"Where did you get all this hearsay from? We're going to fight a war, you understand? Do you think we're going sightseeing?"
Despite saying that, she was still very excited. With so many people in the capital and Huo Baichuan secretly in charge, and Wang Jiyang in Chu, she had no worries at all. She was determined to have a good time in Zhuzhou.
Three days later, when Wang Jiyang and Physician Peng saw them off, Physician Peng looked regretful, saying that he had heard that there were many precious medicinal herbs in Zhuzhou, but they would not have the chance to collect them.
Wang Jiyang was filled with bitterness. He didn't realize how much he had to manage until he took over. He was basically a housekeeper for someone else, and a hard-working one at that. While others were taking their sweethearts sightseeing, he was toiling away without complaint. How could he be so clueless?
In short, Zhao Shu didn't care about the two men's ulterior motives. She changed into men's clothing, mounted her horse, and walked alongside Wei Tingsi, followed by 30,000 soldiers, all on foot.
Because they were secretly infiltrating Zhuzhou, the soldiers marched at night and set up camp during the day. In order to learn more about the situation, Wei Tingsi, Zhao Shu, and Lin Dongxue led a few trusted men ahead to travel during the day to make the journey faster, and then left secret signals for the soldiers.
Lin Dongxue, as expected of a man who has traveled all over the country, knows every little path and successfully avoids checkpoints. Ten days later, he has entered the territory of Zhuzhou.
Zhuzhou, also known as the Western Regions, is a vast land with an open-minded culture. When you go out on the street, you'll see beautiful women with big eyes, long wavy hair, cinched waist dresses that accentuate their slender waists, and long, wide headscarves that flutter in the wind.
There were also exquisite little hats inlaid with gemstones. Zhao Shu noticed that the gemstones on their foreheads were particularly beautiful. Lin Dongxue said that such ornaments were very cheap in the Western Regions.
Walking from one end of the street to the other, Lin Dongxue led the group to a house. His personal servant, a man with a bushy beard, knocked on the door, saying, "Miss Zhou, Miss Zhou, our young master has arrived."
His voice was loud and clear, and the neighbors all heard it and cast curious glances at him. However, their gazes only lingered on Zhao Shu and Wei Tingsi, clearly indicating that Lin Dongxue was a frequent visitor.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, a string of bells rang out, and the door opened with a "click." "Brother Lin, you're finally here again! I've missed you so much!" The girl was very enthusiastic. As soon as she opened the door, she rushed into Lin Dongxue's arms, jumping around like a little rabbit. She spoke fluent Mandarin, and if it weren't for her face, she would easily be mistaken for someone from the Central Plains.
Zhao Shu was stunned. The girl looked to be fourteen or fifteen years old, still very young. She had thick eyebrows and big, beautiful eyes. She wore a jeweled hat, and a long blue veil hung from the brim down to her waist, covering her long hair. Her sky-blue bodice was embroidered with peacock tails, and it swayed up and down as she jumped around, looking absolutely gorgeous.
What is particularly noteworthy is that she wears bells on her feet and hands, which make a clear, ringing sound when she shakes them.
Lin Dongxue pulled her off, then said to Zhao Shu and Wei Tingsi, "This is Zhou Hanyan, ladies."
Zhou Hanyan stared at Zhao Shu openly, bowing as she moved closer to her, deliberately saying, "This brother is so handsome, and he even has pierced ears."
Zhao Shu thought to herself, "What a clever woman. She recognized me as a woman disguised as a man right away." The next moment, Zhou Hanyan had already taken Zhao Shu's arm. "Hehe, it's my first time meeting you, sister from the Central Plains. You're nothing like the rumors. Sister, you would look especially beautiful in our Zhuzhou clothes. I can't wait!"
"Hanyan, stop fooling around." Lin Dongxue tried to pull her away, but she pouted at him mischievously, "Sister hasn't told you yet. Sister, I'll take you to see my most beloved snow lotus. Tell me the story of the Central Plains, okay?"
Lin Dongxue was embarrassed, his face turned pale, and he was afraid that Zhao Shu would get angry.
But Zhao Shu nodded with a smile, "Okay."
Zhao Shu considered herself to be very good at judging people. Zhou Hanyan's eyes were clear, indicating that she must come from a simple and happy family, without any ulterior motives. She must have grown up in a warm environment, be very smart, but have no bad intentions.
With Zhao Shu's consent, she immediately became excited and danced with joy, "Sister, you must be tired. I'll take you to take a bath."
The beautiful eyes looked at Zhao Shu expectantly, like a child waiting for a teacher's praise, which made Zhao Shu smile and say, "Okay."
"Please come in, sister. Brother Lin taught me to speak like this. He said that people from the Central Plains all speak like this. I'm not very good at it, so please don't mind." She excitedly led Zhao Shu into the room, and before leaving, she whispered in Lin Dongxue's ear, "I missed you."
Zhao Shu felt ashamed; was being so precocious appropriate? Mainly, her home was too far away…
Lin Dongxue became shy again. One was bold and unrestrained, the other shy and timid—a perfect match. Zhao Shu was startled by her own wicked sense of humor.
The Zhou family can not actually be called the Zhou family. Zhou Hanyan's father could speak Chinese and often did business with people from the Central Plains. He felt that the culture of the Central Plains was profound and extensive, so he gave himself a name that he used when communicating with Han people.
Zhou Hanyan chattered incessantly the whole way, occasionally throwing in a few words of Western Region dialect. Zhao Shu couldn't understand her, so Lin Dongxue translated for her. The Zhou family home was very large, like a castle, even though the gate looked quite ordinary when they saw it from the street.
Servants kept passing by and bowing from a distance, but they didn't come over to disturb them. Zhao Shu wondered how Zhou Hanyan had managed to run over and open the door when there were servants and the house was so big.
"Hanyan, where is your father?" After walking for a while without seeing the second owner come out, Lin Dongxue couldn't help but ask.
"He and his mother went to see Lord Ji; it's Lord Ji's birthday today."
Zhao Shu couldn't help but stare at her with wide eyes. Could she be an only child?
No one answered her questions, but she soon learned that the Zhou family also had a young master, about seven or eight years old, who looked somewhat like Zhou Hanyan and was also very cute. Upon seeing Lin Dongxue, he immediately abandoned the rocking horse he was playing with and ran over, saying, "Brother Lin, Brother Lin, my sister is bullying me."
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