Chapter 339 Not a Good Marriage
At a post station sixty miles from Chang'an, the postman encountered the newly arrived caravan. They were all old acquaintances, so he went over to greet them and said, "General Zhao, how about I join you on your journey to Hexi?"
"Don't you need to hurry? Our caravan is carrying a lot of goods, so we can't travel fast. Once we enter the mountains, the roads will be difficult to travel on, so we may go even slower." Zhao Xiping first explained the situation.
"We need to hurry, but there are many wild animals in the mountains in winter, and it's quite risky for me to travel alone on horseback. I will go with you before crossing Hongchiling, and I will go ahead after crossing Hongchiling." The postman explained.
Zhao Xiping readily agreed, "As long as it doesn't delay your work."
The postman sighed. What was the point of the delay? The decree he was carrying was related to General Zhao. He would be in Hexi for half a month first. Even if the prostitutes were released, they would have to wait until General Zhao returned before they could be resettled. He also had something else he only dared to complain about in his heart, not out loud. Why bother making such a long journey? He could have just given the decree directly to General Zhao.
After resting for one night at the post station, the postman left with the caravan the next day.
They left Beijing on the second day of February and entered the Qinling Mountains on the fifth day. The snow in the mountains melted and the roads were muddy and difficult to travel. The caravan traveled in the mountains for more than half a month and only left the Qinling Mountains in late February.
After leaving the Qinling Mountains, the road became much easier. They had to wade through water and climb mountains. After crossing the river and climbing up the snow-covered Hongchiling, Sui Yu met a caravan coming from the west.
"Manager Yu? Dunhuang was so lively last year. Why did your family go to Chang'an?"
"Is it because of the booming cotton industry?" Sui Yu asked.
"Yes, your inn is full. Everyone went there hoping to get close to you, but ended up with nothing." The merchant pulled the reins to stop the camel from moving. He asked, breathing heavily, "What's the price of the quilt in Chang'an?"
"One thousand six hundred coins a bed." Sui Yu said frankly, "Did you buy the quilt?"
"No, I got five sets of cotton-padded clothes." The merchant patted the cotton-padded jacket underneath his wolfskin coat and said, "It's more comfortable than the reed-flowered jacket. The caravans that bought quilts and cotton-padded clothes this year have all left the customs, planning to take advantage of the low cotton supply to trade for divine horses outside the customs. I didn't buy many cotton-padded jackets, only enough for my wife and children. I can only go back to the customs and won't make this fortune."
"In two years, there will be plenty of cotton. If the cotton seeds don't leave the border, the caravan will still be able to make a fortune," Sui Yu said. She inquired, "When you left Dunhuang, were my servants cultivating cotton seedlings?"
"I haven't heard of that. I left Dunhuang on the second day of February."
"Nothing happened to my guesthouse last winter, right?" Sui Yu was always thinking about home.
"No, the Song family has moved into the guesthouse, and there are soldiers stationed there. What could possibly happen? It's safer than when you were at home. Is there any new news from Chang'an?"
Sui Yu thought for a moment, then pointed at herself and asked with a smile, "Does our family count? His Majesty has bestowed upon me the title of Lady of the Silk Flower, and Captain Zhao has been promoted to General of the Central Army for Agriculture. From now on, the four northwestern counties will be able to grow cotton ahead of Longxi, Taiyuan, and Bashu counties within the Great Wall. Boss Wang, if you want to buy cotton textiles, you'll have to come to Hexi."
"Congratulations," said the head of the Wang family, bowing. He joked, "We've all been wondering what rewards you'll get in Chang'an. We were wondering why you kept quiet, making it difficult for me to ask. Shopkeeper Yu, I came from Dunhuang, so I'm half your family, right? We're also the first caravan to hear the good news this year. Why don't you give me some money? Leave some extra cotton for me this year, and I'll take the caravan to get it when winter comes. How about that?"
There was an abundance of cotton this year, so Sui Yu agreed generously, "Okay, I'll leave you 60 or 70 kilograms. I'll discuss a deal with you later. See if you're interested."
