As for Empress Chen, everyone in the Su family unanimously told the outside world that she was an elder relative of the master's family and was brought in to serve and take care of her.
As for Su Baozhu, although her true identity is unknown, she is known to be the biological mother of the third brother.
The Su family did not hide the fact that Su Xiaozhong was not the son of the two elders from Su Baozhu.
No matter how unwilling Su Baozhu was to believe it or how unbelievable it seemed to her, she couldn't help but believe it after seeing the appearance of Queen Chen and the Su Xinyang brothers. Not to mention the determined looks of the other members of the Su family, she knew she was right.
At first, when she learned that her third brother was not her biological brother and had no blood relationship with her, she felt confused and frightened.
Because the only thing that tied her to them was gone, not to mention that her parents were not nice to her third brother's family, and could even be said to be abusing them, it was very awkward for her to stay in the Su family with her identity.
But the third brother, the third sister-in-law, and Yinyin treated her as usual. They did not treat her harshly, nor did they drive her out of the Su family.
Even after she knew the truth, Yinyin came to counsel her and asked her to feel at ease.
Those so-called relatives in the Su family treated her like a commodity to be sold and never took her to heart.
Although her parents named her Baozhu, they did not treat her like a baby. Instead, she suffered from everything and felt wronged, especially by her two older brothers.
When she woke up in the middle of the night, she couldn't help but think that maybe she was not her parents' child, like her third brother.
Unfortunately, she looked a bit like Old Lady Su, which made her completely give up the idea that she was not her parents' daughter.
When Su Baozhu faced Empress Chen, even though she didn't know her true identity, just because of her demeanor and the fact that she was her third brother's biological mother, Su Baozhu didn't dare to act rashly in front of her and listened to her lecture obediently.
"Aunt, why?" Su Baozhu asked curiously.
"First, if you open your mouth while eating and talk, food can get stuck in your throat, which is dangerous. Second, if you have food in your mouth, it is inevitable that food will splash out when you open your mouth while talking, which is not elegant."
Su Baozhu nodded continuously, "I see."
As soon as she finished speaking, she immediately closed her mouth and covered it with her hands.
Su Yin laughed at her aunt's funny look, "Hurry up and drink some water and swallow the cake in your mouth."
Su Baozhu glared at Su Yin coquettishly, then naturally took the tea and gulped down a big mouthful.
After everyone ate their cakes and took care of their personal physiological problems, they also fed the horses some fodder. Uncle Huo and Su Wuming also had to clean some snow off the wheels to prevent the snow on the axles from melting into ice over time.
After the renovations, the family moved on.
This time, I made a clear plan for the entire trip, including how far to walk each day, calculating the time and distance every day, and how to arrive at the next place to stay.
It's icy and snowy now, so it's not suitable to sleep outside, especially with my grandmother.
The itinerary planning this time was done by Su Xiaozhong and Su Xinguang.
Some cities are far away from each other, so you have to set out early that day and make sure to arrive before the county gates close.
Some places are close to each other, or if they know of an inn for rest along the way, they will sleep in the inn on the official road to rest.
Occasionally, when they encounter problems and waste time, they will try to find a place to stay nearby such as a village or a dilapidated temple that can shelter them from the wind and rain.
It would take about twenty days to travel from Shangjing City to where the treasure map was located, but because the nights were long and the days were short in winter, it took them twenty-five days to reach the nearest city where the treasure map was located - [Tangquan City].
The journey was naturally not all smooth sailing. Occasionally, they would encounter mountain bandits blocking the road. Su Yin didn't need to take action. Once Su Wuming took action, he would scare the bandits so much that they would piss their pants and dare not continue.
Su Baozhu lifted a corner of the car curtain and looked at the city in front of her. Above the city gate were written three big words: "Tangquan City".
“We’re finally here.”
The soldiers guarding the city checked the household registration certificate and found no problem. After paying the entry fee, they entered Yongsheng County smoothly.
Two carriages stopped at the door of the largest inn in Tangquan City. Su's mother helped Queen Chen get out of the carriage, and the servant led Uncle Huo and others to the stable of the inn.
Just like every other inn, they asked for four rooms: one for Queen Chen, one for the couple, one for Su Yin and Su Baozhu, and one for Uncle Huo and Su Wuming.
The family sat together for dinner, and Queen Chen said to everyone, "The most famous thing about Tangquan City is this hot spring. You can take a good soak in it tonight. After soaking in the hot spring, you will feel much more comfortable."
"The city is so lively." Su Baozhu looked at the guests in the hall. Judging from their accents, most of them were from outside the city like them.
Queen Chen smiled and said, "Every winter, people from all over the country and surrounding prefectures like to come here to soak in the hot springs. Every inn in the city has a hot spring pool, and the water in the hot spring pools comes from the natural hot spring water at Tangshan and flows into the city."
The waiter who served the dishes heard the Queen's detailed description and said with a smile, "Madam, this is a frequent customer of ours. He knows our Tangquan City very well."
“I used to come here often when I was young.”
"That's no wonder. Judging from your accent, you should be from the next county, right?"
Queen Chen smiled and nodded.
"No wonder." The waiter smiled and said to Su Yin and the others, "The soup in our restaurant is the first batch. You will definitely feel that it is worth the money after you have a dip in it."
"How much does it cost?"
The waiter patiently introduced, "The first hot spring pool at the top is five taels of silver per person. The second hot spring pool is three taels per person. The one at the bottom is much cheaper, only one tael of silver."
"What I just talked about are public hot springs. We also have small hot springs with better privacy, which are most suitable for a family bath. This small hot spring is not expensive, only one hundred taels. There are two small hot springs in one room."
"Come and have a small hot spring."
Su Xiaozhong made the final decision.
The guy responded happily and immediately got to work.
Spending one hundred taels just to soak in a hot spring, Su's mother would have stopped it in the past, but this time she didn't stop it. It was unknown whether she was used to the father and daughter's daily extravagant spending, or because of her mother-in-law's status, she felt it was not good to share the hot spring with outsiders.
After dinner, the family prepared to book a hot spring room after a short digestion. There were two hot springs in the room, one for men and one for women, separated by a screen so that they would not disturb each other.
But Su Xiaozhong did not do so. He let the women in his family go and take a bath first. After they finished, the three men went.
I have to say that this hot spring is very authentic. After Su Yin took a bath in it, she slept particularly well that night.
The next day, the group made themselves comfortable and bought some food and tools in the morning.
At 9:00 am, four fast horses left Tangquan City and headed for Hulu Valley, the location marked on the treasure map.
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