Chapter 161: Road to the North
Jin Sui calmly took the hot tea. She had no masochistic tendencies. If her boss didn’t treat her as a maid, how could she take the initiative to remind him?
"Thank you, I'm fine, just a little tired because I didn't sleep well these few days."
Yan Jiu said softly: "Then you take a rest, do you need me to go out?"
Jin Sui waved his hands hurriedly: "No, no, this carriage is very big, I sleep very comfortably."
Even if your boss doesn't treat you as a servant, you can't be so arrogant as to drive him out!
Yan Jiu slowly turned the teacup in his hand and said, "I hope Miss Ji can be more comfortable when she is with me, and not so restrained."
"I've never forgotten the joy of chatting with you about the Thirty-Six Counts that night."
Jinsui really wanted to say, at that time I was Taoist Priest Xiao Ji, and I was wholeheartedly trying to curry favor with you and do business with Biancheng.
It’s very different from the current situation, and it’s impossible to ever have that mentality again.
But she didn't say anything, just whispered: "I will chat with the head of the family when I feel better."
At this time, Gu Changxiao's team had already left the pass and was walking thousands of miles outside the uninhabited area.
Gu Changxiao, Han Xing and others were anxiously waiting for Cheng Yu's next letter. Although the previous letter clearly stated that Taoist Xiao Ji was not dead, they still hadn't received a letter from him about Taoist Xiao Ji's current situation.
Did Taoist Xiao Ji get out of Yandi safely? Would the situation in the border town have reached his ears? What if he turned back to the border town? Gu Changxiao secretly clenched his fists. He had used such a painful way to send her away. He must not let her take risks again.
Taoist Xiao Ji, you must leave Yan alive, whether to go to Jiangnan or return to the Central Plains. I just hope you can live a peaceful and happy life for the rest of your life.
At this moment, Hei Hu came over with a grin and said, "Your Highness, our eunuch is calling again."
Gu Changxiao frowned and said, "Don't worry about it."
After he left the border, he had to behave himself if he didn't want to die of cold or hunger on the way. The reason he was tolerated in the border town was because they were worried that Prince Yu's men would secretly help him and take him away.
Han Xing asked Hei Hu in a low voice: "What did you do again?"
Hei Hu chuckled and said, "Hao Duojin smeared chili sauce on his toilet paper."
Han Xing kicked him hard: "I only brought a little chili sauce, it's not enough to eat. Who told you to mess around?"
Eunuch Zhou was crying and shouting over there. If he heard this, he would be so angry that he would have a heart attack. You actually scolded him for wasting chili sauce!
This eunuch is almost tortured to death!
Eunuch Zhou went from being arrogant and rude when he first set out to being the "toy" of the whole team. First, he lost his carriage and had to travel on horseback like the Black Feather Camp.
It was freezing cold, and his body was frozen. When he slept in the tent at night, the quilt was not warm, and it felt like an icy cave. He ate cold food and drank snow. Now he had only one thought, and that was to go back alive.
This job is so hard! I would rather serve a crazy concubine in the cold palace than take on such a job!
Thinking of this, Eunuch Zhou began to admire Prince Li. There were not many royal children who could endure such hardship! If it were Prince Yu, he would have complained bitterly.
What he didn't know was that this method of traveling was still considered slow, because King Li was waiting for news.
The first was Cheng Yu's letter. He had no accurate information about Little Ji Daochang, so he couldn't sleep or eat. The second was the news about the Northwest Army.
Prince Yu took advantage of the emperor's serious illness and served as regent. The first thing he did was to take action against his old Northwest Army troops, cutting down the army and reducing military spending. He even ordered the Northwest Army to fight the barbarians in such a cold winter.
This is sending people to die! Gu Changxiao really couldn't figure out what the Queen's group was thinking. Even if they wanted to completely clip his wings, they couldn't use the border as a weapon. Without the Northwest Army, what if the foreigners went south and killed Chang'an? So what he had to protect now was not only the border town, but also the Northwest Army.
More importantly, the border town is an isolated city with no external support in Yan. If he wants to break the impasse, he has to get in touch with the Northwest Army.
This is a risky move. If he is not careful, he will die, the border will be in chaos, and countless soldiers and civilians will die at the hands of foreign enemies.
The only person he could protect was Taoist Xiao Ji.
He should not be involved in this turbulent political struggle. Gu Changxiao even felt that he would be filled with strength as long as he thought of Taoist Xiao Ji living a leisurely life in some sunny place.
Taoist Xiao Ji is always so energetic and full of hope for life and everything.
There is no sun in the long winter outside the Great Wall, and Taoist Xiao Ji is the sun in his heart. When he thinks of him, he is not afraid no matter how dark the road ahead is.
So, Taoist Xiao Ji, you must live in peace and happiness...
Taoist Master Xiao Ji was teaching the Yan family guards how to make mutton noodle soup. Yan Jiu brought all the necessary people with him when he went out, but unfortunately he only brought two cooks.
