Chapter 60 Chapter 60 Undercurrent
When the white falcon finally landed on Su Guanzhang's shoulder and gently flapped its wings, Xuan Jinyu knew it was about to leave.
"If we are destined to meet again," she said softly.
The white falcon tilted its head and rubbed against Xuan Jinyu's hand, as if expressing its reluctance to leave.
Xuan Jinyu's soft fingertips gently stroked its smooth and soft belly. "Take care of yourself. If it rains again, don't go out!"
But not every time you are struck by lightning you are safe from danger, and not every time you have a broken bone you just happen to have someone with medical skills to fix and bandage it.
I heard Xuan Wensheng say that it was struck by lightning from the sky that day. If it hadn't been for their carriage blocking it, it would have been struck by lightning and hit the sharp fork of the tree.
Every step was dangerous, but this jade claw was lucky enough to survive.
"Goodbye, little jade claw." Xuan Jinyu finally said goodbye to it with a smile.
After all, it was not given a name. It is a wild animal and will always be a wild animal, belonging to the vast sky.
There was no regret for leaving without saying goodbye last time. This time, we said goodbye again. For human beings, it is enough comfort.
Everyone watched as the white falcon flapped its wings and soared into the sky, its high-pitched cry carrying far away.
That night, the lamb that Bai Falcon had brought was placed on the fire. Xuan Wensheng also sent people to look around nearby, but unfortunately they didn't meet any family.
It really is a good wild sheep.
But they were still a little annoyed. They hadn't run into anyone outside their own group in six months. Of course, those secret eyes didn't count; they had been following them all the way.
"How can it be such a coincidence that I haven't seen a single family in over half a year?" Xuan Wensheng asked his brother-in-law.
He stood behind Su Guanzhang and expressed his speculation, "Brother-in-law, I'm wondering if those scouts who went out to explore the route occasionally ran into people living nearby, and they deliberately took us on a detour?"
Su Guanzhang was squatting by the stream, washing Xuan Jinyu's outer garment which had just been accidentally stained with mud. "You'll have to ask Deputy Captain Chen about this," he replied, without stopping his hands, carefully rubbing off the mud on it.
The outer clothes were quickly washed clean by the stream water. He picked up the clothes, held them in his hands, and used his internal strength to slowly dry them.
Seeing Xuan Wensheng still standing there, curiously watching him drying his clothes, Su Guanzhang added, "But scouts usually take a fixed route and don't deliberately take detours."
Xuan Wensheng saw that he didn't even need to find a place to dry them. He just held them in his arms and started drying them. It was so convenient.
The envy in his eyes was about to overflow. "I'm jealous of you people who have inner strength," he said.
He didn't touch the outer garment, but just by looking at the material and thickness, he could tell how difficult it was to dry the garment.
If you put this piece of clothing under the sun in the summer, it will take half a day to dry.
However, Su Guanzhang didn't even need half a minute to fold the dried clothes again and carefully placed them on his left arm.
"That's good. I don't have to worry about my sister's clothes not being able to dry in winter." Xuan Wensheng said with a smile.
Winter was the time when Xuan Jinyu was in confinement after giving birth.
As he spoke, longing appeared in Xuan Wensheng's eyes, and his heart had unknowingly softened. His sister was about to give birth, and he was going to be an uncle.
The sheep were sent by Bai Falcon as a thank you to Xuan Jinyu and her husband for saving their lives. Chen Yang and Wang Hu's teams were tactful enough to hunt the animals themselves and did not ask them to share the sheep.
After all, one sheep is not enough to feed their whole family and followers.
The two cooks had been with the team for more than half a year and were very experienced in how to handle wild animals. Soon dinner was ready.
The mutton soup Xuan Jinyu drank, with the mutton dipped in seasoning, was tender, salty and fragrant, which whetted her appetite.
However, mutton is warm and dry in nature, so pregnant women should not eat too much. Xuan Jinyu only drank a bowl of soup and ate a few pieces of meat and then stopped eating.
However, she did eat a few more pieces of fish that Su Guanzhang had removed the bones from.
The fish and mutton were really delicious. She finished the soup but still felt unsatisfied.
"Compared with the fish and mutton we had on the prairie, which one tastes better?" Su Sheng asked Xu Yu Niang.
