Chapter 13 Chapter 13 Hiding in the Mountains
He couldn't just disappear and reappear in front of Axuan, so Gu Youan settled Axuan down and asked her to stand there and wait.
"Sister is out looking for something to eat. She'll be back soon. Please don't run around, okay?"
A Xuan was afraid and refused to stay alone: "Sister, I'll go with you."
"Be good, I'm going to find something to eat. I can't take you with me. I'll be back soon."
Axuan was still afraid and pulled her sister's sleeve to prevent her from leaving.
Gu Youan had no choice but to ask A Xuan to stay where she was. She walked around the outside of the cave and pulled a few dead branches to pile at the entrance, barely enough to cover it.
"Don't come out, sister will be back soon."
Ah Xuan's eyes were filled with tears and she opened her mouth to cry. Gu Youan immediately said, "Don't cry. You'll get a stomachache from breathing in the cold air. If mother finds out, she'll beat you."
A Xuan quickly covered her mouth and looked at her sister pitifully.
Gu Youan had no choice but to try her best to comfort her. She only left after Axuan stopped crying.
Not daring to let a little girl like Axuan stay alone for too long, Gu Youan came back after a while with some hay, which contained a few sweet potatoes and taro.
"elder sister."
When Axuan saw her sister coming back, she ran out quickly and hugged her sister's waist tightly.
"Ah Xuan, be good and let your sister in."
The hay was put down, and several potatoes and taro rolled out from the hay. Ah Xuan exclaimed, "Sister, are these sweet potatoes?"
"Yeah, I found it just now when I was looking for hay."
"Sister, we are so lucky." A Xuan didn't know what taro was, but she knew what sweet potato was. She smiled sweetly while holding the sweet potato.
Silly girl, where did these things come from in the snow? Well, since there are no adults around, I'll just fool the kids.
Gu Youan spread thick hay in the cave, asked Axuan to sit on it, and started a fire again.
The dry firewood for the fire was naturally brought in from outside, from the space.
The fire lit up, and the warmth warmed him, making him feel less cold. After burning for a while, Gu Youan put the sweet potatoes and taro under the fire to roast.
After a long time, a sweet fragrance wafted over. The greedy little girl, A Xuan, smelled it immediately and hurriedly urged: "Sister, can I eat it now?"
"We'll have to wait a little longer."
A Xuan waited obediently without saying anything.
After a while, the sweet potatoes were baked. Gu Youan turned around and called Axuan to come over to eat, but found her sitting on the hay wiping her tears.
"What's wrong?"
"I miss my mother, I miss my father, I miss my elder brother, I miss Aunt Bai."
Although Axuan is young, she knows that her parents are gone.
"Don't cry, eat well, we will go to find parents tomorrow."
The snow outside had stopped. Gu Youan didn't know how to look at the sky, and estimated that it was already mid-afternoon. If he went down the mountain and returned to the official road, he would be worried that the bandits would have left people in ambush, which would be unsafe. He was also worried that the road down the mountain would be slippery, and it would be difficult to walk with Axuan.
Let’s just forget about it today and think of a solution tomorrow.
"Sister, don't go. Axuan is scared." Axuan hurriedly crawled over and hung on her sister without letting go.
Gu Youan patted her on the back and said, "Don't be afraid. It's useless to be afraid. Things will eventually be resolved."
Ah Xuan was confused. She wiped away her tears and sobbed as her sister said. She asked vaguely, "How...ah?"
Gu Youan added a piece of wood to the fire and said slowly: "Even if we can't solve it, there will always be someone who can."
Children's emotions come and go quickly. After coaxing his sister, Gu Youan asked her if she was hungry.
A Xuan nodded obediently, she was hungry.
"Then dry your tears and come and eat."
"oh."
Pull out the roasted sweet potatoes and taro from under the fire, tear off the burnt skin, and the sweet fragrance will become even more charming.
Gu Youan gave the taro to his sister: "Hold it and eat it slowly. Be careful not to burn it."
"Um."
The two sisters looked thin, but they had big appetites. They shared two sweet potatoes and four taro and ate them all.
After eating, Ah Xuan started to talk about her parents again. Gu Youan told her not to talk anymore: "You stay in the cave while I go find some firewood. If we don't have enough firewood, we'll freeze to death at night."
"oh."
Gu Youan didn't dare to go far. She went out of the cave and avoided A Xuan's sight. She dragged back branches and wooden lumps one by one, and stopped when she thought they were almost enough.
