Chapter 224 Erhei's Wanderings
Passing through the rocky river valley again, everyone's mood was different from when they came here. It was obvious that everyone was much more relaxed. Every extra step they took meant they were one step closer to home.
No one sighed or complained the whole day. Sui Yu and Song Xian didn't mention stopping to rest, and no one else mentioned it either.
They walked until evening, and while it was still light, Sui Yufa ordered them to rest on the spot.
"Didn't you buy a dried lamb leg last night? Take the lamb leg and wash it clean in water. Stew a pot of meat tonight, and use the lamb soup to make a pot of dumpling soup tomorrow morning." Sui Yu said.
"Stew them all?" Xiao Chunhong asked.
"Yes, stew it all and have a full meal. After you're done eating, you won't miss it anymore." Sui Yu smiled.
"Then let's just stew half of it," Xiao Chunhong said. "Master, take a rest. I'll call you when the meat is done."
"It's hot, and if you chop the lamb legs, they'll spoil quickly. They'll also attract mosquitoes. If you eat meat that has been crawled over by mosquitoes, you're guaranteed to get sick." Sui Yu lifted up his trouser legs, chose a flat stone to sit on, and said, "Let's stew it all."
"Oh, okay." Xiao Chunhong went to get the lamb leg. When she passed by Xiaoxi, she kicked him with her leg and said, "Silly boy, come and help me. This lamb leg was bought from your in-laws."
The others laughed when they heard this.
Xiaoxi was both angry and embarrassed, and her face turned red instantly.
"Don't talk nonsense." She begged.
"I'm not talking nonsense." Xiao Chunhong smiled smugly, "If the master hadn't persuaded you, you would have spent the night with that bucktoothed guy tonight."
This was a bit too much, and Sui Yu shouted, "Stop talking nonsense, shut up, and stop drooling on the lamb leg."
Xiao Xi was so angry that she wiped her tears. She showed her face in front of her master once, and Xiao Chunhong was so angry that she wanted to be mean to her to death.
Sui Yu no longer paid attention to the quarrel over there. After walking for a whole day, her legs and feet were sore and tired. Now she could take a break. She lifted her legs and placed them on the stone, and massaged them from the bend of her knees all the way down. The feeling was both sour and pleasurable.
Although it hurts, the tense muscles in my legs have been relaxed and I feel a lot more relaxed.
Dinner was ready. Xiaoxi took Sui Yu and Song Xian's bowls and filled them with two bowls of mutton. She whispered to Sui Yu and thanked him. She was lucky to meet this master. She didn't want to think about anything else in the future. She just wanted to follow Sui Yu. It would be nice for her descendants to be her slaves.
After sleeping on the uneven rocks for another night, they could see the road clearly and continued on their journey.
After eight days of crossing mountains and rivers, Sui Yu and Song Xian returned with the camel caravan along the same route. They left the endless Tianshan Mountains and stood on the boundless grassland again.
The sheep are bleating, the birds are chirping, and the insects in the grass are making a disturbing noise. It is midsummer, and the wind and waves carrying the smell of grass are hot.
"If we were to walk in the desert at this hour, we'd be scorched to death, right?" Song Xian sighed. "Leaving Qiuci and heading to Loulan is going to be a tough journey."
Sui Yu nodded, and she tilted her head to tell Gan Da and Gan Er to prepare more water when they left Qiuci.
No longer needing to cross mountains and rivers, nor to lighten the burden on the camels, the master and servant, who had been hiking in the mountains for more than half a month, rode on camels again and followed the distant caravan eastward.
It was almost June, and it was time for the caravans outside the Great Wall to turn back. Caravans came in groups from Wensu Kingdom in the north and even from Dayuan further north, and the sound of camel bells could be heard day and night on this vast grassland.
When approaching the Kingdom of Kucha, Sui Yu caught up with the caravan ahead. She looked around curiously and saw a familiar face. She had also written about his story of business ventures.
"Master You, you went quite far this time. Did you go to Dayuan?" Sui Yu said.
