Chapter 43 (First published on Jinjiang Literature City)
Chapter Forty-Three
Lin Rong fled westward.
For a period of time at the beginning, she sold her horse and traveled by boat to escape Luzhou.
After leaving the city, Lin Rong went to a bookstore in the market and bought a local history book explaining the customs and traditions of various places. She originally wanted to buy a map, but maps were expensive. Even an old sheepskin scroll cost one or two taels of silver. Only a military general like Pei Zan, who had a large family and business, had the ability and spare money to purchase a map of the entire Wei Kingdom.
Lin Rong couldn't bear to spend the money, so she could only carefully study the local gazetteer and ask the boatmen about the routes of waterways and official roads in various places.
Lin Rong traveled day and night, single-mindedly heading towards Shaozhou.
Shaozhou borders Qingzhou, but it is not one of the six southern prefectures. As long as Lin Rong escapes from the south, Pei Zan will be too far away to catch her.
Lin Rong comforted herself while quickening her pace to escape.
She was afraid of being pursued, so she dared not stay in any inn or post station at night, fearing that she would be captured while she was asleep and taken back to Luzhou.
Lin Rong usually brought some dry food to spend the night in deserted temples, or spent a little money to stay in private homes.
Fortunately, Lin Rong had sores on her face and had applied a light black ointment. Even though her voice was soft and she was often suspected of being a woman, no one would do anything to an ugly and dirty woman dressed as a man.
About half a month later, Lin Rong finally arrived in Qingzhou.
If she could stay in the south for another day or two, Lin Rong would be able to escape. She was overjoyed, but she dared not let her guard down.
Lin Rong guessed that Pei Zan was cautious and might have already gotten information from Wu Nianzhen... He must know that she had fled to Shaozhou. If that was the case, Lin Rong could not go to Shaozhou.
Lin Rong counted the remaining twenty-odd taels of silver. She found a villager in Jinshui Town, Qingzhou, and paid someone to act as guarantor to get her a new travel permit to Liangzhou.
This time, Lin Rong erased her "Luzhou place of origin" from the travel permit, falsely claiming that the guarantor was her cousin, while she was actually from Qingzhou. In this way, she could prevent Pei Zan from checking her identity by pointing out that she was a "Luzhou person who moved around to visit relatives".
Liangzhou is not far from Shaozhou, but it is very close to the western border. The weather on the border of Wei is cold and the snow-capped peaks are long, which is not really suitable for a girl like Lin Rong who is used to the dampness of the south to settle down.
But Lin Rong couldn't care less about all that. She had no choice but to go to Liangzhou to settle down first in order to get rid of Pei Zan, and then discuss the rest later.
It was more than a month later when Lin Rong arrived in Liangzhou.
It was August, late summer, and the days were getting colder.
Lin Rong had been working hard for a month, and her body was exhausted, so unsurprisingly she fell ill.
Lin Rong rarely treated herself well. She spent two qian of silver to stay in a clean and tidy inn. She not only sent the innkeeper's assistant out to buy medicine, but also washed herself from head to toe.
Seeing the bucket of filthy, dark water, Lin Rong, wrapped in her warm bedding, chuckled inexplicably.
She's safe now, and she can finally get a good night's sleep.
The heavy weight that had been pressing on Lin Rong's heart seemed to suddenly dissipate in that instant.
Lin Rong drank the medicine and then ate a bowl of "bo yu zi" (a type of fish dish) topped with minced meat sauce.
This is a local noodle dish from Liangzhou. It's not difficult to make. Simply spread the dough at the bottom of a bowl, then use chopsticks to roll and rub it before shoveling it into a pot of boiling water to cook these delicious noodle dumplings.
Lin Rong likes sour flavors, so she added a few spoonfuls of aged vinegar to the soup.
After sleeping until the afternoon and regaining her senses, Lin Rong went to the street and bought several Hu robes, as well as local specialties such as Hu flatbread, naan bread, and cured mutton.
Even though Liangzhou is located in the west, the local people can speak the language of the Great Wei, but they don't speak it very well. Their accents sound a bit like the language of the Hu people. Lin Rong also saw many Tibetans with deep-set eyes and high noses on the street.
Liangzhou was not a wealthy region. Although it traded with the Western Regions, it was still much poorer than the southern regions, which were known as the "granary of the world".
Liangzhou is close to the border. Although there are conflicts among the nomadic tribes, it is still more suitable to seek refuge in the west than in the current chaos in the Central Plains.
The only downside is that Liangzhou has a cold and dry climate, which is not very suitable for farming. Local people usually eat fried dough sticks, noodles, and roasted meat.
Therefore, Lin Rong's expertise in farming could not be of much use, but she could ride horses and knew about animal husbandry, so she could try to buy horses, raise sheep, milk them, and produce milk to be self-sufficient.
After making inquiries, Lin Rong chose a remote and inexpensive mud-brick courtyard in Yushan Village, outside the main city.
Even a small courtyard would cost ten taels of silver. Lin Rong didn't hesitate; heaven knows how much she longed to have a place to call her own.
Lin Rong divided the remaining money into two portions.
