"Okay, Nanyang County is not far from here. If Xier misses her grandmother, we can just take a detour and stay in Nanyang County for a while before rushing back."
Sheng Tiance, who was burning the fire, quickly wiped the fire clean and picked up his little sister. The other children had no objection to this.
Sheng Nanxi was still thinking about how to convince her family to change their ways. Unexpectedly, as soon as she opened her mouth, everyone agreed, which saved her from having to talk any more.
After all, she didn't know all the conditions in Nanyang County. If she found it unsuitable after arriving, they would have to continue looking for a paradise. There was no need to reveal her immature thoughts at this time.
Of course, she had another purpose for suddenly wanting to take a detour to her grandmother's house.
According to the original book, most of the Sheng family members had been persecuted to death at this time.
When their house was raided, the fourth elder brother was traveling around the world in search of a cure for his grandmother.
On the day of the incident, the fourth brother was ambushed and killed by the imperial guards and many underworld organizations.
He escaped because of his good martial arts and agility, but encountered large-scale attacks again and again on his way back to Southern Qi, and finally died of exhaustion at the junction of Southern Qi and Beichen.
Their family was just cannon fodder in the book, and even the fourth brother's final ending was only briefly mentioned, and the specific location where he was ambushed and killed was mentioned. The rest was unknown.
Yes, more than ten days ago, Sheng Nanxi asked her elder brother to send a team of horses to wait at the place described in the novel, waiting to pick up her fourth brother.
The strange thing is that several days have passed since the time described in the novel. The people who went to meet him did not find any suspicious activities nearby.
Even when we expanded our search, we still found nothing.
Sheng Nanxi has been thinking about this for the past few days. Logically speaking, when the incident happened, Fourth Brother was in Dongling Country. Whether he wanted to return to Nanqi to save his father or to reunite with the Sheng family in the exile team, he should not have passed the border with Beichen Country.
At the critical moment when he was being hunted by the enemy, he had to take a detour to the Northern Border. He must have intended to run back to his ancestral home and ask them for help.
Now the plot has become confusing, and she doesn't know the exact location of the fourth brother for the time being. It would be troublesome to search everywhere like a headless fly. It would be better to wait in the place where he must be. Then send people from Nanyang County to search for him.
The whole family had no idea that there were so many considerations behind her small decision.
Knowing that Xiao Xi'er was in a hurry to leave, Li Zhenyi had never mentioned visiting his ancestors for several days, even though he missed his hometown. Now that they heard that he would stop by Nanyang County, everyone's faces were filled with joy.
Fortunately, Nanyang County was still more than 400 miles away, and they had to go another 100 miles before changing the route, so their plans for tonight would not be disrupted. After the family finished lunch excitedly, they immediately rushed to Muyang County where they planned to rest tonight.
Muyang County is close to the Xueling Basin, and there are hot springs everywhere in the city. Many people have the habit of soaking in hot springs regularly.
There are many shabu-shabu parlors on the street that provide one-stop services such as back opening, massage, pedicure and haircut. Many shabu-shabu parlors that cater to the general public have a minimum charge of more than ten yuan. They are good value for money and suitable for people of all ages.
As soon as Sheng Nanxi entered the county town, she couldn't help but draw aside the curtain to look, and was almost dazzled by the various forms of bath-scrubbing culture.
As expected, the ancients also had their own wisdom. Many things that we now think of as products of modern civilization already existed in ancient times.
Many people keep saying how good Chinese culture is, but they don't know that many cultures originated from China, but were learned and preserved by some small countries, and they just happened to forget them.
The inns on the street provide food for ordinary people, and many higher-end inns also have natural hot springs in the backyard for their guests to use.
The Muyue Tower where they were staying today was considered to be an extremely luxurious inn at the time. The building in front of them had a tall gatehouse and was decorated in a simple and luxurious style. A thick mist kept rising from the tree-lined backyard, and a faint smell of sulfur mixed with a faint herbal fragrance spread with the wind.
Before he even got close, he suddenly felt uncomfortable all over and wanted to rush in and take a bath.
