Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Survival
As soon as the people from Prince Qi's Mansion left, the post station became quiet. After a good night's rest, the Han family's caravan drove the horses and prepared to leave the next morning.
Gu Youan took his sister out and happened to run into Manager Han. Gu Youan greeted him.
Shopkeeper Han replied, "Hello, Miss Gu," and then said, "The first snow fell the day before yesterday, and there will be many more snowy days in the future. My caravan is hurrying back to Songjiang City while the snow is still light on the official road. Miss Gu, would you like to come with us?"
Gu Youan thanked Manager Han for his kindness but declined, saying, "My family is still exiles and needs to wait for the court's arrangements. Besides, my parents haven't returned yet, so my sister and I have to wait for them at the post station."
Shopkeeper Han said with a smile, "That's fine. I happen to be waiting here for Zhou Changshi to come back. We are quite familiar with each other, so we can keep each other company."
"Manager Han, aren't you in a hurry to go back?" Gu Youan was a little surprised.
"Hahaha, the caravan's cargo is important and needs to be sent back quickly, but I'm not in a hurry."
Gu Youan looked at Han's expression and immediately understood that he was waiting for news from Zhou Changshi. Han had originally sent a message to Prince Qi's mansion to establish a connection with him. Instead of returning to Songjiang City to wait, it would be better for him to stay here.
Gu Youan bowed and said, "When my parents, Lord Su and the others return safely, I will definitely thank Manager Han."
The smile on Shopkeeper Han's face suddenly deepened, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, are all the daughters of officials in Luoyang City so smart?
Gu Youan was not a talkative man. He exchanged a few words with Manager Han and then went to find the postman to buy breakfast.
The postman brought the two sisters two bowls of thick millet porridge, two eggs, a plate of buns, and a plate of pickled cabbage.
"If you two young ladies need anything, just let me know. There's no need to ask for money. Manager Han has already told us that he will cover all your expenses for the few days you stay at the post station."
The postman brought breakfast and then bowed and left.
Manager Han was standing outside the door watching his men tying up boxes of goods. Gu Youan was in no hurry to thank him, but sat in the hall with his sister to eat breakfast.
As Ah Xuan ate with eyes that curved, she smiled and said to her sister, "It's delicious! It's better than the food we have at home."
Gu Youan smiled and touched her pointed chin: "Do you remember what we had for breakfast?"
For adults, although the time since exile is not long, when they think about their life in Luoyang before exile, it is like their previous life, and they seem to have forgotten most of it.
Ah Xuan took a mouthful of porridge and a mouthful of steamed bun, and said vaguely: "Mom likes to eat fried egg and vegetable noodles in the morning. I don't like to eat vegetables. Mom scolds me."
Gu Youan suddenly remembered that she was still stupid and dazed at that time. Whenever Axuan refused to eat vegetables, her father would say, "If you don't like vegetables, don't eat them." Then he would ask the cook to chop the vegetables into pieces and make them into dumplings or wontons for Axuan to eat.
Gu Youan loves to eat vegetables and is not picky about food, but she doesn't eat much. In addition, she has a bad stomach, so she doesn't gain weight. Her parents see how thin she is, and they sigh every time.
Although she was confused in her dreams, when she thought about the more than ten years she lived in Luoyang, all she could think of were the memories of her parents loving her.
"Sister, save these three buns for Dad, Mom, and Brother."
Gu Youan came back to his senses and said with a smile, "No need to stay. When my parents come back, we can ask someone to send them back. Anyway, Manager Han will treat us to a meal."
Ah Xuan picked up another bun and took a bite: "Sister, Shopkeeper Han is a good person!"
Gu Youan couldn't help laughing. Although Manager Han had other intentions, he was a good person to them by helping the two sisters in their time of need.
After the two sisters finished their breakfast, the Han family's caravan set off outside the house. Shopkeeper Han came in and Gu Youan thanked him with a smile.
Shopkeeper Han laughed and told her not to take it to heart.
Gu Youan was about to say something polite when Shopkeeper Han said, "Miss Gu, it wasn't easy for you and your group to come all the way from Luoyang. The friendship and support you have for each other is definitely unmatched. Are you on good terms with Lord Su?"
Gu Youan smiled slightly and gave the answer he expected, saying, "From what I know, Lord Su is a man who will repay a favor, and so am I. When my parents and Lord Su return, I will definitely tell Lord Su all about Manager Han's help."
Shopkeeper Han laughed heartily: "That's not necessary. Too much is as bad as too little."
Gu Youan smiled and nodded to show that he understood.
Gu Youan said goodbye and took his sister back to the house to rest.
