Chapter 47 Chapter 47 Jinjiang First Release
Chapter 47
Su Li had been in Qixia Town for a full month. After her grandmother got better, she looked through the map again, trying to find a more suitable prefecture to settle down.
Originally, Su Li planned to settle down in Jingzhou, but a group of soldiers arrived recently and sealed off the entire prefecture, preventing outsiders from entering or leaving. It seems that the Cui family is investigating the remnants of the previous dynasty in various places, so that it will be easier to kill the Li family bloodline to eliminate future troubles.
When Su Li thought that this decree to wipe out the roots was issued by Cui Jue, she felt a chill. She knew very well that Cui Jue was a vicious and vindictive person, but she had provoked such an evil spirit.
Su Li was unable to sleep or eat, and didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore.
It is not worth visiting Jingzhou. If you go east, you can visit the Jiangnan towns around Jiangzhou.
When going on a long journey, Su Li has to be fully prepared.
She had to go to the town market to rent a new carriage and prepare some straw to feed the horses.
In addition to the supplies for the livestock, it was also necessary to buy dry food for the three of them, sheepskin water bags for water, and some commonly used medicinal herbs for relieving diarrhea, abdominal pain, wind-cold and heatstroke, in case of emergency.
In the past few days, Su Li has been secretly preparing food and clothing for her next trip. When everything is almost ready, the only thing left is the trivial matter of renting a carriage, and she can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
At night, Su Li and Xu Dalang agreed to go to the town to do some business in two days. After returning to the Song family's house, she counted the money again. The amount was not less, and the baked Hu cakes and baked naan were enough for them to last until they reached the next county town.
Su Li felt a little relieved. She thought that as long as they could get through this period, the turbulent situation in Wu would eventually be stabilized, and she and her grandmother would be able to live a peaceful life.
At night, Su Li fell asleep next to Old Madam Su. She looked at the gray bed curtains and imagined a beautiful future life with her grandmother.
"In two days, we'll start heading to Jiangzhou. It's close to the south of the Yangtze River, so there are lots of mosquitoes and plague, and the weather is humid, making it hard to dry clothes. It's especially hot and humid in the summer, but it also has its advantages: beautiful scenery, outstanding people, and many famous people have come from Jiangzhou. Its distinct seasons are indeed different from the border town, where the sky is covered in yellow sand."
"I've heard that people in Jiangzhou love tea, especially sweet tea, with walnut kernels, green and red shredded vegetables, candied winter melon strips, and the like. We could open a tea shop. I've already picked a name for it: 'Cha Tang Su'. We'd hang a red lacquer sign, keep it clean, and specialize in serving the aristocracy."
Before, Su Li was a guest at the second branch of the Cui family, and she and her mother-in-law had received the young lady who came to visit the Cui family.
The maids served them tea, which was this thick tea paste.
A whole bowl of yellow-green tea is filled with candied cherries and sour plums, and topped with a spoonful of osmanthus honey. It is very sweet and delicious.
Su Li was just a little girl of twelve or thirteen at that time. She was tempted by the smell, but before she could raise her eyes to see the sweet tea clearly, she was scared away by the cold look from her mother-in-law.
Su Li knew that she had overstepped her bounds, so she quickly lowered her head and dared not say a word.
The mother-in-law warned Su Li with her eyes that she was already engaged to the second wife and was, after all, a woman of the Cui family, and she could not act like a child and make people laugh.
Su Li understood and blushed for a moment.
That day, Su Li sat upright on the chair, like a god covered with mud. She didn't even dare to move her butt, let alone chat and laugh, for fear that people would laugh at her for being a poor family and having no manners.
Thinking of these past events, Su Li's eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she were in another world.
She couldn't help but grab her grandmother's sleeve. After twisting the rough cloth in her palm and confirming that she had escaped from the aristocratic family, Su Li felt a sense of reality that she had returned to the human world.
She smiled and talked about other things.
"If Grandma is afraid of being tired, we can go to the countryside and buy two plots of land and grow some fruits and vegetables to be self-sufficient. We can also plant some peach and plum trees in the yard and sell the extra fruits..."
