The next morning, they arrived at the nearest county town. The seven or eight men repeatedly thanked Lin Luoluo. After bidding farewell to her group, they each hired a carriage and went their separate ways, all eager to return home as quickly as possible.
A month later, they arrived at Xunyang Prefecture. By then, Lin Luoluo was already more than four months pregnant, nearly five months along. However, because she was carrying twins, her belly looked as large as that of someone who was already six months pregnant.
Over the past month, her stomach had grown as if it were being inflated like a balloon. The skin felt stretched tight, making her extremely uncomfortable.
Even her movements had become cautious and careful. Everyone was afraid she might bump into something, so they protected her attentively, and their pace of travel slowed considerably.
After arriving in Xunyang Prefecture, the middle-aged man invited them to his home as guests, but Lin Luoluo declined, saying that there were simply too many people and it would be inconvenient.
Well, there really were quite a lot of them.
They rested in Xunyang for one day and departed early the next morning. When the middle-aged man later rushed to the inn with his wife and daughter, hoping to properly thank Lin Luoluo, he discovered that they had already left and had missed them completely.
As a result, his wife gave him quite a scolding for not coming earlier. But could he really be blamed? The moment he got home and relaxed, he had overslept.
On the evening of the fifth day, they finally arrived at their destination.
The enormous group entered the village in grand procession. Although the villagers of Lin Family Village were not exactly inexperienced, it was still the first time they had ever witnessed such an impressive scene.
At that time, beneath the large banyan tree not far from the village entrance, several villagers had already finished dinner and were gathered there chatting.
When they saw such a long convoy of horse-drawn carriages, they were stunned and immediately began discussing it among themselves.
One quick-thinking villager instructed a child to fetch the village chief, who also happened to be the head of the Lin clan.
The commotion also attracted the nearby villagers.
Villager One: “So many carriages! Has some important figure come to the village?”
Villager Two: “Is something major about to happen?”
Villager Three: “I don’t know whether they’re important people, but they’re definitely rich.”
Villager Four: “The carriages have stopped! Look, someone’s getting down and walking toward us.”
Villager Five: “Huh? Doesn’t that young man beside them look familiar?”
The other villagers also thought he looked somewhat familiar.
Villager Five suddenly exclaimed, “Hey! Isn’t that Jingming?”
“Did he pass the examination?”
“Has he become a high-ranking official and returned home in glory?”
“With such a grand procession, he must be a high official!”
Hearing the villagers’ discussion, Lin Jingming’s old face turned red.
“Ahem… Grandfathers, Grandmothers, Uncles, Aunts, hello everyone! I’m Jingming…”
Just as Lin Jingming was about to introduce Lin Zhong to everyone, Lin Zhong was squeezed off to the side by the villagers.
Lin Jingming was instantly surrounded by his enthusiastic fellow villagers.
“Jingming! So it really is you, boy!”
“That’s right! You’ve been gone for a whole year without sending any news. Your family has been worried sick and has been asking everywhere for information about you.”
“Yes! We all thought something had happened to you.”
“It’s good that you’re back. Your parents won’t have to worry about you every single day anymore.”
An elderly man pushed his way to the front. He was the youngest brother of Lin Jingming’s grandfather.
“Ming boy, what kind of official have you become?”
Lin Jingming’s face grew even redder.
“Fifth Granduncle, I didn’t take the imperial examination.”
“What? You didn’t take the examination? Then where have you been this whole year? And what’s the story with all these people?”
The old man became anxious.
After all, Lin Jingming was their family’s—and indeed their village’s—only scholar.
“Um… Fifth Granduncle, don’t worry yet. Let me introduce someone first.”
After speaking, Lin Jingming looked around for Lin Zhong.
Just then, the village chief arrived together with his son.
“Make way! Everyone, make way! Stop crowding around!”
Hearing the village chief’s voice, the villagers consciously opened a path. Only then did Lin Zhong finally manage to squeeze his way back to Lin Jingming’s side.
Lin Zhong wiped the sweat from his forehead. His old bones had nearly been crushed by the crowd. Fortunately, his mistress had not gotten out of the carriage earlier. With such a large belly, it would have been disastrous if she had been bumped.
Lin Jingming looked at Lin Zhong awkwardly and smiled.
“Uncle Zhong, I’m sorry. The villagers are simply too enthusiastic. Please don’t mind it.”
