Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Journey to Shanhaiguan
After borrowing a room from the post station, Mrs. Du took her two daughters into the room to take a bath. Gu Wen and his son Gu Wenqing were guarding outside the door.
Gu Youan asked her mother to wash first.
Mrs. Du naturally understood what her eldest daughter meant. She pointed to a chair in the corner and said, "Then go sit over there and wait."
Gu Youan looked over and saw a gray-blue curtain at the edge of the wall pillar. The curtain blocked her view. When she sat there, her mother couldn't see her at all while she was taking a bath.
Mrs. Du didn't care, she just wanted to avoid Axuan.
Mrs. Du took Axuan to wash her hair and take a bath. Gu Youan dodged and turned into the space.
These days, Gu Youan didn't dare to look in the mirror when he entered the space. Now he went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. His hair was hanging down in greasy strands. When he lifted his hair, his nails scratched across his forehead. There was a layer of gray-black oil in the cracks of his nails, which made Gu Youan feel sick.
She couldn't bear it any longer, so she washed, scrubbed, and soaked her clothes. If she hadn't thought about her mother waiting for her outside, she really wanted to wash for another half an hour before going out.
When Gu Youan came out again, Mrs. Du saw her half-figure behind the curtain and breathed a sigh of relief: "An An, come here and help your sister wipe her hair."
"good."
Gu Youan held two absorbent towels in her hands, one for her mother and one for herself to wipe Axuan's hair.
After washing her body and feeling comfortable, Axuan fell asleep before she finished washing her hair. She didn't even remember she was hungry at that moment.
"Wait for her to sleep for a while, she'll wake up when she's too hungry."
Mrs. Du wiped her hair until it was half dry and whispered to her eldest daughter, "This handkerchief is really useful."
"It's dark and can't be seen, and this handkerchief isn't noticeable. Why don't we call Dad and Big Brother in and wipe their hair too? Otherwise, their hair won't get cold if it's not dried for a long time."
"No need, the men can handle it." Mrs. Du was afraid that her eldest son would notice something.
Gu Youan's hair roots were blow-dried when they came out, and only the tips were still a little damp. Madam Du touched them and said, "Alright, carry Axuan inside. I'll ask your father and the others to bring the water out and pour it out."
Mrs. Du sighed, "The postman who manages the kitchen is kind-hearted. I'll take your father and your brother to the kitchen to sit for a while. It's warm there, and their hair will dry faster."
"Um."
Gu Youan carried Axuan back home. There were two stoves in the house. The Tian family's clay pot was placed on the stove, and the soup in the stove was boiling.
The Gu and Tian families were cooking shredded dry biscuits with a handful of dried vegetables in their pots. The men of the Tian family were not at home, so only Bai was sitting on the hay, roasting her hair and watching the fire.
Diagonally across from them, the smell of sweet potatoes came from the pots of the Li and Su families. They must have bought them from the postman.
Gu Youan sat over and put Axuan on her lap. The stove made her whole body warm. Gu Youan used his fingers to comb Axuan's hair from time to time.
Bai asked, "Why haven't your parents come back yet?"
"I went to the kitchen to dry my hair. We can't sit on the stove here."
Bai smiled faintly and said, "Indeed, your uncle Tian and the others have also gone to the kitchen."
Bai gave some money and sent the father and son to find a way to buy some useful things, such as shoes, socks and food.
Gu Youan naturally understood what Bai meant. The postmen at this post station were not like those cruel and vicious people who would bully them cruelly just because they were fugitives. If they begged, they might be willing to help them.
The cold rain was drizzling outside the inn, but the warmth inside the house was intoxicating.
A Xuan slept for a while and woke up hungry. She ate some biscuits and dried vegetables cooked into porridge in a daze. Gu Youan took her to the toilet and came back. She lay on the hay for a while and fell asleep again.
Gu Youan had dinner and waited for a while, but her parents didn't come back. She waited and waited, and she felt sleepy. Bai told her to go to bed first, and she would watch over her. Gu Youan felt relieved and closed her eyes.
In the middle of the night, Du and the others came back. Gu Youan was woken up. He was still sleepy, so he opened his eyes, took a look, and then closed them again to sleep.
When I woke up the next morning, the rain had stopped, but the official road was slippery and difficult to walk on, so I couldn't stay there.
I walked on the road wearing straw sandals, and my protruding toes touched the mud, which was cold and uncomfortable. The weather was getting cold again.
The old saying goes that every autumn rain brings a chill.
The journey was tiring, but the only good thing was that we had something delicious to eat. The four families all bought food at the previous post station. The Gu family bought some pickled cabbage buns, and each of them ate one in the evening. They were so delicious.
After a hard day, having a delicious meal is a little comfort.
When resting at night, Gu Youan's feet were cold, and he didn't want his old clothes to get stained with mud, so he could only cover his feet with some hay to barely keep out the cold.
During her exile, she hadn't eaten or slept well and had caught a cold. She was really afraid that she would develop an incurable disease.
But I can't care about these things at the moment, I can only grit my teeth and persevere.
They were worried that the rain would affect their journey, and they were also worried that the weather would get too cold too quickly for them to bear, so they traveled extremely fast these past two days.