Before Su Li could finish, Madam Su laughed out loud, "Don't I know you? The plums had just turned green, and you told me they were astringent, but you insisted on picking them to taste. By the time the plums were ripe, half the fruit on the tree had been eaten, so there were no extra plums left to sell at the market!"
Qiu Gui smiled when she heard this and said, "That's all right. Let's plant a few more trees. We can keep one for my wife to eat as much as she wants, and the other two will bear fruit to sell." Old Madam Su shook her head helplessly, "Qiu Gui, just spoil her! She's grown up but still has the mentality of a child!"
Su Li, upon hearing this, continued to plead, "What? Grandma, do you find me annoying? If I weren't such a child, I'd sleep in the same bed with you!"
Madam Su hurriedly said, "Please don't sleep in Grandma's bed. I don't know how many times I'll have to cover you with the quilt in the middle of the night."
Su Li was dumbfounded: "How can my sleeping posture be so bad..."
The more he spoke, the quieter his voice became, as if he was guilty.
When Qiu Gui heard the grandfather and grandson arguing, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Su Li was embarrassed by Qiu Gui, and pretended to be pitiful. She leaned on her grandmother's arms and complained: "Qiu Gui and Grandma are bullying me together!"
Old Madam Su was amused and could only hug her little granddaughter and pat her on the back: "Okay, okay, I won't tease Lili anymore."
After such coaxing, Su Li finally stopped crying and smiled, and lay down between the two of them to sleep obediently.
The summer nights were very hot, and even with the door wide open, it was still unbearable.
Fortunately, Old Madam Su held a palm-leaf fan and fanned Su Li from time to time, so she was able to sleep peacefully in the sultry weather.
Before going to bed, Su Li sniffed the light citrus scent on her grandmother's body and thought... How nice it would be if such peaceful days could last forever.
When she woke up the next day, Su Li made an appointment with Xu Dalang and took his ox cart to the market to rent a horse carriage.
Even if you rent a carriage, you still have to pay a deposit to the store. For a customer like Su Li who never comes back, the deposit is equivalent to the money to buy the carriage.
A carriage is not cheap. It would cost a country farmer nearly five years' worth of food.
Even if Su Li didn't say it, Xu Dalang vaguely realized that Madam Su's family background was not ordinary. He also saw that many scabs had fallen off her face recently. Although there was a red mark left, he could at least make out some of her features... She had willow eyebrows, almond eyes, a delicate nose, and cherry lips. Even the red mark on her face could not hide her beauty. Madam Su was obviously born very beautiful.
Xu Dalang didn't even dare to propose marriage to her. He hid the silver hairpin he bought in his sleeve and covered it with cloth again and again, but he couldn't take it out.
It was not until Su Li lifted her hood and softly discussed the rental of a car with the owner of the carriage shop that Xu Dalang finally asked, "Madam Su, are you going on a long journey?"
"Yes." Su Li had paid the deposit and had chosen a carriage. She climbed onto the carriage and tried to drive the horse. She saw that although this old horse was not as strong as the little white horse she had raised, it was also gentle in temperament, and she was satisfied.
When Xu Dalang heard what she said, he immediately panicked and hurriedly took out the hairpin from his sleeve and handed it to her.
"This, this is what I bought for Madam Su... If you're willing, I can ask a matchmaker to come and propose marriage..."
Su Li was stunned. She was surprised to see Xu Dalang's ears turned red.
The girl laughed and said to Xu Dalang, "I appreciate your kindness, Mr. Xu, but I cannot accept this hairpin."
Xu Dalang asked dejectedly, "Does Madam Su dislike it?"
Su Li shook her head: "No, I know that Mr. Xu is a good man, but I have no plans to get married in this life. I am afraid that I will let Mr. Xu down."
Su Li spoke without hesitation. She politely rejected Xu Dalang's love and made her plans clear. She did not use specious reasons to fool Xu Dalang and have an ambiguous relationship with him.
Xu Dalang understood and didn't force it. He just scratched his ear and said with a smile, "Then Madam Su, just treat it as nonsense and don't take it to heart."