You Da, the head of the household, didn't recognize her, but the voice sounded familiar. He was trying to recall her. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Gan Da, Gan Er, and a group of servants. He looked at Sui Yu in shock and asked uncertainly, "Manager Yu?"
"It's me." Sui Yu nodded.
"Master Song?" The merchant looked at Song Xian. "Is that you?"
"It's me." Song Xian remembered him. She looked at his camel team and asked, "Are my camels in good working order?"
"You have good legs. I was just about to buy it from you." With that, the head of the household, Youda, took a sip of the wine from the wine bag. He calmed himself down and asked, "Are you two... out on business too?"
"Yes, we set out in February this year, passing through Loulan, Yuli, and Qiuci. We were planning to go to Wusun, but we took the wrong road and turned back." Sui Yu said, "Are you planning to go back? Should we go together?"
The You family caravan was speechless with shock. They looked at the loads Sui Yu's camel caravan was carrying: over a hundred camels, half of which were used to carry people. The remaining forty or fifty camels were laden with blankets, sheepskins, cashmere cloth, waist drums, wooden zithers, and four or five wooden boxes. Judging from the sounds coming from the boxes, they were filled with either silver or bronze artifacts. Oh, and there were also two horses, one large and one small. The large one was a Ferghana horse! Take all this stuff to Chang'an and resell it for over a hundred thousand yuan.
I gained a lot.
Boss You didn't know what to say, so he just stopped talking.
"Are you from Dayuan?" Sui Yu asked.
"Yes, last year we took a detour from Cheshi to Wusun. Damn, we had the bad luck to encounter the Xiongnu soldiers. Half of the goods we brought out of the customs were lost."
Sui Yu and Song Xian were both stunned and asked in shock, "Did we encounter Xiongnu soldiers?"
"Didn't we join forces with Wusun to drive away the Xiongnu?" Sui Yu asked.
"You can still come back after you've driven them away. Cheshi State has always been unstable, with Xiongnu soldiers harassing them from time to time." At this point, You Da, the head of the family, instructed, "Just stay in the southern route of the Western Regions. Don't go to Cheshi and Wusun. If you encounter Xiongnu soldiers and your caravan has women, you won't be able to escape even if you have to trade your goods for your lives."
Sui Yu listened to the advice and said honestly: "Okay, we won't go."
After sighing for a moment, Sui Yu realized, "You guys lost a lot of goods. You were planning to buy camels when you return. It seems you made a lot of money in Dayuan."
"It was a fluke." Boss Youda smiled.
"What do you mean?" Sui Yu asked. "Tell me. I'll write a play when I get back."
"The goods are gone. In order to make money, we transported goods for local businesses in Dayuan. We were busy all winter and got to know a medicinal herb merchant. This time, most of the goods we brought back were medicinal herbs." The head of the family, You Da, said briefly.
"This is an opportunity," said Sui Yu.
Boss Youda nodded.
After chatting and laughing, by the evening, the city of Kucha was not far away.
The You family caravan did not plan to travel at night, so Sui Yu also stopped and the group rested on the spot.
"Zhang Shun, the master is looking for you." Xiao Chunhong came over to deliver the message.
Zhang Shun brushed off the dust on his body and saw Sui Yu brushing the colt's fur. He walked over and asked, "Master, are you looking for me?"
"Well, I'll arrange something for you..." Sui Yu whispered a few words and said, "You should go tonight. We will wait for you in Agu Lane for the next two days."
"Okay." Zhang Shun agreed without hesitation.
"Well, go ahead. Bring some money with you so you can eat and drink well and don't be poor." Sui Yu continued to brush the pony's fur.
Zhang Shun filled a bag of money from the cash box and left overnight with his camel.
"Huh? Where is he going?" Qingshan asked.
"I don't know, he didn't say." Li Wu shook his head. "I just saw Xiao Chunhong come to see him. I guess the master arranged for him to go out and do something."
"Are you going to look for Erhei? Erhei is still in Kucha City." Liu Yaer passed by and spoke.
Gan scoffed, "What are you looking for him for? To collect his body?"
"What did you arrange for him to do?" Song Xian asked.
