The further east you go, the more peaceful the scene along the way becomes. Even if someone is fleeing with their family, they are traveling calmly and leisurely. There is no longer the panic feeling of life hanging by a thread like in Tianshui City.
Mingyu and Lixiang did not dare to communicate too much with others, for fear that people would find out that they were girls. They just fled in a miserable state for two days. They were dirty and smelly all over, and had several chilblains on their hands. At first glance, they looked just like the peddlers in the city.
The two men heard people along the way talking about how Xi'an Prefecture had sent a lot of troops to support them, and they thought that they would be able to drive the Tartars back. It seemed that in their eyes, the Tartars only invaded and harassed, and then returned to their own territory after looting, and would not really launch an invasion of Da Chu.
Lixiang was somewhat relieved, but Mingyu was worried. The Tartars were indeed invading much slower than she had imagined. She was almost at Qinzhen, but she had not heard that Gaoping was captured by the Tartars. However, she had experienced the moment when Tianshui was captured. If the Tartars were really just for looting, they would have withdrawn their troops after looting Longxi. The heavy sound of the Tartars ramming the city gate was still ringing in Mingyu's ears. They spent so much money to capture Tianshui, probably for greater benefits.
But these were not her concerns. Mingyu looked down at her tattered cloth shoes that were tied with cloth straps to prevent them from falling off, and the unpleasant smell of sweat on her body, and could only sigh helplessly.
"Xiao Ming, we are walking so fast. When we reach Xi'an Prefecture, can we catch up with Madam and the others?" Li Xiang asked, "Aren't Madam and the others going to the capital? We should follow them, right?"
Mingyu was silent for a while, then he held Lixiang's wind-cracked hands from behind and whispered, "We're not going to Xi'an Prefecture."
"Ah?" Li Xiang exclaimed in surprise, and then asked: "Then where are we going?"
Mingyu smiled, took a deep breath, looked at the Qinzhen city gate in front of him, and said, "When we get to Baochuan, we will go southeast and return to our hometown!"
Since she had left the mansion, she would never go back. She and Lixiang had been fleeing together for several days. Even if they had gone to the capital, it was inevitable that people would gossip about them. Who knew if anything had happened to the two women on the road? Was their reputation still intact
Rather than being questioned about her "chastity", it would be better to just leave. If the people in the Marquis' Mansion thought that she and Lixiang died in Tianshui City, that would be great. Mingyu had thought very clearly these days. Women here generally get married at the age of sixteen or so. She is only thirteen after the New Year, so it is too early for her to get married. If Master Bao returned to the capital alive, Miao would definitely not bear to see her son become a widower, and would definitely find another wife for Master Bao. Even if the Marquis' Mansion found out that she was still alive and married in the future, the Marquis' Mansion would already have a new second young lady at that time. Logically, the Marquis' Mansion married the new wife first, so there was no way for the Marquis' Mansion not to give her freedom.
It was just that someone in the Marquis's Mansion owed her something, and she remembered it clearly in her heart. If there was a chance, she would definitely get every penny back! Harming someone's life and still enjoying wealth and glory, there was no such thing in this world!
Lixiang was both happy and worried about Mingyu's return home. If she was discovered by the Marquis's Mansion, then Mingyu would be a real "runaway woman". Mingyu whispered, "It's okay, don't worry, I'll take care of everything."
Qin Town is not a big town. When they were still some distance away from the city, Mingyu and Lixiang got off their horses and mixed in with the crowd entering the city, one after the other.
It was already late. This town was much better than Gaoping. Patrolling yamen runners could be seen every few steps on the street. Everything was in good order. Mingyu finally let go of the worry she had been carrying for the past few days. On the way, the two of them ate dry steamed buns when they were hungry and drank water from their water bags when they were thirsty. They didn't dare to use the money they had on them. Their life was really hard.
Mingyu asked several inns in a row, but they all replied that they were full. She felt anxious and disappointed. On the one hand, most of the merchants who had fled from Tianshui by carriage had also arrived here. On the other hand, she and Lixiang were dressed like beggars, which was also a reason why people were unwilling to receive her.
It was not until she asked at the fifth inn that the owner felt sorry for the little boy and his brother and said there was a vacant room in the woodshed and the price was twenty cents a night.
Mingyu had no choice but to take out the remaining pearl earring again, and lied that she had picked it up on the ground when she was escaping. The shopkeeper knew the value of the earring better than the waiter, and immediately put it in his arms and told the waiter to take two people to the woodshed.
Although the woodshed was full of firewood, there were still two beds on the floor, and Mingyu's horse had been taken to the stable. The floor had a sour smell, but Mingyu was quite satisfied, at least it was much cleaner than the robe she was wearing.
The innkeeper saw that the two brothers Ming Yu Li Xiang were dressed in rags, and only asked them for two bowls of water to eat with dry buns. He thought that the most valuable things on these two people, apart from the pearl earrings, was the horse in the stable, so he didn't take them seriously, and instead went to greet the wealthy merchants who had fled, and listened to their stories of the thrilling scene during their escape.
