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Before entering the palace, the Father and Son, Fei Yunsong and Fei Yanchen, had everything prepared.
Based on Fei Yunsong’s understanding of the Emperor’s temperament, they were able to smoothly obtain the imperial decree allowing them to leave the capital and return to the Western border.
However, they didn’t expect the Emperor to be in such a hurry, directly ordering them to depart immediately. This was indeed an unexpected delight.
After leaving the palace, the two of them sent all the servants in their residence to safe locations according to the plan. They then made simple preparations and left the city with their family, traveling light.
Since Fei Yanchen’s return to the capital, the residence of the Wuding Prince had been released from confinement, allowing them to move freely inside and outside the imperial city.
Therefore, the soldiers guarding the city gates did not issue any orders to stop them when they saw the Wuding Prince’s carriage leaving the city.
Inside the carriage, Fei Jinhe pushed aside a corner of the curtain and looked outside. She asked softly, “Big Brother, are we going back?”
Wen Yunlan pulled the little girl back into her embrace as she gazed outside and whispered, “Yes, we’re going back. Jinhe, are you happy about it?”
Fei Jinhe replied with joy, “I’m happy. I don’t like it here.”
Upon hearing Fei Jinhe’s words, Fei Yunsong gently patted her on the head.
The journey of the Fei family’s return to the capital was filled with numerous hardships. First, Fei Yanchen disappeared and faced countless assassination attempts. Upon their return to the capital, Fei Yunsong and Wen Yunlan were subtly protected within the Prince’s residence, while Fei Jinhe was taken into the palace as leverage to threaten them.
Fei Jinhe’s memories of her time in the palace were far from pleasant, which explains her dislike for the place.
About ten miles outside the city, the Fei family had a mansion where Fei Da and his people were already waiting.
Their plan for this return had been in the works for half a month. The servants in the mansion who needed to be sent away had been arranged accordingly. None of them would be captured by the Fourth Prince or others.
Outside the mansion, there was a hundred-strong group of soldiers, each a loyal warrior who had followed the Fei family for many years.
In addition to that, there were over ten carriages, all stocked with the necessary supplies for the journey.
Fei Da stepped forward and bowed, saying, “My Lord.”
The hundred soldiers behind him also knelt and paid their respects.
Fei Yanchen and Fei Yunsong pushed aside the curtain and jumped off the carriage, swiftly mounting the horses that Fei Da had prepared for the two of them.
“Get the formation in order, and depart immediately.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
…
After carefully reading through the thick stack of letters, Shen Yu’an placed them back in their envelopes.
Knowing that Fei Yanchen was safe, Shen Yu’an felt relieved. The letter also mentioned their plan to leave the capital, but the date of the letter was a few days before Fei Yanchen and his father entered the palace, so he only hinted at it.
Shen Yu’an had no knowledge of the current status of their plan or whether they had safely left the capital. However, she had faith in Fei Yanchen’s capabilities. If he was determined to achieve something, there should be no way for it to fail.
Shen Yu’an’s thoughts drifted, and according to the nature of the Fourth Prince and Noble Consort Rong’s faction, they likely wouldn’t allow the Fei family to leave smoothly.
As for the Fourth Prince’s actions, she was not directly involved. All she knew was that her Ah’Chen was not the type to sit idly and would definitely find a way to take control of the situation.
She needed to think about how she could help him…
Lost in thought, the carriage she was riding in slowly entered Longxian Village.
The coachman gently tapped on the carriage and said, “Miss, we’ve arrived.”
Shen Yu’an snapped back to reality and got out of the carriage. Tian Qiu, who was sweeping in front of the house, noticed Shen Yu’an’s return and approached with a smile.
Tian Qiu said, “Miss, you’ve finally come back.”
Two people climbed down from the other carriage behind her, carrying some belongings. Shen Yu’an looked toward the courtyard and asked, “Have there been any developments in the village during my absence?”
Tian Qiu slowly recounted the events that had occurred in Longxian Village during her time away.
“Nothing major happened; the young masters and Master Shen were in town. We took care of things at home, mainly managing the paper mill.”
“But a few nights ago, Shen Wu saw a shadow sneaking towards the paper mill when he got up at night. He kept an eye on it and called a few people who live with him to follow.”
“They caught someone trying to sneak into the paper mill at night to steal things.”
Shen Yu’an stopped in her tracks, wanting to head towards the paper mill. She asked, “Do we know who was responsible for this?”
Tian Qiu hurriedly said, “Miss, you’ve been traveling and must be tired. Let’s head home first.”
“There’s no issue with the paper mill. As soon as that person climbed the wall, Shen Si and the others rushed over. The intruder was so frightened that he fell off the wall and broke his leg.”
“Later, the commotion here was so loud that it woke up the people in the village. It was then that everyone recognized the would-be thief as Pan Hou, a resident of our village.”
“It turns out he heard that the paper produced at the paper mill was better than anything on the market, so he got it into his head to steal. But I heard his leg was already broken once before, and it took a long time to heal, and yet he came out to commit such petty theft.”
“Half the village heard the commotion that night, and Pan Hou couldn’t argue his way out of it. The next day, he was taken to the county magistrate’s office with so many witnesses. There was no room for him to defend himself, so they convicted him.”
Pan Hou was a person Shen Yu’an vaguely remembered.
When she first arrived in the village, Pan Hou’s mother, Aunt Pan, often made hostile remarks towards Shen and Zhang’s family. Their interactions during the time of hiring labor weren’t pleasant either.
What was even more detestable was that Aunt Pan was the main cause of her third aunt’s nearly difficult childbirth.
At that time, they had to compensate with money, and she later heard that their family had been plagued by misfortune, one tragedy after another, so Shen Yu’an hadn’t paid much attention to them since.
To Shen Yu’an’s surprise, just a few days after leaving home, the partially healed Pan Hou had resumed his mischievous behavior.
Shen Yu’an headed straight towards the paper mill, instructing Tian Qiu to oversee the unloading of the items they had brought back into the house.
Upon reaching the paper mill, Shen Yu’an noticed a few unfamiliar faces outside. When these “strangers” saw Shen Yu’an approaching, they approached and began questioning her.
Fortunately, a woman passing by recognized Shen Yu’an and joyfully shouted, “Young Miss.”
Once those who had been inquiring confirmed Shen Yu’an’s identity, they allowed her to enter.
The woman led Shen Yu’an to the area where Song Shi was present and then went to her own work location.
“Mother.”
Seeing Shen Yu’an approach, Song Shi said with delight, “Ah, An’An, you’ve returned.”
Shen Yu’an inquired about the people outside, and Song Shi explained, “Oh, those are just some men we hired recently. We had an encounter with a few thieves a couple of days ago, and considering that our paper mill is expanding, we thought it wise to employ some guards to protect us from these troublemakers. Your Third Uncle went to the county and hired some able-bodied individuals to watch over the paper mill.”
While they were talking, Song Shi had already taken Shen Yu’an on a tour of the paper mill.
After promising the workers in the mill an early lunch break for the day, Shen Yu’an and her group headed back home.