It was almost dark by then.
The deep mountains were particularly terrifying at night. Axuan didn't dare to stay alone and had to hide in her sister's arms before she would fall asleep. When it was time to go to bed, Axuan started to cry for her parents.
Gu Youan sighed and patted her to sleep.
After Axuan fell asleep, Gu Youan gently put her on the hay, then went out to the cave entrance, removed the branches blocking the entrance, compared the size of the entrance, disappeared and reappeared, and stuffed the dark version of the electric car that she had bought less than a year ago into the entrance.
Gu Youan turned it around and found that the size was just right. It couldn't be said to be a perfect fit, but a slightly larger wild animal would definitely not be able to get in. It was estimated that only pheasants and rabbits could get in through the gap.
Gu Youan opened the car door and got in. The inner door could not be opened, so he could only lower the window and crawl into the hole.
Afterwards, Gu Youan took out the tent, sleeping bag, etc. that he had bought when he and Youzi went to western Sichuan a few years ago.
The tent was set up on the straw shed, and Axuan was put into the sleeping bag. Gu Youan added some firewood to the fire, then lay down in the sleeping bag and hugged Axuan to rest.
Gu Youan slept restlessly the whole night. She got up before dawn the next day, packed up the things that no one else could know about, put firewood on the fire, and threw some sweet potatoes into the fire to roast.
The sweet potatoes were roasting and smelled delicious. Axuan wiped her eyes and turned over to sit up from the haystack.
"Mom, sister."
After calling people, Axuan looked around and didn't see her familiar parents. She felt aggrieved again.
"Okay, come and eat. After that we'll go down the mountain."
Ah Xuan jumped up and said, "Are you going to find your parents?"
"Well, let's go find Mom and Dad."
The two sisters had nothing to pack, so they had to leave after breakfast. Before leaving, Gu Youan put his sister in front of the left side of the cave entrance. She went back into the cave to put out the fire, gathered the hay and put it in the space, then went out and carried Axuan down the mountain.
Yesterday when I went up the mountain, I gritted my teeth and ran for my life. The snow was not thick at that time and the road up the mountain was easy to walk on. Today, going down the mountain is different.
Gu Youan had never walked on the snowy roads in the mountains before, and the two sisters slipped almost every ten steps as they slid down the mountain. They fell several times on the way, and their old cotton coats were so dirty that they were unbearable to look at.
Gu Youan didn't care about these details at all. When she reached the foot of the mountain, she stood quietly at the intersection of the mountain for a while, not hearing any unusual sounds. There was a layer of snow on the official road ahead, and there were no signs of anyone walking on it.
This means that no one has walked on the official road since the robbers yesterday.
"elder sister."
A Xuan twisted her body around and looked around alertly, moved her arms nervously, and hugged her sister's shoulders tightly.
Gu Youan raised his foot: "Let's go out and take a look."
The two sisters appeared on the official road, which was covered with snow and no one was around. Gu Youan breathed a sigh of relief and walked forward.
After turning the corner, the valley where they encountered the bandits yesterday was in front of them. Gu Youan turned his head and looked around, and found that the four wooden carts of the officers were overturned on both sides of the official road.
Yes, the bandits hid in the mountains, and the mountains were not flat at all. If these wooden carts were carried up the mountains, they could only be burned as wood.
Besides the wooden cart, there was also some abandoned hay. Gu Youan went over to pick it up and found a sack from the bundled hay at their house. Inside the sack was a bunch of money and steamed buns that he had bought at the post station a few days ago.
Her mother said that things should be stored separately, and no one wants hay, so it is suitable to hide some inconspicuous things.
He threw the sack to A Xuan behind him and said, "Here, take a bite if you're hungry."
A Xuan held the sack and nodded obediently.
Gu Youan walked forward without hesitation.
"Sister, where are we going?"
"Go to the post station."
There is no village or shop nearby. If you want to ask for help, you can only go to the next nearest post station.
When they stopped at the previous post station, the postman said that if it didn't snow, they could reach the next post station in three days. Yesterday morning, before the snow fell, they had been busy hurrying on their way. Gu Youan guessed yesterday that they might be able to reach the next post station in half a day.
He didn't stop on the way and was dressed warmly. Even though there was a cold wind on the road, Gu Youan didn't feel cold.
After walking out of the valley where he encountered the bandits, Gu Youan looked back, then continued walking forward.