Lin Zhong secretly rolled his eyes.
Could he really argue with them? They would all be living here from now on.
So he simply waved his hand.
“It’s nothing. Such a small matter isn’t worth mentioning.”
Only after confirming that Lin Zhong truly did not mind did Lin Jingming turn toward the village chief and respectfully bow.
“Clan Leader Grandpa, I’ve returned.”
The village chief patted his shoulder with relief. They had searched everywhere for news of the boy and had thought something terrible had happened. They had even sent word to Qing, but there had been no reply. It had worried everyone terribly.
“It’s good that you’ve returned! Good that you’ve returned!”
Fifth Granduncle suddenly asked, “By the way, when you went to the capital, did you meet your Uncle Qing?”
He had voiced the very question the clan leader wanted to ask. Both of them looked at Lin Jingming nervously. In truth, Fifth Granduncle also wanted to ask why he had not taken the imperial examination.
In fact, Lin Qing was the son of Lin Jingming’s eldest uncle’s family, making them truly close relatives. Since Lin Luoluo and the others never asked, they never knew this, and Lin Jingming never volunteered the information either. Thus, they had traveled together for an entire month without realizing it.
“Clan Leader Grandpa, Fifth Granduncle, here’s what happened…”
He then recounted his entire experience, explaining that he had not met Uncle Qing but had met Uncle Qing’s children instead, and that he himself had been rescued by Uncle Qing’s daughter.
Seeing that Lin Luoluo’s group included young children and even a pregnant woman, yet Uncle Qing and the others were nowhere to be seen, he had instinctively felt that something bad must have happened. However, he had not dared to ask and had kept his doubts bottled up until now.
He had thought the answer would soon be revealed.
He simply had not expected it to be this answer.
“Clan Leader Grandpa, Fifth Granduncle, this is Uncle Qing’s man. His name is Lin Zhong.”
“Uncle Zhong, this is the village chief, who is also the head of our Lin clan. This is Fifth Granduncle. He and Uncle Qing’s father were biological brothers. In fact, Uncle Qing is my own paternal uncle.”
Lin Zhong was stunned.
They had traveled together for over a month, yet the young man had never mentioned any of this. He certainly knew how to keep things to himself.
“Greetings, honored elders. I am General Lin’s steward. This time, we have come to Lin Family Village to settle here with the young miss and the young masters.”
“To settle here? Has something happened?”
The two old men were shocked and immediately became worried that something terrible had happened to Qing.
Lin Zhong nodded and was just about to answer when Lin Luoluo arrived with her younger brother and sister.
With her sharp hearing, Lin Luoluo had heard their conversation. Since they would be living here for a long time and these were all elders of the clan, she felt she should come over and pay her respects.
“Clan Leader Grandpa, Fifth Granduncle, and all the uncles, aunts, elder uncles, elder aunties, grandfathers, and grandmothers, greetings to all of you!”
The three siblings bowed together in greeting.
The clan leader carefully looked them over for a moment.
These must be Qing’s children.
“Good, good, good. You’re all good children. But where are your father and mother?”
Hearing the clan leader ask about their parents, the two younger children lowered their heads and began wiping away their tears.
The two old men exchanged glances.
Something was wrong.
Lin Luoluo also wiped the corner of her eye.
“Clan Leader Grandpa, Fifth Granduncle, my parents are no longer with us. My husband is also gone. I was driven out, and we have no relatives or friends in the capital. So I decided to bring my younger brother and sister back here to settle down.”
Lin Zhong: “…”
If Prince Yu ever found out that he had been declared dead, who knows what he would think?
“They’re gone?”
The clan leader’s voice rose in disbelief.
Lin Luoluo nodded.
The two old men were overcome with grief. Forgetting all concern for appearances, they burst into sobs.
The other villagers’ eyes also turned red.
He had been such a good young man.
He had lost both of his parents when he was little and had relied on each other with his elder sister to survive. He was warmhearted and would help any family in the village whenever they needed assistance.
When he was fourteen, after his sister married, he enlisted in the army.
He had told everyone that he wanted to defend the nation and protect its people.
At the age of twenty, he returned and told everyone that he had become a young general. He even brought a woman back with him. They held their wedding in the village and stayed for half a month before leaving.
Later, he returned once more and told everyone that he had become a great general and that he now had a daughter.
No one had imagined that their last meeting would become a final farewell.