"How are you going to get home tomorrow?" Huo Jincheng suddenly turned around and asked Jian Ning when Xu Dali knocked on the door.
"What do you mean?" Jian Ning didn't understand the meaning of his question for a moment, but then she realized, "Of course, Qinglian and I will go first. Manager Chen has not been found yet, and Brother Tong and the others can't come back for the time being."
"You seem to have forgotten me. I have to go back to Beijing to report." Huo Jincheng implied that he could not stay and accompany Tong Bajin and others to find the whereabouts of Manager Chen.
"I've never thought about you, so how could I possibly forget you? Since you're anxious to return to the capital to report, I'll have to trouble you to hire a horse to go to Xing'an County first. You can then ride Brother Qiu back."
The door of the inn opened. The waiter was yawning, wrapped in a thin quilt. He glanced at them with sleepy eyes, waved his hand, and signaled them to come in quickly so that he could close the door and continue to sleep.
There were still a few lanterns lit upstairs and at the stairs. After Xu Dali came, Jian Ning opened another room. Before going upstairs to rest, she reminded Huo Jincheng and Xu Dali to stay alert. After returning to her room, for safety reasons, she hid in the Baicao Room and had a good sleep in the medicine storeroom.
After daybreak, Jian Ning heard a "ding" sound. It was a message from Ma Fuquan. He told her that Ma Xiaomai had been promoted to captain of a thousand men and that he had volunteered to garrison Hanling Pass in the north, about thirty miles from Danyang. It would only take about half an hour, or two and a quarter of an hour, to get there by horseback.
Ma Fuquan: [That guy is after Qiaofeng. They've been exchanging letters for the past few years, and they're quite affectionate. In a year or two, it's time to consider their marriage.]
Jian Ning: [Okay, as long as Feng'er is willing to get married, we'll arrange a marriage for them in two years.]
Ma Fuquan: [One more thing. I've been transferred to the Wuyi Battalion as the East Gate Commander, which is roughly equivalent to the provincial military district commander. Haha, I guess it was Old Huo who put in the effort. Please thank him for me later.]
Jian Ning: [Congratulations, you deserve this position.]
Ma Fuquan asked about the situation here again and learned that she was going to take Qinglian back to Xing'an County tonight. He said that when he had some free time, he borrowed Brother Qiu to come to Xing'an. He hadn't seen Jian Ning and Ding Youtian for a few years and said he missed them very much, so he also wanted to go back to Dingxian Village.
Jian Ning jumped up from the small bed in the medicine storeroom. "Why did you suddenly want to go back to Dingxian Village? What happened?"
She wondered if Ma Fuquan had sensed something and was about to go back in time. What would happen to Tian? And then there was Xiaolu and their youngest son, Ma Xiaobing. Secretly, she thought she would have to wait a few more years before she could go back, until Ma Xiaobing was older.
Ma Fuquan: [Why do you seem a little nervous? Nothing's wrong, I just came back to see you guys after not seeing you for a few years. Also, Guizhi recently said she had two dreams in a row about the backyard wall collapsing. I came back and took a look to reassure her and stop her from getting so uneasy and suspicious. I think my promotion to admiral is to blame!]
Now it was not just Tian who was uneasy. Jian Ning heard that Tian had dreamed that the backyard wall collapsed. She thought this was a sign that Ma Fuquan was about to wake up over there. She felt a little anxious for Tian and felt uneasy too.
Intellectually, she knew Wu Juan had it tough, too, dragging her daughter along, anxiously hoping for Wu Dui's early recovery. Personally, she felt closer to Tian, as they had two children together. She wasn't sure whether to tell Ma Fuquan about this, so he could be prepared and make arrangements.
Ma Fuquan: [Why are you silent?]
Jian Ning: [Oh, I was just rinsing my mouth. Are Sister Tian and Xiaolu Xiaobing okay?]
Ma Fuquan: [Hehe, he's fine. Xiaolu, the other guy, would get up wherever he fell, but he's the better. He just takes a nap wherever he fell.]
Jane Ning: [How do you say that?]
Ma Fuquan: [Tian Guizhi spoiled him. Every time he fell, she would rush to pick him up. It became a habit. Whenever he fell to the ground, he would scream for his mother. If no one heard him and no one pulled him up, he would just fall asleep on the ground.]
Jian Ning wondered who might have spoiled him. As for whether she should tell Ma Fuquan that he might really wear his clothes back, she thought she should go back and listen to Ding Youtian's opinion.
After getting up and going downstairs to have breakfast, Jian Ning asked Xu Dali to lead the yamen runners and city defense soldiers to look for Manager Chen, and also asked Huo Jincheng to hire a horse to go back to Xing'an County first.
Huo Jincheng did not agree.
"Although you are indeed very capable, if I leave you here alone, how will I explain to Brother Ding if something goes wrong? No, there is no rush. I will go hire two horses this afternoon, and then I will go with Brother Tong after you and Miss Qinglian leave tonight."
"Whatever you want."
In the afternoon, Jian Ning accompanied him to hire a horse. It was relatively convenient to hire a horse in Yueguo. There were businesses doing horse hiring in every county of Yueguo. You could pay the deposit and the horse hiring fee in Shangjing, and then get the deposit back after returning the horse in Jishui.
They picked two horses and each of them led one while strolling on the street. Jian Ning wanted to buy some local novelties for Erniu and Sanniu, and also buy some gifts for Duan Xinyan and Xiao Chuntian.
After walking around for a while and finding nothing worth buying, she was planning to go back to the inn to catch up on some sleep, have dinner after waking up, and then go to the mountain to wait for Tong Bajin and Qinglian. Then she saw Mi Li A Nai coming towards her with a bamboo basket on her back.
Mi Li's grandmother came to the city early in the morning to sell mountain products. After selling them, she exchanged them for salt and sauce and took them back. In the past few years, it was Mi Li who came to the city to sell goods. Since the last incident, she refused to let Mi Li come no matter what.
Knowing that Jian Ning and the others were going to be transferred tonight, she decided to invite Jian Ning and Huo Jincheng to her home for dinner. Jian Ning knew that they lived a hard life, and thought that Mi Li needed nutrition after her miscarriage, so she decided to buy some mutton to cook a meal for them, as a way of thanking Mi Li and her grandmother for giving up their room for them yesterday.
After she told Huo Jincheng about it, Huo Jincheng was generous this time and bought a whole lamb. Any leftovers could be pickled. This made Mi Li A Nai feel very bad. On the way back, she kept saying, "I originally wanted to treat you to a simple meal, but I made you spend so much money. I feel really bad about it."
"Don't say that. Although I didn't use your rhinoceros beetle yesterday, I still remember your kindness in my heart."
After Jian Ning went back and chatted and laughed with her, she helped her marinate the mutton. Mi Li brought an ochre ceramic salt jar. Jian Ning felt that it looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it. She picked it up and saw words on the bottom of the jar. She wiped it clean with a rag and looked closely. It was the word "Yan". She suddenly remembered that she had seen it at Cao's house. Cao used the same jar to boil Chinese medicine.
The jar from the Cao family was a gift from Xu Dali's master Lei Jiang. The one from the Mi Li family is smaller, but the shape is exactly the same. It looks like a mother-and-child jar.
"Mi Li, where did this jar come from?" Jian Ning asked.
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