Chapter 68
The sky was high and the clouds were light, and the sun was shining brightly.
The cicadas were chirping in the forest.
At the tea stall in front of the post station, four young men were sitting at a table.
The four of them were wearing wide, coarse linen clothes, their faces were dark and yellow, and they were of different heights, but they were all very thin.
There were many merchants and pedestrians coming and going at the tea stall. The four of them spoke little and did not attract much attention.
After drinking their tea, Yuli bought a sweet melon. The shopkeeper took one from the cool mountain spring, cut it open, and served it. One bite, and it was crisp, sweet, and juicy. The four of them all exclaimed in delight.
It had been eleven days since they had left the capital, and Yuli and the others did not know how far they had gone.
At first, Yuli had just wanted to try to see if she could leave the Xie Residence. She had casually thought of a way to disguise herself as a shadow guard. The four of them had lined up and had walked out with their heads down. As they walked, they had walked out of Xuanping Fang.
Just as she was in a daze, she had run into a mob. While hiding, she had run into a merchant caravan from another place. Seeing that the few of them had clear eyes and were weak and helpless, the leader had been kind enough to take them out of the capital.
They had followed them and had smoothly left the capital through an unknown small path.
After traveling with the merchant caravan for half the night, they had reached a town, which was full of people who had fled from the capital.
Most of them were common people with their families, wearing coarse clothes. They had been affected by the power struggle at the top. Some had lost their family fortunes, and some had suffered minor injuries, but they had all been lucky enough to survive.
The four of them, Yuli, had been made up by Xiyun. Their eyebrows were thickened, their skin was darkened, and they were disguised as young men. But their features were still pleasing to the eye, and the people they met in the town were also quite caring.
Some of the wealthier merchants had contributed some grain. Everyone had pitched in and had cooked a pot of soup. The woman in charge of the cooking saw the four of them gathered together, staring at her pot, and generously gave each of them a large spoonful.
Seeing them in a daze, the woman said heartily, “Eat up. Our home is just three hundred li away in the county. We won’t be short of this food when we get home. Look how thin you all are. You didn’t have a good life in the capital, did you?”
Yuli nodded blankly.
This scene of fleeing was not what she had imagined.
It was only from their conversation that Yuli learned that such a thing had already happened two years ago. At that time, it was the regent who had been defeated today who had led his army into the city and had fought against the Crown Prince’s men.
Fortunately, no matter how intense the struggle in the capital was, it did not affect the whole world like a chaotic era. There was no sign of war in this small town.
The people at the center of power were fighting fiercely, but the common people did not care who won or lost. In this crack, as long as they were alive and had a mouthful of food, they could pull themselves together.
Yuli also heard someone express regret for the regent.
“If you ask me, it’s better to have the regent in power,” a few middle-aged men were sitting together, chatting. One of them, with a fairer complexion, said, “Two years ago, a distant nephew of my family was working for a side branch of the Wei clan, doing some rent collection and transport work. It was all the same hard life. Just because he had the surname Wei, my goodness, he was a dog who bullied people with his master’s power. After the regent came to power, he confiscated the family fortunes of several great nobles. He didn’t take their land for himself but actually distributed it to the tenant farmers. My nephew no longer had to collect rent and finally looked like a human being.”
The man laughed as he spoke.
Everyone agreed and said a few words.
Yuli listened silently.
At the end, she heard them sigh, “It’s a pity that heaven is jealous of talents. The capital is in chaos, and those people have regained power. Life is going to be difficult again.”
Another person said, “What kind of life is not a life? After the regent has been in power for a long time, won’t it be the same?”
The few of them fell silent, and the sky gradually brightened.
The refugees were all packing their bags and preparing to leave. Yuli was faced with a dilemma.
She had left the Xie Residence just to give it a try. She had not expected to succeed so easily. She was not well-prepared, did not have enough money, and had not thought of leaving a word for Xie Yao.
But it was easy to leave the city but difficult to enter. She could either wait here for news of Xie Yao or continue to move forward.
After a little thought, she decided to continue. She had been able to leave so easily. Perhaps it was really destined.
After leaving the town, they had changed into coarse clothes, disguised themselves as men, and had bought three horses.
