Xie Zhaozhao explained the details of the plan, and when Yin Jin'an heard that she might jump off a cliff, her face immediately showed disbelief: "Jump off a cliff? No way! No way!"
“In case, I mean in case of an emergency, I might jump off a cliff,” Xie Zhaozhao explained. “Of course I don’t want to die, and I don’t even want to live on the mountain.”
Yin Jin'an has become famous.
"If you want to die, I can't stop you. I have too many things to do, why should I collect your corpse?"
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained; you understand that principle..."
"I don't understand! To risk your life just to catch a few damn bandits? Are you out of your mind?"
"So you have to pave the road for me and make sure I don't fall and die!"
"No way! I hate people like you who court death for no reason. You could have avoided it, but you had to make things so complicated!"
Helpless, Xie Zhaozhao could only promise not to jump off the cliff and try her best to persuade her mother-in-law not to live on the mountain.
If the bandits really come, send a signal at the crucial moment.
Yin Jin'an then sat down, listening to her plan with a disdainful expression and furrowed brows.
After discussing the plan to capture the bandits, I also told her about the progress of our northward journey.
"Several ships from Xiandou and Haixi Kingdom that set off on the Lantern Festival have returned. As we agreed during the New Year, all the goods will remain in Shian City."
In Shian City and Nanhai City, Yunyang and Yunyuan recruited and trained five thousand elite soldiers. After the New Year, Gu Chongjin continued training. They were fully equipped, and they looked quite imposing.
Along with provisions, this time three thousand people will be transported by ship from outer sea to the saline-alkali lands of Da Mo Prefecture and Dong Ying Prefecture.
Soldiers, horses, and provisions were transported directly from overseas to the north without alerting the countries along the route. They quietly landed in Dongying Prefecture and first occupied the saline-alkali lands of Da Mo Prefecture and Dongying Prefecture.
These two places, which neither the Tatars nor the Khitans want, will be the first stop in their northern plan.
Yin Jin'an snorted coldly and said, "You'd better live well. If you die in the bandits' den this time, we'll take over all the shipping routes and territories. Once you're dead, they'll all be ours."
Xie Zhaozhao's lips curved into a smile: "Alright, I will cherish my life and wait for you to take over the thirty-six northern prefectures."
Yin Jin'an didn't stay long and left quickly. This woman was going to the bandit's den, and he needed to make arrangements as soon as possible.
The next morning, the women of the Earl's mansion, including the mistress, concubines, and head maids, led by Gu Boyu, went to the old residence in Ouyang to attend the funeral.
Xie Zhaozhao rode in her own two-wheeled carriage. The old lady discussed with her the possibility of riding with her, and Xie Zhaozhao did not refuse.
If Gu Chengyan or Guan Yingying were to cause trouble, the old lady would be more wary of them, as she would be their protector on the road.
Their journey was not slow and went smoothly. On the fifth day, they entered Ouyang County, where people from the Gu family's old residence greeted them from ten miles away.
The Gu family's old residence is located in Pingyang Town, Ouyang County. It was originally a village, but it gradually prospered after the birth of the Marquis of Pingyang and eventually became a town.
Moreover, the town's name was changed from Ouyang Village to Pingyang Town.
This is to commemorate the Marquis of Pingyang who came from this place.
The Gu family respectfully welcomed the entire Bo family back to town, and the whole town was in an uproar.
"People from the Marquis of Pingyang's residence have arrived."
"Wow, look at that carriage, how majestic it is!"
"The horseshoes are snow-white, so beautiful."
The common people were unaware that the Marquis's mansion had been downgraded to a Earl's mansion; in their minds, the old Marquis was a legend in their community.
The common people followed them all the way, their faces full of excitement, and they were both curious and afraid of them from the bottom of their hearts.
They followed them all the way to the Gu family's old house.
The old lady was extremely satisfied.
The old Marquis's old courtyard in his hometown had long been renovated by the clan, and a large three-courtyard house was built in the hope that the Marquis's family would come back to visit often.
The clan chief, Gu Yongtai, was older than the old Marquis, and Xie Zhaozhao called him Fourth Uncle.
Fourth Aunt Sun was afraid that Xie Zhaozhao would not know funeral rites, so she helped her put on mourning clothes and hat, and held a banner wrapped with white paper in her hand. She cried in front of her second grandmother's coffin, and followed the master of ceremonies' instructions to perform a ritual by kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times.
According to custom, the old lady should receive funeral money and a condolence gift.
Since the Earl's family had not divided its property, the funeral money and offerings were taken out together by the public funds.
The old lady was conflicted. If she took too little, she was afraid people would laugh at the Earl's family for being so poor. But if she took too much, she was reluctant to give it up.
Neither the Tu nor the Lu families wanted to give more. The old house was a burden on the Earl's family, and giving it to them would be pointless.
Gu Boyu said, "What's there to hesitate about? My father was taken care of by my second grandmother when he was alive, so let's take a little more as a way of repaying her."
Before he arrived, he asked Madam Lu to bring three hundred strings of cash from the account.
In the countryside, three hundred strings of cash would be considered very generous, but the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion was so famous that three hundred strings of cash was really not much.
Xie Zhaozhao also advocated giving more. Not to mention that the Second Grandmother had saved the old Marquis's life, just considering that so many people from the Earl's Mansion had come, and that they had been eating, lodging, and traveling for nearly ten days, three hundred strings of cash might not even be enough for her own expenses.
Because the body of the second grandmother had been lying in the house for almost half a month, the people of the Earl's Mansion saw the old lady's remains, performed a Buddhist ceremony, and prepared to bury her the next day.
After the religious ceremony was completed in the afternoon, the second grandmother's son ordered a banquet to be prepared to entertain the Earl's family and other relatives.
The banquet had fish, meat, and vegetables, but the spring sandstorm was fierce, blowing dust everywhere and making the funeral couplets rustle.
Even in the main room, the food was covered with a layer of mud.
The old lady was unprecedentedly domineering, putting on airs like a matriarch, ordering her daughters-in-law and granddaughters-in-law around like crazy, showing everyone her absolute authority.
She was too lazy to even lift a finger to cook, so she ordered Tu and Lu to shield her from the wind and sand, blow away the dirt, and feed it to her.
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