Xiao Youran paced back and forth, her mind racing. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Godmother, there's more to this than meets the eye! After the Dongyi people entered the pass, they marched south to Taizhou. Was it just to plunder grain? Taizhou is already suffering from a severe drought this year. Apart from Wufeng County, I'm afraid the neighboring counties closer to the border have almost no food! Moreover, south of Taizhou lies the malaria-ridden Nanman, but northwest of Liaozhou borders the Xiyi. It's very possible that their attack on Taizhou was just a smokescreen, and their main army was actually heading north to Liaozhou. If they occupy Liaozhou, their rear will be well-supplied, and their position will be more secure!"
The princess's expression changed drastically. "Little Youran, you truly are a student of Wuwang!"
After saying that, she got up from the chair she had barely sat on and was about to go out again.
Xiao Youran quickly said, "Godmother, Youran is worried about our great-aunt and the others in Wufeng County. Xuan-ge'er's condition has improved a lot, and I estimate he will be fully recovered in three to five days. I think..."
The eldest princess nodded, "I understand. You may go now. With Physician Gu here, Xuan'er should be fine. You and your mother must be careful on the road!"
Xiao Youran nodded and quickly packed up to go home.
When the matter was told to Madam Su, Madam Su was also startled. She immediately called out to Zhao Mama and the others and left.
Everything had been prepared beforehand, and they were loaded back onto the carriage. The only thing missing was freshly made food, but the mother and daughter didn't mind. Food was the easiest thing to solve; they could just buy it along the way.
Especially Xiao Youran, who has an all-purpose little notebook, she can exchange her luck points for whatever she wants to eat.
However, upon calling out, Xiao Youran discovered that Chicken Wing Bro was nowhere to be found.
Upon inquiry, they learned that all fifty members of the Xuan Yu Guard had been taken away by the Xuan King, leaving only the ten-person escort team that had returned to the capital with them from Wufeng County. They were all Wen Yuanbai's men.
Considering that the Xuan King was going to the front lines to fight the enemy, she could completely understand where the Xuan Yu Guards were headed.
After all, keeping him in the capital to guard a county princess's residence would be a waste of his talents. Compared to that, escorting Prince Xuan to Taizhou to fight the enemy was naturally more important.
With the four Song brothers whom Yu Twelve had taken in for her last month, a total of fourteen guards and three carriages, they set off.
Heading east out of the city, things were fine at first. Thanks to the funds raised by Lu Ning's government to settle the disaster victims, there were no problems along the way.
But once you leave the Kyoto area, the further east you go, the more disaster victims there are.
This time, Lao Feng rushed as fast as he could, and entered Taizhou territory in just four days.
Many refugees have already begun to flee the famine in three other directions with their families.
Most of the refugees chose to head west to the capital, taking the official roads.
It seems they also received news of the Dongyi entering the pass and fled in a panic.
On the second day after entering Taizhou, it became clear that there were more and more people, and there were hundreds of people from an entire village fleeing together. Some people started to stare at the convoy of carriages traveling in the opposite direction like wolves, but when they saw the guards in their uniforms sitting next to the carriages and the large swords at their waists, they backed down.
Su hugged Xiao Youran tightly, knowing that those people must be starving and have run out of food. Although she had a dozen or so guards, that was a group of hundreds of disaster victims. If they really started to fight, she would definitely suffer a loss.
Fortunately, the journey was uneventful. When the caravan arrived at Wufeng County, the city gates only allowed exits, not entry. After much pleading and even producing the Xuan King's token, the guards finally let them in.
The city was in chaos. Many refugees were rushing out of the city, while many others remained, feeling that the Westerners might not actually reach Wufeng County.
The mother and daughter went to the nearest Yun family cloth shop with a sliver of hope, only to find that the shop had been completely looted.
When people flee from disaster, their primary concerns are food and clothing, so rice shops and cloth stores in the city are the hardest hit by looting.
The two hurriedly went to the newly acquired Yun Mansion, only to find it deserted.
Zhao's mother quickly said, "Why don't we go check out Madam Sun's shop? If there's still no one there, what about the county government? I wonder if Magistrate Cao is there? He might know something."
Ms. Su nodded and went to the shop again.
With the influx of refugees, where could pastry shops possibly survive?
Seeing the disappointment on Zhao's mother's face, Su comforted her, "That's understandable. There's already a famine, and now there's war. It's no wonder the pastry shop can't stay open."
Zhao's mother forced a smile. This was a shop she had built from scratch, and it was truly heartbreaking to see it ruined like this. "I wonder how the maids in the shop are doing?"
Xiao Youran immediately comforted her, "Everything will be alright, Mother Zhao, don't worry. Once we return to the capital and settle down, we'll reopen Liufangzhai! If one isn't enough, we'll open two or three more!"
Seeing that Zhao Mama looked depressed, he immediately grasped the key point, "I'll pay for this! Zhao Mama will be the general manager, and all the prescriptions and money will be managed by Zhao Mama! Zhao Mama doesn't need to put up any capital, she will directly own 20% of the shares! If Brother Zhao and Brother Zhao's families want to establish themselves in the capital city, we will give them two shops to manage!"
As Zhao's mother listened, her face beamed with joy. She grabbed Xiao Youran's hand tightly and nodded frantically. "Is what you're saying true, little miss?! Oh my, I've missed my two stinky grandsons so much!"
Su understood what Xiao Youran meant. "Little Ranbao, are you saying... we'll settle down in Kyoto from now on?"
Xiao Youran nodded matter-of-factly, "Of course! With the Princess as our powerful backer in the capital, why would we need to go back to Dingzhou? Now that we've found our great-aunt's family, we'll go back to the capital together! They couldn't stay in the capital because they didn't have a registered residence, so they went back to their ancestral home to settle down. There's no rule in Taizhou that says people with Taizhou registered residence can't live in the capital."
Su's eyes lit up. "Yes! We're from Dingzhou, and we can live in the capital just like them! So can they!"
Moreover, after running the cloth shop for the past six months, my cousin's wife should have some savings, unlike when she was destitute after her home was raided last year.
Madam Su said happily, "Once we find them, we'll bring them all back to the capital! We should hurry to the county government office now and ask Magistrate Cao if he knows where my great-aunt and the others have gone."
To their disappointment, Magistrate Cao was not at the county office; the yamen runners said he had gone to patrol the city walls with his men.
After inquiring further, they learned that the Westerners had dispersed into several small teams and had long since bypassed Qingshan City, unknowingly sneaking into Taizhou. Several counties and towns in the west near Qinshan had already suffered.
Finally, having no other choice, Xiao Youran had Uncle Feng lead the convoy toward Senior Brother Da Bai's villa.
The guards were overjoyed to hear they would see their master. Unfortunately, when they arrived at the villa, only a servant left behind told them that their master had heard that the Western barbarians had entered the pass and had gone to Qingshan City to fight the enemy.
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