There was no one else in the hall. Manager Han's personal servant stepped forward, flattering him with a smile, "Our Han family is a well-known and wealthy family in Songjiang City. Second Master, you are of noble birth, so why should you be so polite to a fugitive?"
"Idiot, what do you know?" Shopkeeper Han shouted angrily.
The servant lowered his head slightly and dared not say a word.
Shopkeeper Han snorted softly, "Foolish thing, you must understand that people are different, and even exiles are different from each other."
Songjiang City has been a cold and bitter place since ancient times. It was only in the past hundred years that it became a place of exile for the Central Plains dynasties that many Han people gradually began to appear in Songjiang City.
Only with the population did people come to open up the wasteland, which in turn attracted more people, and with the emergence of merchants, trade between the north and the south began, and today's Songjiang City gradually took shape.
In other places, many convicted officials lived a life worse than death, but in Songjiang City, which was short of people, those who could survive the first five years of land reclamation and had the ability and connections could be promoted from a convicted official to a small official in charge in just ten years.
The young lady of the Gu family sent a letter to save the husband of King Qi. If it succeeds, his family won't have to go to the wasteland for five years, and they may be able to change their fortunes within a few years.
Shopkeeper Han is a businessman who has traveled all over the country and has seen people of all ranks. With his keen eyesight, he can naturally see the intelligence of Miss Gu. Could the parents who can raise such a daughter be stupid?
Shopkeeper Han glanced at the servant and said, "We all come from humble beginnings. Don't become snobbish before you've even achieved success."
"I dare not."
What are you afraid of? Shopkeeper Han was getting more and more dissatisfied with the boy. He thought, "What a fool!" He would never dare to take him with him next time he went out.
Gu Youan didn't know about the quarrels between the master and servant of the Han family. She had some free time and couldn't help but wonder how her parents were doing. She went over the events of the previous day over and over in her mind, afraid that she was thinking wrongly. Was the bandit not after money, but after their lives?
Their family was already exiled, so what good would it do for the bandits to kill them? It didn't make sense.
Thinking about it again, she must be right. Her parents should still be alive and well, and the people from Prince Qi's Mansion will definitely be able to rescue them.
As for Zhou Changshi, he set out for Qingshan Village in the dark last night. This morning, at dawn, the officers and soldiers of Prince Qi's Mansion had already arrived at the foot of Qingshan Village.
After killing several sentries along the way, the group quietly reached the gate of Qingshan Village before being spotted by patrolling bandits.
As planned, the people from Prince Qi's Mansion wiped out the entire gang of bandits in Qingshan Village. In addition to rescuing the officers and the families of Su, Li, Tian, and Gu, they also rescued more than a hundred young women and servants who were captured and taken to the mountains.
Zhou Changshi wanted to let these people go down the mountain, but these women whose innocence had been defiled dared not return to their hometown and cried and begged for shelter.
Zhou Changshi thought that Songjiang City was short of people anyway, so he asked them if they were willing to go to Songjiang City to open up wasteland. One by one, they all said yes.
Gu Youan looked left and right, from morning to night. When it was dark, the sound of horse hooves came from the south side of the official road. Gu Youan hurried to the eaves to wait.
A Xuan stamped her feet anxiously: "Are mom and dad back?"
Not seeing anyone, Gu Youan didn't dare to answer.
Shopkeeper Han ran out and said with a smile, "Young lady, don't worry. The soldiers from Prince Qi's Mansion are all elite and strong. They can defeat a group of bandits without any problems."
The sound of horse hooves was getting closer, and Gu Youan could see clearly that the one leading the group was indeed Zhou Changshi, and with Zhou Changshi was Su Guang.
Shopkeeper Han also saw it and asked excitedly, "Is that Master Su next to Mr. Zhou?"
Gu Youan nodded, unwilling to say anything more. He stretched his neck and stood on tiptoe to look back.
Behind the officers and soldiers of Prince Qi's Mansion, there was a group of people following. Gu Youan stared at them intently, and finally saw his parents, then he smiled.
Gu Youan picked up Axuan and asked her to look: "Dad and Mom are back."
A Xuan's eyes widened, and she waved and yelled, "Daddy, Mommy, A Xuan is here, look at me, brother."
Gu Wen and Mrs. Du also saw their two daughters. They saw that they were dressed neatly and the youngest daughter still had the strength to call them. Mrs. Du held back her tears, ran towards her daughters with red eyes, and hugged both daughters.
Gu Wen and Gu Wenqing also came running over.
Gu Youan smiled and said, "Seeing that my parents and brother are all well, I feel relieved."
Ah Xuan quickly replied, "I'm relieved too."
Mrs. Du suddenly smiled and kissed her daughter's face: "You two have made your father and I worried terribly."