Seeing that they were almost at Shanhaiguan, Gu Wen took the initiative to get close to the officers.
Apart from these fugitives, only one of the eight officers had ever been to Songjiang City, and he went there in the summer. In fact, the officers were also afraid of the wind and snow outside the pass.
Gu Wen had known for a long time that if these officials had not gone to Songjiang City on official business to buy some medicinal herbs and furs and send them back to Luoyang to sell the following year, they would probably not have accepted this mission.
Gu Wen grasped their thoughts and took the initiative to say, "Outside the pass, the snow is very strong. The snow can reach up to your thighs overnight. If you are not prepared, your toes will be frozen off after walking in the snow in straw sandals for a whole day."
"What do you have to say?"
"Calculating the time, we can reach Shanhaiguan in two or three days, which is seven or eight days earlier than the date stipulated by the court. Why don't we rest in Shanhaiguan for a day while the adults prepare some warm clothes and shoes before setting off again? We don't have to worry about being killed by the severe cold in Northeast China."
Officer Huang sneered: "Is it more convenient for us or for you fugitives?"
"The adults are escorting us to Songjiang City. If we don't think of some way, we will all die in the wind and snow, which will not be good for the adults. This is a win-win situation for both of us." Gu Wen said this frankly.
Gu Wen added, "I've heard that Shanhaiguan is close to the sea, and the local fishermen have caught a lot of seafood and dried it, but have nowhere else to sell it. The prices are very cheap. If you are interested, you can take this opportunity to go and have a look."
Seeing Gu Wen say this, Tian Qingde and Li Hongwen came over to join in.
Li Hongwen said, "There are very few civilians in and around Shanhaiguan at present, except for the Yanzhou Army stationed there. The bulk of the seafood business is mostly controlled by the military leaders. Although the local seafood is cheap, reselling it also brings huge profits. If you don't spend some time to ask around, you will probably find it difficult to buy good and cheap goods."
Tian Qingde continued, "That's exactly what you said."
Li Hongwen, Tian Qingde and the others naturally understood what these officers were planning. Officer Huang and the others were no fools either, and they also understood the intentions of Gu Wen and the others.
Officer Huang and the others exchanged a glance. Officer Huang made up his mind and snorted, "Then it's as you wish. If we can reach Shanhaiguan the day after tomorrow, we can rest for a day before we continue."
After hearing this, the adults of the four families were secretly happy, but Su Guang had other thoughts.
If they could meet someone they knew in Shanhaiguan, they could ask someone to go to Songjiang City to report the news and ask King Qi to send someone to pick them up so that their children and grandchildren would not have to endure the pain of traveling in the wind and snow.
Children are difficult to raise. His three grandchildren are so young that a cold could kill them. How could he, as a grandfather, bear that?
The Li, Tian, and Gu families were considering what they could exchange for the money and belongings they had. In order to avoid freezing to death in the wind and snow, they took out everything they had hidden.
With a goal in mind, I was no longer afraid of hard work and hurried along the way, finally arriving at Shanhaiguan in the afternoon of the next day.
"arrive."
"We're finally here."
Everyone felt relieved that they could finally rest for a day.
There are officers and soldiers stationed near the Shanhaiguan pass. Not to mention the fugitives, even ordinary people and caravans are not allowed to stay near it except to pass through the customs.
According to the rules, Officer Huang took them to a post station ten miles away from Shanhaiguan.
Since they could reach this place, the officers were no longer worried that they would escape. They rested at the post station for one night and went about their business early the next morning.
After washing up and changing into clean clothes last night, Gu Youan slept soundly. When she woke up, many people were missing from the room.
Bai had caught a cold the day before yesterday and had a cough. Seeing that she had woken up, she said, "The postman at the post station doesn't care about us. Officer Huang and his men have gone to the fishing village, and each family has made their own arrangements to go out."
"Your parents and your eldest brother are all out. Oh, and your mother took your sister away too because she was afraid she would bother you."
Gu Youan asked, "Aunt, don't you want to go out for a walk?"
Mrs. Bai smiled slightly and said, "Your mother prepared a pot of medicine for me this morning. I drank it and can't be exposed to the wind, so I won't go. If you want to go out and take a look, go ahead. Don't worry about your luggage, I'll be watching over it inside."
In addition to Bai, the Su family left Su Guang's elderly daughter Su Xiang with three nephews and nieces, and the Li family left Liu to look after things.
Gu Youan smiled and said to Bai: "Okay, I'll go out for a walk. I haven't seen the sea yet."
"You want to go to the beach? You can go, but be careful and don't go into the sea. It's not safe. Your mother seems to want to go to the beach too. She said she wants to see if she can pick up some seafood."
Gu Youan put on a faded green coat. She was too thin, and the clothes that had previously fitted her were now too big for her. She rolled up her sleeves slightly, gathered her hair up, and tied it into a bun with a hemp rope, dressing like a man.
Seeing her dressed like this, Bai deliberately said, "Well, even if she's a little darker, she's still handsome. Whose young master is this good-looking?"
Gu Youan put on his straw sandals and stood up with a smile: "Aunt, I'll go out first."
"Well, go ahead."
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