Su Li also smiled and said nothing more.
Before returning to the Song family, Xu Dalang remembered that he still had to bring some eggs and ointment to treat leg cramps for several elderly neighbors who had difficulty walking. He parted ways with Su Li and asked her to drive the carriage back first. If she couldn't remember the way, she could wait for him halfway.
But Su Li had a good memory and had already memorized the mountain road back home. She did not delay Xu Dalang's business, but just told him to go about his work quickly, saying that she could do it alone.
However, just as Su Li drove out of the town, she suddenly realized something was wrong.
Qixia Town is just a poor little town with not many travelers coming and going.
But today, the town gate was surrounded inside and outside by a number of black-armored cavalrymen, and many guards were holding guns and a portrait, whispering to each other, as if they wanted to check the appearance of passers-by one by one.
Su Li thought that the person in the portrait would be the former crown prince Li Fuyun. After all, Cui Jue had been on the periphery to eliminate the remnants of the previous dynasty.
But when she took a look at the figure in the portrait from afar, she was almost scared to death.
The charm of the woman in the painting is clearly 70% similar to Su Li!
Su Li was so frightened that even her tongue felt numb.
When she thought about the recent lockdown of Jingzhou to search for someone, a terrifying thought came to her mind, causing her calves to tremble and cold sweats to spread all over her body.
Could it be that Cui Jue wasn't looking for Li Fuyun? Was it her that he was leading his troops around?!
Su Li was at a loss, she didn't dare to delay any longer.
The girl gritted her teeth and took advantage of the moment when the soldiers guarding the city were busy trying to please Cui's army to drive the carriage and ride the horse home without even looking back.
Su Li knew that it was not advisable to stay here for long. She had to return to the Song family as soon as possible. She wanted to call Qiu Gui and her grandmother, and the three of them had to escape overnight!
As long as he doesn't take the official road and doesn't pass through Qixia Town, the officers and soldiers won't discover Su Li's whereabouts too quickly.
There’s still time…it’s definitely not too late.
Wudong Cui's troops had just arrived in Qixia Town, and they would only start the investigation tomorrow. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and left before they could stop them.
Su Li thought that as long as she could escape from this place overnight, she would have a chance of survival.
But the moment Su Li pushed the door open, she heard the sad cries of birds.
A carrier pigeon she had raised flapped its wings, stumbled over, and fell from the sky.
The furry little bird seemed to have found its owner and chirped twice with joy. It folded its wings and landed on Su Li's slender finger bones.
Perhaps due to exhaustion, Xiao Que quickly closed his eyes, fell to the ground, and died.
Su Li stared at the scene in a daze. A chill ran up from her tailbone to the top of her head, and she felt as if she had fallen into an icy cave.
She suppressed the trembling of her teeth and comforted herself in her heart, thinking that perhaps it was a coincidence, perhaps this bird was not the one she usually raised, and the sweet-scented osmanthus scent on the bird was just a coincidence.
Maybe it fell on an osmanthus tree, and that's why it was covered in the fragrance of the flowers.
Su Li's legs felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and she didn't have the courage to look back.
Because she knew that it was only July, where would the osmanthus flowers come from in the mountains?
At this moment, the ground beneath Su Li's feet trembled, and the sound of horse hooves came from far away.
Countless torches approached the Song family, illuminating the small courtyard in the mountains of the village, but also stretching Su Li's isolated and helpless figure into a narrow and long shape, making her look even smaller, humbler, and insignificant.
This huge commotion finally disturbed the residents in the mountains.
Su Li stood at the gate of the Song family and heard Qiu Gui and her grandmother calling her anxiously from inside the house.
"Pear?"
"Madam? What's wrong with you?"
…
Su Li rested her forehead against the cold wooden door. She didn't have the courage to push it open, nor did she have the courage to look back.
She really wanted to say: I'm fine, don't worry.
She really wanted to persuade her relatives and friends not to panic or be afraid.
However, just when Su Li wanted to walk in as if nothing had happened, a creepy male voice sounded behind her.
It was Cui Jue's cold voice.
He said - "Su Li, I found you."
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