Chapter 139
Two days later, Fan Xiaoxiao and her friends finally met up with Aunt Wang and her group, who had arrived a little late.
"You're saying Princess Renle is arresting a peasant woman surnamed Fan?"
Gu Zhongtai was unusually lucid on this day, and after listening to Fan Xiaoxiao and the others' description, his brows remained furrowed.
"Yes, it seems my news has already reached Yongzhou."
Fan Xiaoxiao sighed. Why is it so hard to have a couple of peaceful days?
"Sister, please remember not to call me Er Ya from now on, call me Xiao Xiao. We must be careful when we are out and about."
"Okay!"
After a brief rest, the group resumed their journey.
After passing through Yongzhou, they headed straight for Hanhai, but Hanhai had always belonged to the Liao state during the Zhou Dynasty.
Therefore, the first challenge they faced in taking over Dao Hanhai's business was passing the test.
...
Seven more days passed, the mountains and rivers gradually leveled out, and the villages they encountered along the way became fewer and fewer. The group continued their journey and finally arrived at Yuequan Pass before sunset that day.
Fan Xiaoxiao lifted the curtain, looked at the checkpoint in the distance, and then called for the carriage to stop.
The carriage stopped at a riverbank, and the women began preparing the evening meal. Uncle Wang and Grandpa Lu fed the horses and boiled water, while Baihua and Xiaohei went to the distant checkpoint to scout out the situation.
When it was time to eat, Baihua and Xiaohei returned. Madam Fan and Aunt Wang quickly handed them flatbread and water.
After thanking each other, the two began to talk about the situation. It turned out that this pass was guarded by the General of the Cavalry, and his men were all good-for-nothings.
Therefore, the guards here are not strict; you only need to show some filial piety to get through.
"After passing the checkpoint, we'll reach the Vast Sea. I just asked Little White Flower and I, and they've agreed on the price for crossing the checkpoint: five taels of silver per person."
Aunt Wang stared in surprise, her eyes widening: "So expensive?"
"It's better than going through the capital, old woman. Now is not the time to be stingy with money."
Fan Xiaoxiao nodded: "Godfather is right. Problems that can be solved with money are not a big deal! The real problem is when money can't solve anything."
Bai Hua took out the money pouch from her bosom: "I still have fifty taels left."
"Xiaoyu and I can pay for it ourselves."
Master Lu took out ten taels of silver and placed it in Bai Hua's hand. Fan Xiaoxiao counted out twenty-five taels of silver, which was the maximum she could afford. Seeing her actions, Aunt Wang quickly counted out ten taels of silver and placed them in her hand.
“This belongs to me and my godfather, so don’t try to refuse it.”
Fan Xiaoxiao glanced at Aunt Wang, who pressed her hand down as if afraid she would refuse. Fan Xiaoxiao had no choice but to obediently accept it.
"This is for the five of us. Since we need to get through this, we can't let you pay any more money."
The five of them paid a total of twenty-five taels of silver. Bai Hua nodded and accepted the silver. Since the Ghost Doctor was one of their people, it was naturally their money.
After collecting enough silver to pass the checkpoint, everyone began packing up to get some rest. However, before going to sleep, Fan Xiaoxiao pulled Xiao Hei and Bai Hua aside and whispered to them for a while.
Before dawn the next day, several soldiers guarding the pass were still yawning.
Two carriages slowly made their way through the morning mist. The soldiers, hearing the clattering of hooves, perked up and raised their spears, crossing them to block the carriages.
"Who goes there!"
"Sir, we're going to the other side to do some business!" Xiao Hei said with a sly smile, looking quite like a cunning businessman.
The soldier glanced at him, then looked at the two carriages.
Who are the people in the carriage?
"Oh! They're all family members. We merchants have nowhere to stay, so we had no choice but to bring our whole families with us."
After saying that, Xiao Hei lifted the curtain to let the soldier peek inside the carriage.
"Oh, you have quite a few family members."
The soldier carefully scanned the faces of the people in the carriage, and when he looked at Fan Xiaoxiao, he glanced at her a couple more times.
Fan Xiaoxiao met his gaze and put on a somewhat frightened expression.
"Sir? Is there something wrong with my brother?" Xiao Hei smiled and moved closer to the soldier, subtly pushing him aside.
"younger brother?"
The soldier caught the key point in Xiao Hei's words: Fan Xiaoxiao now looked like a little boy to anyone.
"Is this your brother?"
"Yes, sir! This is my younger brother!"
Fan Xiaoxiao was secretly relieved, but fortunately the military officer did not intend to investigate whether she was male or female.
After counting the number of people again, he said sarcastically, "You have quite a lot of family members. You all go to do business among the tribes in the vast sea. Do you think you can make any money?"
As he said this, the soldier glanced at the herbs and rice inside the carriage.
Xiao Hei chuckled dryly, "Sir, there's a famine in our hometown. We've been trading like this for a while and we're already struggling to make ends meet, now we have nowhere to go. It's better for the whole family to stay together, at least we can look after each other."
The soldier chuckled and looked him up and down a few times: "Your family seems quite united, but there are rules for you here too."
Xiao Hei and Bai Hua exchanged a glance. The latter took a step forward without making a sound and asked in a softer voice, "We inquired beforehand, is this the number of people we have here?"
Bai Hua held up his hand and made a three-pointer. The soldier raised an eyebrow and glanced at him with some displeasure: "Who taught you this rule? It's clearly this."
The man held up a six, and Bai Hua frowned, a hint of difficulty on her face: "This..."
The soldier noticed the difficulty on his face, raised his eyebrows, and his expression revealed a hint of disdain.
"What? You can't come up with that amount? You think you can get through without money? Get out, get out!"
After saying that, he reached out to shove Bai Hua. But he didn't notice the ruthlessness that flashed in the other's eyes. Then Fan Xiaoxiao saw Bai Hua silently pat the soldier on the shoulder.
The latter furrowed his brow in displeasure, immediately raising his voice to strike with his spear: "What do you want to do!"
With lightning speed, Xiao Hei grabbed the soldier's spear, his strength so great that it brought the soldier to a complete stop.
Just as the other person was about to shout, Xiao Hei quickly stuffed an ounce of silver into his arms, thus stopping the other person from calling for help.
“Sir, to be honest… we really didn’t have any money on us, and we really can’t come up with the amount you mentioned. Consider what we said earlier as an apology for our ignorance. Please be lenient with us, sir. We will definitely bring you some more as a token of our respect when we return.”
"..."
The soldier remained silent for a long time, then tried to move his spear, only to find that he couldn't budge his opponent at all.
He then narrowed his eyes and said, "The five taels of silver is the lowest I can offer."
...
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the carriage clattered out of the border.
Fan Xiaoxiao leaned out of the carriage. Across the way, an endless grassland stretched out before her, with wisps of red glow slowly appearing. The grassland was magnificent, and its vastness stretched out before her eyes.
She glanced back at the soldier, who was twisting his body with a furrowed brow.
"Ouch, it itches so much! Why is it so itchy?"
"How long has it been since you fucking showered?!"
"I don't know either..."
(End of this chapter)
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