Sui Yu shook his head and said, "I'll tell you in two days."
"OK."
…
At noon the next day, two caravans entered Kucha City one after another, heading towards Agu Lane, a familiar route. Sui Yu's caravan was in the lead, and as they approached Agu Lane, she spotted the man slumped in the corner. In just a month, Erhei had become pale and thin, and his spirits were low. Only when he saw someone he knew did his eyes light up.
"Master, I know I was wrong. Please take me away." Erhei knelt on his knees and crawled towards the camel. He cried bitterly, "Please save me one more time. I will work like a cow or a horse to repay you. If I have any more evil thoughts, I will hit my head and die."
Sui Yu turned his eyes away indifferently and drove the camel into Agu Lane.
"Master..." Erhei knelt down and kowtowed, then begged the others: "Qingshan, Gan Da, the master likes you. Please help me plead for mercy and take me back. I want to go back with you."
"Bah." Gan Da spat. "What are you daydreaming about? You might as well die outside the Great Wall."
Qingshan didn't say anything.
When the You family caravan passed by, everyone looked around curiously.
Zhang Shun followed the You family caravan silently. Seeing Erhei kneeling at the entrance of the alley like a dead dog, he let out a long sigh.
"When did you come? Why are you following us?" The merchants from the You family were surprised.
"I took a shit on the road and just caught up with you." Zhang Shun lied.
"Master, I entered the city this morning. When I was near Agu Lane, I saw people in the alley driving him away. I didn't go close, but later I paid someone to find out. Erhei came here half a month ago. He was injured when he came. He must have been beaten. He has been guarding here since then. At first, he wanted to work for the people in the alley in exchange for food, but he tried to get close to them and said he was from our caravan. When they heard it, they felt something was wrong and thought he had probably committed a crime. The caravan drove him away, and no one asked him to work. He has been picking up leftovers in the alley until now." Zhang Shun explained.
Sui Yu showed disgust on his face. This was too useless.
"Let Qingshan or Xiao Chunhong go out and find out what he had experienced before." Sui Yu said.
A month ago, after Sui Yu led the caravan away from Qiuci City, Erhei wandered alone in the city. He was penniless and could not speak the language. In order not to starve, he tried to carry goods for the shops. His words revealed that he was alone in Qiuci. After carrying goods for a day and going to get paid, he was kicked out. He slept on the grass with an empty stomach and injuries all night.
The next day, he went to the caravan's gathering place and offered himself as a bodyguard. He didn't find any work as a bodyguard, and unfortunately, he ran into a broker who deceived him and nearly sold him into mining. Seeing the clues, he ran away, but inevitably, he was beaten again. This time, with his arm broken, no one wanted him as a laborer.
Being extremely hungry, Erhei had no choice but to go to the Han army stationed in Kucha. The Han army did not care about trivial matters, but let him have two full meals. Later, they found out that there was something wrong with his identity and threw him into prison for ten days.
At this point, Xiao Chunhong couldn't help laughing.
Sui Yu also smiled. These days were really wonderful.
"After being released from prison, he was terrified and ran straight into Agu Lane, never to leave again." As the story came to a close, Xiao Chunhong sighed, "How foolish!"
"If it were you, what would you do?" Sui Yu asked.
"I won't run away. Not me." Xiao Chunhong took the opportunity to express her loyalty. "What's wrong with following the master? I was just confused and thought of running away. Life outside is not easy."
"Suppose." Sui Yu asked.
Xiao Chunhong frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "I might come to Agu Lane from the beginning. There are many Han people here, so I'll see if I can find a job here."
"Not all Han Chinese are good. I just heard that some people here want to tie up Erhei and sell him to the mines." Song Xian strode in and said, "Erhei is lucky. He has escaped several times. He is now picking up rotten rice here during the day and running away as soon as dark. I don't know where he sleeps."
Xiao Chunhong went out, and Song Xian sat down and asked, "Are you going to take him away?"
Sui Yu nodded. "I would be stupid to throw away such a good laborer. My family still needs someone to farm the land. He will stay in Dunhuang to farm the land."
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