"Didn't that couple notice you?" Qin Xiaoniang asked worriedly.

Zhang Xiue shook her head, lifting the things onto the cart as she replied, "No, I didn't ride her horse for nothing anyway. I already gave her money, not much, but it's my token of appreciation. Even if the horse doesn't belong to us, someone else will take it anyway, so why bother?"

Qin Xiaoniang helped her pack her things, and then carried the children onto the carriage.

"Alright, alright, things have come to this point, let's hurry out of the city to avoid any unforeseen complications."

"good!"

Everyone carried their belongings and jumped onto the carriage. Li Qiang's wife and Zhang Xiu'e sat at the front. With a flick of the whip, the carriage sped away.

Luancheng is not a large area, and the carriage arrived at the city gate in just one hour.

The soldiers guarding the city were young warriors, all dressed in armor, and they spoke in a sharp and insolent manner.

"Dismount and submit to inspection one by one." The leading soldier stopped the carriage.

Zhang Xiu'e took out the waist token she had prepared in advance from her bosom and handed it to the soldier to see.

"We were ordered to leave the city."

The soldier took it, looked it over from left to right, and asked with some skepticism, "Who else is in the car?"

Zhang Xiue smiled and calmly lifted the curtain, wanting the officers and soldiers to see clearly at once.

"Did you see them? They're all women, unarmed. You can search them if you want, but do you recognize these waist tags? Don't unknowingly offend someone..."

The soldiers were clever and understood what Zhang Xiu'e meant, so they didn't make things difficult for them. They waved their hands and let them go.

Qin Xiaoniang and the others broke out in a cold sweat, fearing they might not be able to leave the city safely that day.

Seeing their carriage safely leave Luancheng, Song He'er breathed a sigh of relief.

She lifted the curtain and looked back, her heart filled with mixed emotions...

Having been in Xizhou for a few days, she hadn't suffered much. In fact, she should thank herself for her pretty face; if it weren't for the young prince remembering her past relationship with someone else, she probably wouldn't have been able to leave safely...

"He'er, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Chunrao held Huan Ge'er in her arms while asking in a low voice.

"Fourth Aunt, I'm fine. I'm just so happy. We've finally escaped another disaster! Oh, by the way, do we still have the map we got from the soldiers last time?"

“It’s here with me!” Chun Di took out the complete map from her bosom.

Song He'er smiled and took the map from Chun Di's hand to examine it carefully. "Fifth Aunt is so thoughtful. Thanks to you, you knew to keep this important thing with you. With so many things happening recently, if it weren't for Fourth Aunt, this map would probably have been lost long ago!"

This was the first time Chunrao had heard someone praise her, and she felt very happy.

"I can't help you with anything, I can only care about these little things, so He'er, don't make fun of me."

Song He'er didn't speak, but quietly looked at the map in her hand.

Upon closer inspection, they realized they were still in the territory of Xizhou. After leaving Luancheng, they would have to cross a snow-capped mountain and go around it before they were not far from the wild land of Xinzhou.

"Fifth Sister, why do I feel colder and colder as we walk?" Nianjie suddenly asked.

"There seems to be a snow-capped mountain ahead. We need to cross it to reach Xinzhou."

Qin Xiaoniang took out a cloak from her bundle and draped it over Nianjie'er's shoulders. "We bought winter clothes today, and everyone can have one, but there are no spares. Cotton-padded clothes are more expensive than ordinary clothes, and I'm afraid that if we spend all the money, we won't have enough to bribe the soldiers when we get to Xinzhou, so everyone will just have to make do with what they have."

Chunrao sighed, "The cotton-padded clothes are not a problem, it's the quilts that we couldn't buy. If we sleep on the snow mountain without quilts, we'll freeze to death."

Song He'er has a lot of silk quilts that she brought from the General's Mansion in her space, which should be enough for everyone. She just doesn't know what excuse to take them out.

If we happen to meet some farmers along the way, that would be good; we could exchange some money for them. The worst thing is that the journey will only become more and more desolate.

After all, who would want to live at the foot of a snow-capped mountain? Those who could escape would have already escaped; no one wants to live in such a harsh and cold place.

"Let's take it one step at a time. If there are any farmers ahead, we can go and exchange some quilts with them. Simple and honest people are usually easy to talk to," Qin Xiaoniang explained.

As the sun began to set, the temperature outside dropped.

After a long day in the carriage, Zhang Xiue and Li Qiang's wife were exhausted. They pulled the carriage over to the side of the road and prepared to make some hot soup.

Song He'er jumped out of the car and prepared to pick up some dry branches from the side.

Chun Di followed behind, helping out as she said, "The snow mountain is difficult to traverse, and the temperature is low. We need to gather more firewood, otherwise we might not be able to start a fire for the next few days on the mountain."

Song He'er hadn't thought of this for a moment, and she was only able to do so thanks to Chun Di's reminder.

The two men gathered two large bundles of firewood, and when they returned, they really startled Qin Xiaoniang.

"Why did you two bring back so much firewood?"

"We're going up the mountain in a couple of days. What if all the firewood there is wet and we can't find any dry firewood?"

Li Qiang's wife sighed, "That's true, but with so much extra firewood all of a sudden, our carriage is already crowded, and we're going to suffer even more."

Song He'er looked around the carriage and suddenly spoke up, "It's alright, just tie them up and put them on the roof of the carriage, and the people inside will still have plenty of room!"

She recalled that in modern society, some business vans used for tourism also carry luggage.

This not only saves space inside the car, but also allows you to fit a lot of things in.

"That's a good idea! Madam Tian, ​​you cook the vegetable soup, and I'll use rope to tie the extra firewood to the top of the carriage!"

"good!"

Everyone was doing their job and busy with their tasks.

Vegetables rot easily in water, but in less than half an incense stick's time, the fragrant vegetable soup is ready.

We didn't buy many bowls and plates, firstly because they were too heavy, and secondly because they were too much trouble to wash. So the children ate first, and after they finished eating, the adults used those bowls and plates to continue their meal.

The rice was bland and tasteless, but no one complained and everyone drank the soup clean.

As dusk approached, and a birch forest lay ahead, it was better to light torches on the main road than to rest in the pitch-black forest. This way, no wild beasts would dare to approach.

"Madam Tian, ​​didn't we buy a mosquito net? Spread out the blankets and quilts; we'll rest here tonight..."

........

My little cuties~ Did you forget to leave a five-star review again? Every positive review from you is my motivation to update more!