"What business?" Boss Wang asked curiously.
"We'll talk about it later." Sui Yu shook the reins and said, "No more chatting, goodbye."
The people from the three caravans stopped talking, nodded and said goodbye to each other, and then went their separate ways, exchanging news with each other.
Three days later, on the way down the mountain, Sui Yu met the second caravan entering the pass. She got the news from them that on the fifth day of February, Ding Quan and his slaves dug river mud and prepared to make mud bricks.
After coming down from Hongchi Ridge, the postman entered Wuwei County ahead of the caravan. The decree in his hand was passed to the Zhishoufu of Wuwei County. Within half a day, the inspector of Wuwei County received the order. He found out the slave contracts of 127 prostitutes in the brothel camp and arranged for his subordinates to go to the brothel camp to pick them up.
It was already mid-March, and the garrison soldiers of Wuwei County were busy plowing the land in preparation for spring planting. In the wasteland in the northwest corner of the city, the decadent revelry in the brothel subsided as the clients left.
When the soldiers in black clothes broke into the brothel, the brothel camp, which housed 114 prostitutes, fell into deathly silence. More than 100 people were either standing or sitting in a daze, or busy with sewing and mending work. They seemed to be indifferent to the purpose of the soldiers' visit, as if they were being taken away to comfort the soldiers or the laborers.
"...Thirteen died, this winter. I haven't had time to report them to the lord, and have them removed from the register yet." The female steward, wearing bright red rouge, said sheepishly, "Sir, what brings you here? Are you taking them on a business trip? There are 112 camp prostitutes here. Besides the two young ones, there are two older ones cooking in the kitchen, to make up the numbers."
The soldier carrying the wooden box covered his nose in disdain. He said in a hoarse voice, "The court has ordered that prostitutes in the camp be allowed to become good women. After becoming good women, they must obey the arrangements of the Lieutenant General of Agriculture, marry, and work on the cotton fields."
As soon as these words were spoken, even the sound of breathing in the prostitute camp seemed to disappear. The prostitutes, their sunken eyes, raised their heads. The sunlight pouring down from above made them dizzy and their heads seemed to be swirling. They heard the soldiers' words, but it was like hearing a foreign language. They couldn't react and didn't dare to believe it.
After half an hour of chaos, the camp prostitutes were driven out of the high walls built with their flesh and blood. They vaguely realized that these dirty days seemed to be coming to an end.
"Go to the post station. The General of Agriculture is still staying there. Go and ask him what arrangements he wants to make." The soldier covered his nose and spoke in a muffled voice. These filthy prostitutes were more disgusting than maggots in a thatched jar.
One hundred and fourteen women of all ages were driven towards the east of the city. When they passed by farmland, men, women, young and old all looked at them with disgust. Some even spat at them, and some grabbed mud and threw it at them.
"I'm not going to sleep with men. I'm clean. I'm not a camp whore anymore—" The woman with mud all over her face suddenly came to her senses. She screamed excitedly: "Don't hit me! I didn't seduce your man! I'm not a camp whore! I'm not a slutty slut! I won't be raped by those bedbugs lining up again, hahahaha—"
Amidst the creepy laughter, lines of tears fell into the mud. Some people fell to the ground and cried loudly, some people jumped into the ditch and scrubbed their tears desperately despite the cold weather, and more people ran towards the east of the city, asking everyone they met where the post station was and whether it was the same one from eight years ago... for fear that if they were a step slower, they would be caught and thrown into the brothel again.
When a group of women, whose shoes had fallen off while running, panting and with tears on their faces, stood outside the post station, they still felt that this day was like a dream.
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping came out to see them. She couldn't bear to look at them closely, nor did she want them to be watched and cursed by people outside the door like a joke, so she asked the postman if he could first settle them in the stable of the post station.
"No, smell them, they're all filthy." The postman waved his broom, "Hurry up and leave, don't dirty our land."
"It's getting dark, and I can't find a place for you to stay. You should go back to the brothel and stay for one night." Zhao Xiping discussed with them.
