Peasant Woman is in Her Prime - C181
The Great Zhou was connected to the Western Jade Desert, forming a continuous Gobi Desert.
Back in the Jiang Dynasty, the terrain was more gravel desert on this side. Further west, they entered the territory of Xiyu. The gravel gradually became thinner and smaller, until it turned into desert yellow sand, all the way to the Xiyu capital, Ke Ze.
The bog was an oasis in the desert, close to the water source. From afar, it looked like a piece of jade lying quietly in a bundle of yellow silk.
Not only did Ke Ze look like jade, he also seemed to be rich in stone and white jade. For a long time, there had been caravans that traveled between Yu Ke Ze and the capital, bringing back silk and tea from the capital before returning with the stone materials from the Jia Ze city.
When Gao Lang and the others went to Jiang Xiao, they decided to stay with the caravan.
Because the road from the capital to Jiang Hou was filled with dangers, especially after crossing the river, a large area of uninhabited wilderness was not only filled with vicious beasts, but also overflowed with bandits.
And the caravan was used to it, they knew which way to go and which way not to go.
Add to that the fact that the caravan had bodyguards protecting them, and it would be even safer.
But even so, Gao Lang and Jin Xiaolou still decided to go easy on him. The fewer people they brought, the harder it was for them to attract attention.
Furthermore, although Gao Lang was the emperor on the surface, everyone knew that this was similar to exile. No matter if it was the empress or the Prince Xian, it was better to take action on the way to Jiang Huai. Bringing a few people along would save a lot of people from danger.
After Lv Yun coaxed the Lin’er to sleep, just as he was about to pack his bags, the Attendant reported to the front door that she had received a letter with her name written on it.
After opening the letter and looking through it for a while, Lv Yun rushed back to the Bi Wu Hall.
Upon entering the room, seeing that there was no one else other than Jin Xiaolou, Lv Yun closed the door and walked forward: “Innkeeper, we just received the news, someone bought two bodyguards from the caravan and intended to make a move on us in the Panther Forest.”
Jin Xiaolou had already expected that someone would take action, but she never expected that before they even left the house, they already received the news.
“How?” Jin Xiaolou asked leisurely.
“It’s our informant for takeout.” Lv Yun returned, “In the recent few days, my Linlang Workshop has been receiving a list of items to send to the Magnificent Cloud Inn. The informant who sent us out suspected that the owner of the inn was trying to secretly learn the sweet water style in our inn. After delivering the food, he hid outside the door to listen in, and never would we have thought that the owner of the inn would spend a lot of money to bribe two sturdy men into attacking the Seventh Prince in the Leopard Forest. ”
“When we heard about the Seventh Prince, that snitch did not dare to be careless, so we followed the two men back to the powerful escort company. From the looks of it, the two are bodyguards from the escort company. Once we inquire further, we will easily find out. The two of them will travel westward with our caravan. ”
Jin Xiaolou nodded, she already had an idea in her mind.
The Queen and Fifth Prince’s methods would not be so low. Jin Xiaotao was the only one staying in the tavern and had plenty of sweet water.
In this era where there were no mobile phones, no computers, and no internet, the most powerful network was formed by people.
Jin Xiaolou still wanted to make this net even wider. She had just finished weaving it, how could she give it up?
“Lv Yun, I’ve thought about it.” Jin Xiaolou opened her mouth, “We need you to stay in the capital.”
“What?” Lv Yun was shocked, why were they talking about the safety of the Seventh Prince and the shopkeeper just now? In the blink of an eye, they had allowed herself to remain in the capital, “No, storekeeper, this journey is extremely dangerous, I have to stay by your side and protect you and the Lin’er.”
Jin Xiaolou shook her head with a smile, stood up, walked forward, and held both of Lv Yun’s hands: “These few days, you have taken care of both of our businesses very well. If you were to come with me and leave the capital, then all the hard work we spent on our industry would have all been wasted.”
“But …” Lv Yun held Jin Xiaolou’s hand instead, “I heard that those people over there have tall and big stature and a rough temperament. I don’t know how long it will take for them to return, but I … I want to be with you! ”
“Idiot Lv Yun, you are also with us in the capital.” Jin Xiaolou said as her eyes darkened, “You burrowed your roots deep into every inch of land in the capital here, transmitting important news to us who are far away.”
“As long as you are here, no matter how far we go, we will have a way to return.”
As Jin Xiaolou’s voice fell, Lv Yun’s eyes were already filled with tears: “Shopkeeper, Lv Yun will definitely not disappoint you.”
Jin Xiaolou believed that Lv Yun would keep what she said to herself, and only exhorted him, “The Emperor’s funeral was held for three years. During this three years, it is strictly forbidden for the Emperor to enjoy himself, and luckily our lady had already been sent out.
Lv Yun kept nodding her head: “Shopkeeper can be at ease, the first thing that a spy who enters our shop has to do with knowing Gui Qi’s portrait, as long as there is any news of Gui Qi, I will immediately inform Shopkeeper about it!”
After finishing her business, Lv Yun gently caressed Jin Xiaolou’s stomach. She raised her eyes and said with teary eyes, “I can’t see this little guy coming to life, I just want him to be as obedient as Lin’er and as smart as Lin’er.”
Jin Xiaolou also held out her hands: “Even if he doesn’t meet with you, we will let him know that there’s a Aunt Lv Yun waiting for him in the capital.”