They had found a direction and had traveled and stopped along the way, and had wandered aimlessly to this place.
They had been hungry, had stayed in a dilapidated temple, and had also eaten delicious food they had never seen before, and had squeezed into the same bed.
The initial worries and panic had dissipated a lot. Although they had suffered some hardships along the way, it had been quite smooth in general. They had not encountered any bandits or mobs, but had instead met with kind and enthusiastic people.
Yuli was more and more convinced that Xie Yao was still alive, and the Rouran had not yet come south.
It was just that it would probably take him a longer time to return to the capital in triumph. Perhaps three to five months, or even longer. After his triumphant return, he would have to take down the capital again before he would find that she was gone.
Then by the time he found her, it would be who knows when.
Yuli planned to find a place to settle down first and wait for news from the capital. If it had stabilized, she would go back early to find Xie Yao, or to make it easier for him to find her.
The tea house here had beautiful mountains and clear waters. Looking into the distance, there were majestic high mountains and flat grassy slopes. It would be nice if there was a prosperous town with good security.
Before Yuli could ask, she heard a waiter say to a wealthier-looking couple at the next table, “Lingquan County? Follow the official road. When you see a fork in the road, go north. It’s another ten li.”
The couple replied, and the waiter smiled. “This humble one is from Lingquan County. This place, there were not many people passing by before. It only got better after the county magistrate came.”
The couple had clearly come because of its reputation and did not ask any more questions. After finishing their tea, they got on their carriage and set off.
Yuli cleared her throat, called the waiter over, and asked, “The Lingquan County you mentioned, is the security good?”
The young man smiled. “Very good! As the saying goes, no one picks up what is lost on the road, and the doors are not closed at night!”
Yuli asked again, “Are the people there prosperous?”
The waiter smiled mysteriously. “Are the four of you looking for work?”
“I suppose so.”
“Let me put it this way, in our county, as long as you have hands and feet and are willing to work hard, you will surely be able to live a good life!”
Yuli didn’t ask any more questions. There was no need to go any further. It was Lingquan County.
The three of them got on their horses, with Xiyun and Zhile sharing one. They rode sometimes fast, sometimes slow, and finally arrived at Lingquan County in the evening.
What they saw were rows of houses and clean streets. There were not many passersby, but they all had kind smiles.
In the distance, wisps of cooking smoke rose from the houses, a picture of a peaceful and quiet city life.
The pedestrians were in a hurry to go home for dinner and were walking quite fast. Yuli stopped one of them and politely asked for an inn. The person stopped.
He glanced at their attire, then at their horses, and patiently pointed out, “Go to North Street. There are cheaper large communal rooms there. If you want to live a little better, there are also single rooms for four people.”
Yuli thanked him and went in the direction he had pointed.
They got off their horses and walked. Just as they turned from the main road, the sound of carriage wheels came from behind.
In a short while, a simple blue-curtained carriage passed them. Following the carriage was a man in a cyan cloth robe, with black boots and a horizontal knife at his waist.
The man glanced at them. He looked a little fierce, but he was smiling.
Xiyun pulled them in a little.
After the carriage had gone far, Xiyun said, “That person is the head constable of the county yamen. The person in the carriage should be the county magistrate.”
She had worked in the county magistrate’s house in Xihe County and was very familiar with this.
“But when the county magistrate travels, he is always surrounded by a crowd. This county magistrate’s carriage is quite simple, with only two people following. I’m not sure.”
Jingyu said calmly, “What the county magistrate is like has nothing to do with us.”
Along the way, Xiyun, who was from a commoner background, was very familiar with the local customs and had given many ideas, and was more and more in her element, full of enthusiasm.
Jingyu had grown up in a large and noble family and was ignorant of the life of the common people. She would often listen to Xiyun chattering about things that had nothing to do with them and would occasionally respond coldly.
Zhile, on the other hand, was a great supporter of Xiyun and would ask her questions. Xiyun also did not take Jingyu’s coldness to heart.
In the Xie Residence, it was Jingyu who was in her element. Now that they had left the Xie Residence, and it was unclear if they would go back, in the future, she would be of more use.
