Chapter 202 The Little One Sends a Message
At the end of August, many caravans left Chang'an. In the warm north wind, the melodious sound of camel bells was heard continuously.
The camel was carrying a heavy load, and the sound of its hooves was loud. The dust and smoke were like fog. After walking for half a day, the black hair turned gray and yellow.
The camels went to the river to drink water, and the people also stopped to rest. Sui Yu first carried the linen wrapped in mulberries farther away and spread it out to continue drying, and then went to the river to wash his face and shake off the dust.
"If it rains next time and the dust is pressed down, the road won't be so choking." Xiaoxi put his hands on his hips and sighed.
Xiao Chunhong raised her hand and scolded, "Nonsense! If it rains, how can we continue our journey?"
Xiaoxi stuck out her tongue, patted her lower lip, and prayed, "I'm just talking nonsense, God, please don't take it seriously."
"The autumn harvest is almost here, so it shouldn't rain for a while." Sui Yu stood up on his knees and urged, "Those who need to drink water, drink water. Those who need to pee, pee. If you're hungry, eat something. After a cup of tea, we'll continue on our way."
After that, Sui Yu went to take care of the ten white silkworms. Seven of them were already spinning silk. At this time, they refused to eat or drink, but Sui Yu still plucked a few mulberry leaves from the mulberry seedlings and threw them in.
"Aren't you tired?" Song Xian slumped on the ground. She stretched out her hand and said, "Help me up. I can't stand up."
"You haven't practiced before. When you return to Dunhuang, you can run with us and run three or five laps every day. Once you get used to it, you won't find walking tiring anymore." Sui Yu walked over and pulled her up.
Song Xian didn't say anything.
Sui Yu smiled and went to look at the mulberries.
After a cup of tea, the caravan behind caught up. Sui Yu hurriedly gathered people and camels to continue their journey. She took her people away, and the caravan behind stopped to rest.
Sui Yu walked away from the bean field and looked back, but the dust raised by the camel was too heavy, blurring the face of the merchant behind her, and she couldn't recognize whether it was a merchant she knew.
After walking for another hour, Song Xian could no longer walk. She asked her servants to remove the cloth from the camel's load. She sat on the camel while her servants held the bundle of straw and put the cloth in a backpack.
"Sister Yu, I tell you, when you go out of the border next year, you should bring more camels with you to save people from suffering." Song Xian was in the mood to chat without having to bother.
Sui Yu pointed to the caravans in front and behind. There were people walking in each caravan. If there were camels and extra money, everyone would load as much goods as possible. It was very troublesome to go back and forth, and it would take half a year. In this situation, no one would consider whether people were tired or not.
Traveling as a trader is a tiring job.
Song Xian stopped talking.
Camels are resistant to hunger and thirst. They need to be fed once in the morning and quench their thirst when they come across a river at noon. They can carry heavy loads and still be energetic until dark.
"Madam, do you want to rest tonight?" Zhang Shun asked.
Sui Yu shook his head and said, "No, the mountain road is easy to walk on. Let's light a few torches and continue. If we are late, it will snow on Hongchiling and we will suffer."
Zhang Shun breathed a sigh of relief. He was also worried that it would get colder the further west he went. If it snowed early in Hongchiling, both people and camels would suffer.
When the caravan behind saw the caravan in front lighting torches, they also lit torches to illuminate the way and continued to follow the caravan in front.
When they passed a village in the middle of the night, Sui Yu ordered the camel caravan to speed up, and the servants led the camels and ran with torches in their hands.
Song Xian stood up and looked around cautiously with the axe in her hand. Someone ran past her with a torch in hand. In the light of the torch, she suddenly saw a person standing in the wheat field. The expressionless face suddenly came into her sight, and she was so scared that she almost fell off the camel.
The caravan behind also started running, and the sound of hooves echoed the messy hoofbeats and footsteps in front.
Song Xian looked back again. Under the dim moonlight, there were no abrupt black shadows in the wheat field, only the rustling sound of wheat seedlings rubbing against each other.
She couldn't tell for a moment whether she was dazzled or not.
The wine in the jar was shaking, and the wind seemed to have the aroma of wine. The dark village under the moonlight was left far behind. Sui Yu blew the whistle, the camel slowed down, and people could finally breathe out deeply.
"What's going on?" Song Xian asked after jumping off the camel.