When the Tian family arrived, Tian Qingde said, "You and your wife have nothing to worry about since you gave birth to such a smart and clever daughter. If it were me, I wouldn't even have time to laugh."
Mrs. Bai smiled and said to Gu Youan, "Auntie wants to thank you very much. If it weren't for you, our whole family might have died in the bandit's den."
Tian Erlang said, "Little sister Gu, my family owes you four lives. From now on, if you say go east, I will never go west."
Gu Wen looked at his daughter carefully, then turned to the Tian family and said, "Our two families have supported each other all along the way to where we are today. There's no need to say these words. It hurts the relationship."
Gu Youan followed her father's words and said, "Saving you is also saving my parents. Uncle and aunt, there's no need to praise me like this. I'm just a small family, how can I bear it?"
Su Guang dismounted, walked over, and praised: "You, a young lady, are better than the two sons I raised. You deserve praise, you deserve praise."
This girl hid in the mountains with her four-year-old sister for a night. The next day, she had the courage to go down the mountain to Songjiang City. On the way, she met the Han family and asked for help. Every word she said hit the Han family's weak spot, and she planned a way out for them.
Su Guang couldn't help but feel shocked when he heard those words from Zhou Changshi!
During the exile, I seldom heard the girl from the Gu family speak. I didn't expect that she was such a thoughtful person and could speak so well.
Su Guang was full of gratitude to Gu Youan. Even though the Lu family had always been at odds with the Du family, he bowed his head today and thanked Gu Youan, praising the Gu family for raising a good daughter.
When they go to Songjiang City, they may have to rely on the Su family's power. Mrs. Du did not bother with Mrs. Lu, and both of them spoke to each other quite politely.
When everyone arrived, Gu Youan found that all the members of the Su and Tian families were present, but three people were missing from the Li family: Li Hongwen, Li Wangfeng, and Li's only grandson, Li Wendan.
With so many people coming to the post station at once, there must not be enough rooms. The Prince Qi's Mansion is the largest here, so naturally the people from the Prince Qi's Mansion should be arranged first.
Besides the people from Prince Qi's Mansion, Su Guang had a special status, so the Su family was given a room. Gu Youan had made a great contribution in reporting the news, so the Gu family naturally also had a room. The people from the Li family and Qingshan Village were accommodated in the kitchen and livestock room.
The Gu family and the Tian family are good friends, and Gu Wen invited the Tian family to live together.
It was quite convenient for two families to live in the same room. Gu Youan personally went to talk to the shopkeeper Han and asked for a few buckets of hot water so that both families could take a shower.
After the lights were turned off at night, Gu Youan heard from his parents that Li Hongwen, Li Wangfeng and Li Wendan were all dead.
Li Wangfeng wanted to be free, but he didn't expect that the bandits he recruited were unreasonable. After going up the mountain, he was severely tortured and asked where his family's gold, silver and jewelry were, and whether he had any other private possessions.
Li Wangfeng could not bear the torture and told everything. However, the bandits in Qingshan Village did not believe him and dragged Li Hongwen away for interrogation. Fearing that Li Hongwen would not tell the whole story, they stripped Li Wendan, the only grandson of the Li family, and threw him outside to freeze, forcing Li Hongwen to speak.
"Alas, that fellow Li Wangfeng let the thieves into the house and killed his father and nephew. Li Hongwen's death is not a pity, but it is a pity for that six-year-old child."
"That child's crime doesn't deserve death!"
Gu Youan hurriedly asked his parents, "Have you suffered?"
Tian Erlang laughed: "The bandits are not stupid. They know that our two families are from humble backgrounds and guessed that we don't have much money, so they targeted the Li and Su families."
"How is the Su family?"
"Su Guang was whipped, and the three grandchildren of the Su family were thrown out to freeze in the snow. As soon as they were thrown out, people from Prince Qi's mansion arrived."
Tian Erlang turned to Gu Youan and said, "You have done a great favor to the Su family."
If the Prince Qi's Mansion had known the news a little late, Su Guang would have had a hard time saying that the three children of the Su family would have been the same as the one of the Li family and would not have survived.
Gu Youan doesn't really care about the Su family. She only cares about whether her parents are doing well.
After talking about several families, he finally mentioned Officer Huang and his men. Two of the eight officers died, and the others who did not dare to resist were spared.
Tian Qingde also sighed: "Zhou Changshi promised to take us to Songjiang City. We will set off tomorrow and arrive the day after tomorrow at the latest."
Hunger, the torment of cold and heat on the road, life hanging by a thread, fear pounding in my heart, this road of exile is finally coming to an end.
Arriving in Songjiang City, it was a new day.
Whether they are reclaiming wasteland or doing anything else, there is always a way for them to survive.
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