Chapter 220 Tianshan
Zhang Shun walked behind, secretly watching Sui Yu. He had imagined countless possible outcomes for Erhei, but he had never imagined she would let him go so easily. It seemed she had let him go, but she had also cut off most of his escape routes, and also frightened the others who were still thinking. He suddenly felt at ease. The master he followed was kind and decisive, and she had a plan in mind. As long as he followed her and was loyal to her, she would not treat him unfairly.
"Master, Erhei's luggage is still on the camel's back. Should I deliver it to him?" Qingshan suddenly asked.
Sui Yu turned around, glanced at him, and asked, "What does he have in his bag?"
Qingshan remained silent.
"I rescued him from the cage when he was living a life worse than death. When he first came to my house, he was skin and bones, and I fed him with every meal. I bought him clothes and shoes with my own money. My husband taught him martial arts and archery, and I never took a penny from him. You can say that half of his life belongs to me." He was referring to Erhei, but he was also referring to many people. They knew it in their hearts. Sui Yu said indifferently: "It is kind of me to let him live. Being too kind is stupid. I am using my own things to help someone who betrayed me? Are you bullying me and thinking I am stupid?"
Qingshan immediately knelt down and admitted his mistake.
Sui Yu glanced at him, then glanced coldly at the others, turned around and continued driving the camel on the road.
There was no conversation along the way. When the sun rose to the top of our heads, the city of Kucha was left far behind, becoming a yellowish shadow.
Wusun was located northwest of Qiuci, and Wensu was located directly north of Qiuci. Between the two countries lay vast green grasslands with herds of cattle and sheep. The herders' felt tents moved with the herds of cattle and sheep.
At this time, the herdsmen were cooking outside their yurts, with smoke rising into the air. The green grassland was set against the vast blue sky, and the people blended into the scenery, while the scenery blended into the painting.
When they passed by a herdsman's yurt, the herdsman stopped the caravan. His wife took out a bundle of sheepskin and a dried lamb leg from the yurt and wanted to exchange them with the caravan.
"What do you need?" Sui Yu asked, "Would you like to exchange your blankets?"
Zhang Shun untied a bundle of woolen blankets from the camel's back.
The two herdsmen shook their heads and waved their hands, and the woman tugged at her clothes.
"Cloth, right?" Sui Yu reacted, "Do we still have coarse cloth? I think we should have a few more."
Zhang Shun was busy tying up the blanket. Li Wu got off the camel and untied two pieces of cloth, one white coarse cloth and the other indigo coarse cloth.
The woman nodded. This was what she wanted to buy. She put the sheepskin over and reached out to take the cloth from Li Wu's hand.
A bolt of cloth cost 120 coins, worth two jars of mulberry wine, which, according to Loulan prices, could be exchanged for ten sheepskins. Li Wu roughly estimated the number of sheepskins and handed over only one bolt of cloth. He squatted down and counted the sheepskins: only sixteen, three of which were in poor condition, as if they had been stained by something and could not be washed clean.
"Ten sheepskins can only be exchanged for one piece of cloth." Li Wu took out six sheepskins and handed them to her.
The shepherd couple looked at each other, and the woman also put the lamb leg she had brought out.
"We don't want it." Li Wu flatly refused. He picked up another piece of cloth, mounted the camel, and said, "Master, let's go."
"OK."
The caravan continued to move forward, and the herdsmen did not pursue them. The couple tore apart the cloth, and spread the indigo cloth a long way across the grass, enough for their family of four to make new clothes for two or three years.
The wind in early summer is warm, filled with the green scent of grass and the fishy smell of soil. It is not unpleasant, but rather refreshing.
White clouds float in the sky, plump sheep walk and stop on the pasture, and the tender cries of lambs mixed with the crisp and melodious sounds of camel bells make life here poetic.
"This nomadic life seems pretty good." Song Xian relaxed.
Sui Yu nodded. She wanted to stop and take a nap on the vast grassland from sunrise to sunset, or sit on a high hill and stare at the scenery, spending the whole day there.