Keep a copy safe, just in case.
She used the other portion to buy furniture, food, bedding, and also raised a few lambs, chickens, and ducks, and incidentally bought a hunting dog to guard the house.
The puppy was born weak and could only bark a few times when it saw strangers, but it couldn't scare them away.
That day, Lin Rong was cooking noodles on the earthen stove at home when she suddenly heard several urgent barks from outside the yard.
Lin Rong became wary, holding a red-hot pair of fire tongs, and tiptoed out of the kitchen.
Before she could swing her stick at him, a tall man dressed in a Hu robe begged for mercy, saying in broken Da Wei dialect, "Miss Mu, I... I'm here to deliver some cheese to you. My name is Yang Feng, and I live at the village entrance... The village chief said that we have a new guest in our village and asked me to come and take a look."
Lin Rong publicly claims that her surname is "Mu", and everyone calls her Miss Mu.
Lin Rong realized she had wronged the good man and quickly apologized to Yang Feng.
She glanced at the sweet and sour cheese in the earthenware jar, quickly wiped the water off her hands, and brought Yang Feng a bowl of sliced lamb leg and cured meat.
"It's only right to reciprocate. I can't just take Brother Yang's food for nothing. Here, take this... If there's a chance in the future, could I ask Brother Yang for his recipe for making cheese?"
Lin Rong inquired with the local people about how to make milk skin, how to extract cheese from sheep's milk, and how to make raw ghee and ghee, but the old people spoke with accents and mixed in some foreign dialects, which Lin Rong could not understand.
Since Yang Hui knows how to make cheese, why not just learn from him?
Yang Feng didn't expect Lin Rong to be so easy to talk to. Meat was much more expensive than goat milk, and she was giving him a bowl of meat in return, clearly wanting to pay some "tuition fee" in advance.
Yang Feng was a straightforward man, and upon hearing this, he immediately agreed: "What's so difficult about that? Miss Mu will come over tomorrow, and I happen to be drying milk skin. I can teach you how to make cheese, stir-fry cheese, and dry cheese!"
Lin Rong was delighted and nodded with a smile.
At night, after feeding the puppy Dahuang, three lambs, and a few chickens, Lin Rong ate soft pears mixed with the white cheese milk that Yang Feng had brought.
She still had a few taels of silver left, enough to last until next year.
Lambs can be raised for five or six months and then slaughtered. The meat is dried, the hides and wool are cut to remove the greasy parts that are prone to spoilage and odor, and the excess mutton is sold for money.
Add some poultry, and you can transplant fruit trees in the yard, slowly raising them to bear fruit. You can use sugar frosting to make jam, seal it in earthenware jars for storage. Eating naan bread plain is too bland; spreading a little sweet jam on it is just right.
Once the toughest first year is over, Lin Rong will have some spare money. At that time, she can even go out on the street to bake flatbread, sell milk skin, and flaky cheese...
Lin Rong felt at ease as she pondered ways to make a living.
She let out a long sigh, filled with anticipation for a happy future.
-
Qingzhou, the prefectural government office.
Xiao Wenhan, the governor in charge of the state's affairs, was completely at a loss. He looked up and saw the Pei family's flags fluttering in the wind in the distance.
"Stand up straight! Stop looking so gloomy! Grand Commander Pei has arrived!"
Tens of thousands of soldiers, clad in armor and armed with weapons, surged forth like several black-armored torrents.
The soldiers were in perfect military formation, their momentum unstoppable. The thunderous hoofbeats alone were enough to send chills down the spines of the officials who were "receiving" the emperor.
Upon seeing the carriage from afar, Xiao Wenhan immediately put on a smiling face and bowed as he stepped forward: "Grand Commander Pei has come from afar, which truly honors my humble abode."
Pei Zan is now the local tyrant of the six southern states. Offending him could lead to demotion at any time, so Xiao Wenhan dared not be negligent.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and a man with a slender and elegant appearance stepped out of the carriage.
Pei Zan's clear, long eyes swept over the lintel of the Xiao residence, and he curled his lips slightly: "The Xiao family's residence is made of rosewood and sandalwood, even the door beams are made of rosewood. How can it be called a humble abode?"
In ordinary interactions between officials, such conversations would be considered mutual flattery and extremely tactful.
Xiao Wenhan's eyes were seeing stars. He smiled awkwardly and didn't dare to say another word.
Pei Zan finished his reprimands and went into the mansion with a flick of his sleeve.
Meal and tea were prepared in the flower hall, but Pei Zan hesitated to touch his chopsticks.
Such overwhelming power terrified the officials below, who looked at each other in dismay, sweating profusely and trembling with fear.
Pei Zan put down his teacup and invited Xiao Wenhan to the side hall for a meeting.
With their superiors summoned away by Grand Commander Pei, the remaining officials visibly relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.
Upon reaching the side hall, Pei Zan lightly stroked the prayer beads in her palm and asked him in a cold voice, "How's the investigation going?"
Xiao Wenhan hurriedly said, "This humble official has detained and thoroughly investigated all the refugees and common people who were heading to Shaozhou, regardless of gender, but this humble official is incompetent and has not been able to find the person with the plum blossom birthmark on their shoulder..."