The few of them were talking in low voices when they arrived. Although they did not have much money left, they were women and definitely wanted to live in a separate room.
At night, the four of them took turns to wash and squeezed into one bed.
Yuli still didn’t know how long it would take for Xie Yao to find her. Even if he couldn’t find her, the four of them had to live a good life.
They still had to save money to go back to the capital. She decided to do some business here.
The four of them discussed what to do next in bed. Making velvet flowers required a lot of investment, and no matter how prosperous the people here were, they couldn’t afford such expensive things. In the end, everyone still decided to open a pastry shop.
Yuli no longer needed to save money for her father. She just needed to provide for the four of them. She would save as much as she could. She didn’t have to wake up early and work late to make breakfast. She could just open a normal pastry shop.
After experiencing so much when opening Huayan Fang, everyone had many feasible ideas. After a discussion, the four of them fell into a deep sleep.
The four of them were going to open a shop and settle down here for a long time. It was not good to continue to show their faces in disguise, so they changed back into coarse cloth skirts.
Early the next morning, they found a suitable shop. On the third day, they sold their horses and rented the shop. On the fourth day, they began to prepare for the opening.
Unexpectedly, on this day, when Jingyu and Xiyun were out shopping, Jingyu’s purse was stolen.
That was half of their savings. Jingyu felt that she had made a huge mistake, and the feeling of helplessness from being reprimanded came back. She was so full of self-blame that her eyes turned red.
Xiyun comforted her, “If we lose it, we’ll just earn it back.”
When Xiyun said this, her tears rolled out, and she held Xiyun and cried.
Yuli patted her back from the side. “How about this? Didn’t that waiter say that no one picks up what is lost on the road here? Even if it’s a bit of an exaggeration, I think the county yamen is doing a good job. We’ll go and report it to the authorities, and we’ll see if we can get it back.”
Only then did Jingyu stop crying.
Leaving Zhile and Xiyun in the shop, Yuli and Jingyu went to the county yamen to report the case.
The yamen runners were looking straight ahead, but when they saw two women approaching, one of whom was so beautiful that one couldn’t take one’s eyes off her, the coldness on their faces melted, and they became a little shy.
Yuli had Jingyu describe the process of her purse being stolen.
Not long after, the sound of a carriage approached and stopped on the side. She turned to look, and the person inside lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage.
It was a familiar face.
Mei Qing also saw her at a glance.
Both of them were stunned.
*
The afterglow of the setting sun shone obliquely.
A large number of troops and horses passed by the tea house, and the tea soup in the bowls rippled.
The person at the head reined in his horse and stopped. The hundreds of people behind him also gradually stopped.
Xie Yao gave an order, and everyone dismounted silently and stood in front of the tea stall.
This group of people was all in black, and even the horses were black, tall and fierce, but they were well-disciplined, not like bandits.
The waiter stood in place, not daring to go forward to greet them.
Song He took out a map and had the waiter point out Lingquan County. The waiter said, “Follow the road, and when you see a fork in the road, go north. It’s another ten li.”
Xie Yao had already heard and ordered the crowd, “You all wait here.”
Then he turned to Song He and had him follow with the shadow guards.
Although the shadow guards were also in black, their figures and faces were much more ordinary and would not attract attention when they entered the county town.
When he reached the county town, Xie Yao was in a daze for a moment. The county towns of the current dynasty were all more or less the same, but this Lingquan County had a particularly lively atmosphere.
He thought of the memorial that the Ministry of Personnel had submitted, which had mentioned Zhuangyuan Mei’s political achievements.
He had brewed the sweet spring water of Lingquan County into a mixed grain wine, which was sold to the surrounding county towns. He had also encouraged women to start businesses, and the county’s textiles and embroidery were famous far and wide, which had given this originally remote and low-grade county the tax revenue of a high-grade county.
Among them, the encouragement of women to start businesses and the emphasis on commerce over agriculture coincided with the ideas that Yuli had occasionally revealed, which made him extremely repulsed.
The Vice Minister of Personnel had suggested transferring him back to the capital, but he had held it back and had not approved it.
The four words “childhood sweethearts” were like a thorn in his heart, which would probably never be removed in his lifetime. It was good enough not to kill him. How could he possibly transfer him back to the capital?
