The four men soon arrived outside the fence of the cabin.
The yard surrounded by the fence was overgrown with wild flowers and weeds, and it didn't look like anyone was there. Under the eaves on one side of the cabin, there was a wooden shed. Under the shed was a large pile of firewood, and the door of the cabin was also locked.
"Is anyone here?" Yan Liqiang called out twice outside the fence. When he found no one here, he turned around and looked at Rui Fei and the others. "The owner of this place is probably not here. Let's go in and rescue him!"
"Master Yan, there should be no one here usually. I guess this wooden house was built by the herbalists who go up the mountain. Those herbalists go up the mountain for a long time in autumn and winter, so some of them just build a wooden house on the mountain so that they can live in the wooden house while collecting herbs!" Concubine Rui pointed to the messy flowers and plants in the yard, "Look at those grasses, those are anise, and those are wormwood. These grasses are insect-proof. Someone should have deliberately spread the seeds here to grow. If my guess is correct, there should be bear dung next to the wooden house, and realgar inside the wooden house. These are the things that herbalists will arrange when they live in the mountains. With these things, ordinary snakes, insects and beasts will not come!"
"Hahaha, Empress Rui has a sharp eye. This should be where those herbalists live. We'll borrow it for now!" Yan Liqiang laughed. As soon as he crossed the fence and walked into the yard, Yan Liqiang saw a pile of bear dung next to two stones next to the door of the hut.
When he arrived in front of the wooden house, Yan Liqiang stretched out his hand and twisted the ordinary copper lock hanging on the wooden house, then he pushed the door open and walked in first.
The wooden house is not big, only about 50 to 60 square meters, and the things inside are very simple. Almost everything is made of wood. Several tree stump-like things should be stools, and the slightly larger tree stump should be the table. There are three simple wooden beds in the wooden house, one large and two small. The beds are covered with a thick layer of straw. There is a fire pit in the middle of the wooden house, and an iron rack and a pot are piled on the fire pit.
As Rui Fei guessed, Yan Liqiang saw several small cloth bags filled with realgar in the corner of the wooden house, and some realgar was also sprinkled on the corner of the wooden house.
In addition, there are two triangular wooden frames more than one meter high and a simple wooden box in the wooden house. In the wooden box, there are some miscellaneous items such as linen ropes and wooden barrels.
It looked like no one had lived here for several months, and there was dust everywhere.
Of course there are no windows in this wooden house, but fortunately it is broad daylight now, and once the door is opened and the sunlight comes in, the whole house is filled with light. Although this place is simple, it is the best place Yan Liqiang can find at this time.
"Let's stay here temporarily. It's out in the wilderness and I don't think we'll find a better place than here for the time being!" Yan Liqiang checked the wooden house and then said to the three women.
The three women looked at it and nodded. Concubine Duan actually seemed very excited. She looked here and there, and finally came to the two triangular wooden frames, "Hey, sister, what are these two wooden frames in this room used for?"
"This wooden rack should be used to dry herbs like Wisteria sinensis. After picking the herbs, they cannot be thrown around or placed on the ground. They must be hung on wooden racks and slowly dried by fire in this room!" Concubine Rui smiled and looked around the cabin. "Although this place is simple, it can be lived in if it is cleaned up!"
"Well, I'll light the fire first, and you guys go dry your clothes first..." Seeing a flint hanging next to the fire pit, Yan Liqiang immediately got busy. He went outside the wooden house to find some dry pine needles and firewood, and started to light a fire in the fire pit of the wooden house.
The three women, Concubine Rui, Concubine Duan and Concubine Yi, enthusiastically found some tools from the pile of sundries in the house and began to take care of the cabin. There was a stream next to the cabin, making it convenient to get water. Although the three women had fine clothes and food in the palace and were served in everything, they were not squeamish when doing the work. Instead, they seemed to find it very interesting.
Just like Concubine Yi, she thought the thick and soft straw mat on the wooden bed was very interesting. When she was cleaning the wooden bed in the room, she even asked Concubine Rui curiously, "Sister Rui, the mat on this bed is so soft and thick, what is it made of?"
“This is sedge!”
Concubine Yi asked curiously, "Ah, I feel this thing is very good, soft, thick, and breathable. Why is it not available in the palace? Is it very expensive?"
Concubine Rui was amused by her. "If this is used in the palace, Your Majesty will chop off the head of the eunuch who purchased it!"
"Why?"
Concubine Duan smiled softly, "Sister, you were born in a rich family, so you may have never seen a bed made of straw. This thing is only used by poor people. It is cheap, and you can even cut straw, pound it, dry it, and weave it together. It is better than straw mats, and it is durable and not easily affected by moisture. That's why it is left in this wooden house in the mountains!"