"No, no, no, let's sit in the wasteland all night and wait for daybreak."
"Yes, yes, we won't go back there."
"Sir, can you really rescue me from the brothel?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Your Majesty has pardoned you." Zhao Xiping corrected them. "From now on, the brothel will no longer exist."
Finally receiving a positive answer, the eighty-nine anxious hearts outside the post station finally settled down. These women, enslaved and tortured beyond recognition, almost instantly forgot their hatred. They knelt and kowtowed eastward, gratefully forgiving the past and their own shameful selves.
Thirteen more women came running over. They didn't understand what the person kneeling on the ground crying was doing, but they subconsciously chose to follow.
Another half-cup of tea passed before six soldiers herded in two women holding children, six soaking wet women, and two elderly women. The inspector, who had been waiting under a nearby jujube tree, approached. He accepted the slave contracts for the 114 camp prostitutes and, after a brief explanation from his subordinates, walked over to Zhao Xiping, carrying a wooden box.
"General Zhao, these are the slave contracts for these camp prostitutes, a total of 114 of them. It will take some time to change their household registration. How do you think we should settle them?"
"We will stay in Wuwei County for two days. Please spread the news that men who are willing to marry these women can come and sign up during these two days. After marrying them, they can buy cotton seedlings and plant cotton in the next few years." Zhao Xiping said.
The inspector's lips curled up in a mocking smile. He accepted the order and said, "Yes, I will arrange for someone to spread the news right away."
Zhao Xiping saw this and paused, then immediately changed his attitude. He gave a firm official order, "Find a few old houses nearby to house them. They'll only stay for two days. We'll take them with us when we leave."
After saying that, Zhao Xiping reached out to take the wooden box containing the slave contract, and the women's eyes followed the heavy wooden box.
The inspector clasped his hands and accepted the order. The slave contracts of the camp prostitutes were handed over, and the rest of the matter had nothing to do with him. After he left, he arranged for his subordinates to look for some abandoned houses.
The sky turned from dim to dark, and the villagers who came to watch the fun carried their farm tools and left. Sui Yu and his servants carried pottery pots, wooden basins and barrels, and food to the west of the post station.
The desolate, abandoned houses were shrouded in the thick darkness. The courtyard walls had collapsed, the roofs had collapsed, and the three abandoned houses each had their own flaws. They offered no protection from the wind or rain, and the leaky structures were so drafty that even rats would despise them. But the camp prostitutes, now reborn, treated them like treasures. In the darkness, they cleaned the houses, pulling up weeds from the yards and bringing them inside to use as bedding for the night. They also moved the clods of earth that had been tripping them under the walls.
When Sui Yu came over with the servants, he could hear their voices from a distance: crying, laughing, and talking mixed together, sometimes low and sometimes high.
"I'll bring you something." Sui Yu walked into the abandoned courtyard filled with pungent smells in the night and said, "I'll bring you some food and buckets and pots. You can make do with them for the night. Tomorrow, boil some water and wash yourself clean. I'll have someone bring you some clean clothes then."
"Thank you, ma'am. You are a very kind person."
"Thank you, ma'am... Thank you, ma'am..."
Sui Yu agreed calmly and continued, "Clean yourself up tomorrow. I'll ask a few doctors to come the day after tomorrow. Don't hide anything that ails you."
There was another round of thanks, but Sui Yu didn't listen any more. The servants put down the things and she left with them.
The next day, Sui Yu arranged for Xiao Chunhong to go shopping for clothes. A new set of reed-flowered jackets and trousers cost twenty or thirty coins, and for one hundred and fourteen people, that came to over three thousand coins. He needed to buy new clothes for the prostitutes in this prefecture, and not less for the next. Four prefectures, plus Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass, would cost over ten thousand coins. Sui Yu was reluctant to part with the money; with no relatives or friends, she didn't want to spend so much. So he gave Xiao Chunhong three hundred coins and told her to go into the city and buy some cleaner, hand-me-down clothes.
After taking a bath and washing their hair, and changing into clean coats and pants, the stench that had been covering the women's bodies for a whole winter dissipated.
