Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 654 Blocking

Chu Dajiang was shocked when he heard the other party call out his official title. His heart was in his throat. "Who are you?"

He only managed to utter half a syllable of the word "who" before his eyes suddenly widened. The voice, characteristic of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, could it be, "Mr. Yuan?"

Yuan Qing nodded, "It's me."

Captain Chu's eyes were wide open, almost popping out of their sockets. He looked the man up and down three times. The sallow skin, the rough eyebrows, was this still the elegant and graceful Mr. Yuan?

Before, he had eyebrows as dark as distant mountains, eyes like cold stars dotted with ink, and his whole body was full of the elegance and refinement of a scholar. But the boy in front of him looked like a young man who grew up in the fields of the countryside!

Looking at the other three people, none of them looked familiar. I could only guess their ages. The oldest one must be one of the four maids in the Zhang family.

As for the two young girls standing next to Yuan Qing, they were the ones who read the notice together before. I think they are Doctor Song.

The other one, who is a little older, should be one of the three maids around Mrs. Zhang.

Chu Dajiang's gaze shifted from their faces to the black-sailed boats beneath their feet, and he was even more incredulous. "You actually chose to go by water?! You're so brave!"

"We did the opposite. It was precisely because they couldn't imagine it that we were able to escape successfully."

Chu Dajiang was stunned for a moment, then he was full of admiration. Not to mention Scar, who was stupid, even if it were him, he would not have thought that they dared to take the waterway.

"But since you two have also escaped, if they can't find you on land, they will look for you on the water. You two should get on the boat first, and we will talk as we go."

Chu Dajiang put himself in Scar's shoes and was suddenly horrified. It was very likely that this would happen.

He couldn't help but sigh that scholars' minds work quickly.

At that moment, the two brothers abandoned their worn-out wooden beds and boarded the black-sailed boat. Taking the bamboo poles from Madam Zhang and Yuan Qing, they paddled the boat at full speed, asking, "Mr. Yuan, what do you think, how should we proceed now?"

"You are familiar with the water system. Choose the nearest river mouth and we will go south via the canal."

"This..." Chu Dajiang hesitated, "Isn't it too risky? There are so many canal boats on the canal, there might be people with scars on them, and many of the canal soldiers know us brothers."

At this point, Chu Dajiang paused, suddenly remembering that he still didn't know the reason for this time. "What did you do to provoke Scar to kill so ruthlessly?"

Yanqiu couldn't help but interrupt in surprise, "How did you know it was us? They might be coming for you too."

Chu Dajiang snorted coldly: "When they found out you were gone that night, they went crazy."

It was also because of this that he was able to find the opportunity, and his cousin escaped, otherwise Scar would have been staring at him, and it would have been difficult for him to escape.

"This is a long story, so let's talk about it slowly. First, we need to get out of the creek and into the canal. It's only a matter of time before Scar and the others catch up."

The stream was winding and narrow, so it was difficult to travel quickly. If Scar ordered his men to catch up from the canal outside, they would probably be stuck in the middle.

Chu Dajiang hesitated for a moment and then listened to him.

The two rowed the boat and asked again why they were being chased.

Because the two of them were also canal soldiers and might have been involved in certain things, Yuan Qing didn't dare to tell them everything, so he vaguely said that they didn't know much. Zhang Renzhi only said that he had something related to Scar's life, but he didn't say what it was.

Chu Dajiang got anxious when he heard this. "Where's Mr. Zhang? Oh, he's really asking for his life. Scarface is a very unruly person. He can do anything. The same goes for Mr. Zhang. He's a civil servant. Why would he get involved in such things?"

Yuan Qing's eyes dimmed as he glanced towards the cabin and said softly, "Brother Zhang was worried that the lack of any traces on land would make Scar and the others suspect we took the sea route, so he deliberately took the land route to divert the pursuers."

Chu Dajiang glared. "How far can he, a weak scholar, lead them away? I'm afraid he'll be caught before he gets more than a few miles."

Song Ying quickly raised her finger to signal him to be quiet.

Chu Dajiang, the rough fellow, didn't understand at all and continued to rant and rave, "Why is a scholar like him showing off? The grain transport business is very complicated. He shouldn't..."

"Wow~Wow~"

Suddenly, a loud baby cry was heard in the cabin, finally interrupting Chu Dajiang's narration.

He looked at the cabin in confusion, "Why do I hear a baby crying?"

His cousin Chu Dahe reminded him, "Mrs. Zhang is pregnant and is about to give birth."

"Did Mrs. Zhang give birth?"

"Yes, it was that night." Song Ying said as he stood up and went inside.

Chu Dajiang was left dumbfounded. Giving birth while fleeing was too dangerous, wasn't it? Was Mrs. Zhang still alive?

At noon when the sun was at its hottest, the black-sailed boat slid out of the reed marsh, and as soon as the bow cut into the main channel of the Grand Canal, it shot out like a sharp arrow.

After going out, the speed of the sloop did not slow down, but increased again, like a sharp sword splitting the river water.

Song Ying, who nearly fell, stuck his head out of the cabin and saw snowy waves surging out from the bottom of the boat, and the reeds on the shore were almost reduced to afterimages.

Is this still that little broken boat?

They paddled as hard as they could, but they couldn't reach half the speed they are now!

She couldn't help but sigh, it's true that every profession has its own expertise, and rowing requires the help of the canal soldiers!

Maintaining this speed, as dusk fell, Chu Dajiang said, "Nanyang Town is just ahead. We need to pass through a lock. Let's go through the lock overnight and try to reach Qingjiang in two or three days. Once we pass the Qingjiang lock, the rest of the journey will be smooth sailing with fewer locks. Even if Scar is incredibly well-connected, he won't be able to catch us easily."

As he spoke, his expression froze. He looked at the dock in the distance and said, "This doesn't seem right. Why are there so many boats?"

Song Ying came out of the cabin upon hearing the sound. The river ahead was densely packed with boats. Fish lanterns gradually lit up, casting one warm yellow blurry shadow after another on the water, like thousands of stars in the night sky.

She had no time to appreciate the scene, she just felt her scalp tingling. With so many boats, how long would it take for it to be their turn? They couldn't afford to delay.

"Wow, a small broken boat dares to go through the canal!" A rough shout came from the right.

Song Ying looked over and saw a few shirtless sailors leaning against the side of a merchant ship loaded with porcelain, looking at their shabby black-sailed boat with a playful look on their faces.

One of them, holding a piece of grass in his mouth, scoffed, "Even grasshopper boats dare to sail through the canal these days, unafraid of the canal soldiers' iron hooks poking holes in their planks!"

Song Ying quickly retreated into the cabin, secretly cursing these people for being shameless. She had wanted to go out, but now she could only listen with her ears perked up inside.

Outside, Chu Dajiang glared and was about to curse back, but was stopped by Yuan Qing.