"I've heard from merchants that villages in remote areas are prone to bandits and thieves. Taking a piece of cloth from a caravan is enough to keep them busy for a whole year. If they take a piece of silk, they won't have to worry about building a house or getting married." Sui Yu cleared her dry and sore throat. She looked back and saw the caravan behind them approaching. She swallowed and said, "That caravan is also running away. I guess there really are thieves in this village."
"I thought I saw someone in the wheat field just now," Song Xian whispered. "I was so startled that my heart skipped a beat. I almost couldn't breathe."
"I saw it too." Zhang Shun said.
"Keep going! Don't delay!" the merchant behind shouted. "Go another two miles."
Sui Yu asked Zhang Shun to respond. She checked the wine jar on the camel's back. Wine stains were overflowing from the gap in the lid. Fortunately, it was tied with straw rope and the lid did not fall off, so not much wine was spilled.
The extinguished torches were blown, and the flames illuminated the way. Gan Da and Gan Er drove their camels and continued their journey at night.
Song Xian walked to Sui Yu and said, "Feel my heart, it's still beating."
Sui Yu smiled and said, "Don't worry. These night robbers are only after money. Farmers wouldn't have the guts to kill anyone even if you asked them to."
"What if someone is killed?" Xiao Chunhong leaned over and asked.
"Unless we can kill all the people in a caravan and let one escape, and the matter is reported to the government, we in the four counties of Hexi will have to have another group of people to open up the land and dig the canals," Sui Yu explained.
Song Xian calmed down after hearing this. After a few moments of silence, she asked, "If we were outside the Great Wall and encountered a situation like tonight, would we be unable to escape?"
"Hey, the caravan ahead, time to stop and rest," the merchants behind shouted. "Stop and rest. We'll continue our journey together tomorrow. Where are you going?"
Zhang Shun looked at his mistress and when she nodded, he shouted, "Let's go to Dunhuang."
"What a coincidence, we're traveling together."
"Stop and rest for half the night," Sui Yu said, then turned to Song Xian and said, "The caravan has hired escorts, and there are also many Han people outside the Great Wall. The caravan travels together with these guarantees. Unless the bandits outnumber us, ordinary people will not dare to fight the caravan. Even if we can't defeat them, I can abandon the goods and escape on a camel."
The servant, who had been listening intently, felt less worried after hearing this.
"It would be great if all the small countries outside the Great Wall belonged to us. With the government in charge, no barbarian would dare to stop us and kill people." Xiao Chunhong said angrily.
Sui Yu smiled knowingly. The imperial court would send troops to manage the affairs of the Western Regions, but she couldn't remember which year.
Qingshan took people to collect firewood nearby. After the fire was burning, they took down the bamboo baskets carried by the camels. The wine jars and pottery were the heaviest. Without these, the camels could lie down and rest.
Someone was coming from behind. Through the firelight, Sui Yu felt that the person looked familiar. Seeing Zhang Shun leading people over, she took a few steps forward and greeted them warmly.
As soon as she opened her mouth, the merchant was stunned.
"Have you ever stayed in the North City Guesthouse in Dunhuang?" Sui Yu asked.
The merchant stared at her and asked tentatively, "But is it Shopkeeper Yu?"
"Brother, you have good eyesight." Sui Yu smiled, "You're coming to my guesthouse to celebrate the New Year this year."
The merchant clapped his hands. He looked Sui Yu up and down, and said in disbelief, "Shopkeeper Yu? Is it really you? Are you here to steal our business?"
"No, no, no, I want to keep you company." Sui Yu invited him to sit by the fire and said, "I'm lucky. I came here with a group of Hu merchants going to Chang'an, and I met a caravan I know on my way back. We can take care of each other on the rest of the journey."
The merchant was silent. He suspected for a moment that Sui Yu opened that inn in Dunhuang just to get to know the caravans. She had connections with caravans inside and outside the Great Wall. Her journey must have been so smooth.
"Why don't you run an inn at home and come out here to suffer?" the merchant asked. Recognizing Song Xian, he sighed, "You two are truly brave and courageous. Many men wouldn't dare to come out and do business."
"I was forced to do this. Last year, Captain Hu was a bad man. He ordered his brother-in-law to build a guesthouse next to mine. I haven't earned back the money I spent on building the house yet. He did this. I had no choice but to find a way out." Sui Yu explained with a sigh.
The merchants understood.
