The chief officer laughed and said, "Time is money. If you travel by land to Chongzhou, it will take at least five or six days, while the sea route only takes two. Furthermore, traveling by carriage over mountains and ridges is a struggle for both riders and horses. It's better to take a boat. Not only will you be able to relax, but you'll also be able to enjoy the scenery on both sides."

Xu Jiang nodded, "That's true."

The chief officer led a few people to see the rooms they had booked one by one.

Xu Jiang booked two adjacent rooms, one large and one small, for easy care. Both rooms had windows and were not dark.

The larger one was a common bed, and although it was a common bed, it was narrow enough for five people to take turns resting. In addition to the bed, there was a square table by the window, on which a lamp, cups and pots were placed. There were also two luggage boxes parked in the corners of the door and window, so the furnishings were quite complete.

The smaller room had a narrow couch, a square wooden table, and a box, which was more than enough for Xu Jiang and Liu Mei to live in.

The chief officer asked, "How?"

The windows were clean and the furnishings were neatly arranged. He smelled the fresh scent and Xu Jiang nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad."

It is rare to have such a decent accommodation while traveling, let alone on a ship.

Shan Bo and Liu Mei also said hello.

Seeing that everyone was satisfied, the chief officer was relieved and said, "Breakfast and dinner will be provided uniformly, and hot water can be used as needed. It's all included in the room price. In the upstairs living room, everyone can use their room badge to get a seat. There is no additional seat fee. However, if you order wine, food, and tea, you will have to pay for it separately."

After saying that, he gave the room cards of the two rooms to Xu Jiang and Shan Bo respectively.

At this moment, a call was heard on the deck.

"That's the anchor being weighed," the commander-in-chief said. "The ship is about to set sail. I'm going to watch it. Please do as you please."

"Sorry to have kept you awake." Shan Bo escorted the man out of the attic and went to watch the fun together.

"Do you want to go and take a look?" Xu Jiang asked Liu Mei.

"No, I'm afraid of getting dizzy." When she got on the boat just now, she felt dizzy when she looked at the water. After leaving the car and riding the horse, she was exposed to the sun all the way and was a little tired.

Seeing that her face was slightly pale, Xu Jiang closed the door and let her lie down on the bed to rest.

She felt quite sorry. "Madam asked me to look after you, but you've been taking care of me all the way here. It's really unreasonable."

"We agreed that we shouldn't follow the rules when we're out, so why are you still nagging me?" Xu Jiang pressed her down and then took out a jar of candied plums from his luggage. He picked one and fed it to her. Afterwards, he felt greedy too and ate one.

She opened the window for some fresh air, listened to the bustle outside, puffed out her cheeks and said vaguely, "I used to walk alone. Even if I had a thousand words in my heart, I didn't know who to tell them to."

Then he turned around and smiled at Liu Mei, "All along the way, thanks to you being my 'Talking Flower', I haven't felt lonely."

Liu Mei is a person with her own ideas. She knows how to understand people's hearts, read people's expressions, and comfort people. If Xu Jiang does something wrong, she can immediately notice it and comfort her.

With her accompanying her, Xu Jiang felt more at ease, which was why Madam Lou insisted on letting her follow.

"Following you all the way here, I've seen a lot." Liu Mei stood up and walked to the window, looking at the clear water and green mountains outside. "I'll have something to talk about when we get back, and I can help my wife entertain herself."

Thinking of Madam Lou, both of their expressions softened.

There was a tremor under my feet, and the horn for raising the sails sounded on the deck, and the ship left the shore.

The passenger boat left the dock, lay across the river, and turned around with sails.

Xu Jiang looked downstream, as if she saw a figure deep in the river. She pressed her chest, unable to suppress its violent beating.

They are about to meet Xizhi, her mother.

————The dividing line between dandy cats and dandy cats————

Ever since Lou Yunchun wanted to leave last time but was stopped by Guo Yuanzhen who came back, he would wake up every day, eat and drink his fill, boss everyone around, and then clamor to leave the city, causing unrest in the entire Protectorate.

On several occasions, the guards brought by Lou Yunchun almost got into a fight with the guards of the Protectorate.

Guo Yuanzhen was already irritated by him and simply stopped pretending. He mobilized an army and, despite Lou Yunchun's objections, took all of Lou Yunchun's guards to the military camp and placed them under solitary confinement on the pretext of disturbing the Protectorate.

He thought he had subdued Lou Yunchun, but Lou Yunchun ordered the ceremonial guard to beat drums and gongs, chant scriptures and play music in the mansion before dawn every day, disturbing the sleep of everyone in the mansion.

Even the people in the city could hear the noise and were speculating about what had happened in the Protectorate.

Guo Yuanzhen had no choice but to confiscate all the ceremonial instruments of the guard of honor, and then dispersed the guard of honor and imprisoned them in other courtyards, giving them only one meal a day. He starved them to the point of having no strength left, and they finally stopped making noises.

Lou Yunchun and his deputy envoys still lived in the original courtyard and were only given one meal a day. The people in the courtyard were also withdrawn, leaving only guards.

Lou Yunchun wanted to force his way in, but these officials from the capital had never been on the battlefield, so they were no match for these soldiers who had fought with real guns and swords. They were beaten back in two or three moves.

In the main hall of the Protectorate, Guo Yuanzhen asked the Chief Secretary, "Is there still a commotion in the South Courtyard?"

The Chief Secretary laughed and said, "I'm not making any more noise. I've eaten less and I don't have the energy to make any more noise."

Guo Yuanzhen laughed heartily, feeling as if he had let out a heavy sigh of relief. He then said, "Be careful not to kill them. We'll need them in the future."

"Yes, I understand."

The envoy entered the city with great fanfare and could not die in Beiting. Moreover, this identity would be useful. He could be used as a decoy to break through the blockade of Hexi and Anxi and establish contact with the outside world.

But we have to subdue the person first to avoid any bad consequences.

Then he asked, "What news have the spies in Anxi brought back?"

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