Chapter 2067: Hurrying on the Road (Wishing Everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)
The group of seven rode at full speed to Xiazhou. Because they did not rest and spared no effort, they bypassed Yongzhou City and arrived at the post station at 3:00 p.m.
Manbao and his companions stopped and went directly to the post station to replenish their dry food and hot water, and then continued on their journey. The postmaster saw that they were about to leave and said hurriedly: "It will take a day to get from here to the next post station. If you leave, you will miss your destination."
Manbao said, "We found a village inn to stay at on the way."
"What if we miss the village?" The postmaster said, "Sir, it's not summer or autumn now. If we sleep outdoors now, we will freeze to death."
Manbao looked at Daji.
Daji calculated the schedule and confirmed, "We can find a village to stay in."
Manbao thanked the postmaster for the reminder and left with his men.
The postmaster frowned as he watched them run away. The people from the Imperial Hospital were just on official business, so what could be so urgent?
Manbao and his seven companions continued to run until it was dark and they could vaguely hear the barking of dogs.
Daji dismounted, lit a torch, followed the sound and walked down the path. A quarter of an hour later he saw the village with lights on.
Manbao and the others reined in their horses beside him. The medical assistant looked at him with a chilling feeling, "Look, there are only two lights."
Bai Shan glanced at him and said, "This means this village is not small. Let's go."
Only two lights are not considered small?
The medical assistant followed them in confusion. Only after entering the village did he understand what Bai Shan meant. It was already dark, but some houses could still be seen clearly under the moonlight.
I found quite a few, but none of them lit up.
There are families in the village who have dogs. As soon as they enter the village, they start barking loudly, and even the chickens start clucking. The originally quiet village suddenly becomes lively.
Daji went straight to the house that could light a lamp.
Coincidentally, it is the village chief’s house.
So Manbao and his friends moved in with a bunch of money.
One hundred coins for two and a half rooms, plus hot water and some ordinary food, is still a good deal.
Manbao lives with their granddaughter, so it counts as two and a half rooms.
Manbao said to Daji, "Let them make a pot of ginger soup to help everyone get rid of the cold."
Daji agreed, took out a piece of ginger from his bag, and also picked out a piece from a square piece of brown sugar and handed it to the host.
The owner was stunned for a moment, then quickly took over and started cooking.
While Manbao was drinking his soup, Bai Shan had already finished his conversation with the village chief. He turned to Manbao and said, "The official road is not far from here. If we get up early tomorrow, we should be able to reach the next post station around 3 p.m. If we can reach the third post station by evening, we'll have to change our horses."
Manbao understood that the horses would definitely be damaged if they traveled at such a high intensity, so they had to be replaced in order not to affect the rest of the journey.
Not only the horses, but the people were also tired.
Manbao took out a bottle of ointment from his bag, handed it to Bai Shan and said, "Apply it on yourself at night."
Bai Shan took it without refusing.
The seven people stayed in the village for one night. They got up before dawn the next day, asked the village chief to prepare a breakfast at home, and exchanged a lot of white steamed buns for dry food before setting off in the dark.
By the time they got onto the official road, it was getting a little brighter and they could barely see the road clearly.
There was no one on the official road, so the seven people let their horses gallop on it without worry.
As they left, the village chief glanced at the thirty coins in his hand, put them away, and turned to his family, saying, "Don't go to the county town recently, and don't go to crowded places. If there are passers-by from the north, try not to let them stay overnight."
His eldest son asked, "Why?"
"I don't know," the village chief said confidently, "The nobleman didn't explain why, he just told us to avoid crowded places if we have nothing to do."
The group finally arrived at the third post station before dark. The horses were almost exhausted, and Manbao and the others could hardly stand. They handed the horses to the staff at the post station and went to wash up, and then communicated with the postmaster about changing horses.
Manbao took out a gold ingot weighing ten taels, and also had her official seal and documents from the Imperial Hospital, so the postmaster agreed to change horses for them and prepared all the necessary documents.
Because Manbao is an official and he is on business this time, he doesn't have to pay for accommodation and food.
The next day, we got up while it was still dark, had breakfast, and then set off with the dry food prepared by the post station.
The postmaster watched them leave with sleepy eyes, and finally believed that they were in a hurry.
Going on business in such a cold place, and on such an urgent mission, is really unbearable. It turns out that being a high-ranking official is not that easy.
They hurried along like this, changing horses three times, and finally approached Xiazhou on the fifth day.
As soon as they approached Xiazhou, they noticed it, because there was not a single car heading north on the official road. Occasionally, they would encounter a car coming in the opposite direction, which was also very lively with families, but there were more people pushing carts or walking away.
It was getting dark, and they still hadn't seen the city. Daji glanced around and saw that there were only three people coming from the opposite direction on the official road. They looked like a family of three, a young man with an old woman and a young woman, pushing a cart, and carrying a backpack and luggage on their backs.
Daji stepped forward to stop the group and asked, "How far is it from here to Xiazhou City?"
The people who were stopped looked at them in surprise, "You want to go to Xiazhou City? Xiazhou City is inaccessible. There is an epidemic there and it has been sealed off. You should leave quickly."
Daji said, "We know that we are going to Xiazhou City on business, but it is getting dark now, and we don't know how far we have to go to get there."
The man looked at their tall horses, stepped back slightly, and after shielding his family behind him, he said, "Well, it's not very far. If you ride horses, you should be there in about two hours."
Manbao looked down at them from his horse, his eyes sweeping over their carts. He asked, "Are you from Xiazhou City?"
"No," the man denied hastily. Perhaps realizing he was being too hasty, he paused before saying, "Our home is nearby. Life is tough right now, so we're going to the child's maternal grandparents' home to make a living."
Manbao looked at him for a long time, then finally dismounted, stepped forward to glance at the cart, and reached out to lift the quilt. The man quickly grabbed her hand and asked, "What are you doing?"
Daji immediately stepped forward and grabbed his hand, pressing him: "Let go."
Manbao stared at him and said, "I'm a doctor."
The man stood in front of the cart and prevented them from moving.
Manbao then signaled Daji to let go. Baishan groped in his bundle and took out Manbao's official seal. He stepped forward and said, "We are from the Imperial Hospital. Are you sure you don't want us to take a look?"
The man was surprised and looked at the official seal. Well, he didn't recognize it.
But……
His eyes swept over their clothes and the tall horses behind them, then looked at their temperament. After hesitating for a moment, he let go of Manbao's hand and stood a little to the side, but still looked at them warily.
I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival reunion, happiness and good health.
(End of this chapter)
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