They also cleaned up the abandoned house overgrown with weeds.
Then, Sui Yu invited a doctor to take the pulse of these poor women. They all had hidden diseases to varying degrees. Frostbite, weight loss, and poor spleen and stomach were considered minor problems. Except for the two inexperienced little girls, the 110 women, including two very old women, had unspeakable problems in their lower bodies.
Sui Yu registered them, and then spent two hundred coins to buy more than three hundred kilograms of mugwort. She distributed more than three hundred kilograms of mugwort to each person, and asked them to make mugwort soup for fumigation and washing every day.
"I have already spent 500 yuan to buy clothes and medicine for you. This is all I can do for you. The rest is up to you. When you make money from growing cotton in the future, you can take good care of yourselves." Sui Yu said.
After he finished speaking, Zhao Xiping and the local agricultural officials came over with forty-six men who looked shabby and old.
"You two gangs should discuss it among yourselves. If you like each other, you can form a team and start a family. We have all come this far on our own. Now that we have come this far, no one should look down on each other. Pack up tomorrow and follow me to Dunhuang," said Zhao Xiping.
"Don't you live here?" asked an old man.
"No, you're mobile. Dunhuang County will be the first to plant cotton, and next year the plan will probably extend to Jiuquan County and Zhangye County. You can then choose where to go, or rather, go wherever there's a need," Zhao Xiping explained. "Since everyone is here, I'll explain how the cotton will be divided. The cotton seedlings will be sold on credit, and you'll be considered to have purchased the seeds yourself. The profit will be split 40% with the government: 60%. After the cotton harvest, 40% will go to the government. If you rent land from a landlord, you'll pay 30% rent on the remaining cotton. For example, if an acre of cotton field yields 200 kilograms of cotton, 80 kilograms will be handed over to the government, and the rent is 36 kilograms, leaving you with 84 kilograms."
There was a commotion among the men. Some asked how much cotton cost per pound, and asked if they could sell the cotton seeds in their own hands.
"Cotton seeds cannot be sold privately. We purchase both cotton and seeds, and the price is uniform. Madam Xihua will teach you how to grow cotton, so you must sell the first two years' cotton to her." Zhao Xiping frowned and pressed his hand, signaling them to stop picking. He said loudly, "Now think it over. Those who are willing to marry them and leave their homeland can go ahead. Think carefully. Once you make this decision, you won't regret it later."
There was a commotion in the crowd for a while, and finally eight old men left. They didn't want to die in a foreign land.
The matter was settled, and the next day, the caravan left Wuwei with 152 cotton growers.
At this time, the postmen entered Zhangye County, and overnight, the tortured camp prostitutes were liberated.
The caravan headed west, and the horses of the postmen also continued to move west. The news of the pardon of the camp prostitutes spread throughout the Hexi region with the sound of horses' hooves. Sui Yu's caravan followed behind, constantly picking up people, and the team heading west continued to grow.
On April 17, a caravan of 462 cotton growers arrived in Dunhuang.
The 172 camp prostitutes who had been wandering near the East City Gate for eight days were like lost geese that had found their flock. They excitedly rushed over to greet them.
When Supervisor Hu received the letter, he rushed to the East City Gate with his changed good name. When he got closer, he recognized Sui Yu at a glance.
For more than ten years, he had hardly met her face to face. When he saw her today, he clearly remembered the scene outside the brothel fourteen years ago.
Sui Yu noticed the scrutiny and turned her head to look over. Supervisor Hu looked much older and she almost didn't recognize him.
"Madam Xihua is well." Supervisor Hu dismounted from his donkey and stepped forward to greet him. "I greet the General of the Central Army. Eight days ago, I learned of the imperial decree and have already converted the slave contracts of 172 camp prostitutes into freeholders. They are all here. I hope you will review them."
Zhao Xiping didn't take the wooden box and didn't say anything.
