These three bird calls sounded like the most common sparrow calls on the eaves of the fields. Others would have thought they were just the calls of ordinary birds, but Pei Weixuan could hear a slight difference. They were not birds' calls, but people pretending to be birds. He opened his eyes, put on his clothes, put on his cloth shoes, walked to the window, pushed open the window, and really saw a figure squatting under the window.

The figure saw the window open, raised his head and whispered, "Young Master."

Outside, the moonlight shone on the figure.

Pei Weixuan recognized him as Huo Ye, the captain of the black-armored guards beside his eldest brother. He was the person his eldest brother trusted the most. He was about the same age as his eldest brother, and had an average height and appearance.

The Black-Armored Guards were both the eldest brother's guards and secret guards. Even the Empress Dowager Fu was unaware of the existence of the Black-Armored Guards. When the eldest brother was in trouble, the Black-Armored Guards were not in the capital.

Later, when the palace coup occurred, Huo Ye learned about it, but it was too late to rush to the capital because his elder brother had already been beheaded on the spot by Empress Dowager Fu and the new emperor.

When Huo Ye was still on his way back to the capital, he received a letter from his elder brother via pigeon, in which he learned that the late emperor had actually written an edict to make his elder brother the crown prince, but before he could announce it to the world, something had happened to his elder brother.

When Huo Ye returned to the capital with his black-armored guards, the Pei family had already been exiled. Huo Ye still had to stay in the capital to look for the imperial edict issued by the previous emperor.

The palace is heavily guarded, but of course there are still my eldest brother's men inside.

Huo Ye colluded with the people in the palace and sent them to look for the imperial edict, but they accidentally exposed their tracks and were killed by Empress Dowager Fu.

That edict has not been found yet.

Huo Ye and the black-armored guards stayed in the capital for some time, but they could not find the imperial edict. Empress Dowager Fu was also looking for the edict, but could not find it either. She didn't know where the late emperor had hidden it. In addition, the censors in the court wrote a letter accusing Empress Dowager Fu and the new emperor of exiling the royal bloodline and the empress, causing a big commotion. Therefore, Empress Dowager Fu and the new emperor are now in a state of panic.

Unable to find the imperial edict, Huo Ye could only come to find the young master first.

Huo Ye knew that his master was gone, but he still asked them to continue following the young master.

He had originally brought only a part of his people back to the capital, with the remaining part of his troops scattered throughout the country, and now they had all gathered at the border.

Huo Ye said this in a low voice and added another sentence.

"My dear, it's time for you to leave."

Pei Weixuan nodded.

There is no way Empress Dowager Fu would spare their lives.

The reason why he didn't take action during his exile was that taking action at that time would have been too obvious and would have aroused rebellion among officials in the court and would have brought shame upon everyone in the world.

It was impossible for him to stay in the borderland as an ordinary criminal and commoner for the rest of his life. For the sake of his family, he had to take over from his elder brother.

Otherwise, when Empress Dowager Fu and the new emperor have consolidated their power in the court, the first thing they will think of is to put them to death. No matter if it is him, his family or Yu Niang, no one will escape.

Pei Weixuan said, "Wait for me in the bamboo forest outside the town. I will go to the bamboo forest to look for you after I tell my family at dawn."

Huo Ye thought about it and couldn't help asking, "Young Master, do you want to go back to the capital to find the imperial edict first?"

This would also make it easier to attack Concubine Fu Gui and the new emperor.

"No." Pei Weixuan stood by the window. He could vaguely see the mountains in the distance, which were shrouded in mountain mist. He said slowly, "There is no rush about the imperial edict. I know where my father hid the imperial edict. Empress Dowager Fu and the new emperor are also looking for this edict, wanting to destroy it to cover up their evil nature. If we find the edict when we return to Beijing, Concubine Fu and the new emperor will be desperate." They will not care about bloodbath in the court, and they will also send people directly to the border to kill all the Pei family members.

