Chapter 48: This money is enough for you to reach Kyoto
At this moment, three sharp voices suddenly rang out in the valley, instantly shattering the tranquility of the night sky and startling everyone in the camp.
Pan Chen looked up at the sky and shouted loudly.
"A flare?! Who set it off?!" Not only did they hear it, but Ruan Mian also heard the sharp sound.
It was like a flare, shooting straight into the sky.
Soon, Pan Chen quickly opened the tent and said to Ruan Mian, "Madam Ruan, someone has sent a signal. Just in case, we need to leave first."
Before Ruan Mian could speak, Pan Chen urgently summoned the surrounding soldiers: "Don't take anything away, go get your food and wages!"
They are worthy of being from the military camp and are well-trained.
At Pan Chen's command, everyone left the tent at an extremely fast speed.
Mei Xi pulled Ruan Mian and said, "Miss Ruan, this flare is used to send signals in the military camp. I don't know what kind of people will be attracted this time. Should we also..."
"Don't worry, Meixi. You and Ruan Qing go gather the troops first and have the officers keep an eye on them. I'll be right back. We are exiles from the imperial court, unlike them who escaped from the military camp, so no matter who we recruit, we don't need to panic."
"Yeah." Mei Xi felt relieved and took Ruan Qing out of the tent first.
At this moment, Li Ming had fainted from the torture. Ruan Mian lowered his eyes and looked around.
Pan Chen and his companions fled the border with the determination to die and resentment, and took away a lot of things along the way.
Although there were not many, Ruan Mian moved some animal skin blankets for keeping warm, freshly caught prey, as well as tinder and candles into the space one by one.
Leave nothing in the tent.
Then he came to Pan Chen's main tent and found a token he had left behind.
The totem of the border troops is engraved on it.
There was a small wooden box next to the token. When I opened it, I saw a small medicine bottle inside that emitted a pungent smell.
She intuitively felt that this was most likely something like poison.
When she searched the last tent she had not set foot in, she was shocked to find that there were more than a dozen men inside!
They were tied together and their mouths were gagged, leaving no room for struggle.
When they saw Ruan Mian, they all widened their eyes!
Ruan Mian released one of them and asked, "Who are you?"
The man knelt down without saying a word, and said tremblingly: "Girl! Please save us!!"
"We were originally civilians from Wuzhou, but...but now Wuzhou has fallen, and we have been captured by those soldiers and forced to do hard labor."
They were all thin, and it was obvious that they had not eaten much.
But now Pan Chen and his group have left, so there is no point for them to stay here.
So she quickly helped the group of people untie the ropes: "Those soldiers have left, you can go back now."
As soon as the words fell, someone in the crowd burst into tears: "Go back... How can we go back? Wuzhou has fallen, the entire city has been massacred! Where can we go home?!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present felt a sense of despair, and their eyes became dim.
Wuzhou, Wuzhou... Ruan Mian couldn't help but think of the original book, where there was a border city that was massacred.
The real reason for the massacre was not because they could not defeat the enemy army, but because they were used by the King of Yan, who deliberately withdrew the military camp, gave up the city, and allowed the enemy to massacre them.
After the city was massacred, he used this excuse to mix his own troops into the reinforcements, provoking a war at the border and putting a lot of pressure on the court!
These innocent people on the border have become pawns in the King of Yan's rebellion plan. The people are living in misery, their families are broken up and their lives are ruined...
It is highly likely that the city is these people’s hometown, Wuzhou.
They are now homeless and have been hit by a natural disaster. Even if they are released, they may not have much chance of survival.
Ruan Mian thought for a moment, turned around and went outside the tent, touched the jade bracelet, took out some dry food from the space and put it in the bag.
When she came in again, she handed them the bag and showed them a clear way.
"If you have nowhere to go, you can go to the East Street Market in Kyoto and find a man named Qi Congyang. He's hiring workers. Since you're from Wuzhou, you must be able to ride horses."
"You have innate advantages. I will give you another sum of money. Use this to buy some fine Western horses. They are strong enough to travel long distances. As long as you do as I say, you will definitely be able to settle down in Kyoto and have no worries about food and clothing."
After saying that, he took out a silver note worth five hundred taels from his purse.
Those people were shocked!
"Girl! We are already very grateful for giving us dry food. How can we ask for your banknotes for nothing?"
"I'm not giving it to you for free. I can lend it to you. Next spring, I'll come to your Zouma Gang to get back my principal and interest. How about that?"
Those people looked at each other, and while they were hesitating, Ruan Mian could see that they were all honest and decent people, and it would not be a loss to give them this silver note.
In the original book, the snow disaster of that year would affect Kyoto's transportation and trade, and the canals would be frozen. At that time, the horse caravans would be the only means to transport food and trade goods.
Qi Congyang was the Prime Minister's former classmate. However, in the original book, Qi Nanfeng and the Fifth Princess took advantage of the space to steal the horses from his caravan and monopolize the transportation in Kyoto.
Taking this opportunity, the fifth princess helped the imperial court by transporting the grain grown in the space to the disaster victims in Huicheng. She made great contributions and won over many forces in the court.
This time the space is in her hands, and she lets these people bring horses to help Qi Congyang. She will definitely not be able to win over the hearts of the people on the princess's side.
What's more, Qi Nanfeng is still in exile!
As she was thinking about it, those people knelt down in front of her.
"We will always remember your life-saving grace, young lady! We will definitely do as you say. If we can truly gain a foothold in Kyoto, next spring, we will definitely prepare the interest and will not let you lose these five hundred taels of silver in vain!"
"Excuse me, young lady, what's your name? Where do you live? We can go there..."
"Next spring, I will come to Kyoto to find you. You should leave now. No matter what you see outside, ignore it. Leave from the back mountain and head south to Huicheng."
"This money is enough for you to get to Kyoto."
She didn't hold out complete hope, but was just giving them a way out. The ultimate choice in life still depended on them.
After seeing them off, bursts of crying and wailing suddenly came from the mudflats.
Ruan Mian narrowed his gaze and quickly rushed over there.
I saw a group of officers and soldiers wearing the official uniforms of the governor coming here. The officers in the team were negotiating with them, and there were many people standing outside the tent.
It seems that everyone in the team has gathered together.
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