Gao Lang originally only wanted to bring Chang An to his side, but when Nan Yang heard that Lv Yun was not with her wife, she knelt outside the study room and begged Seventh Elder to bring him along.
Gao Lang thought that since Chang An was a man, it would naturally be better to have a woman to take care of Jin Xiaolou. After hesitating for a moment, he agreed.
The Rainbow Garden had to be left in the care of the two big maids, Wen Mei and Su Yun. The night before they set off, Nan Yang slept at the Peach Blossom Slope with the lantern.
Right now, it was already the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. The leaves of the Yao Xi and peach blossoms had already lost their spirit and were suffused with a goosebumps. When he woke up, he was covered in fallen leaves.
The west side of Prince Yao only had five people on the journey.
The caravan heading to Ke Ze city was waiting for them outside the city gates. Gao Lang rode a fine horse in front of them, Chang An rode a carriage behind them, and after converging with the caravan, they left immediately.
Jin Xiaolou carried Lin’er and sat on the soft cushion of the carriage. Lin’er had ridden on the carriage before, but now that he had not sat for a long time, he was actually a little dizzy.
Jin Xiaolou caressed Lin’er’s back time and time again. Nan Yang rubbed the orange peel on the back of the carriage to reach under Lin’er’s nose, and the sweet scent of the orange peel caused the moisture in the carriage to lessen a little.
When Nan Yang stretched out her hand, she saw that a goose yellow peach leaf had stuck onto the back of her shoulder.
He raised his hand and took the leaf off.
Nan Yang withdrew her eyebrows and smiled as she received the leaf from Jin Xiaolou’s hand: “This is the leaf from the Yao Xi Peach Tree, I should have touched it last night.”
“Yao Xi Peach Tree?” Jin Xiaolou had heard Lv Yun talk about it before, that the peach tree was planted personally by Nan Yang’s mother.
“Mn, Yao Xi is my mother’s old home.” Nan Yang looked at the yellow leaf in her hand, and the intertwined veins could be seen clearly, “My mother personally urinated from the Shuzhou and came to the capital, but she could never forget the bright red peach blossoms that grew in her hometown. After being saved by the empress and placed into the Rainbow Garden by Tutor Zhong, she then ordered several peach trees to be brought here from afar from the Yao Xi, and planted in the mountains after the Rainbow Garden.
“Every time the peach blossoms bloom, mother likes to bring me along to play …” Nan Yang lowered her eyes, “Thinking of how I have to leave the capital, and how long it is before I can return to the Rainbow Garden, I decided to stay under the tree for a while.”
Jin Xiaolou had never seen Nan Yang like this, she wanted to reach out to comfort her, but before she could do so, Nan Yang had already raised her head, and her expression lit up once again.
Thinking about the peach flower pattern beneath the skirt of the Empress, Jin Xiaolou immediately asked softly: “Are the Yao Xi and peach blossoms very famous?”
“He’s very famous in the Shuzhou.” Nan Yang answered, “Very few people in the capital know about it.”
“Will there be any patterns on the clothes with Yao Xi and peach blossoms in the capital?” Jin Xiaolou asked.
Nan Yang shook her head: “Unless they were specially made for it, there are very few people who would weave these peach blossoms that few people know about on their clothes. Furthermore, even though the Yao Xi and peach blossoms are beautiful, the fruits they bear are small and sour, and are not the fortune of having many children and many grandchildren.
This was strange, Jin Xiaolou frowned.
The person dressed in the palace uniform would definitely not be so careless. He dared to commit the crime of beheading someone, so he had embroidered some kind of Yao Xi peach blossoms with the meaning of a widowed child on the hem of the Empress’s skirt. If that was the case, it could only be done according to the empress’s decree. The empress was a daughter of a noble family, and lived in the harem all year round, so how would she know about the peach blossoms that were famous only for their Shuzhou?
Nan Yang’s mother was a palace maid that served Gao Lang’s mother in the past. For some baffling reason, Jin Xiaolou felt that the death of Gao Lang’s mother, the current Empress, was related to Nan Yang’s mother in some way.
However, Shuzhou and Jiang Huai were from two completely different directions, and if he wanted to find out more about Nan Yang’s mother, it would be difficult to do anything now.
Hugging Lin’er tightly, he lifted up the curtains on the window. The sunlight outside had dimmed a lot, and all he could see was autumn. The most important thing right now was to get back to Jiang Fu safely.
It was already two months after the lone village arrived at the Gu family village, the group of people stayed at the village to rest for a while.
On this day, Jin Xiaolou just woke up and immediately heard the merchant caravan outside in the courtyard speaking to Gao Lang.
Seventh Elder, once we leave this village, we will reach the Mi River, and after we cross the Mi River, the scenery will be very different. Green green trees will be rare, and the water will become even rarer.
The leader of the caravan was a middle-aged brawny man with swarthy skin and an aged face.
“There’s an old blacksmith at the village entrance. From here on out, we’ll have to carry more weapons with us. Not far from the Mi River is the famous Leopard Forest.”
The Leopard Forest… Jin Xiaolou clenched her fists.
Pushing open the window, he saw that most of the caravan members were resting, only three or five bodyguards were nearby. Among them, a tall man and a fat man were gathered behind a pile of valleys. The tall man had a knife scar on his forehead, and the fat man looked kind and kind. They whispered to each other without anyone knowing what they were talking about.