The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 196 Concern

When Chen Cui arrived at the palace, she found that Zhang Ruomei's condition was not much better than hers. Not only was she thinner, her face was yellow, and she looked very haggard.

This is no wonder. The city where she lives is always at risk of being attacked by enemy forces, and her only two children are not around. Amid internal and external troubles, it is difficult for any mother to live in peace.

"Brother Yun, Brother Yang, my sons, you are finally back!" Zhang Ruomei hugged her two sons, one in each hand, and cried bitterly.

Chen Cui looked at Changping's thin face and loose clothes, and couldn't help but moisten her eyes. She murmured, "You've lost weight. My son has suffered!"

"Mom, you've worked so hard!" Changping said with red eyes.

It was a blessing to see his mother and his younger brothers and sisters return safely, which was even more important than passing the provincial examination.

Although he did not face the war directly, he had already felt its cruelty and witnessed separation of life and death. At this time, it was such a blessing to be able to reunite with his family!

Looking at the scene of the Wang family of four reuniting, Chen Cui and the others returned to their home despite Zhang Ruomei's attempts to keep them.

There is no place better than your own doghouse. After staying outside for so long, there is no place better than home.

No one has lived in the house for several months, and it is very dirty and needs to be cleaned and tidied up.

By the way, during this period, thanks to the people sent by Lord Wang to guard the house, no one broke in and caused damage. Therefore, apart from some dust, everything else inside was the same as when he left.

"Mother, after I came back, I transported the grain from the farm back and later distributed it to the yamen runners and laborers. Lord Wang had a very difficult time!"

All the food that can be requisitioned has been requisitioned, but we can't let those people do their work on an empty stomach. The public security in this city still depends on those people. The reason why there is no chaos in the city is due to their contributions!

"Well, you did the right thing!" Seeing her eldest son's somewhat uneasy expression, Chen Cui praised him generously.

Although the food was hoarded by her, it could be used to defend the city and was not a waste. At that moment, nothing was more important than the harmony and stability in the city.

"By the way, how did you do in the provincial examination?"

Previously, they had been worried about each other's safety, and it was not until this time that Chen Cui had the time to ask about her son's provincial examination results.

"Well, I got fifth place." Changping smiled shyly.

"Great!"

Chen Cui was truly happy that her son passed all the exams smoothly and had achieved the title of Juren at the age of less than 20. This was truly a cause for celebration.

"Congratulations brother!"

"Congratulations brother!"

"Brother is so awesome!"

The three brothers and sisters congratulated Changping one after another. Their eldest brother passed the imperial examination and became a juren. This was a big event in their family and greatly improved their family's social status. If it weren't for the damn war, they would have definitely celebrated it.

"Wait, then doesn't that mean that big brother can take part in the imperial examination next year?" Chang Fu suddenly reacted.

Only then did Chen Cui realize that her eldest son might leave home again soon.

The imperial examination will be held in February of next year, and the location of the examination is in the capital. The journey will take at least a month, so one must set out before the New Year, otherwise one will not be able to arrive on time, and one must also adapt to the weather in the capital.

I heard that the capital is much colder than here, and people there have to burn firewood in the winter, otherwise it would be difficult to survive the winter.

"Well, the roads are hard to travel on in winter. I'll rest at home for a few days and then set off, and settle down in the capital before the New Year." Chang Ping said calmly.

During the days of the city lockdown, he thought countless times about what would happen to him if the city was breached, and what to do if he survived. Fortunately, those unfortunate things did not happen, he survived, and he still has the opportunity to continue working hard for what he wants to do!

Chen Cui sighed, "Don't worry. I'll go ask Mrs. Zhang tomorrow to see if there are any caravans heading to the capital, or find someone from the escort agency to escort you. Anyway, you can't just leave like this."

She thought of the people who blocked her way when she and her group came back. They had two carriages and six horses, but they were almost surrounded. If Changping had set out with only one person, it would definitely not have worked.

"Yeah." Changping did not object. He had been helping out in the government office these days and had seen more of the dark side of society. He had a deeper understanding of the evil in people's hearts and was no longer the naive boy he used to be.

"I want to go back to Yinping tomorrow to visit your grandparents and the villagers in the village to see how they are doing and whether there is anything I can do to help."

Chen Cui said to the children.

She originally wanted to write back to ask, but she was still uneasy and had to see with her own eyes that they were safe before she could feel at ease.

"By the way, Aunt Ding, accompany me to Mr. Zou's house to see how things are going and whether there is anything I can help with."

The family left without saying a word and didn't even have time to say goodbye to Mr. Zou. Sui Sui hadn't attended class for several months, so this was too rude. They had to go in person to apologize to be polite.

As for the gifts for the visitor, there was nothing to prepare in such a hurry, so I could only take the two jars of canned food that I had stored.

Fortunately, Mr. Zou's family was fine, and she was also fine, but she had also lost a lot of weight, and there was a hint of fatigue in her eyes. I guess these past few months had been extremely painful for her.

Mr. Zou did not question Chen Cui's statement that her family happened to be out for something, and the route was blocked, so they had no time to turn back. She was a smart person and would not delve into such matters.

Chen Cui also took the opportunity to ask for a few more days of leave for Sui Sui, giving her time to rest and recuperate, and return to school after she had fully recovered.

After returning home, Chen Cui wrote a letter to Zhang Ruomei, explaining that she had to go back to her hometown early the next morning and would not be able to visit, and asked her to help find a caravan or escort to the capital to accompany Changping to take the exam.

In the early morning of the next day, Chen Cui took Chang'an and Ding Xiaoman and her son and followed the carriage team on the journey back to Yinping.

After the forced march, Chen Cui no longer cared about the pace of following the carriages. She was even a little anxious and wanted them to walk faster.

Unfortunately, this was impossible. The convoy's route would not be affected by her will. They had their own pace. At nightfall, they arrived at Yinping County.

Chen Cui and her group stopped the carriage at the gate of their house in the county town, but found that there was no light inside and no one answered when they knocked on the door, which made her more suspicious.

It was the neighbor on the left who heard the noise and looked over. Seeing that it was Chen Cui, he dared to come out and tell her, "Stop knocking. Your brother and his family have moved back to the countryside. It's been several months, and they haven't moved back yet!"