Supervisor Hu wiped his sweat nervously. He knew exactly how the three siblings, Sui Wen'an, Sui Hui, and Sui Ling, had been brought from slavery to free citizenship. The two men in front of him were also insiders, and the biggest evidence was still in his possession. Unfortunately, Sui Yu and Sui Hui were still in contact, which made it impossible for him to kill or touch them. He had evidence that could lead to his death, and he had to keep them safe.
"Madam Wen..." Sui Yu asked, "Is Madam Wen okay?"
"That's great. With An Ge'er taking care of her, her life is very happy." Supervisor Hu breathed a sigh of relief. Sui Yu had feelings for Sui Hui, so his life was saved.
"They have moved to a larger courtyard. When Madam is free, I'll have Madam Wen go visit them."
The words didn't make sense, but Sui Yu understood. Ang'er was returned to Sui Hui's care, and the mother and son moved to the big yard to live. Sui Hui could go out at will from then on.
It was not convenient to say much at the busy city gate, so Sui Yu nodded.
Zhao Xiping then took the wooden box and said, "I still have some slave contracts here. I'll have someone send them to the government in a couple of days. You can cancel the contracts and send them back to their place of origin. These people will be temporarily staying in Dunhuang County."
Supervisor Hu nodded in agreement. Seeing that he had no other instructions, he led his donkey to the foot of the city wall to make way for the caravan.
The Sui family's caravan and the Song family's caravan parted ways. One went into the city, and the other turned at the city gate and walked north along the city wall, intending to take a detour through the wilderness to return to the guesthouse to avoid causing a sensation in the city and lest the cotton growers following behind them spit in their faces again.
When the rows of houses came into view, those who had been away from home for more than half a year all breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how beautiful the mountains and rivers in the interior of the country were, the desert scenery of Dunhuang was still the most touching.
"We're home." The kid said excitedly, "Mom, uncle, we're finally back."
Then he drove his camel to the side of the camel carrying the remains and said loudly, "Grandpa, we are home. Look to the north. This is the family business that my parents and my uncle built."
Nearly fifteen years later, Sui Hu settled down in Dunhuang with his children.
"Meow--"
A big cat, holding a dying field mouse in its paw, called out to an acquaintance it hadn't seen for a long time.
"Dahua, you came so far to hunt? Have you caught all the mice in our guesthouse?" Xiao Chunhong asked.
Dahua meowed again, picked up the big field mouse and ran back with the caravan.
In the distance, two big black dogs pricked up their ears and looked at vigilantly. Sui Liang blew a loud whistle with his fingers between his teeth. Before the whistle ended, the dogs' tails began to wag happily.
“Woof——”
“Woof woof woof——”
Two big, fat, strong black dogs came running, their shiny black fur undulating in the wind, more shiny than the finest satin.
"Big Black! Little Black!" the cub shouted happily, "Do you miss me? I miss you so much."
The dogs ran up and, ignoring the camel's moving hooves, excitedly circled around the camel, jumping and trying to get close to their owner on the camel's back.
There are four people and two dogs. The dogs are so busy that they have to take care of everyone, rubbing against one and whining against the other.
Sui Liang and the kid jumped off the camel and ran with the dog, shouting their Red Sun and Golden Wheat Ear as they ran. Two horses that were leisurely strolling on the grassland started to move at the sound, their hooves kicked up, grass debris flew, and even the dancing dust lagged behind them.
The girls and boys working in the cotton fields recognized the caravan coming from the east and cheered in unison.
"Why are there so many people? How many caravans have gathered here?" Hua Niu muttered to herself, "I have to go back and ask Yin Po and Cui Sao to cook. Big business is coming."
Song Xian stood at the edge of the field and looked carefully for a while. She didn't see Lu Yaer or her caravan. She walked to the river to wash her hands and said, "A Shui, tell your sister-in-law that I have to go back first. My daughter has returned home, and I have to go back to see her."
"Okay, tell Lu Yaer to rest at home for a few days before coming to class. I will go to see her tomorrow." A Shui said.
Song Xian had already crossed the river. She smiled and said, "That girl can't stay still. She might come over tonight."
Song Xian called a camel to drink water, greeted Sui Yu from a distance, and rode away on the camel.
