler respectfully handed the letter to the old lady.

The old lady held the letter, her hands trembled a little, and her hands were folded and she said that the ancestors blessed her, and the emperor's grace was mighty. Then he confessed to the housekeeper: "This time Boyong had an accident, I made a wish in front of the Bodhisattva, if Boyong is safe, I will make a golden body for the Bodhisattva, and quickly call someone to do this, and I will personally go to the temple to repay the vows after it is done." ”

The old butler nodded busily and said that he remembered it. The old lady asked when Xiaohuzi would leave, "For this matter, Xiaohuzi still has to go to the wild Qiongzhou, I'm afraid you will be reluctant." ”

The old housekeeper said humbly: "Xiaohuzi is the son of the Wu family, this is his duty. ”

After thinking about it, the old lady proposed to transfer fifty percent of the shares of Guangling firm to Xiaohuzi, and it was not in vain that he was willing to go thousands of miles to Qiongzhou to take care of the uncle. The old butler bluntly excused himself and said that he couldn't do it. The old lady has made up her mind, and she must let Xiaohuzi accept it, even if it is the capital for Xiaohuzi to start a family in the future. When he went to Qiongzhou, Xiaohuzi was no longer a servant of the Wu family, and the old lady took out Xiaohuzi's deed of sale and tore it to pieces, and the old housekeeper saw this, and hurriedly called Xiaohuzi to come to Sanfutang to kowtow to the old lady and thank him.

The old lady helped Xiaohuzi up, and said: "It's a long way to go to Qiongzhou, Xiaohuzi, you will no longer be the son of the Wu family in the future." I want you to go to Qiongzhou to be an upright owner, to be the eyes and arms of the uncle, not only to take care of the uncle, but also to take care of the local officials. The strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, when it comes to other people's territory, everything must be done according to other people's rules, this time the Wu family planted a big heel, and you also saw it in your eyes. I hope you can remember the lesson of Wu Jiaxue this time, be a low-key person, and do things in a low-key manner. If there is any disturbance, send a message back immediately. When you come back, if you want, you can be the shopkeeper in any of the Wu family's firms and pay dividends every year. If you don't want to, when you return, all the shares of Guangling Firm will be yours, and you will be free from now on. At that time, if you have a son, the Wu family will send them to study in the best academy, and in the future, they will no longer be slaves, and they can go to the test to gain fame and fame like others, and become an upright scholar. The Wu family will regard your elders as elders and your sons as parents and sons. I will never live up to you. ”

After listening to the old lady's words, the housekeeper said that the kindness was too heavy, and the little tiger couldn't bear it.

The old lady looked at the housekeeper with a solemn expression and only said that this is what Xiaohuzi deserves, and the Wu family will repay it if he has kindness.

Xiao Huzi excitedly kowtowed his head on the ground three times, and said with a firm expression: "Xiaohuzi made an oath in front of your old man, and he will definitely live up to the kindness of the old lady, take good care of the uncle, and take care of the business." ”