Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

Chapter 266. Diversion
Gu Kaiyuan sighed, knowing that made sense. In any case, the Gu family would return to the capital sooner or later, so he would just have to put up with them for a while longer.

Moreover, having people in front of you allows you to keep an eye on them at all times, preventing them from making any further moves.

At this moment, he saw Liu Pingkang and his group walking from not far away. He thought they had something to say to the yamen runners, but they turned out to be coming towards them.

Liu Pingkang's attitude was very good this time. "Brother Gu, we are also planning to return to the capital early tomorrow morning. We came here specifically to say goodbye. Is there anything you two would like us to take back with us?"

“I really do have something to trouble you with,” Gu Kaiyuan said, taking out a letter he had prepared beforehand from his pocket. “This is a letter my wife wrote to my mother-in-law. I need your help to make a trip.”

Liu Pingkang accepted the letter with both hands. With this letter, their mission was considered complete, and the reward promised by the Bai family would soon be in their hands.

"No problem, no problem, it's just a small favor. If you have the chance to return to the capital in the future, we brothers can have a good drink and chat together."

Although Gu Kaiyuan did not personally entertain them yesterday, he still booked the best inn in the county town for these escorts and served them the best banquet as a way of repaying them for their protection along the way.

“That was just what should have been,” Gu Kaiyuan said, still having a question. “Didn’t you guys previously plan to travel with the escort agency?”

"Captain Liu and his men wanted to stay here for a few more days to see if there were any cargo escorts returning home, but we calculated the time and their return date is uncertain. If we wait any longer, we might miss the New Year, so we decided not to wait for them."

Gu Kaiyuan's goods have been handed over to Lin Hua and Lin Wei. These two are quite capable; they bought a yard overnight and arranged all the goods there.

"In that case, I'm afraid I won't be able to see you off tomorrow. I can only wish you all a safe journey."

After exchanging pleasantries, Liu Pingkang and his men left.

Su Daquan, who was in charge of taking them to the village, and Zhu Ziqiang, the village chief who came to pick them up, paid special attention to Gu Kaiyuan's family when they saw this scene. Even the soldiers escorting them treated them with such courtesy, so this person was probably not simple.

Especially when they were checking the list, there were four extra people on Gu Kaiyuan's side. They said they were ordinary people who happened to be traveling the same way as them, so they took extra care of them.

Judging from their interactions, one can guess what's going on. Sure enough, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. No matter the time, some people can still enjoy privileges, and they don't want to, nor dare to, offend the other party.

The two of them didn't make things difficult and quickly completed all the procedures.

Regardless, they needed to get back to the village as soon as possible, as there were still many things to arrange, so they urged everyone to get on the road quickly.

Just as they were about to leave, the Chen and Zhou families also rushed over with their entourage, saying, "We're so sorry we're late."

Zhu Ziqiang was completely bewildered. Who were these people? The people they wanted to take away were already here. "Are you mistaken? Everyone from our village is here. Your names aren't here."

“There’s no mistake,” Chen Dafu quickly pulled out his household registration book. “You’re the village head of Tian Village, right? This is the household registration that Lord Xu processed for us.” Zhou Gang, who was standing next to him, also quickly handed over his household registration book. “This was processed by Lord Wu.”

Upon hearing that the county magistrate and the county assistant had processed the household registration for these two people, Zhu Ziqiang didn't dare to be arrogant and quickly accepted it with both hands. When he found that it really was their Tian Village, he couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache.

“Officer Su, look at this matter…” Zhu Ziqiang said with a wry smile, “Although Tian Village doesn’t have many people, it also doesn’t have enough land to reclaim. With so many people, how am I supposed to distribute them?”

Goodness, there are over a hundred people in total, more than the original population of their village. What was originally a small to medium-sized village can now be transformed into a large village.

But he really didn't want to take these people in. More people meant more trouble, and with so many new villagers, how could he, as the village chief, possibly manage them?

“Since it’s the adults’ arrangement, then we’ll have to trouble Village Chief Zhu. Let’s go back and take a good look, and try to measure out all the wasteland. Anyway, they’re here to reclaim wasteland. If they can’t reclaim the wasteland, the adults will naturally investigate.” Su Daquan knew what was troubling him, so he quickly pulled him aside. “After all, it’s the adults’ arrangement, so we can’t say anything.”

That makes sense, but Zhu Ziqiang was still very unhappy and uneasy. These were all people with connections, so could his village still suppress them?
"Hurry up and go. Get the land measured for them today, and the rest is up to them." Seeing that he was still hesitating, Su Daquan said, "If you don't agree, why don't you go and talk to the two officials now..."

"Forget it, let's go," Zhu Ziqiang didn't have the guts. He was just a small village chief, and he probably wouldn't even be able to see the people if he went there. Why bother to humiliate himself?

Anyway, he measured the wasteland for everyone according to regulations. If they complained about the land they were allocated, it was none of his business. Their Tian Village was only so big. He wasn't afraid to complain to the adults.

The group left in a grand procession, and those who had been exiled with them breathed a long sigh of relief, finally shaking them off.

After leaving the county town, less than two miles away, we entered a narrow road, which became increasingly narrow, barely allowing even an oxcart to pass.

It's said to be the closest village to the county seat, but it still takes an hour to walk there.
“This godforsaken place,” Gu Antong looked at the desolate landscape with only a few scattered low thatched houses, “where are we going to stay? We’re not going to stay in those houses, are we?”

Zhu Ziqiang, who was walking in front, was too lazy to answer. This family had the most questions along the way.

"This is Tiancun," Su Daquan replied with a fawning smile, "I've never seen a girl prettier than Gu Antong before. These are all the villagers' houses. We'll also allocate a piece of land for you to build your own."

"What? There's not even a place to stay?" Xu Yulan exclaimed in shock. "Where are we going to stay tonight?"

Su Daquan wasn't so kind to her. "Where did you stay the whole way here?"

You can live in the wilderness, so why can't you live in the village?
"Don't forget, you've come here for exile. Do you expect us to prepare everything for you?"

Even if these people have connections, their status is still lower than that of an ordinary villager.

“Brother constable, this woman is naive and doesn’t know how to speak properly,” Gu Kaiping knew a thing or two about the treatment of exiles and didn’t want to offend her, otherwise life would be even harder if they were assigned to some remote mountain village. So he awkwardly changed the subject, “How many people are there in our village now?”