Since leaving the capital and setting foot on the Shannan Road, the road has been filled with picturesque mountains and clear waters, verdant peaks and handsome trees, and the scenery is breathtaking. Liu Mei and Shan Bo have adapted to the journey and no longer feel nauseous, and they can now appreciate the scenery.
Liu Mei stared at the floating mountains and flowing clouds in the distance and sighed, "I often watched the master and his wife paint and admired their paintings. I always thought that although the mountains and rivers in the paintings were beautiful, they were always exaggerated and not true. Now that I have seen this real landscape, I realize that it is only a fraction of what it was."
Liu Mei followed Madam Lou and was also well versed in literature.
Xu Jiang said: "It is a masterpiece of nature, and if humans can obtain even a few of them, it is already a masterpiece of the highest order."
She nodded. "That's true."
It was the height of summer, yet autumn had already arrived in the mountains. Xu Jiang gazed at the yellow specks of mountain light and said leisurely, "By the time we return, it will be late autumn, and the mountains will be ablaze with red and yellow, an even more magnificent sight."
Liu Mei couldn't help but reveal a look of longing, "The scenery must be very beautiful."
Xu Jiang smiled faintly, "When we pass Wushan, the maple forests on both sides will be as blazing as fire, and the clouds on the mountaintops will surge like the sea. I guarantee you won't want to leave after seeing them."
"Don't tease me, or I'll really stop walking." Liu Mei pinched her cheek and asked, "Have you walked this road before?"
"I have been here. After leaving Yongsui, I have traveled around Shannan Road, Jiannan Road, Jiangnan Road, and Huainan Road, and have been to many places."
She twitched her lips and said, "It's strange that I've never been to Chongzhou once. It's like God is deliberately playing a trick on me, preventing me from meeting her."
Hearing this, Liu Mei felt a little uncomfortable. She then held Xu Jiang's hand and comforted her, "It's not too late now that we know her whereabouts. Didn't you say it's still about ten days away? We will be able to see her soon."
Xu Jiang smiled and said, "Yeah."
But the closer he got to Xu Jiang, the more uneasy he became. He kept wondering what kind of person she was, how he would get along with her after meeting her, or what her illness was like, and so on.
Maybe this is what it means to be homesick.
The carriages and horses rose into the clouds, the mountains turned and the water flowed. After seven or eight days, Xu Jiang arrived in Kuizhou.
The road from Kuizhou to Chongzhou was winding, so Xu Jiang discussed with Shan Bo to sell the carriage and only keep the horses in exchange for a passenger boat. They would go downstream from Wu Gorge and reach Chongzhou in two days.
There was a water transport wharf in Kuizhou where merchant ships and passenger boats docked. Xu Jiang asked around and learned that a large passenger boat was about to depart for Chongzhou in the evening, so she hurriedly led everyone to the wharf.
Because they had four horses, which could not be carried on ordinary passenger boats, they had to either take a merchant ship or a large passenger boat.
Merchant ships mainly carry cargo and do not have guest rooms for passengers to rest. They also travel at a slow speed, which is always inconvenient for them.
The large passenger boat is the best choice. It can carry horses, has guest rooms, and travels fast. Apart from being more expensive, there are no other problems.
It was noon when they arrived at the dock, and everyone saw the big passenger ship at a glance.
Someone had set up a tent with tables and chairs in front of the passenger boat, and the passengers were queuing up to pay and register. Xu Jiang dismounted first, then helped Liu Mei down, and then asked her and the guards to stay where they were, while she and Shan Bo went to queue up.
Fortunately, there were still places for passengers and mounts. After paying and registering, the two of them took their group to the side to wait for boarding.
There were food shops, tea houses and wine shops at the pier. Xu Jiang went to the tea house and bought a few bowls of cold tea to quench everyone's thirst and cool down.
After drinking tea, I heard the boatman calling for us to board the boat.
There were many of them, so they were the last to board after other passengers had boarded.
The captain of the passenger boat asked the servants to help drive the horses onto the boat. Xu Jiang followed behind, holding Liu Mei's hand. Looking at the surging river water under her feet, Liu Mei couldn't help but tremble.
Xu Jiang comforted him, "Don't be afraid, I'll hold your hand."
The two of them helped each other onto the boat. Only when their feet touched solid ground did Liu Mei breathe a sigh of relief. She walked to the edge of the fence and looked down, her heart tightening.
Xu Jiang asked, "Are you afraid of water?"
Liu Mei nodded, "I'm a little scared. I used to go boating on the lake, and the boats were small and flat, not as tall and dangerous as this one."
Shan Bo and the guards settled the horses and luggage, leaving two people to look after them. Then he brought the chief officer and two other guards to find Xu Jiang.
He looked at the passenger boat as he walked, and estimated it with a ruler. The boat was nearly ten feet long from bow to stern, the cabin was twenty feet deep and twenty feet wide, and there were three tall sails erected on the deck, which looked very majestic.
There are two lofts, one high and one low, on the boat for passengers to stay and relax. Although it is not as exquisite as the pleasure boats in Beijing, its simplicity against the backdrop of green mountains and green waters creates a unique atmosphere.
Shan Bo said to the chief officer, "Your ship is very impressive, no less impressive than the ones in the capital."
The chief officer bowed and smiled, "I wouldn't dare compare it to the capital, but it's still the largest and best passenger ship we have here."
Shan Bo asked, "Such a large ship must require a lot of manpower to move."
The chief officer counted on his fingers, saying, "Total number of people, including the captain, helmsman, boatman, fighter, sailors, servants, and odd jobs, is about fifty or sixty."
“How many people can it carry at most?”
"Around the New Year, excluding the boatmen, we can only carry about 200 people per trip. After that, we can't carry more than 200 people. Right now, there are not many passengers, so this trip, including the boatmen, can only carry about 100 people in total."
Several people came to Xu Jiang, who bowed to the general and said with a smile, "I'll rely on your care along the way."
"You're welcome, ma'am." He returned the greeting and then turned aside to invite everyone to the attic at the stern. "Please come this way. I'll show you the rooms."
Shan Bo bowed and said, "Thank you."
The chief officer led a few people to the attic at the stern. The building had two floors, and the lower floor was the guest rooms, with a total of more than ten rooms.
The upstairs is a leisure hall, which is open on all sides. There are seats set up by the window and all the necessary furnishings are complete.
Liu Mei whispered, "It looks pretty good."
"That's right." Xu Jiang's purse was flat, and her mouth was flat as well: "The price is not bad either."
Two rooms, one large and one small, cost ten taels of silver. The tickets for people and animals were calculated separately. A person cost one thousand two hundred coins, and a horse cost five hundred coins, which came to more than twenty taels of silver. If it weren't for the need to hurry, I would never have dared to be so extravagant.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
