Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 656: Search

"It's not about what to do if someone reveals a flaw, but no one can reveal any clues at all!" Song Ying looked into Nanny Zhang's eyes and said firmly.

Aunt Zhang's brows were twisted like a knot, "This..."

She had just uttered a word when Song Ying interrupted her, "When it comes to matters of life and death, there is no room for error!"

Nanny Zhang was silent for a moment, then said, "I'll go help Madam get dressed and tidy up."

Seeing this, Song Ying softened her tone again, "Don't worry, Ma'am. We've been dressed like this right under Scar's nose, and she hasn't noticed anything. As long as we don't panic, there will be no problem."

Nanny Zhang also knew that she couldn't panic now, but knowing this was not something that could be done. She took a breath and said, "This old servant knows and will be careful."

Song Ying also went in. Yanqiu helped Yu Lingwan tidy up and adjust the skin color and eyebrows. She took a basket, put a soft mattress at the bottom, put the baby in it, and stuffed a medicine bag of wild chrysanthemum and light bamboo leaves three inches away from the baby's head to calm the mind and make the sleeping child sleep more deeply.

Finally, several pieces of fine cotton, coarse cloth and linen were neatly stacked on top, with a small hole pried out on one side to allow for breathing.

After everything was packed, Nanny Zhang supported Yu Lingwan and walked in front, while Yanqiu nervously hugged the bamboo basket to her chest, with her arms crossed in the shape of the Chinese character "protect", as if she was holding a glass statue of Bodhisattva.

Song Ying frowned, "Are you afraid that others won't see the important things inside?"

She pointed to a woman waiting in line at the dock not far away, waiting to be searched. "Just carry it like you're carrying a vegetable basket. Be casual."

"Will it be stable? What if I fall?" Yanqiu hesitated.

Yu Lingwan was also worried and turned around and said, "Why don't you just say it's filled with important things and you're afraid it might be stolen, so you're holding it like this."

"No, this situation needs to be strictly investigated. If you encounter such greedy people, they might even take the initiative to openly steal. Forget it, I'll carry the basket."

Yanqiu hesitated for a moment, then handed the basket to her. She casually slung it over her arm, turned around, and said, "Let's go."

She stepped out, and Yu Lingwan and her servant were all terrified. Yanqiu held the basket lightly with her hand, "Do you think it's heavy?"

Yu Lingwan said, "The angle is tilted. Will the child be hunched over in there?"

Nanny Zhang agreed repeatedly, "After all, there's a child in there, so we should be more careful about the angle. Doctor Song, how about I carry the basket?"

Song Ying pushed Yan Qiu's imaginary hand away and said to the others, "Don't worry, I have experience taking care of children. I raised my little cousin from the time he was weaned. Let's go quickly. If the child wakes up and starts crying, it will be a real disaster."

After hearing what she said, the three of them had no choice but to give up and quickly walked to the stern. The boat had already been moored, and Yuan Qing and the other two were waiting there.

Worried that the child might wake up, after getting off the boat, they walked quickly, through the crowd, and headed straight for the inspection team.

Appearance can change, but their gender and age ratio is there, and together they can give people a clue.

So they separated, with Chu Dajiang and Nanny Zhang at the front, pretending to be mother and son; a few people behind, Song Ying, Yuan Qing, and Yu Lingwan pretended to be the sister-in-law with her sister-in-law and brother-in-law; at the end were Yanqiu and Chu Dahe pretending to be brother and sister.

While waiting, Nanny Zhang was in front and couldn't look back, but Yu Lingwan and Yanqiu's eyes fell on the basket from time to time.

Seeing this, Yuan Qing gently reminded her, "Sister-in-law, relax. They're just a few pieces of cotton cloth. If they're really damaged, you can still use them by mending them."

Song Ying turned her head upon hearing this, only to find that Yu Lingwan's eyes had been fixed on the basket. She secretly patted Yu Lingwan's hand and said, "Sister-in-law is planning to keep this cloth. When my nephew grows up and passes the imperial examination, I'll use it to make a blue shirt for him. So naturally, I'm paying attention to it."

After explaining, she 'persuaded' Yu Lingwan, "Sister-in-law, you are just too calculating. If you ask me, my eldest brother is a capable man. Sooner or later he will make a lot of money. By then, you will be able to wear not only fine cotton but also silk and satin."

An auntie nearby couldn't help but interject, "That's quite reasonable. Buying good cloth but not using it wastes both money and space. It's better not to buy it.

"Big sister, your sister-in-law is right. No matter how good the cloth is, once you buy it, you have to use it. Otherwise, it would be a waste."

Yu Lingwan forced a smile and had no intention of talking to her. Her mind was in a mess. She was worried about her daughter getting into trouble in the basket, worried that she would suddenly wake up and cry, and worried about the soldiers searching her...

Song Ying, carrying a basket, seemed to have found a kindred spirit. He started chatting with the aunt and several other aunts and sisters, talking about cotton cloth, the current cloth price, grain price, the yield of crops in the fields, and the worries about the upcoming autumn grain tax.

Yu Lingwan, her master and her servant were all stunned. Even Chu Dajiang and Chu Dahe couldn't help but look at her again.

Starting from Tongzhou, they had been with Song Ying on the canal boat for a month or two, and they had never discovered that she had such a side!

As they were talking, it was their turn to be searched. After carefully examining Song Ying's face, the two soldiers tried to search her basket.

Song Ying was busy protecting the basket. "Military officer, please be gentle and don't damage the cloth. My sister bought this specifically for my nephew to make clothes."

Then he flipped through a few more layers and said, "It's just a few pieces of cloth. We bought them to make clothes."

The aunt behind also helped, "Yes, General, we are a poor family and it is rare for us to buy some fine cloth. Please be merciful."

The soldier took a look and saw that there were indeed neatly folded new cloths inside. There was only one piece of cotton cloth, which was deliberately placed in the middle of several pieces of cloth, folded smaller than the other cloths, as if he was worried that the thread would be caught by the bamboo strips of the bamboo basket.

Seeing this, his doubts were almost gone, and he couldn't help but mutter, "A few pieces of cloth, and you put them in a basket, aren't you tired?"

Song Ying glared, her voice rising a few notches. "I bought this basket during the Chinese New Year last year. It's brand new. What if someone steals it?"

The soldier rolled his eyes in annoyance and said, "It's just a broken basket, who would steal it?"

Song Ying said angrily, "Sir, you haven't had a hard life, have you? Who said no one steals baskets?

When I was harvesting wheat two years ago, I was so tired that I wanted to take a break. I went back to eat lunch at noon but didn’t bring my backpack with me. During the lunch break, when I went back to the field, the backpack was gone!

Oh, that backpack was so expensive, it cost me eight cents! My mother almost beat me to death..."

Seeing that she was going on and on, another soldier frowned and said to the soldier who was about to turn the cloth, "Enough! How can such a small basket hide a person? Hurry up. With so many people here, there's no telling how long the search will take."

They were chatting animatedly nearby, and the soldiers who were searching naturally heard some of it. They knew that this girl was a chatterbox and could chat animatedly with strangers.

If we continue to argue with her, it will only waste a lot of time. They still have many people to search!

"This soldier is sensible!" Song Ying said, glancing at the soldier who was about to turn over her basket, implying that this man was unreasonable.

The soldier was very angry, but since the flag captain had given the order, he had to obey. Besides, he also wanted to finish the work quickly and go back to rest.

As a result, several soldiers involuntarily wanted to speed up. Not only did they let Song Ying go, they also roughly compared the appearance of Yu Lingwan and others who came to search next, and then let them go.