The woodshed was only separated from the inn lobby by a wall. Lixiang and Mingyu were lying on the floor. They could hear the shouting and yelling in the lobby clearly. Many men were describing in vivid detail how the Tartars had entered Tianshui City and set fires and chopped people everywhere, as if they had been there in person and had escaped death.
Li Xiang curled her lips and whispered in Mingyu's ear: "These people are just bragging. They have never seen the Tartars. The Tartars entered the city when we escaped. By then, everyone in the city had already fled!"
Mingyu smiled. The backyard of the inn was full of lanterns. Dim candlelight shone through the shabby windows of the woodshed. The night wind blew, and the lanterns swayed, and the candlelight also flickered.
It's good enough to be alive and listen to their bragging, Mingyu sighed. When she ran out of Tianshui with Lixiang in panic, she thought that the Tartars would catch up and capture them at any time. Who would have thought that they would still be alive and lying here safely. I just don't know if the Tartars have invaded the east again, and what happened to the domineering Master Bao now.
Over the past few days, Mingyu's originally fair and delicate skin was flaky due to the cold wind from the northwest, mixed with black mud, and she could no longer see her former beauty. Li Xiang reached out and touched Mingyu's face, whispering, "When we get to Jiangnan, Miss's face will be as good as before after two days of care."
Mingyu smiled and nodded. She was also looking forward to visiting the beautiful Jiangnan area. More importantly, her relatives were there and would not abandon her.
The next morning, Mingyu and Lixiang got up, led the horses to the stable and ran east. However, the pampered horses in the marquis' mansion had experienced two days of long-distance travel and were already overwhelmed. They no longer had the vigor of the previous two days. After running for less than half a day, they looked lifeless, and their four legs seemed to be filled with lead and could not run at all.
Mingyu whipped the horse mercilessly a few times, and the horse ran reluctantly for a while, but it could not run any further. It could see the towering gate of Baochuan Prefecture, but it stopped in this place where there was no village in front and no shop behind.
Mingyu couldn't bear to see the whip marks on the horse. In the past two days, it had been running without stopping, far ahead of the Tianshui merchants who had escaped earlier than them. It had indeed tried its best. Mingyu couldn't kill the goose that laid the golden eggs for the horse that had carried them out of the water.
"Come down." Mingyu said to Lixiang.
After the two got off the horse, Mingyu took off the reins around the horse's neck and patted the horse's butt, meaning to let it go on its own. Lixiang couldn't help but say, "Miss, what should we do if you let the horse run away?"
Ma turned around and glanced at Mingyu. The brilliance that had been nurtured by the Marquis's Mansion was no longer in his big dark eyes. Perhaps he understood what Mingyu meant. Ma slowly walked towards the fields beside the official road, occasionally lowering his head to take a nibble at the newly grown wheat seedlings.
Mingyu held Lixiang's hand and said, "Let's go over there. It's not far from Baochuan."
However, the more they see the mountain, the deader the horse. Looking at the Baochuan city gate not far away, the two of them walked for a whole afternoon until the sun was about to set. During this time, the Tianshui merchant carriages that they had left behind passed them one after another, but the two of them were dressed like beggars and walked carefully along the roadside, so no one noticed them.
Unlike Gaoping and Qinzhen, Baochuan was heavily guarded. It was the second barrier to resist foreign enemies in the northwest besides Longxi. As soon as they entered Baochuan Prefecture, Mingyu and Lixiang felt an unusual atmosphere. The towers were full of guarded soldiers, and there were also special soldiers checking at the gates. Seeing that Mingyu and Lixiang were two children who had fled, they did not make things difficult for them and let them enter the city. From time to time, a group of soldiers with neat steps could be seen running hurriedly on the streets.
There is a wonton stall on the corner of the street. The owner has not yet closed the stall. The iron pot on the stall is still steaming. The aroma of the wontons stimulates Mingyu and Lixiang.
Mingyu took out the last two copper coins she had and asked the stall owner the price. The stall owner was a middle-aged woman in her forties. She took one look at the dirty Mingyu and Lixiang and didn't say anything to drive them away. She gave them a big bowl of wontons for two coins.
As soon as the wontons were served, the two of them didn't care that they were hot, and each of them grabbed a spoon and ate them. The aunt looked at the two children who were wolfing down the food, curled her lips, shook her head and sighed, "Oh, the Tartars are really evil!"
At the other end of the stall there were two men eating wontons. They looked like traveling merchants, and they were chatting while eating.
One of them said, "This world is not peaceful. There is such a big turmoil in the capital, and the Tartars just happened to attack us at this time. Sigh!"
Another puzzled man asked, "What's going on in the capital?"
"Don't you know? The crown prince and the princes who came to the capital were all killed by Prime Minister Dong. Only the King of Shu escaped. Prime Minister Dong made the seventeenth prince the emperor, and even changed the reign title! I heard that the famous talent, oh, he was from our northwest, named Sima Xi or something, the son of Anxi Marquis, was also killed by Prime Minister Dong. It seemed that he refused to surrender. Before he died, he wrote a poem that was very moving. It was circulated, and everyone in the capital can recite it!" said the man before.
Mingyu's head buzzed, and the spoon in her hand fell into the bowl with a clang, splashing a few drops of boiling soup onto her hands, but she was completely unaware. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations or monthly tickets on Qidian (). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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