His palate was rough, not as picky as Xu Yu Niang's, so he couldn't taste any difference.
Xu Yu Niang had put down her chopsticks and was concentrating on picking fish meat for her granddaughter Tong Jie'er. She smiled when she heard this and said, "One is a wild animal from the prairie, and the other is a wild animal from the mountains and forests. They each have their own flavor."
After a few more days, the low mountains were left behind them.
Qingfeng left the team once, and when he came back he reported to Xuan Wensheng that the caravan had completed everything.
The house has been bought. It is located on the outskirts of Huaizhao County, not far from the city gate, and is convenient for entering the city.
Moreover, the location is remote, and there is a farm behind the house. Even with the caravan following behind, there is still enough space for them to stay.
Deputy Captain Chen and Captain Wang will definitely have no objection to living far away from others.
"Huaizhao County has a mild climate and is suitable for living; however, it is too far from Shengjing City, and few people are willing to settle here."
Qingfeng explained the information he had gathered, "When the caravan went to inquire about the price, the owner of the house was so eager to sell it that he even gave us all the fruit trees and flowers planted on the farm."
Xuan Wensheng nodded, "The price should be fair, and people shouldn't be left at a disadvantage."
"Of course, the caravan knows about this," Qingfeng replied. "I've checked out both the house and the farm, and they've all been furnished. There's even an extra courtyard off the yard where the young lady and her husband live, which can be used as a delivery room."
The reason they stayed in Huaizhao County was for Xuan Jinyu's childbirth, and that was the reason they bought the house. Qingfeng knew it very well, so he described the various arrangements in the yard in detail.
"The layout was made according to the drawings sent by the madam. The cross-courtyard has also been heated to ensure that the young lady and the children will not be cold."
Xuan Wensheng was confident in Qingfeng's work. He patted the guard on the shoulder and said, "Well done." Then he instructed, "Go to the caravan and reward them."
The breeze agreed.
Before he could leave, Xuan Wensheng had already beckoned Su Guanzhang over. "The yard and delivery room are ready. According to your estimate, how many days will it take us to reach the outskirts of Huaizhao County?"
Su Guanzhang looked at a peak towering into the clouds in front of him, frowning, wondering what he was thinking.
Hearing Xuan Wensheng calling him, he replied, "About two days."
only……
He lowered his voice, "It's been so quiet along the way. News of our last wolf attack has already spread back to the capital. Word will probably reach our followers this month."
"If they want to attack us, I'm afraid it will happen in the next few days."
He didn't believe that the person on the dragon throne was really willing to give the Su family a way out, nor did he believe that he had the rationality that an emperor should have.
If Sheng Yu had that reputation, he would not have exiled his deputy general when the two armies were fighting and the main general lost contact, allowing the war that should have ended long ago to drag on until now.
You know, the longer the two armies are in a stalemate, the higher the military expenditure will be; the more difficult it will be for the soldiers defending the country, not to mention the people in the border cities behind them.
Su Guanzhang did not say who was going to attack them, but Xuan Wensheng obviously knew it.
Even Qingfeng, who was standing by, glanced around vigilantly.
Su Sheng and Su Guanyu walked over.
Several people pretended to bend down to pick up firewood, and when they spoke, they avoided looking at the officers and soldiers and imperial guards not far away, while being wary of the pairs of eyes in the dark.
"Are you talking about Huaizhao County?" Su Sheng picked up a dry piece of dead wood and knocked it on the ground to knock off the attached dirt. The sound of the knocking was perfectly covered by the voice.
Su Guanzhang also bent down and gathered a pile of dead leaves, which could be used as fire starter. "I guess that person will attack us in the next few days." He repeated what he had just said to Xuan Wensheng.
Xuan Wensheng was a little nervous. He had never experienced such a way of talking in a way that avoided the attention of others, and he seemed a little nervous for a moment.
Too conspicuous.
Su Guanyu pressed his head down and said, "Brother Xuan San, we are all collecting firewood, you can't be lazy." His tone was very normal, and his voice was neither loud nor soft, no different from the volume of his normal speech in the past.
An imperial guard who had just walked over from a distance took a quick glance, smiled knowingly, and walked away nonchalantly.
Qingfeng brought over a wooden barrel that was usually used to store miscellaneous items and began to fill it with the pile of dead leaves that Su Guanzhang had gathered. "Sir, don't look up. They are watching us."
