512 Something Big
Shiye adopted a rake, bent down, and raked open the pile of rice on the ground, making it thinner so that it would dry easily.
While they were raking, they suddenly heard the voice of an old man sitting under the shade of a tree with a long bamboo pole. He was occasionally chasing birds that wanted to steal rice to eat. He spoke as he looked at Jiang Yue and Xue Yan, who were washing the vegetables by the river.
“That family really adopted two grand treasures. They’re so young, but they can already cook for their family. Let’s not talk about other things. If our grandchildren were half as good as them, I’m sure we’d be enjoying a happy life every day like Xue Da.”
“That’s right,” another old man agreed. “People say that good people don’t have good endings, while evil people live for a thousand years. I think good people have good endings too. If Xue Dafu didn’t adopt them out of kindness, would their family have such a good life today? Look at how many people they’ve hired to harvest the rice. I heard that fourteen acres of rice is going to be harvested today. My family could only plant that much, and it only took two or three days to harvest it all.”
“Yes, yes.” A few elderly people agreed.
Shiye didn’t sun-dry the rice anymore, but was instead in deep thought.
He knew Jiang Yue, she was not even surnamed Xue, so he could easily tell that she was adopted. However, why did Xue Yan have the same surname as the Xue family if he was adopted too?
Xue Yan was already seven years old… this meant that he was about the same age as the Crown Prince …
Shiye couldn’t help but walk over to the elders with large strides. Then, he cupped his fists and asked politely, “Sir, did you just say that Xue Yan was adopted?”
At first, everyone was quite afraid of the sword-wielding man with a scar on his face. However, after knowing him for a few days, they knew that he was really just Shao Shuting’s attendant and had a good temper. Now, no one was afraid of him.
Someone immediately replied with a kind smile, “Yes, everyone knows about it. You’ve only been here for a few days, so you wouldn’t know.”
“When was Xue Yan adopted?”
“About seven years ago, when Xue Yan was still an infant,” an old man said. “He was quite young at that time. Xue Da liked him so much that he often carried him around for us to see.”
“Yes, yes, yes. I remember that time.” The other elders agreed.
Shiye’s heart skipped a beat. The Crown Prince had gone missing when he was still an infant…
“Thank you!” Shiye cupped his fists once more, and then, he didn’t sun-dry any more rice and busied himself back. He had to report this to the general immediately!
Perhaps Xue Yan was the Crown Prince!
However, before he could even reach Xue Dagui’s house, he saw Qiye, who was also a subordinate of their great general, rushing over on a horse.
Something big must have happened for Qiye to be in such a hurry!
Shiye walked even faster. Then, he met Qiye in front of Xue Dagui’s courtyard.
“Good thing it wasn’t that difficult to find this place. I asked about it when I entered the village. Where is he?” Qiye asked anxiously as he quickly dismounted. It wasn’t good to call him general, for fear of being heard.
“He’s in the room.”
As soon as Shiye finished speaking, Qiye hurriedly entered the house.
“What happened?” Shiye hurriedly followed up. He was alarmed by the sudden appearance of another subordinate.
“Something big has happened! There’s big news!” Qiye’s face was filled with joy, and he walked even faster.
Shiye was taken aback. “I think I have some news too.”
Qiye was stunned as well. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him. “You’ve been in this village for a long time, what news can you have?”
It wasn’t good to talk about this outside, as he was still afraid of others hearing it, so Shiye said, “Let’s talk inside.”
The two of them hurriedly entered Shao Shuting’s room.