Xie Yao hid his figure and walked silently on the street, with only Song He following behind.
The shadow guards spread out to search for Yuli’s tracks.
On the way to the county yamen, Xie Yao had never been so flustered.
He was afraid of seeing Yuli here, and even more afraid of not being able to find her even here.
His steps unconsciously quickened. Seeing that the county yamen was right in front of him, a shadow guard came to report.
“We’ve found the Mistress,” the shadow guard’s voice trembled slightly.
Beside him, Song He let out a breath as if he had survived a disaster.
Xie Yao’s clenched fingers relaxed, and his fingertips were numb and had lost all feeling.
*
Mei Qing handed the recovered purse to Yuli. “It was done by a habitual thief in the county. He was just released from prison today. It was a coincidence that you ran into him.”
Yuli took the purse and smiled at him. “Thank you.”
They were standing at the door of her yet-to-be-opened pastry shop. Inside, Jingyu and Xiyun were pretending to be sweeping the door lintel, but in fact, their whole attention was on the two of them.
Including the two who had just arrived and were lying on the roof.
They stood opposite each other, a graceful beauty, like a secluded orchid in a valley, and a humble gentleman, like a white crane in a forest, an extremely good match.
They talked in low voices. Others only saw their faint smiles and could not hear what they were saying.
“Who are they?” Mei Qing looked at the three women behind Yuli.
“They are friends I met in the capital.”
“What kind of business are you going to do here?”
“Make pastries.”
It was as if they were old friends who had not seen each other for many years. Yuli was a little embarrassed and did not dare to look at him. She said casually, “I was inexperienced before and didn’t earn much even though I woke up early and worked late. On this trip to the capital, I learned a lot. It shouldn’t be as hard as before.”
Mei Qing also seemed not to dare to look at her, his gaze on her hair. “Lingquan County is very suitable for women to start businesses.”
Unlike the last time they had met, when she was covered in fine clothes and was distant and cold, now she was in a coarse cloth skirt, her hair simply tied up, and her expression was gentle, overlapping with the her of Xihe County.
He would never forget that on the day he had left Xihe County, he had asked for her hand in marriage. She had not refused, nor had she nodded, but her face had turned slightly red.
It was a girl’s shyness. She had always been gentle, but she had a solid self. That was the only time he had seen her shy.
So he was sure that she was willing.
It was just that he could not give her happiness at that time.
“Why are you here?” Mei Qing suddenly dared to look at her.
She seemed to have not changed much, but she also seemed to have been stained with another’s aura, much brighter than before.
Lingquan County was not far from the northern border. The news of the regent’s disappearance had reached here five days ago, and he had been worried about her safety day and night.
But he had still chosen to patrol the county town to prevent the Rouran from reaching here.
Now that he saw her, he wished he could hear her say that she had come to find him.
But Yuli spoke and shattered his fantasy.
They didn’t talk for long. Mei Qing said his farewells and left. He returned to the county yamen, entered the public office, and sat at his desk for a long time without moving.
Xie Yao and Song He, who had followed him all the way, stood in the backyard.
Just now, Xie Yao had not heard what they had said, but Yuli had met him here, and they had smiled at each other, which was enough reason for him to completely erase him.
Song He had persuaded him several times on the way. It was almost a foregone conclusion, but he still couldn’t help but persuade him again. “Just take the Mistress back. Spare his life.”
“If I kill him, I will compensate him with one of my hands.”
Song He was horrified.
Xie Yao said calmly, “Just say that the Rouran chased me here and killed him by mistake, and cut off my hand. He is dead, and I am crippled. Even if Yuli still has feelings for him, no matter how much she is in pain, she will surely pity me, the living one.”
Song He couldn’t stop shivering.
It was too late to have a subordinate find the Mistress now.
Xie Yao walked to the window, his sword already half-unsheathed. The door was suddenly pushed open, and the head constable of the county yamen, Liu, walked into the room.
“Why is the county magistrate here alone? Isn’t that Madam Song an old acquaintance of the county magistrate? Why did she come back so soon?”
“She is an old acquaintance. But she did not come to find me, but to find her husband,” Mei Qing said.