It is said that because the Yan family has more cooks, the head of the family specifically said that the cooks are not allowed to accompany them, as he was afraid that the cooks could not bear the cold weather.
In addition, it was too cold and firewood was hard to find, so people often had to eat cold food. Jin Sui couldn't stand it, and Yan Jiu said she didn't need to work, but she sat in the carriage waiting for someone to bring her food.
How could she be so shameless! When she was the fake King of Li, she often ordered the cooking of the big pot of rice, and now she is just returning to her old job.
"Use clean stones to build a stove, put mutton soup in the pot, and add more pepper to drive away the cold.
Eat less chili peppers. They will make you sweat and you will feel warm at the time, but you will feel even colder later. "
"What? Chili peppers at 10 taels per pound! This is... a good deal for Border Town! Chili peppers are only available in Border Town and cannot be bought anywhere else. This price is fair."
Just wanted to curse Border Town for being so heartless, ten taels of silver per pound of chili sauce is simply a sky-high price!
But then I thought that I was a person from the border town not long ago. It is not easy to earn some money in the border town. If I sell it to a wealthy family like the Yan family, I should sell it at a higher price.
"The noodles will rise while the mutton soup is boiling. It's hard to rise in cold weather, so let them sit in warm water to rise. The burning stones here are just right for baking the noodles. Look, isn't it much faster?"
The guards helping in the kitchen all praised: "Miss Ji is really smart. This way, we can save firewood and cook rice faster. The brothers don't have to eat cold food."
Jin Sui sighed, "In fact, the food you guys have on a long journey is considered good, with meat and cakes. Border soldiers on a long journey all eat bean porridge."
"Miss Ji, how do you know what the border soldiers eat? The border soldiers are poor to begin with, how can they compare to our Yan family!"
Jin Sui was startled, and silently brought two bowls of mutton soup to the carriage. Yan Jiu put away the book and opened the window a crack to dissipate the smell of pepper and mutton.
He looked at the bowl of milky white broth with a frown on his face, and didn't move for a long time, obviously having no appetite.
Jin Sui's mouth twitched, and he moved a flowerpot from the corner of the carriage. What was planted in it was not flowers or plants, but a pot of green garlic sprouts.
She carefully pinched off two garlic leaves. There was no need to wash them. She wiped them with snow every day and they were very clean.
He cut it into pieces with silver scissors and sprinkled a layer of it into Yan Jiu's bowl: "Eat it quickly, it will get cold soon."
Now with a much better appetite, Yan Jiu followed her example and broke the cake into pieces and soaked it in the mutton soup. Jin Sui, on the other hand, had already finished a whole bowl.
She was drinking soup from a bowl that was bigger than her face. Yan Jiu's appetite increased when he saw this and he actually ate half of the bowl.
It is rare to find a girl who enjoys eating as much as Miss Ji. She is not pretentious at all and always finds ways to make ordinary food look delicious.
The only thing that made Yan Jiu feel dissatisfied was that Miss Ji still did not regard him as a "man", or in other words, she did not regard herself as a "woman".
When the two of them were alone, there was no romantic atmosphere at all. She just did what she was supposed to do. She would draw the curtains at night and fall asleep quickly, treating him as a same-sex roommate.
Yan Jiu didn't know whether to be happy that she trusted him so much, or sad that she had no feelings for him at all.
Seeing Yan Jiu looking at him, Jin Sui showed two eyes from behind the big bowl:
"What's wrong? You can't finish your meal again! You are so tall, why do you only eat so little? Is it because you lack exercise? How about you go for a ride after dinner?"
Yan Jiu's mouth twitched slightly. Look, which woman in the world would speak to Yan Jiulang like this? If it were another woman, she would only be shy and embarrassed.
"I think Miss Ji eats a lot for both meals and has a lot of snacks in the morning and evening, but she always sleeps, which is bad for her health."
Jin Sui laughed dryly: "I'm young, so sleeping is exercise."
I have to do a lot of things in space when I sleep! Burning glass, boiling fish oil, making medicine, making compressed biscuits, stocking up on energy bars...
There is no way. Jinsui is too insecure. If she had a group of friends who trusted her when she was in the border town, now she has to rely on herself for everything.
Yan Jiu and the Yan family guards were different from Han Xing and the Black Feather Camp. The two of them were in an alliance of interests, and what she gave could only be fulfilled if she came back alive.
The only place that made her feel at ease became the space. Thinking back to when she was in the border town, she was busy and had no other things to do in the space except going to the toilet.
Even stockpiling energy bars became a side job, and now space is her only trump card, so she has to stockpile more things to feel at ease.
Looking at the Yan family guards eating mutton soup and pancakes, I couldn't help but think of Gu Changxiao and his party. I wonder what they are eating? Did they collect potatoes and sweet potatoes when they left?
If you harvest a batch, you can take it as food. Roasted sweet potatoes and potatoes are better than bean grains.
Heihu must have not had candy for a long time. Heihu has always been stupid, so why would he be stupid in such a big matter?
