They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 424 Escaping the City
If Xu Zhichun wanted to return to her own estate and Liangjia Village, she should have gone through the south gate. But she dared not, fearing that Zeng Mingzhu would discover she was missing and immediately send people out of the south gate to chase after her.

She could only choose one of the other three city gates at random.

Once we've left Xijiang Prefecture far behind, we can slowly inquire about the detour back.

The space warehouse has everything you need for food and supplies, and there are even tents available for sleeping in the mountains at night, so you don't have to worry about getting sick.

There are absolutely no worries.

For her, nothing is more terrifying than Zeng Mingzhu right now.

She dared not stay in Xijiang Prefecture. Zeng Mingzhu was the wife of the prefect of Xiangzhou Prefecture. Xu Zhichun did not quite believe that she was the wife of the prefect. How could she have so easily become the wife of the prefect while she was living away from home?

Besides, if she were really the wife of the prefect, she wouldn't have gone out so easily and traveled all the way to Xijiang Prefecture.

As someone from the Xiangzhou Prefecture, she came to Xijiang Prefecture. Who knows what kind of relationship the Xiangzhou Prefecture Prefect and the Xijiang Prefecture Prefect, Yang, have? Are the two of them colluding?
What if they colluded?

If Zeng Mingzhu were to ask Prefect Yang to send someone to search for her, it would be difficult for her to hide in the city, and the longer she stayed, the more dangerous it would be.

Moreover, there's Magistrate Fan and his wife, who might hate me. If Madam Fan gets involved, it will be even more disadvantageous for me.

If he were to fall into Zeng Mingzhu's hands again, Xu Zhichun dared not even imagine that he would have any chance of escaping.

She couldn't afford to gamble anything, so she could only leave Xijiang Prefecture City as far away as possible.

"Bastard!"

Enraged, Zeng Mingzhu grabbed a teacup and smashed it against the servant, her face contorted with rage and shock: "What kind of work are you doing? Several grown men couldn't even keep an eye on one woman! How could she escape? Useless, all of you useless!"

The servant lowered his head, feeling both fear and frustration.

He felt he deserved to be scolded by his master.

He himself was completely baffled as to how the woman managed to escape.

"How on earth did she escape?!"

The servant shuddered. How did he escape? Who knows?
“Madam, she could not possibly have saved herself alone. I believe someone must have secretly rescued her.”

"impossible!"

Zeng Mingzhu immediately denied it. This is the provincial capital of Xijiang Prefecture. Xu Zhichun is just a country woman. Even if she has some farming skills and a bit of luck, and manages to build a business, she can only make a living in the county town at best. She probably doesn't even know which way the city gates open. How could she have a good relationship with someone who would be willing to risk their life to save her?
The servant dared not utter a sound.

Zeng Mingzhu remained silent.

If not, how did she escape?

Zeng Mingzhu is now filled with regret, regretting that she didn't just kill Xu Zhichun and settle the matter.

She was exasperated: "Forget it, there's no use talking about it now. You all hurry up and take people to look for it."

The servant was taken aback, "This..."

In such a large city, they didn't have many people, and they couldn't possibly use them all for this. Finding one person was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Zeng Mingzhu was even more annoyed. "Try asking around near the inn. Don't be afraid to spend money. See if anyone has seen her. She's a lone woman with limited abilities, so she shouldn't be hard to find."

"Spend money to hire some thugs to help out." "Yes."

"Wait! Take a few men and quickly head out of the south gate to give chase. That bitch must be thinking of getting home as soon as she escaped; she might actually catch up. Yes, go quickly!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The servant left in a hurry.

Zeng Mingzhu was in a state of utter confusion. If she caught her this time, she would definitely kill her. She'd beat her to death with sticks; she wouldn't let her die easily.
Thinking about her own arrangements, which were flawless and thorough, Zeng Mingzhu sneered smugly.

Xu Zhichun has no chance of escaping easily.

Xu Zhichun clumsily drove the mule cart out of the city gate and galloped all the way for more than 20 miles before he could catch his breath.

Xu Zhichun asked the farmers he met on the road and learned that there was a town about ten miles away, which made him even more relieved.

Once she reaches the town, she can find an inn to stay in temporarily. As long as she can afford the price, she won't have trouble finding someone to go back and report the news.

They hired someone to deliver a message to Constable Yu.

Even if the person hired had some ulterior motives, they would certainly restrain themselves once they heard that the person they were to deliver the message to was a government official.

A gust of wind rose close to the ground, stirring up dust and scattering grass blades. Only then did Xu Zhichun realize that the sky had become gloomy at some point.

"Boom!"

A clap of thunder rolled across the sky, and large raindrops began to fall, sparsely pattering across the yellow earth.

Xu Zhichun frowned. Why did it have to start raining at this time of year? And it looked like the rain was going to be quite heavy.

However, the comforting thing is that the weather affects everyone in the same way; neither she nor Zeng Mingzhu can benefit from it.

Or perhaps she was even luckier, because Zeng Mingzhu's men never even found their way to her.

Xu Zhichun dared not delay, raised his whip and gently lashed the mule, then drove the cart forward.

However, the raindrops quickly turned into a downpour, covering the sky and earth almost instantly. The distant mountains were shrouded in mist, and the rain splashed up steaming vapors, obstructing visibility and making it difficult to walk. Xu Zhichun had to slow down his journey.

The rain quickly gathered into streams on the ground, flowing like babbling brooks. Looking up with difficulty through the rain curtain, the ground seemed like a vast ocean.

The road conditions were poor in this era, making it unsuitable for travel. If the wheels got stuck in a ditch, there would be no recourse. Moreover, the mule pulling the cart was clearly getting impatient, and if it went out of control, the consequences would be even more unimaginable.

Xu Zhichun looked around and vaguely saw a shelter from the rain on a high place by a side road not far away. He hurriedly drove the mule cart over, tied the cart to a pillar, and went into the shelter to take shelter from the rain.

The rain was so heavy that Xu Zhichun, wearing a straw hat he had taken out of his spatial storage, ran into the shed with his head down, only to find that there were two other people inside also taking shelter from the rain.

Both sides were startled to see people other than their own.

Xu Zhichun slowly relaxed, glanced at the two men, and found a dry spot to sit on a rock.

This shed must have been a regular resting place for travelers, as it contained many large stones for people to sit on.

The two women were a woman in her fifties and a little girl of about seven or eight years old. They were both dressed in old cotton clothes. The woman had gray hair and looked haggard. There was a scar about the length of a finger on her left cheek. She deliberately let her hair down loosely to cover most of the scar.

Xu Zhichun didn't show any unusual expression. After confirming that they wouldn't pose a threat to him, he withdrew his gaze and stared blankly at the all-encompassing rain, hoping that the rain would stop soon.