Lu Yaer had already returned home. The house was empty except for the servants. When she learned that her mother had moved to Changgui Guest House after the winter last year, she immediately took the camel out of the city to look for her.
The mother and daughter met at the end of Nanshui Street. As soon as they met, Song Xian explained, "I came back as soon as I received the letter, but I was still a step late. I thought you would come back in the evening, so I would wait for you at the city gate every evening."
"Also coming with us are the prostitutes from the three eastern counties. They were pardoned because of Aunt Sui. With them accompanying us, the caravan's speed slowed down a lot. We could only travel forty miles a day at most. We rested twenty miles away from the city last night." Lu Yaer got off the camel and walked back holding Song Xian's arm, spouting out the words that had been in her mind, about Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping being granted titles, how the shops in Chang'an City squeezed them out, and how it took her three months to sell all the goods.
Before he could finish his words, the mother and daughter arrived home first, and Song Xian took Lu Yaer back to the main courtyard.
When Lu Yaer mentioned that she and Sui Liang were going to look for the maids in the Huo Mansion, Song Xian interrupted her.
"Xiaoya'er, there's no one around right now, tell me what you're thinking. When we left Dunhuang last year, I told you that if you had any feelings for Liang Ge'er, I'd go and get the lowdown on it for you..."
"Mother." Lu Yaer interrupted her. Thinking about how cold Sui Liang had been to her on the way back, she stared at the wood grain on the table and said calmly, "I don't have any feelings for him, and he doesn't have any feelings for me. Don't try to force things on me."
Song Xian was disappointed. She murmured, "Brother Liang is handsome, gentle, and has no bad intentions. You still don't have any feelings for him? Then what kind of boy do you like?"
She suspected that her daughter was blind. There was a piece of beautiful jade right in front of her, but couldn't she see its value and beauty?
"I don't like people with the same temper as my father..."
"You're truly blind!" Song Xian couldn't help but curse. "How could Sui Liang be the same as your father? The gap between them is greater than the distance between Chang'an and Dayuan."
Lu Yaer was amused. She calmed her excited mother and said, "Mom, don't be excited. That's not what I meant. Listen to me."
"Okay, go ahead." Song Xian suppressed her disappointment and forced herself to calm down.
"Sui Liang prefers a stable life. He likes a home with his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. If I start a family with him, he probably won't choose to go out and do business with me..."
"Isn't that great? He stays at home to raise the child. With him around, you don't have to worry about business and the child's upbringing like I do. Wouldn't it be better for you to be like your Aunt Sui? She travels around, and every time she comes back, the child is one year older, and he still misses her all the time." Song Xian couldn't help but interrupt.
"Yes, but I have you. If I have a child, you can help me take care of it." Lu Yaer almost lost her temper, but thinking about Sui Liang's attitude and his personality, she quickly calmed down. "I want to find someone who can go out and do business with me, instead of me working hard outside while he lives like a boss at home."
Song Xian understood that Lu Yaer was not dissatisfied with Sui Liang. It was because of the precedent between her and Huang Ancheng. She hated the relationship between a woman who worked outside and a man who worked inside from the bottom of her heart, and she hated his father.
So no matter how good Sui Liang is, he doesn't suit her personality.
Song Xian fell silent. The bad relationship between her and Huang Ancheng caused her son to be homeless and her daughter to have a bad temper.
"He and I had you and your brother, and it was almost because of us that you and your brother were ruined. What a sin." Song Xian was at her wit's end. "Don't you think about it? If you miss Sui Liang, you will regret it."
"No, Sui Liang and I are not meant to be together. Forcing us together will only create enmity. Mother, there's no need to mention this matter again. Please help me find someone else." Lu Yaer said firmly. She glanced at the maid peeking out the door and she ran away. "What's the matter? Why are you peeking?"
"The Second Young Master of Captain Yang's family is here, looking for you."
"What do you want me for?" Lu Ya'er was a little absent-minded. "Tell him to come back tomorrow. I'm exhausted... Forget it, I'll go over and take a look."
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