After crossing the valley and going around a hill, Gu Youan heard the sound of horse hooves coming closer and closer behind him. He quickly hid in the woods by the road and observed quietly.
His eyes fell on the footprints left in the snow, and Gu Youan looked away.
The people coming from behind looked like a merchant caravan. Tall and strong men were riding horses to protect the team. In the middle of the team, two horses were pulling a cart with cargo boxes tied to it.
The leader was very observant. He followed the footprints and looked towards the place where Gu Youan was hiding.
The leading guard raised his hand and the team stopped.
Seeing this, Gu Youan stopped hiding. She carried A Xuan on her back and walked out of the woods, saying loudly, "Hello everyone, are you going to Songjiang City?"
"We're going to Songjiang City. Who are you?"
Gu Youan grew up in Luoyang and spoke very standard Mandarin. However, the man who spoke on horseback did not speak very standard Mandarin. From Gu Youan's observations along the way since he left the customs, he found that his accent was just like that of the people in this area.
It is possible that this person is a local of Songjiang City.
If her guess was correct, then this caravan was not going to Songjiang City for business, but was going to other places for business, and was now rushing back to Songjiang City.
If they were not from Songjiang City, they would not dare to go to Songjiang City on a snowy day.
The other party only replied with one sentence. Gu Youan quickly came to a conclusion and said, "I am the daughter of a criminal official exiled from Luoyang to Songjiang City. Yesterday, we were robbed by a group of bandits from Qingshan Village in the valley. My sister and I escaped and are going to Songjiang City to report to the authorities. I would like to ask you, brave men, to give us a ride."
Gu Youan spoke quickly and in a flurry, fearing these people would disagree, so he continued, "Since you've been to Songjiang City, you should know His Royal Highness Prince Qi. Among those arrested was Prince Qi's teacher, Su Guang. He's also been arrested. That group is after money and murder. We must report this to His Royal Highness Prince Qi as soon as possible and rescue Lord Su."
Without waiting for a response, Gu Youan immediately asked them, "Are you from the south? Have you been to Luoyang? Do you know Su Guang? Su Guang was Prince Qi's teacher when he was still a prince. Before he was exiled, he held the rank of Third Grade Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice."
A smart person who goes out to do business will never look down on anyone he meets in the wilderness, no matter if it is a child or a weak woman.
What Gu Youan said was not something that a guard could decide. The head guard who had just heard Gu Youan's words winked at the person next to him, and that person drove the horse to the back to call the shopkeeper.
Gu Youan just stood there, not moving an inch.
The head of the guards smiled and thought it was interesting that the daughter of a guilty official was not only eloquent but also so courageous.
Gu Youan guessed correctly that this caravan was from Songjiang City. The shopkeeper's surname was Han. The Han family was one of the top three merchants in Songjiang City, specializing in the business of southern and northern goods, trading silk and medicinal materials.
When Shopkeeper Han heard that His Royal Highness Prince Qi was involved, he hurried over and asked, "Is what the young lady said true? Is it really Lord Su Guangsu who was arrested? His Royal Highness Prince Qi's husband?"
Gu Youan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. It seemed that Su Guang was really valuable to King Qi.
The Han family caravan returned to Songjiang City from Suzhou. Although they had not been to Luoyang, they heard people talking about how the Taihu Lake bursting implicated many officials. Some officials deserved death, while others were simply being excluded by the current ruler as dissidents. Many smart people understood this.
Shopkeeper Han has been traveling around doing business all year round, and he has his own ways of getting information. He knows about the Su family's affairs.
Shopkeeper Han repeatedly confirmed the news from Gu Youan, and then he said, "I know about Qingshan Stronghold. Boss Wang doesn't dare to roam around Songjiang City. He must have captured someone and left yesterday."
"Then my parents..."
"Qingshan Village robs people just for money. If they were capturing people for this, Lord Su and the others should still be alive now."
Manager Han left Gu Youan and her sister behind and immediately ordered his guards to ride back to Songjiang City to look for someone at Prince Qi's Mansion.
After the guards left, Shopkeeper Han came back and stared at Gu Youan, saying, "I naturally believe what you said, young lady, but someone needs to be told at Prince Qi's mansion. Please come with me."
Gu Youan knew that Manager Han wanted to accept the favor from Prince Qi's Mansion, but was afraid of taking responsibility, so he wanted to take her away just in case.
Gu Youan couldn't walk, but he wanted to hitchhike with the caravan, which was exactly what he wanted.
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