Xingming, driven by greed, completely ignored where he was going.
As I walked, I sneaked a few sips; it was simply a delicacy, the best wine I'd ever tasted.
Xingming turned to Ning Xier and promised, "Princess, please feel free to give any instructions in the future!"
"You don't have to pay, just be kind and treat me to some of this delicious wine from time to time..."
Ning Xi'er smiled and readily agreed, "Enough is enough!"
Xingming's eyes lit up; if it weren't for the sentries ahead, he would have jumped up to celebrate!
I walked for an unknown amount of time in the darkness.
Faint flames could be seen all around, which must be the outer perimeter of the quarry.
The group was led to an open space with a flat, hard surface, like stone, and there was no grass around.
Eunuch Xu stepped forward to negotiate, asking where they would be sleeping that night.
The sentries laughed, as if they had heard a joke.
He stomped his foot and pointed to the ground, "I'll sleep right here!"
Everyone was shocked. The weather had turned cold, and they were going to freeze to death at night, sleeping in the open without any shelter.
Sensing everyone's worry, the sentry arrogantly reminded them, pointing to the row of houses at the entrance.
"Look! That's where the supervising and guard soldiers live."
Then it pointed in the opposite direction, to an unseen patch of darkness, "where the exiles cultivated and built their own houses."
He looked people up and down in the group. "There are no houses available here. Forget here, where else can we sleep?!"
Eunuch Xu knew that this must be Yan Lang's arrangement, and that it was mostly unintentional, so he calmed the crowd's discussion and reassured everyone to make do for the night.
"Deal with?"
"Hmph! You don't know your own limitations!"
......
The departing sentries laughed and mocked, making no attempt to hide it when overheard by those behind them.
"What should we do? We're fine, but we took off our thick clothes and can't take them off..."
"Father and Mother are in poor health; how can they withstand the wind at night?"
The First Madam said with concern.
The Duchess of Huguo comforted her eldest daughter-in-law, telling her not to worry.
Xie Zhun sent Xuan Feng and Xuan Shuang to inquire at the place where the exiled prisoners lived, to see if they could borrow a place to stay.
But they also prepared for the worst, after all, two hundred people is not something an ordinary family can accommodate.
Moreover, they were also exiles, new to this place, and no one would lend them money rashly.
Ning Xi'er left Xie Zhun in the care of Eunuch Xu and Qin Yuan, while she, Zheng Ye, Bai Zhi, and Gan Cao went around scouting locations.
All four were skilled in martial arts and moved very quickly.
They returned to the checkpoint and inspected the garrison camp.
Zheng Ye cursed under his breath.
They not only had large communal sleeping quarters and heated brick beds, but also a dedicated kitchen, shower room, and outhouse, as well as several storage rooms for grain and supplies.
Although the decorations are simple, it has everything one needs for daily life.
As the group lay in ambush, Yan Lang, who was examining the terrain map under the lamplight, visibly froze.
By the time he got up, Ning Xi'er and the other three had already vanished.
After circling the outer city wall, the four of them roughly figured out the extent of the quarry.
The quarry site was vast, with one side backed by a mountain. The ground was littered with the tools the convicts used for their work, consisting only of hammers made of wooden handles and hard stones, and small bamboo baskets.
Dozens of wheelbarrows were piled up against the wall, presumably used for transporting stones.
Following the wheel tracks, they arrived at another checkpoint, but this time the door was made of wood, over three zhang high, and closed tightly...
With such tight security, there must be people stationed outside. It must be the area leading to the outer city wall, where the transported stones are used to repair and reinforce the outer wall.
The four of them followed the outer wall and came to a row of low houses.
In Yongning or Xiude counties, they might mistake it for the owner's outhouse.
It's less than six feet tall; if a person grows even a little taller, they'll bump their head.
The rooms are not large, consisting of only one or two rooms, so cramped that it's almost unbearable to look at.
By the moonlight, the four saw that the area around the low houses was much larger than they had imagined, naturally leading them to believe that this was the other convicts the sentry had mentioned...
The news brought back by spies included the amnesty granted to exiled prisoners and the self-built dwellings of refugees.
The area around the house is bare, with not a single patch of green in sight.
It resembles a dead city.
Seeing Xuanfeng and the others emerge from a house with a dim light not far away, Ning Xi'er immediately went forward to join them.
"Your Highness, the village chief has agreed to lend us the space. But as you saw..."
"This house is too small, inconvenient to get in and out, and can't accommodate more than two hundred people..."
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