"Eldest Young Master Rong, could you ask your coachman to stop the carriage for a while? I'd like to get off and check the situation of the river," Lan Tian said.
Throughout this journey, the coachman only obeyed the Eldest Young Master Rong. As for him, he even had to report to this young master when he needed to go to the toilet...
He now had to consider whether he should find an opportunity to quietly leave the Rong family's carriage convoy. Otherwise, he would be too passive. If the other party really wanted to kill him, it would be extremely easy.
The Eldest Young Master Rong looked up at her indifferently, his eyes full of inquisitive looks.
After a long while, he nodded and raised his hand to knock on the carriage wall.
Hearing the sound from the carriage, the coachman quickly stopped the carriage.
Only then did Lan Tian get off.
The "pageboy" quickly stepped forward to help him down from the carriage.
The Eldest Young Master Rong glanced at Lan Tian's back, then lifted his chin slightly, signaling the Rong family's bodyguards to follow.
Lan Tian originally planned to take this opportunity to slip away secretly. Who would have thought that the Eldest Young Master Rong would actually send someone to follow... There was no such thing before. Was it because they were getting closer to Nanhe County? Or did he show some flaws?
Seeing that he looked worried, the "pageboy" asked him, "Sir, have you encountered any difficulties?"
Lan Tian looked at the Rong family's bodyguards following not too far behind. He waved to the "pageboy", signaling him to come closer.
The "pageboy" could tell from Lan Tian's expression that he had something for him to do. He quickly stepped forward and waited respectfully for Lan Tian to continue.
Pretending to discuss the flood situation with him, Lan Tian glanced at the approaching Rong family's bodyguards from the corner of his eye and whispered to the "pageboy", "I want to leave the carriage convoy. Can you help me?"
Hearing this, the "pageboy" looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure? If you leave, your connections in Nanhe County and even in the court will be limited."
"Sure." For Lan Tian, being an official or not was not important. What was important was that this was the first thing he had handled since he went down the mountain.
If he handled it well, his status in the sect would rise further. If not... he would feel sorry for his mother.
Seeing that he was so determined, the "pageboy" agreed.
Although his role was that of a "pageboy", in the end, he was just a secret guard sent out of the palace to protect Young Master Lan. He had no right to interfere with any of Young Master Lan's decisions.
By the time the Rong family's bodyguards got closer, Lan Tian had already arranged everything for his escape.
He returned to the carriage as usual. The Eldest Young Master Rong sized him up for a long time. After confirming that there was nothing abnormal about him, he slowly closed his eyes.
The carriage traveled for a while longer and finally arrived in Nanhe County.
When the county magistrate of Nanhe County heard that people had come from the capital, he quickly led his men out to greet them.
Lan Tian originally thought that as soon as the Rong family's people checked into the inn, he would use the secret communication method of the Heavenly Craftsmen Sect to contact the people of the sect for help. In this way, he could avoid the sight of all the Rong family members and focus on handling things in Nanhe County.
However, now the Eldest Young Master Rong actually said that they would stay in the yamen. This was not a good idea for Lan Tian.
So, when the Eldest Young Master Rong proposed to stay in the yamen, Lan Tian spoke up. "Eldest Young Master Rong, we are here to deal with the flood, not to enjoy ourselves. I think we'd better stay in an inn. There's no need to bother the government."
"Little Young Master, since you came here with the imperial envoy, you'd better listen to the imperial envoy. Otherwise, if you anger the imperial envoy, it won't do you any good," the county magistrate advised.
Every time there was a flood in Nanhe, the imperial envoy who came was surely from the Rong family. The symbol of the Rong family was also very easy to recognize, which was a flying and dancing character "Rong" on the left chest.
Naturally, the county magistrate subconsciously regarded the Eldest Young Master Rong as the imperial envoy this time.
Everyone knew the influence of the Rong family in the capital. For his own future, he naturally tried his best to curry favor with them.
Lan Tian understood something and slowly took out the imperial edict from his bosom. "Magistrate, you may have misunderstood something. I am the imperial envoy."
Everyone present was stunned. Then, a group of people all looked at the Eldest Young Master Rong in unison, as if seeking confirmation.
The Eldest Young Master Rong glanced at Lan Tian indifferently, then turned to the people around him and said, "Yes, he is indeed the imperial envoy, and our Rong family members are just here to assist."
Then, he turned to face Lan Tian. "Since the imperial envoy thinks it's inconvenient to stay in the yamen, then let the yamen people arrange a place for us to stay."
Looking at the always aloof Eldest Young Master Rong, who was now bowing respectfully to him, Lan Tian was a bit unaccustomed for a moment. However, the Eldest Young Master Rong's expression was calm. Even if he wanted to see something from his face, he couldn't.
Finally, he could only follow the Eldest Young Master Rong's words. "This is naturally the best."
Seeing that the Rong family's people had said so, the county magistrate didn't say anything more. He just asked the yamen runners to find the best inn in Nanhe County and let Lan Tian and the others stay there.
After nightfall, Lan Tian packed his bag. With the help of the "pageboy" and two other secret guards, he left the inn and went directly to find the people of the Heavenly Craftsmen Sect.
With the help of the Heavenly Craftsmen Sect, they could handle most of the things even without the government's help. For the rest, even if the government was unwilling, they would have to join in. Otherwise, they would be disobeying the imperial edict... The Rong family might have the guts, but other county magistrates didn't.
Su Wan'er received the news three days after they left the inn and went to the Heavenly Craftsmen Sect. Su Wan'er looked at the secret letter and turned to Si Junlin. "Now we can be sure that Lan Tian is on our side, right?"
Si Junlin nodded slightly. "Yes. Since he has shown his loyalty to us, we should also show something in return."
Su Wan'er nodded.
She didn't need Si Junlin's reminder to think of this. She immediately summoned several secret guards and asked them to rush there as quickly as possible to join Lan Tian and the others.
The Rong family received the news only one day later than Su Wan'er, and Concubine Mei in the palace received the news only one hour later.
After reading the content of the letter, Concubine Mei angrily slapped the table. "This bastard!"
"Lady..." Cuisi looked at her suddenly furious master in fear and didn't know what to say to comfort her for a moment.
At this moment, it seemed that anything she said would be wrong.