"If Erhei could get out of Kucha City, if he could come here, maybe he could find a job to make a living." Zhang Shun mentioned this matter.
Sui Yu smiled.
"After a few days, he might steal the owner's sheep." Xiaoxi said bravely.
Sui Yu laughed and clapped her hands, saying, "That's very possible."
"We'll still go through Kucha when we come back, right? Then we'll see how he's doing." Song Xian joined in the fun.
Sui Yu took out the sheepskin scroll. To go from Qiuci to Wusun, one had to cross the Tianshan Mountains and pass through mountains and streams from the west side. To go from Wusun to Cheshi, one had to pass through the east side of the Tianshan Mountains. In addition, there were Huns activities to the north of Cheshi and Wusun. To ensure safety, it would be better to return by the original route.
After walking for half a day, it was getting late. At a place near the river, Sui Yu blew the whistle and told the caravan to rest there for the night.
As the weather warmed up, there was no need to set up yurts anymore. The servants unloaded the cargo from the camels' backs. Without the load, the camels walked leisurely on the pasture.
Sui Yu and Song Xian also took the opportunity to lie on the grass. The grass beneath them was soft, and lying on it felt like sleeping on clouds.
"The sky is so high here." Song Xian pointed at the night sky and said, "This journey is so tiring."
Sui Yu didn't respond, she felt a little sleepy.
"My father was right not to agree to my forming a caravan to leave the country. I don't have the ability to do so." Song Xian spoke to herself. "Traveling is difficult, dealing with people is difficult, doing business is difficult, and winning people's hearts is even more difficult."
"Come on, shut up." Sui Yu interrupted her, "Say something interesting."
"Then let me praise you?" Song Xian tilted her head.
"Okay." Sui Yu smiled, "You tell me, I'll listen."
"That's a lot. Putting everything else aside, I think your inn is incredibly useful. If it weren't for the guidance and advice from the merchants we know, we would have suffered so much." Although this was Song Xian's first time trading outside the customs, she understood that for many caravans, just breaking even was a good thing. Recouping the hard-earned money was incredibly difficult. Following Sui Yu, she had merchants to guide her and help her with her business. Aside from encounters with wolves and sandstorms, she encountered no looters or plunderers. It could be said the journey was smooth sailing.
Sui Yu looked at the brilliant starry sky and said with some pride, "It was a lucky coincidence. I didn't have this idea when I first built the guesthouse. I just wanted to raise a herd of camels and rent them to caravans, and only do business with the caravans. I didn't expect that I would be able to leverage the influence of the merchants later."
"Master, the meal is ready." Xiao Chunhong shouted.
Sui Yu responded, and she recalled that after leaving Kucha this morning, her servants seemed to have changed their way of calling her "master" instead of "chief manager".
"When you don't want to go on business anymore, you can continue with the camel caravan business." Song Xian sat up.
Sui Yu turned his head and said seriously, "That would mean I'm stealing your business."
"Maybe I can ask my great-grandfather to go into business. We have so many camels. I could sell half of them to Chang'an to buy silk, and then ship all of them out of the country to sell. The money I'd make from that trip would be enough to last us three years." Song Xian pondered this seriously. "This year, we're going to add a hundred baby camels to our family. At this rate, I won't be able to support them."
"Sell it to me." Sui Yu said.
"That's great." Song Xian reached out and pulled her up.
Sui Yu sat up, gathering her strength to stand up. Thinking of her little cub, she smiled and sighed, "My child is still too young. I don't know what he will do in the future."
"Whatever you do, you two have paved the way for him."
The naan bread was broken into pieces and cooked into soup. The aroma of pepper blended into the soup. After drinking a bowl of naan bread soup, Sui Yu started sweating. The sweat made his whole body feel refreshed.
Sleeping on the grassland at night, listening to the chirping of insects and the chewing of camels, everyone had a good night's sleep.
We set off before dawn and continued heading towards the dark blue mountains in the distance.