As long as the imperial edict is not found, Empress Dowager Fu and the new emperor will at least take the officials in the court into consideration and will not resort to desperate measures to eradicate the problem completely.

There would be no benefit to him if the imperial edict was announced to the world now, so there was no need to rush the matter.

When the time comes, the imperial edict will be in his hands.

Even now, it would not be difficult for him to get the imperial edict.

Huo Ye understood instantly.

But if we don't look for the imperial edict, what should we do now?

There are only a few hundred black-armored guards. How easy is it to start a negotiation?

He couldn't help but ask what was on his mind.

But the young master suddenly asked him, "Did my elder brother leave any money for you?"

Huo Ye knew that the silver money the young master was talking about was not one hundred, two thousand or twenty thousand taels, but a huge amount needed to start a new trend.

Huo Ye said: "No."

These black-armored guards were also poor, let alone one or two thousand taels, they couldn't even take out ten taels of silver. Some of them went to the mountains on both sides of the canal and became pirates. Of course, they didn't kill people or rob indiscriminately. They just robbed the goods of some more unscrupulous merchant ships. As for official ships, they didn't dare to rob for the time being.

Pei Weixuan took a look at Huo Ye's sloppy handwriting and understood.

He said, "You go first. I will meet you after breakfast."

Huo Ye nodded and left.

After everyone left, Pei Weixuan did not sleep either. He stood by the window for a long time until he heard soft footsteps coming from the main room outside. It was Yu Niang who woke up.

Xu Qinyu had already gotten up and was in a daze on the bed for a while. She had not slept well last night and had dreamed that she and the Pei family had somehow become the disaster victims in the north, fleeing from famine and having a miserable life on the road. She had great cooking skills but they were of no use and the whole family was freezing and starving.

After being in a daze for a while, Xu Qinyu put on her clothes, got out of bed, and went to the kitchen to prepare salted pork intestines.

She had just entered the kitchen and hadn't even started the stove when she heard footsteps. She looked up and saw it was her fourth brother.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Good morning, Fourth Brother."

Pei Weixuan nodded, went to the stove, and skillfully used a fire starter to burn the firewood.

After the stove was lit, Pei Weixuan went to fetch water to fill the water jar and chopped the firewood.

After finishing all the work that could be done in the yard, he returned to the kitchen stove. The salami in the big pot was already bubbling and emitting an aromatic aroma.

Pei Weixuan suddenly said, "Yu Niang, I will leave after breakfast."

"Leaving?" Xu Qinyu was stunned for a moment, "Where is Fourth Brother going? Going out to buy medicine?"

She didn't react for a moment.

Pei Weixuan did not respond to Yu Niang, he just looked at her deeply.

He didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't tell her the truth, nor could he tell his mother the truth.

He had to make up a story to deceive them.

Xu Qinyu suddenly came to her senses, and she suddenly realized, "Is Fourth Brother planning to go out and have some fun?" A man should have ambitions, and it would be good for him to go out and have some fun. Otherwise, it would not be good to let Fourth Brother be trapped in this small yard. Fourth Brother should have his own career and ambitions. She had always thought that Fourth Brother could not help her make fire, chop wood, and wash ingredients for the rest of his life, it would be such a waste.

It’s good that fourth brother is willing to go out and have some fun now.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Don't worry, Fourth Brother. I will take good care of Mother and Sister Ning. But where are you going, Fourth Brother?"

Pei Weixuan thought about what to do next and could only tell Yu Niang, "Follow the caravan first."

Xu Qinyu nodded, and it was almost exactly what she had guessed.

It is true that following a caravan is the best way to broaden your horizons. After following a caravan for two years, it becomes much easier to do anything you want on your own.

"Then fourth brother, you have to be careful when you are outside and don't get into conflict with others. There's nothing wrong in giving way in everything. If you encounter danger..." Xu Qinyu started to talk to fourth brother about going out.