On the way back to the carriage to get the wooden barrel and back to collect firewood, he had already noticed several pairs of eyes that were vaguely visible but closely watching their movements, including those of officers, soldiers and imperial guards.
Xuan Wensheng was startled and hurriedly imitated Qingfeng to pretend to be a dead leaf.
"The atmosphere in the team has changed in the past few days." Su Sheng glanced at the somewhat uneasy Xuan Wensheng and smiled. "I guess Deputy Captain Chen and Captain Wang have guessed what he is thinking."
He coldly tied a few dead trees together with straw stems, and said in a very calm tone, then dropped a piece of news that made Xuan Wensheng shudder.
"Who knows? They might have already received the news that they were going to cooperate in our assassination. Otherwise, they wouldn't have started monitoring us again after six months."
When their family was first exiled, the imperial guards, led by Wang Hu, kept a very rude watch on them for a day or two.
Then Su Guanzhang called them in for a talk, and after that he became much more polite to them and no longer monitored them.
Now, even the attitudes of the officers and soldiers of the Ministry of War have changed.
Su Sheng felt a little emotional. He still remembered what his old subordinate Yue Feng, now the Minister of War, said when he sent them to the foot of Shiliting Mountain.
Perhaps his youngest son had guessed it right, he thought.
But it doesn't matter anymore.
"It started from that wolf attack." Su Guanzhang suddenly said, lowered his head and put the dead wood in his hand on the ground, then walked away from them and went to another place to continue collecting firewood.
The few grown men gathered together were too conspicuous. Even when they were collecting firewood, they didn't stay in the same place.
She's not a woman, she needs to talk and keep company while I wash clothes or collect firewood.
Now that winter has arrived, even though it is not as bitterly cold as in the north, the wind here is still a bit chilly.
Su Guanzhang wrapped Xuan Jinyu tightly in the quilt, held her in his arms, and was reluctant to fall asleep.
The nights in the mountains in winter are not as lively as those in summer. Many animals have hibernated, and even insects and snakes are much less common.
Therefore, it seemed a little quiet outside the cave at this time. One could only hear the cold wind whistling through the tall trees, and soon it carried away the slight sound of a dead leaf.
Su Guanzhang noticed that his father quietly stood up, looked at him, and quickly walked out of the cave.
At this time, he could hear the rustling sound of the wind mixed with the light footsteps of humans.
When Su Sheng returned, he brought back a chill. Not the kind of cold that comes from the weather, but a chill that radiates from within.
Su Guanzhang watched his father quietly lie back down beside his mother, then exchanged glances with his elder brother Su Guanyu who was a few steps away. Seeing him smile silently at him, he quickly closed his eyes.
The next morning when they set out on their journey again, even the children noticed the tense atmosphere in the team.
Tong Jie'er nervously put her little hand into her father's arms, "Daddy, my hands are cold." She said coquettishly.
After being exiled for half a year, the children learned how to hide their tracks without any instruction.
Su Guanyu tucked his daughter's hands into her warm clothes and said to his wife, "I saw some small gloves sent yesterday. Do you want to let Tongjie wear them?" He was consulting Xu Xuanniang for her opinion.
Xu Xuanniang touched her daughter's little face which was slightly chilled by the mountain breeze, nodded, and quickly turned around to get small gloves and a small hat, and put them all on Tong Jie'er.
Seeing this, Chang Meiyan and Ding Qianqian quickly put on small gloves and hats for their children.
"It's a lot more festive." Old Madam Su said happily.
The children's outfits look a bit like the Chinese New Year, and it is already October, so the Chinese New Year is not far away.
Her eyes gently swept over Xuan Jinyu's belly wrapped in a thin coat. Seeing that it looked like a moving round ball, she felt both longing and worry.
If only we could wait until the baby is born...
What a pity.
She was also a martial artist, and though she was old, her sharpness hadn't faded. She sighed inwardly as she felt the increasingly hostile looks from those around her.
Unavoidable.
The group quietly climbed up the towering mountain, which Su Guanzhang speculated was the most suitable place to attack them.
Only after crossing this peak did they officially reach the territory of Huaizhao County. There, their newly purchased and furnished house was waiting for them.
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