Why are you and Gu Changxiao going to the Northern Frontier? Marry Miss Bai and live a good life! A bunch of stupid boys!
But what right do I have to laugh at them? I am still the same...
After dinner, Jinsui rested for half an hour. Naturally, she didn't do things like washing dishes or feeding horses. She just had to clean and tidy up the carriage.
Yan Jiu took the piece of animal skin that he used as a stepping stone and patted it on the snow. After shaking it, it became clean again.
The cooks were boiling water for tea. She went to open the wooden box given by Cheng Yu and took out a bag of dried ginger and brown sugar.
Of course this was taken from the space, but in order to confuse Yan Jiu, she used the excuse that it was given by Chen Yunniang.
Two large pots of brown sugar ginger tea were boiled to keep the guards warm. They were at the front and back of the team and suffered the most from the cold.
Maybe it was because she was the only woman in the entire team, or maybe it was because Yan Jiu’s attitude towards her was different.
She had heard the guards discussing privately more than once that she was not an ordinary maid, but should be the girl that the master of the house liked.
"There is no such beautiful girl in our Yan land. She looks like someone from Jiangnan. The master of the family went out this time and brought no one but her. Will she become our mistress?"
"Although I don't know Miss Ji's background, she is kind-hearted and hardworking. She doesn't look down on us at all. It's our blessing to have such a mistress."
Every time Jin Sui heard this, he couldn't help but twitch his lips. You guys are overthinking it. I'm just a top-notch worker that your master wants to recruit under his command!
Fortunately, Yan Jiu didn't hear this, otherwise he would have driven her to sleep in another carriage in order to distance herself from him.
The horse-drawn carriages for transporting goods had no animal skins for covering them, much less silver-chip charcoal basins, so one could freeze half to death after sleeping there all night.
In short, Jin Sui kept her character in mind and was extremely respectful to Yan Jiu in front of others, being a first-class maid.
She was not hypocritical at all, and she would do whatever she could to help. Behind others, she provided emotional value to Yan Jiu, after all, he was a wealthy man with no shortage of money, and the only thing she could provide was emotional value.
Yan Jiu no longer likes to read the Thirty-Six Stratagems. He instead looks at the map of the northern border. He also likes to chat with Jin Sui about which mountain is a battleground, which valley can be used to store troops, and which pasture has fertile land.
He even knew exactly what the herdsmen in each area liked to buy from the Han merchants. Jin Sui reasonably suspected that he had a legitimate reason to visit Zuo Xian Wang to discuss business.
Perhaps the Yan family had been secretly doing business with Northern Xinjiang for many years. I had heard from Cheng Yu and Wei Zhubo earlier that after Yan was taken back by Daxia, many local nobles had connections with Northern Xinjiang.
Of course Jin Sui didn't ask directly. No matter what Yan Jiu's real purpose was, just because she used his car and manpower to go to Northern Xinjiang, what right did she have to say anything else.
Besides, she liked the people of Daxia, the Han people, and she had no good feelings towards the imperial court either.
"How long will it take us to catch up with the Black Feather Army?"
Yan Jiu shook his head: "Their speed is marching, and it is estimated that they will not be able to join up until they reach the Northern Frontier Royal Court."
Seeing Jin Sui's disappointment, he whispered, "We are not suitable to travel together. If the people in the northern border find out, they will be on guard against me."
Jin Sui certainly knew that she couldn't go all the way together. She just wanted to meet Han Xing and Hei Hu before reaching Northern Frontier, and at least know Gu Changxiao's plan.
"Can we get in touch with them?"
Yan Jiu shook his head again: "There are eunuchs in their team. The Yan family is in contact with the Li King in the northern border, which is disadvantageous to the Li King."
Jin Sui could only put her mind at ease and continue to stock up in the space. In view of the fact that she slept too long every day, Yan Jiu also asked the accompanying doctor to treat her.
The doctor's diagnosis was that Miss Ji was so sleepy because the weather was too cold.
It's almost like saying that she loves to sleep because she's lazy! This girl can eat and sleep, what disease can she have?
After setting up camp that evening, Jin Sui got off the car and took a walk. Her legs were numb from sitting for too long. She also wanted to look at the geographical location on the map.
As soon as she reached the hillside, she saw a guard at the end of the team riding a fast horse and galloping towards Yan Jiu's carriage.
Her heart moved and she quickly walked towards the carriage. At this moment, the whole team seemed to be isolated in another world, and it was exciting to receive any news from the outside world.
What she heard was: "That person has been following us for seven days. I wonder if he is a friend or an enemy?"
Yan Jiu frowned and said, "No matter friend or foe, just arrest them."
The guard was a little embarrassed: "We set a trap, but didn't catch him. The figure looks like a teenager, with excellent Qinggong skills."
Jin Sui suddenly thought of a person and said hurriedly, "He should be looking for me. I'll go bring him over."
If her guess was correct, this young man should be Liuyun.
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