The shopkeeper had received Gu Cheng's instructions long ago. Before the carriage of the Sheng family members stopped, he came up with a smile on his face and took them to the independent courtyard at the back.
The setting of this inn is somewhat similar to some hot spring hotels that Sheng Nancy had seen before. The building in the front has a variety of guest rooms to choose from, and guests staying here can take a bath in the public hot spring pool in the backyard for free.
Deep in the gardens are exquisite and elegant independent courtyards that can be reserved by powerful families. There are also several independent hot spring pools in the courtyards for the exclusive use of guests.
Because Gu Cheng had planned his trip early, the shopkeeper reserved two of the most spacious and elegant courtyards for them in advance.
The family followed the shopkeeper through corridors one after another, and finally arrived at the courtyard where they were staying today.
Probably because of the perennial heat here, the surrounding trees, flowers and plants have grown luxuriantly. The pavilions, terraces, pavilions and rockeries in the courtyard are so beautiful that one can't take their eyes away.
The Sheng family had been in a hurry to travel recently, and all they saw were snow-covered mountain roads. Now that they had finally found a comfortable place to rest, they were all in a good mood and got busy.
Even Sheng Nanxi, who had been lazy for many days, suddenly felt energetic. She helped her mother put away all the daily necessities she brought with her. She also took out a few new dolls she had recently acquired and arranged them in a row on the warm bed beside the bed.
She was tired from playing, so she sat on the couch, admiring the snow scene while holding her doll and taking a nap with her eyes half closed.
As the sun gradually moved westward, she was awakened by the aroma of rich food coming from the yard.
The little boy really kept his word and prepared a mutton hot pot and various cakes for her. Considering that she had been eating a simple diet these days, he also prepared some appetizers such as hot and sour cold noodles and various salted and pickled vegetables.
A charcoal basin was placed under a sturdy iron rack specially made by the owner, and a circle of iron sheets was placed around the basin to block the wind. The large pot on top was divided into two grids, one spicy, one clear soup, and one slightly spicy, all of which were bubbling.
The whole family sat in the pavilion in the middle of the lake in front of the rockery, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the surrounding gardens while eating the steaming mutton hot pot. It was a very enjoyable meal.
Everyone had a rare chance to relax today, and they were all thinking about taking a bath in the hot spring after dinner. They were eating quickly without saying a word.
Fortunately, there was a waiter to clear the dishes today, so after the family finished eating, they began to pack up and divided the men into which pools to soak in and the women into which pools.
Gu Chengda had been distracted while eating. After dinner, everyone was discussing going to the hot spring pool, so he said he wanted to take Xiao Xier to play in the pool.
Li Zhenyi was too lazy to restrain her little daughter now. When she heard that her little baby was going out to play, she immediately showed an eager expression on her face. So she just told her a few words, remember to take care of herself.
Unexpectedly, before Li Zhenyi could say a few words, Sheng Jinghai dragged her to take a hot spring bath.
It was said that there was a separate small pond behind the main courtyard where they lived, which turned out to be the popular duck pond in that area.
The nightingale pool was open to the nightingales, but the boys were not married yet, so they naturally could not bathe there. He drove them all out, and insisted on dragging his own husband along to enjoy the water.
Nancy Sheng was speechless and choked up.
Thinking that if I stayed here, I would be a third wheel. I had no choice but to take Gu Cheng's little kid with me and follow him to the courtyard.
She didn't know where the little boy was taking her. Ren Shengnanxi asked him about it, but he refused to reveal a word.
Sheng Nanxi thought that the child was taking her to play in a nearby courtyard, but unexpectedly, Gu Cheng led her around several courtyards and directly out of Muyue Tower and climbed up the back mountain.
The forest here was dense and the rocks were steep. Her short legs were too tired to walk a few steps up, so she had to let Gu Yucheng carry her on his back and leap up.
Unexpectedly, the second half of the mountain road was winding and dangerous. Sheng Nanxi was almost impatient, but she still brushed away the vines in front of her.
The scene before her suddenly opened her eyes, and it was so beautiful that her heart skipped a beat.
"Xiao...Xiao Cheng, have you been transported to the fairyland?"