On the second day after Liu Yun agreed to become Lin Zheng’s concubine, the jailer Zhao released Liu Mu.
Old Zhang rented a cart with his honest eldest son and gathered leftover food from various eateries in the city. Stopping near the Liu family, he pointed at the Liu family’s front gate and instructed Zhang Darlang, “That’s the place. You go there with the firewood and shout three times!”
“Dad, what is going on?” Zhang Darlang felt mysterious, as it was his first time doing something like this.
“Don’t ask so many questions! Just go and shout!” Old Zhang was quite anxious and spoke with some excitement.
Seeing his father getting angry, Zhang Darlang had no choice but to keep quiet, carrying the firewood over. Following Old Zhang’s instructions, he shouted three times in front of the Liu family’s gate.
“Selling firewood! Selling firewood! Selling firewood!”
Upon hearing the calls, Liu Mu stood up abruptly and rushed out.
Opening the yard gate, she saw a man with firewood and called out to him, “Please, wait!”
Zhang Darlang did not expect someone to actually come out to inquire, so he had to brave his way forward.
Liu Mu looked around cautiously and quietly asked Zhang Darlang, “Can we leave now?”
Zhang Darlang nodded. He didn’t know the other person and was unaware why his father was going through so much trouble to sneak someone out.
Liu Mu went back to call her sister, and the siblings followed Zhang Darlang away from home.
Perhaps Lin Zheng was too confident, believing the Liu siblings couldn’t escape his grasp, as he had not sent anyone to watch them.
The Liu siblings successfully met up with Old Zhang, who had them hide in a wooden barrel before leading them out of the city.
Zhang Darlang felt extremely uncomfortable and wanted to ask Old Zhang what was happening, but seeing his father’s grim expression, he didn’t dare to speak, afraid of provoking his father’s anger.
The laborer at the city gate conducted a perfunctory inspection, only opening two barrels and seeing them filled with leftover food, quickly letting Old Zhang leave.
After safely exiting the city, Old Zhang finally breathed a sigh of relief. His anxious heart could finally relax! He had risked offending the county magistrate for just two taels of silver. It had been tough!
Noticing that Old Zhang’s mood had improved, Zhang Darlang finally spoke up, “Dad, who exactly are those two people? Why are we sneaking them out of the city? They wouldn’t be criminals, would they?”
Old Zhang glared at Zhang Darlang and reproached him in a low voice, “What nonsense are you talking! They are relatives of the Zhang family! Your distant cousins! They will temporarily stay at our home.”
Zhang Darlang felt that something was amiss but, seeing his father’s expression, did not dare to argue and remained silent.
Old Zhang warned him again, “Darlang, don’t you dare say anything after we get home! If you drag our family into trouble, I’ll beat you to death!”
Zhang Darlang had an expression as if to say ‘I knew it’. He knew these two people were problematic. But he didn’t understand why his father wanted to bring them back home.
“Dad, Silang is still in jail. If we don’t find a way to gather money to bail him out and now we bring two more people home, I don’t understand why you’re doing this. Don’t you care about Silang?” Zhang Darlang felt that this was all too strange.
Old Zhang wore a worried expression, deeply furrowing his brows, sighed, and spoke softly, “If it weren’t for Silang, why would I bring these two troubles home? By sheltering them, we can earn two taels of silver.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Darlang was shock-stricken. This was indeed two taels of silver!
“Anyway, you understand the situation. Just keep your mouth shut when we get home and don’t say anything out of turn,” Old Zhang planned to let the Liu siblings out in the nearby woods.
Zhang Darlang nodded obediently.
Liu Mu and Liu Yun got out of the cart, gazing at the lush forest, their faces expressing a sense of rebirth, and hurriedly thanked Old Zhang.
“Thank you, Uncle Zhang! You are our lifesaver!” Liu Mu pulled Liu Yun down to kneel and bow to Old Zhang.
Old Zhang quickly pulled them up, his face stern as he said, “If it weren’t for my Silang’s kindness, our Zhang family wouldn’t have gotten into this trouble! You should pray every day, ask the heavens to bless my Silang’s early release, so he can achieve success in his exams!”
Liu Mu and Liu Yun nodded vigorously. According to Zhang Fang’s plan, they were supposed to give one tael of silver upon moving in with the Zhang family and the remaining tael when leaving. However, Liu Mu knew that the Zhang family was short on money and urgently needed to bail Zhang Fang out. So he directly handed two taels of silver to Old Zhang. He could tell that the Zhang family were trustworthy. If they had bad intentions, they could have easily robbed their belongings on the spot. But Old Zhang didn’t do that, which proved that the Zhang family had moral integrity!
While solemnly receiving the money, Old Zhang’s frown relaxed. His attitude towards the siblings improved significantly, allowing them to sit in the cart. He took them home openly.
Since Old Zhang had already informed his family, they knew that relatives would be visiting them in the following days.
Seeing that the Liu siblings only brought luggage and no other gifts, several of Zhang’s sisters-in-law were somewhat displeased and were not as warm toward them.
Zhang Tai Lao knew the identity of the Liu siblings. If it weren’t for the two taels of silver and the need to bail out her beloved youngest son, she certainly wouldn’t have let this pair stay with them. Since they had already arrived, Zhang Tai Lao could only treat them well.
Knowing that Liu Mu and Zhang Fang had been roommates for two days in jail, Zhang Tai Lao specifically sent her son and daughter-in-law out, closed the door, and asked Liu Mu, “Has my Silang been bullied in jail?”
Liu Mu shook his head and replied, “Brother Zhang received the jailer’s favor and has been doing alright in there.”
“What has my Silang been doing in jail?” These past few days, Old Zhang had been in a bad mood at home and was unwilling to discuss Zhang Fang’s situation with Zhang Tai Lao. Thus, Zhang Tai Lao didn’t know about her youngest son’s condition and could only ask Liu Mu, who was in the know.
“Brother Zhang studies particularly hard!” Liu Mu could see that Zhang Fang was truly remorseful.
Zhang Tai Lao smiled, praising her most beloved youngest son, “My Silang has always been smarter than other children since he was little. He is born to be a scholar! He will definitely pass his exams in the future!”
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