Pei Zan looked at him with a half-smile, but did not respond.
Sweating profusely, Xiao Wenhan hurriedly knelt down and said, "Please, Governor Pei, give me another chance. I will do my best to fulfill my duties and will not dare to be negligent in the slightest!"
Pei Zan glanced at him quietly and said in a cool voice, "The world is too chaotic now, with war raging everywhere. It's hard to guarantee that there aren't refugees forging identity cards and travel permits to move around freely in order to protect themselves. This fugitive is cunning and may not have gone to Shaozhou to hide. You should go and investigate Liangzhou and Longzhou, which border Shaozhou, to see if any people have recently left the country with travel permits to Liangzhou or Longzhou. If so, also investigate the guarantors who vouched for her and see if their registered places of origin and identities are true."
Pei Zan knew that Lin Rong was quick-witted and might have already guessed that he had sought out Wu Nianzhen.
Given this, she would certainly not dare to go to Shaozhou, lest she walk into a trap and be caught like a turtle in a jar by Pei Zan.
Unable to find the person, Pei Zan decided to try the opposite approach.
Two days later, Xiao Wenhan returned overjoyed and reported, "Grand Commander, I have found out!"
Pei Zan paused, stroking the Bodhi seed with his fingertips, and looked up at him.
Xiao Wenhan: "A month ago, a villager in Jinshui Town, greedy for money, acted as a guarantor for a stranger, falsely claiming to be the stranger's cousin. He even took the stranger to the village head's house and obtained a travel permit for him to go to Liangzhou!"
Pei Zan asked him in a cool voice, "How tall is this stranger, and what does he look like?"
Xiao Wenhan had done his job well, having already inquired about Pei Zan's situation.
"He was about six feet tall, eighteen years old, with sores on his face, dark skin, and was extremely ugly. However, his voice was soft and weak, unlike a man's deep and powerful voice, and there were faint burn scars on his shoulders and neck..."
Burn scar?
Pei Zan's dark eyes narrowed slightly, his thin lips pressed tightly together, and he understood.
If Lin Rong is so ruthless as to dare to skin her own flesh to evade his pursuit, then he would have to admire her courage.
Then I remembered that Pei Zan had interrogated the maids and servants who usually served Lin Rong in the mansion in order to find out Lin Rong's whereabouts.
In order to absolve herself of her sins and avoid punishment, the maid named Bihe once told Pei Zan that Lin Rong had asked her for black rouge and cream to disguise herself as a Kunlun slave girl in an attempt to please her husband.
Pei Zan searched the entire bedroom but could not find the item.
Hearing that the stranger who forged his travel permit had rather dark skin, this connection seemed to confirm the earlier statement.
Pei Zan lowered his eyes and gave a soft scoff.
Lin Rong really went to any lengths to escape.
This move is tantamount to trampling Pei Zan's face into the mud.
Pei Zan's face was ashen, his jaw clenched, forcibly suppressing his surging, boiling anger.
Pei Zan exuded a terrifying aura, as if a storm was brewing, which frightened Xiao Wenhan into lowering his voice: "But this person has already passed the pass and is heading straight for Liangzhou..."
Liangzhou is located on the border and is not under the jurisdiction of the six southern prefectures.
If Pei Zan were to disguise himself as an ordinary citizen, he could freely enter the pass and roam around.
But if he were to lead his troops into the country, it would inevitably trigger a war and unrest.
After all, Liangzhou was still nominally Chen Wenjin's territory. Although Chen Wenjin was too far away to send reinforcements to Liangzhou to defend against the enemy, he was still able to do so.
However, Pei Zan has no immediate plans to attack Liangzhou.
Liangzhou is the border between Wei and the Western Regions of Tibet. Pei Zan has no intention of bringing the various Hu tribes of the Western Regions under Wei's control. Why would he want to conquer such a useless little state when there is frequent civil war?
Pei Zan knew that this matter was futile, and he would not rashly waste his troops on it.
Therefore, Pei Zan only said, "Pass on my decree to withdraw the arrest warrants from all six prefectures. The news of the search for the missing person must not be leaked out of the southern region. As for Liangzhou... I, the governor, will go there personally."
Pei Zan has many personal guards, but capturing just one woman is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut; there's really no need for a large army to enter the country.
If Pei Zan truly cannot find Lin Rong, he can simply order the officials of Liangzhou to post notices to search for her.
After all, those local officials were all clever. Rather than inviting war and with the imperial court refusing to send reinforcements, their loyalty to the emperor and defense of the city meant certain death.
If that's the case, it would be better for those local officials to act as opportunists, letting Pei Zan get what he wants, find the right person as soon as possible, and then properly send this big shot out of the prefecture. That would be the way to govern the prefecture and defend the city.
Pei Zan knew that Lin Rong's death was imminent and there was no way to escape it.
Author's Note: Barring any unforeseen circumstances... this story likely still has a lot of plot left. Currently, we're only at the "chasing after the wife" stage with two or three more milestones to go, so take your time.
This is Friday's update; Saturday's update might be late.
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