It didn't take long for Yan Liqiang to start the fire in the fire pit. He brought in some firewood from outside. Soon, the whole wooden house was flickering with flames and it became warm all of a sudden. At this time, the three women had already given the wooden house a rough clean. It looked much cleaner and fresher, at least there was not so much dust anymore.
"Ladies, please dry your clothes inside first. I'll be watching outside!"
"Well, then I'll have to trouble Master Yan!"
Yan Liqiang said this and left the wooden house, closing the door. He then went to the creek outside the wooden house, which was about twenty meters away from the house. He found a stone and sat cross-legged with his back to the house. He meditated to restore his strength while basking in the sun. He also used his internal energy to warm up his body and dry his clothes. Even if there was a fire in the wooden house, it was impossible for Yan Liqiang to run into the house alone, take off all his clothes, dry them, and then ask a few ladies to guard him outside the door, so he had to be self-sufficient.
Although Yan Liqiang could not see what was going on in the house, his hearing was very sharp, and all the movements in the wooden house naturally reached his ears.
After a while, there was a rustling sound in the room. It should be the three women starting to take off their clothes. Then Concubine Duan exclaimed softly, "Ah, sister, yours is so big!"
Concubine Rui's shy voice came, "Sister, please keep your voice down. Lord Yan is still outside. Be careful not to hear..."
"Don't worry, sister. I just saw Master Yan sitting by the stream over there. He is so far away and we are talking so quietly in the house. How could he hear us?"
"Oh, the door in the house is not locked yet. I'll go and lock it!"
"Hehe, sister, why are you so nervous? If Master Yan comes in, he can just take off his clothes and roast with us. I see Master Yan's clothes are also soaked..."
Concubine Rui interrupted quickly, "Don't let anyone else hear this, otherwise it will be embarrassing. People who know know that my sister is outspoken and likes to joke with us sisters. People who don't know will think that there is something going on between us and Lord Yan!"
"There's no one else here, just the three of us!" Although Concubine Duan's voice was delicate, it had a nonchalant and aggressive tone. "Last night in the water, you, me, and Sister Yi were all kissed by Lord Yan, weren't there any problems?"
"That's not a relationship at all. It's Master Yan who is saving us and giving us air underwater. We have to take emergency measures!"
"Since this is an emergency, why are you blushing so much, sister..."
"I... how could I..."
"Sister, let Sister Yi see if you are blushing. Ah, I know. Sister's face is so red because she must be thinking about the time when Master Yan held her by the river and rubbed her belt. Sister, tell us in secret now. You are so beautiful. At that time, Master Yan held you and rubbed your belt. He could not help but not do something else. I think Sister Yi was so jealous at that time... Oh, why are you two pinching me again..."
…
Three women were talking in the wooden house. Concubine Rui and Concubine Yi were okay, but Concubine Duan was coquettish and hot-tempered, and often said shocking things. Yan Liqiang, who was meditating, listened at first, but later he felt embarrassed to listen to several women talking, so he simply concentrated his mind and completely forgot that he had a pair of ears.
Finally, after more than two hours, the door of the wooden house was reopened, and Concubine Duan came out with a red face, and came directly to Yan Liqiang. She looked at Yan Liqiang with a smile on her face and said in a delicate voice, "Master Yan, our clothes have been baked. How about you go in and bake your clothes too!"
"Thank you for your concern, my clothes are already dry, so there's no need to bake them!"
"Ah, how come you're doing it so fast? Let me touch it!" Concubine Duan said, and her hand naturally reached out, touched Yan Liqiang's arms and shoulders twice, and pinched them gently.
"There's sunshine outside, and I used a little bit of my internal energy, so it dried quickly. Now that the ladies have already baked the clothes, just rest in the house. I went to find something to eat yesterday. It's nearby and I'll be back soon!" Yan Liqiang said, taking a step back unnoticed.
"Great, I feel a little hungry too. Lord Yan, let me go with you!" Concubine Duan's eyes moved and she leaned towards Yan Liqiang.
"No, no, I'm going to go find something to eat and take a look at the surrounding terrain. If you follow me, it will be much easier!"
"Well, all right then!" Concubine Duan smiled, still looking at Yan Liqiang tenderly, "Sister Rui said that she saw some wild ginger on the grass behind the house just now, and we can make some ginger soup to dispel the cold. Let's make some ginger soup in the house and wait for you to come back. Please don't come back too late, or we will miss you!"
Why does it feel a bit weird
Yan Liqiang grumbled in his heart, but still nodded, "Well, I should be back soon!"
(End of this chapter)