Pei Weixuan felt helpless.

Yu Niang is indeed different from anyone else.

Xu Qinyu talked a lot and suddenly remembered that her fourth brother said he would leave after breakfast.

She stopped talking and scooped up the salted pig intestines.

These brine is different from the brine used to make roujiamo. You can continue to use it tomorrow and just change it every few days.

After serving the broth, she put some bean porridge on the stove, asked her fourth brother to help her clean the pot, and then went out.

She went to a nearby butcher's stall and bought a lot of pork tenderloin.

She planned to make some dried meat for her fourth brother to take with him. She didn't know how long he would be away this time, and one or two months would probably be considered short. It would be very hard to follow the caravan and sleep in the open air. It would be nice to bring some food for him now.

When she came back with the meat, Wen had already gotten up.

She was sitting in the kitchen in a daze, and her eyes looked a little red. It must be because her fourth brother told her that he was going out to have some fun.

Hearing the noise, Wen turned around and saw her daughter-in-law. She stood up and helped Yu Niang carry the things in her hands into the kitchen. "What did you buy, Yu Niang?"

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Isn't Fourth Brother going on a long journey? I bought some pork belly and prepared to make some pork jerky for Fourth Brother to take with him on the road." After saying that, she looked around but didn't see Fourth Brother, so she asked, "Mom, where is Fourth Brother?"

Wen said, "He went out to buy firewood. He said he would buy more so that all the firewood could be chopped." She was also worried that if he left, Yu Niang would have too much work to do.

Xu Qinyu nodded. Actually, if her fourth brother wanted to go out and have some fun, she planned to hire a worker to help her with odd jobs like killing fish, pounding fish, washing vegetables, etc.

Her hands were busy all the time. She washed the tenderloin she bought, cut it into long strips as thick as two fingers, and then marinated it. After it was marinated, she fried it slowly over low heat. She also fried and crushed dogwood, pepper, sesame and three other spices to make the seasoning. After the meat jerky was fried, she lit the fire again, heated the oil, poured in the prepared seasoning, and then poured in the meat jerky, stir-fried until it was fragrant.

This is the method of making beef jerky, but it tastes very good, fragrant and chewy. It can be eaten as dry food or as a snack on the road.

She made quite a bit, keeping a little for everyone to taste, and wrapped the rest in oil paper for her fourth brother to take along on the road.

When the dried meat was ready, the fourth brother came back with a cart of firewood and started chopping firewood in the yard.

Xu Qinyu made several more sauce-flavored cakes, brushed with her homemade sauce, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with a rich sauce flavor.

For breakfast she had soy sauce pancakes, bean porridge, and pickled radish shreds that she made herself.

A lot of sauce pancakes were made and there were plenty left over, enough for several people. We wrapped them all in oil paper and left them for my fourth brother to take with him on the road.

The weather is still cool, so the jam biscuits can be kept for a few days without any problem.

After breakfast, Pei Weixuan went back to his room and simply packed his bag. He didn't have much to bring with him, just two sets of clothes, and the dried meat and soybean cakes that Yu Niang made for him. The two foods alone took up more than half of the bag. Xu Qinyu also took out ten taels of silver and stuffed it into his bag.

When you go out, you still have to carry some money with you.

When Pei Weixuan was about to leave, not only did Wen's eyes turn red, but Ning Jie'er and Gui also felt uncomfortable.

The two children also vaguely understood that he was going on a long journey, and they were a little uneasy.

Xu Qinyu was also feeling depressed, but she was the first to wave to her fourth brother, "Fourth brother, goodbye."

Pei Weixuan glanced at Yu Niang. Her bun was still empty with only a wooden hairpin. She had wanted to buy some pearl jewelry years ago but had never done so. She hoped that when he returned, he could personally put a beautiful gold hairpin in her hair.

He looked at Yu Niang deeply again, then turned and left.