Qingshan brought two bowls of oil tea. Sui Yu took one and handed it to the merchant, asking, "What's your name, big brother?"
"Wang Ping." After a day's journey, Wang Ping was hungry. He took the bowl of oil tea and gulped it down. Finally, he said, "Since we are acquaintances, let's travel together. With more people, the thieves on the road won't dare to attack us."
Sui Yu nodded in agreement.
"Then I'll go over there and not disturb your rest."
The people and camels were tired. Sui Yu and his thirty or forty servants quickly filled their stomachs, spread some hay on the ground, and lay down to sleep under the mattress they brought with them when they left home.
The fire gradually went out, with a few small flames jumping around. In a blink of an eye, only sparks remained on the fire.
When daybreak came, only ashes remained from the fire, without a trace of remaining warmth.
While the camels were still trying to get up, the servants worked together to lift the bamboo baskets filled with wine jars and tied them to them.
The servants were all busy. Sui Yu and Song Xian were responsible for lighting the fire and cooking. There were still three boxes of pancakes that they bought when they left Chang'an. They cooked a pot of millet porridge this morning and soaked the hot porridge in the cold pancakes. They would eat a full meal and last until noon.
The caravan behind blew a whistle to urge them on. Sui Yu responded, picked up the newly lit wooden stake and set off.
Song Xian walked beside her and no longer rode the camel.
Sui Yu didn't take it seriously at first, but after a while, Song Xian was so tired that she was gasping for breath, but she still insisted on walking. She kept walking until sunset, and she kept going silently.
Sui Yu suddenly realized and asked, "Are you planning to leave the country next year as well?"
"Can't I keep you company?" Song Xian slumped on the ground, leaned back, and slept on the grass in a very unrefined manner.
"Okay, why not?" Sui Yu was happy.
Song Xian smiled and stared at the red clouds in the sky in a daze.
After resting outside the mountain for one night, the fog in the mountain dissipated at dawn, and Sui Yu led the team into the Nanshan Ancient Trail.
Camel dung, piles of extinguished ashes, scattered fried rice, and wet firewood stacked on the roadside were left on the mountain trails. These were all instructions left by the caravans that passed by earlier to the caravans behind.
Following these traces, Sui Yu and others only had to be on guard against snakes hanging from tree branches and wild animals in the mountains, and they didn't have to worry about anything else.
The sound of galloping horses was heard again. Sui Yu climbed up a tree and looked into the distance. The Pastor's Garden on the grassland was faintly visible. She thought about it and decided to give up the detour. She would set off earlier next time to enter the customs and then take a detour to see if she could worship Sui Hu.
After traveling in the mountains for half a month, Sui Yu met the first small caravan returning from outside the Great Wall.
"Hey, Grand Duke, which guesthouse are you staying in when you pass through Dunhuang?" Song Xian asked loudly.
"Oh, the Changgui Guesthouse in the north of the city. It's convenient for food and lodging there. The bedding is clean, and the food tastes good. There are guest rooms, a barn, and a livestock pen. There's someone on guard at night, and it's only one cent a night." The merchant returning from the west introduced himself skillfully. "Listen to me, if you go to Dunhuang, you can spend the winter at the Changgui Guesthouse in the north of the city. The man who runs the shop is a captain in the army, and no ruffian would dare to cause trouble."
"This is Shopkeeper Yu." Song Xian pointed at Sui Yu and said jokingly, "Didn't you recognize her? Grand Duke, we want to ask you about the young shopkeeper."
"Little guy..." The merchant laughed, then reacted. He stared at Sui Yu and said, "Your brother said you went to Chang'an. I didn't believe it at first."
Sui Yu smiled slightly and asked, "Grand Duke, have you seen the cub?"
"I saw him playing with his uncle in the guesthouse every day. The young shopkeeper is good-looking and good at talking, and he gets tips every day." As he said this, the merchant turned around and asked a clan member for a string of copper coins, then threw it to Sui Yu and said, "This is something the young shopkeeper gave us secretly. He asked us to tell his mother to go home early."
Sui Yu's tears immediately flowed. She clutched the string of copper coins and wiped away her tears, forcing a smile and saying, "Thank you, Grand Duke, for sending the message."
"Hurry back." The merchant smiled. "We'll make way for you. You go first."
"Good luck." Sui Yu wished peace and hurriedly urged the camel caravan forward.
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