"Master," Xu asked, frowning as she touched her purse, "Should we stay at the post station?"
Having lost his title and being ostracized by the Third Prince's faction along the way, Wan Chengji understood the situation and told his family to stop calling him Uncle and instead call him Master. Naturally, Xu was changed to Madam.
Wan Chengji also told his sons to stop calling them "father" and "mother" and to just call them "dad" and "mother" like ordinary people. It wasn't just his family; many wealthy families along the way changed their way of addressing them after realizing the truth.
The Xu family was in a difficult situation. Although their family had fewer people than the other large families, they still had nine people in total. Even sleeping in a large bunk bed would cost nine taels of silver.
"I'm so exhausted! I need to rest at least! Is it just this money?" Wan Chengji was also feeling a bit puzzled. The raid on the Bo Mansion was so sudden that they had no preparation. The banknotes and valuables hidden on everyone were already confiscated in the Dali Temple prison. Otherwise, they wouldn't have resorted to such a trick to break off the engagement with the Chen family.
"Dad," Wan Huqing suggested, "It costs nine taels for us to live in a large dormitory. Why don't we get two rooms, with men and women living separately? It would only cost ten taels of silver in total, and we can also wash and clean. I just inquired about it. The inn doesn't provide hot water for those staying in the large dormitory. Only the guest rooms provide two buckets of hot water for each room." As expected of a businessman, he had traveled far away several times and was more experienced than the rest of the family in this regard.
"But there is only one bed in the guest room. How are so many of us going to sleep?" Although Wan Chengji thought what he said made sense, he thought more about it than he did.
"You and Mom will definitely have to sleep in beds, the rest of us will just have to sleep on the floor," said Wan Hesu. "Yingnan said she'd buy us some bedding for the journey." He still didn't stop Chen Yingnan from going with him to Northern Xinjiang. If someone insisted, he couldn't stop them!
"That bed seems to be able to sleep two people?" Wan Huqing muttered softly.
"What?" Wan Hesu raised his eyebrows, "You still want to sleep in the same bed with Dad?"
"That's not the case." Wan Huqing quickly said insincerely, "I just think that if my eldest brother hasn't woken up yet, he'd be more comfortable sleeping in the same bed with Dad. Maybe he'd wake up earlier, and then my second brother wouldn't have to carry him around anymore."
"You mean I have to carry big brother on my back from now on, right?" Even if Wan Hesu was strong, he couldn't bear the shackles on his hands and feet and carrying someone for such a long distance. He had to struggle to get here.
This was only the first day, and he couldn't guarantee that he would have the strength to carry the person all the way, let alone imagine having to carry the person all the way.
"That has to wait until I recover!" Wan Huqing still had no intention of taking the initiative to help Wan Hesu share the burden.
"Okay, both of you say less, and let's talk after we settle down first." Afraid that the two would quarrel over such a small matter and lose face for the Wan family, Wan Chengji stopped the two from arguing in time.
"Then Dad, I'll go pick a room first. I'm afraid there won't be any available if I don't go now." Wan Huqing became excited when he heard Wan Chengji agreed to stay.
Besides those who were exiling and escorting the Third Prince, there were many others traveling with the exile group. Many of them had plenty of money and would definitely choose to stay in the better guest rooms. He was afraid that if he arrived too late, all the rooms would be snatched up by these people.
Among them were those like Lin Yingnan, who steadfastly followed Wan Hesu, and those like Wan Xueying, who planned to accompany him throughout his journey to care for his friends and family in exile. However, Wan Xueying's reason for following was to allow her to return to Northern Xinjiang. What if Shen Yu was exiled to Southern Xinjiang? Well, you see, the most she could do was see him off and pack him some things for the journey.
Some businessmen going north also took the opportunity to travel. In addition to hiring escorts, they also paid money to ask escorts to take care of them along the way.
But if you really count them, the majority of people are from the northern regions. There are quite a few bandits along the way, and with the escorts around, they tend to be more restrained, making the journey safer for everyone. However, compared to businessmen, they're less willing to pay the escorts, and if something really happens, the escorts won't bother them.
This was not the only time that people followed the exile team. Almost every time a prisoner was exiled, many people would follow.
There were quite a few people following them this time, more than a hundred in total. Wan Xueying and her group did not stand out among the crowd.
Wan Huqing's worries were not unfounded. This post station was the closest to the capital, and there were many people coming and going. Even if it was built large, there would definitely not be enough rooms to accommodate so many people at once.
Wan Xueying and her group had horse-drawn carriages and mule-drawn carts, so they should have been traveling very quickly. However, in order not to overtake the exile group, they could only stop and go along the way. However, this also gave everyone the opportunity to rest and use the toilet along the way.
Because they were well-prepared, they weren't exposed to the sun, and they had small cakes and snacks to pass the time, and there was no shortage of water. When they were really tired, they just lay down for a nap. Aside from some poor road conditions and the poor shock absorption of the horse-drawn and mule-drawn carriages, everyone felt pretty good on the first day.
When they arrived at the post station, they stopped with the crowd.
Qiu Shi, the captain of the guards appointed by Wan Xueying, stepped forward and asked Wan Xueying, "Miss, do we want to stay at the post station?"
"No need." Wan Xueying refused. "In addition to the carriages and mule carts, we also have tents. The weather is warm now, so it's not too bad to stay outside. It won't be too late to stay in the post station when it gets colder or when we need to rest."
These days, she focused on preparing outdoor equipment for everyone.
Originally, there were only large tents in the military camp. After drawing the blueprints, she asked someone to make a few simple tents that were easy to set up and store.
Although the craftsmanship could not be compared with that of her previous life, the introduction of umbrella making technology not only solved her requirements well, but also did not make people think that her ideas were too far-fetched.
However, to make it more practical, she had to choose thicker materials. This made the tents heavier. But that didn't matter. They just tied the tents up on the roof of the carport, which was not only convenient but also took up little space.
She also custom-made a sleeping bag for each of them. When traveling, besides someone like her who had space, a blanket and a mattress took up too much space. Of course, these sleeping bags were only similar in spirit, not comparable to the ones she had in her previous life.
However, these two pieces of travel equipment still amazed the umbrella maker who helped make the tent and the tailor who made the sleeping bag.
They saw the potential market for these two pieces of equipment. Instead of charging her for the blueprints, they paid extra for them and signed an agreement with her not to share them with anyone else for a short period of time. The reason they said "short term" was because there was no patent protection in ancient times, and it wouldn't be long before numerous imitations would be on the market. A quick profit was enough for them.
However, the sleeping bag was too basic, so Wan Xueying only charged fifty taels. She asked for a slightly higher price for the simple tent, but the other party bargained, and the two sides finally settled on five hundred taels. In addition, Wan Xueying asked for two more tents.
The sleeping facilities are quite complete now, even straw mats are provided to keep out moisture. If one is too thin, you can lay two. Why bother spending money to stay at the post station?
Isn't it just a hot bath? There's a well inside the post station, and you can draw water for ten coins. Wouldn't it be better for them to bring a large iron pot and set up a stove to boil water themselves? With the tents surrounding them, the three women could each wash, and two people could watch over them. A simple wash was perfectly fine.
However, when Wan Xueying asked someone to find out whether Shen Yu was staying at the post station, the people she sent searched for a long time but couldn't find him.
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Thank you all for your continued support. This article is expected to be published next Tuesday, and will be updated soon.
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