503 The fire actually spread to him
The next morning, Shi Qingluo and Xiao Hanzheng had breakfast together.
Just as she was about to pick up her packed bag and leave, Xiao Hanzheng’s man sent a letter.
He opened it and took a look. “Tao Liu just gave birth.”
“Is it a boy or a girl?” Shi Qingluo asked while carrying her bag.
“A girl,” Xiao Hanzheng replied.
Shi Qingluo nodded. “Having a girl is good. Ge Chunru probably won’t do anything to her again.”
Her young hubby’s men came with news that Ge Chunru had asked someone to find a child’s clothing that had been stained with smallpox.
She also instructed the maidservants in Tao Liu’s courtyard that if the baby was a boy, they would find a way to let the child touch this little piece of clothing.
At that time, it would look like he had accidentally died.
It had to be said that even though Ge Chunru had lost her power, she was still so ruthless that she would not even let go of a newborn baby.
“If it’s a girl, Ge Chunru probably won’t do anything for the time being,” Xiao Hanzheng said.
Shi Qingluo thought for a moment.
“If she suddenly changes her mind and harms a girl, it’ll be troublesome. Get someone to keep an eye on her. Don’t let her people get away with it.”
That was an innocent little life. Since they had the ability, they naturally had to protect it.
Xiao Hanzheng nodded. “I understand.”
“It’s best to let your scumbag father know about this,” Shi Qingluo said, his lips curling up.
Xiao Hanzheng chuckled. “I think so too.”
Rather than guarding against a hidden danger, it was better to expose it directly.
“How are Ge Chunru’s brother and Mdm Niu doing?” Shi Qingluo asked.
Xiao Hanzheng replied, “Ge Chunyi is addicted to gambling now. Mdm Niu also went to the casino with him. They lost a lot of money. In the next few days, someone will come to his sister to ask for money.”
This was already part of the plan.
After Tao Liu gave birth to a child, he would find some trouble for Ge Chunru so that she would not keep an eye on the child and attempt to harm him/her.
Xiao Hanzheng did not have any feelings for his half-sister, but he would not be happy to see her get killed.
After all, no matter what grudges there were between the adults, the child was innocent.
Furthermore, they were the ones who sent Tao Liu to the general’s residence.
Tao Liu had also helped him do a lot of things.
He had to help her maintain her identity and protect her child.
This was the promise he had made to her back then.
Shi Qingluo nodded. “That’s good!
She took the initiative to kiss the corner of Xiao Hanzheng’s lips. “Then your mother and I will go first. Take care of yourself and help Prince Yi set up the canned food workshop. We will come back after that.”
Xiao Hanzheng returned a kiss. “Okay!”
He sent his wife to the courtyard. At this time, his mother and Xiao Baili were already waiting with their baggage.
Xiao Baili had nothing to do at home these days, so she would tag along with her mother and sister-in-law.
Prince Yi naturally wouldn’t object.
Very quickly, Liang Yulin also walked over from the neighboring courtyard.
He smiled at Xiao Hanzheng and said, “Hanzheng, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of them.”
Xiao Hanzheng glanced at him. “I just hope that they’ll come back as soon as they’re done with their work.”
“I can’t say for sure,” Liang Yulin chuckled.
He patted Xiao Hanzheng’s arm affectionately. “It’s okay. Come and visit me when you have time. It’s not far away anyway.”
Xiao Hanzheng was lost for words. “I will.”
After that, he would personally go and bring his mother, wife, and sister back.
Prince Yi, Shi Qingluo, and the others got on the carriage and set off for a small town on the border.
The town was not far from Heyang County.
It would take about six or seven days to get there by carriage.
The main reason was that the roads were quite bad, and there were large sections of pothole-filled dirt roads, so the journey was more time-consuming.
The carriage jolted up and down. When they were having their meal, Shi Qingluo suggested to Prince Yi to have the road paved with cement.
Otherwise, transporting canned food would be a difficult task.
Such a bumpy ride could damage the cans.
If a cement road could be built to connect Heyang County, it would take about two days by carriage, and half a day by horse.
After that, they would take a turn from Heyang County to Northern City or the capital.
After all, the road from Heyang County to these two places would also be cemented road.
Prince Yi also agreed, so he wrote a memorial and sent it to the capital.
“I’ll let my royal brother send people to repair the road.”
The road was difficult to walk on, so Liang Yulin didn’t asked those steering the carriage to go faster.
Instead, he told the coachman to slow down and not let the carriage shake too much.
When they passed by places with accommodation, even if it was only noon, he would let them rest immediately and set off the next day.
The main reason was that he didn’t want Mdm Kong and the other 2 girls to be exhausted.
Therefore, the journey took ten days when they could have arrived in seven or eight days.
When the group arrived at the town, Xiao Yuanshi was in the general’s office in Northern City.
He looked at the child in Liu Ru’s arms with a gentle smile on his face, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
He had always hoped that Liu Ru would give birth to a boy so that he could bring him up and groom him to be his successor.
Who would have thought that it was actually a girl?
At this moment, Old Lady Xiao and her two daughters-in-law were also sitting in the room.
Old Lady Xiao held the child in her arms. “This girl is so pretty. She looks like Second Son Xiao.”
It was good to have a girl.
Then the deputy governor’s manor would belong to her eldest grandson.
Liu Ru sat on a soft chair, her eyes full of motherly gentleness as she looked at the daughter in the old lady’s arms.
When she first found out that the child was a girl, she also had a moment of disappointment.
However, she quickly focused all his attention on her daughter.
This was the child that she had carried for ten months.
Even if the baby was a girl, she would treat her like a treasure.
She wouldn’t be like her own parents who valued boys over girls and treated girls like grass.
“That’s right,” she said with a smile.”It’s obvious that Baiqing is the general’s daughter.”
She knew that Xiao Yuanshi wasn’t very happy about his daughter.
But how did it matter? As long as she was happy.
Ge Chunru couldn’t give birth to a child anyway.
Besides, Xiao Yuanshi had never rested in Ge Chunru’s courtyard since he came to the northern border.
Even if he stayed for a night occasionally, he never called for water.
It meant that he was still very concerned and disgusted by the green spot on his head.
Xiao Yuanshi forced a smile. “She does look like me.”
He actually didn’t see how they looked alike, so he didn’t care.
“I still have something to do, so I’ll go out first,” he continued.
“Then go quickly, governor,” Tao Liu said with a considerate smile.
She scolded this bastard in her heart for valuing boys over girls.
He only came to see his daughter once every few days and had never hugged her. She felt that he was being perfunctory.
Just as Xiao Yuanshi stood up and was about to leave, his personal attendant ran in hurriedly.
“Deputy governor, the people from the gambling den have come to collect their debts. They said they want to see Concubine Ge.”
Xiao Yuanshi was stunned. “Those from the gambling house are asking Ge Chunru for debts? ”
The personal attendant nodded. “Ge Chunyi owes the gambling den tens of thousands of taels of silver and can’t pay it back. The gambling den wants to cut off his hand, so he asked these people to come to the deputy governor’s manor and ask for it from Concubine Ge.”
Xiao Yuanshi’s face darkened. “Let’s go out and take a look.”
He knew that Ge Chunyi and Mdm Niu were addicted to gambling, but he didn’t take it to heart.
He felt that it was good that Ge Chunyi and Mdm Niu’s lives were just going down hill.
Who would have thought that the fire would spread to him?