After walking on the grassland for six days, Sui Yu and Song Xian led the caravan to the foot of the Tianshan Mountains. The grass was green at the foot of the mountain, the sound of water was clear in the valley, and the mountain tops deep in the clouds were covered with snow.
"Is this the same as Hongchiling?" Xiao Chunhong asked.
Sui Yu didn't know either, she had never been there.
Oh, she has really made great progress. In her previous life, she was an ordinary person who had never been to Xinjiang and didn't know the terrain. Now she has walked along the ancient Silk Road, seen the ancient countries in the Western Regions, and is even walking over the Tianshan Mountains to the north of the Tianshan Mountains to exchange for agate and jade.
Song Xian felt her legs weaken as she gazed at the endless mountains before her. She was hesitant to leave and said, "Sister Yu, we don't have much silk and cloth left. Why don't we just go to Wensu Kingdom and come back? Next time, we can bring more goods before going to Wusun. Otherwise, we won't be able to buy much after crossing mountains and rivers, and all our time will be wasted on the journey."
Sui Yu didn't speak for a while. She had some vague thoughts. The next time she went out of the customs, she wanted to go to Dayuan and Kangju, and probably wouldn't take a detour to Wusun.
"Have you been to Wusun?" she asked the Song family's servant.
"I haven't been there, but I've heard my father talk about it," the old servant said. "It's made up of countless mountains. You have to cross many of them. There are river valleys and cliffs. There are also grasslands between the mountains, where nomads live."
"Then let's cross a few mountains first. Let's find some herdsmen. I'd like to exchange horses, even a pony will do." Sui Yu discussed with Song Xian, "It's late April now. We can return after ten days of walking, and go back and forth before June."
When she heard the word "foal", Song Xian understood that they wanted to buy a horse for the kid. She smiled and nodded in agreement.
The little boy far away in Dunhuang was waiting for a caravan returning from the west. As soon as he heard the sound of camel bells, he ran to greet them.
Sui Liang continued to pick mulberry leaves for the silkworms slowly and methodically. The little silkworms had grown into big silkworms, each one almost as long as his little finger, and they ate the mulberry leaves very quickly. In order to feed these silkworms, the four mulberry trees were almost emptied of leaves.
The sound of camel bells was getting closer. Sui Liang closed the silkworm box and drove away the chickens that were staring at him hungrily. He then carried the silkworm box to entertain the caravan.
"Is this the Changgui Guest House?"
"That's right." The little cub nodded repeatedly, "My name is Xiaozai. Do you know my mother?"
A young Hu merchant picked up a large bag and handed it to Sui Liang, who was walking by. He said, "A group of merchants we met on the road asked us to bring this back. We helped carry it, and he said we don't have to pay for the room if we stay here."
Sui Liang was stunned for a moment, then reacted and said, "Okay, I'll do whatever she says. Come with me. There are not many people staying in the guesthouse now, so you can choose the courtyard you like."
After saying this, he put the silkworm box and the heavy bag on the ground and said, "Little boy, you stay here and watch over it."
"Okay."
However, before the caravan passed by, the cub tried to untie the bundle. Unable to pull it free with his hands, he leaned over and bit it with his mouth.
A passing Hu merchant laughed and whistled to amuse him.
The kid didn't have time to respond. He pulled out a jar from the gap in the bag. The jar was wrapped with a rope, and he couldn't untie it, so he could only continue to rummage in the bag.
One pair of pants was long and not his, another pair of pants was also not his, and the last two pairs of pants were short. The kid immediately kicked off his shoes, took off his pants, sat naked on the ground and put on his trousers.
When Sui Liang rushed over, he saw a mess on the ground. The bag looked like it had been pushed by a pig, and clothes were scattered all over the floor.
"Uncle, come and help me." the kid shouted.
Sui Liang had no choice but to go over and help him put it on, saying, "What kind of cloth is this? It's so thick. Is it warm?"
"It's warm." The cub was very satisfied. Before the pants on his legs even got warm, he began to look forward to the next caravan.
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