Chapter 293 - 287: Mrs. Sun
Mrs. Sun left hurriedly, returning to the backyard to call her eldest son to her and said, "There’s something wrong in the county. I can’t even get to the front government office. You better find a way to leave quickly, go to Chen County to find your father. If you can’t find him, seek help from Inspector He."
Sun Taihe was puzzled, "Wasn’t the chaos settled? It’s quiet outside."
Mrs. Sun anxiously paced around the room before whispering, "I’m afraid that Lady Zhao has intentions to take over Yu Yang. The chaos among the rebels has been quelled, but the chaos for our Sun family hasn’t been."
"Mother, you must be overthinking. Father is an official appointed by the court, and Yu Yang is not a small place. How can it be taken over so easily?"
"Even the rebels could break into the Governor Mansion and kill people. Is there anything impossible in this world? We should be prepared; secretly take people and leave quickly," Mrs. Sun said. "If she truly intended to help your father, why didn’t she invite us to meet after quelling the chaos, or let me go to the front yard?"
This was unreasonable.
Sun Taihe couldn’t find words to refute and could only agree.
Zhao Hanzhang indeed hadn’t thought about County Magistrate Sun’s family. In principle, she should have given an account to their family, but since she planned to oust County Magistrate Sun from Yu Yang, naturally, she didn’t think of his family.
Ji Yuan was also very busy, only arranging for the Sun family to be well protected and then forgot about it.
Not to mention Fu Tinghan, who didn’t think of it at all, and finally, it was Zhao Erlang who caught Sun Taihe trying to escape, reminding Zhao Hanzhang that, oh, County Magistrate Sun’s family resides in the backyard.
Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan didn’t sleep for an entire day and night, engaging in mental work, and once they lay down, they couldn’t get up. In the end, it was the noise in the courtyard that woke them up.
Zhao Hanzhang sat up in a daze, listened to the commotion outside, roughly understood what was happening, and only then put on shoes and went out. As she passed by the screen, she glanced inside and met Fu Tinghan’s dazed eyes. She said, "You continue sleeping, I’ll handle it."
Fu Tinghan nodded blankly and fell back to sleep.
Sun Taihe was even younger than Zhao Erlang, looking only about eleven or twelve years old. Most importantly, not only was he eleven or twelve, but he also looked the part.
Unlike the tall, brawny thirteen-year-old Zhao Erlang, so when Zhao Erlang caught him fluttering, it looked like Sun Taihe was being bullied by Zhao Erlang.
Which was actually somewhat true.
Seeing his sister, Zhao Erlang immediately placed Sun Taihe in front of her and loudly said, "Sister, this person was sneaking outside. He might be a villain. I caught him right away."
Sun Taihe shouted, "I told you I’m the son of County Magistrate Sun, not a bad person. Let go of me!"
Zhao Hanzhang then asked the clerks who were sneaking glances, "Is this the son of County Magistrate Sun?"
Immediately, a clerk stepped forward and said, "He is the young gentleman of the County Lord’s family."
Zhao Hanzhang then had Zhao Erlang let him go. She stepped forward, pulled Sun Taihe to her, looked him up and down, and asked, "Why were you running?"
Sun Taihe’s face was flushed, almost bleeding under Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze. He stubbornly asked, "Is my Sun family prisoners that we can’t go out?"
"Of course not," Zhao Hanzhang said gently, "It’s just that although the chaos outside has subsided, it’s not completely safe. It’s still very dangerous for you to go out."
Sun Taihe didn’t expect her to be so reasonable, paused, then looked at her with suspicion, "So you’re not detaining us?"
Zhao Hanzhang looked perplexed, "Why would I detain you?"
Sun Taihe paused and said, "My mother wanted to come to the county government but was stopped."
Zhao Hanzhang laughed, "There’s still some chaos in the county government after the disturbances, so we’re not letting people move around freely. If Mrs. Sun wants to come, send a servant to say so, and I can personally escort her."
Sun Taihe saw she didn’t seem to be lying, her attitude was good, so he relaxed a bit.
He quietly breathed a sigh of relief and then confided, "Father is not home, and we’re worried, so we wanted to go to Chen County to find him."
Zhao Hanzhang immediately said, "That’s not difficult. I can send someone to escort your family to Chen County right away."
She sighed, "This was my oversight. You are a family, it’s normal to worry about each other."
Zhao Hanzhang immediately had Zhao Ju prepare people and horses, then personally led Sun Taihe to the backyard to meet Mrs. Sun.
Mrs. Sun, who had been quietly packing her luggage, planning to flee with her children if the situation worsened, was startled when she saw her eldest son, whom she had just sent away, returning with a young lady. She almost dropped her bundle.
But she quickly composed herself, smiled again at Zhao Hanzhang, and stepped forward to greet her, "You must be the Lady Zhao who came to help us?"
Seeing Zhao Hanzhang nod, she bowed deeply, looking grateful, "Thank you, Lady Zhao, for your righteous assistance."
Zhao Hanzhang quickly supported her, "Mrs. Sun, you are too kind. Xiping and Yu Yang are neighbors, this is what we should do."
"In hindsight, it was an oversight on our part. We hastily sent off County Magistrate Sun last night and should have come to meet with you, but the county government’s situation was chaotic and we couldn’t spare the time, causing you worry."
She glanced at Sun Taihe and said to Mrs. Sun, "Your son said you wanted to go to Chen County to find County Magistrate Sun. I’ve already arranged for a carriage and horses, and you can depart immediately."
"County Magistrate Sun left last night, though he went ahead, he traveled by night. If you hurry, you might catch him on the road."
Mrs. Sun was taken aback, not having time to consider the fact that Zhao Hanzhang was about her son’s age yet speaking to her as an equal. She quickly weighed in her mind the pros and cons of leaving.
She felt it was safer to leave but feared causing trouble for County Magistrate Sun.
She couldn’t help but feel that Zhao Hanzhang had ulterior motives, and that she might not be helping Yu Yang and them out of pure intentions.
Mrs. Sun looked at her eldest son.
Sun Taihe eagerly looked at his mother, and when she glanced over, he immediately said, "Mother, let’s go find Father."
Looking at her son, who was about the same age as Zhao Hanzhang and looking at her with complete trust, Mrs. Sun didn’t feel very happy. At her core, she actually felt a weariness and woodenly turned her head to look at Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhao Hanzhang smiled warmly, nodding to her when she looked over, offering her a choice, "If you’re worried about missing County Magistrate Sun, it might be better to wait in Yu Yang. Although there’s still some chaos, the county is generally safe, and I will protect you."
Mrs. Sun pulled a small smile, lowered her eyes for a moment, and said, "Then I’ll trouble Lady Zhao. We’ll wait here for County Magistrate to return."
Zhao Hanzhang nodded and agreed, "Okay," and rose to take her leave, "There are still matters to attend to at the front of the county government. If you need anything, you can send a servant through the small gate to find Ting He, a girl who is with me. She will prepare what you need."
Mrs. Sun forced a small smile and nodded, "Okay."