Chapter 33
When Pei Liuniang was staring blankly at the rabbit hole that had been fully exposed, Gu Ran also saw her.
Immediately, the action of secretly collecting ice cubes stopped.
How did she end up here? What was she doing? It wasn't just by chance that she saw the changes in the forest before and after she harvested the ice?
Gu Ran couldn't help feeling guilty, so he quickly pretended to meet her by chance and greeted her, "Pei Liuniang?"
Pei Liuniang stared at the rabbit hive for a while, then slowly looked up and noticed that the thick ice and snow around it seemed to have disappeared in the blink of an eye, which was a bit unbelievable.
Is this ice really gone so quickly?
Or maybe it disappeared early in the morning, and I was just too engrossed in catching rabbits to notice?
Otherwise, how do you explain the fact that the ice and snow on the mountain suddenly disappeared?
"Pei Liuniang!"
Pei Liuniang turned around and looked at Gu Ran.
"Did you really catch a rabbit?"
When Pei Liuniang heard Gu Ran's surprised voice, all her previous doubts were thrown behind her. She pursed her lips and nodded slightly at Gu Ran with pride, and said "hmm" in a reserved manner.
"You are so amazing. Aunt Mai and the others didn't catch any rabbits today." Gu Ran took a look at the rabbit in her hand and praised her sincerely.
This Pei Liuniang is not simple!
She said she was good at catching rabbits, and she really was good at catching rabbits. Seeing how familiar she was with handling rabbits before, could it be that when she was at the Pei family, the Pei family didn't give her good food and clothes, so she learned to hunt and eat meat by herself?
Seeing how skillfully she dealt with Feng Duojin, she might have been forced to practice these skills in such a harsh environment as the Pei family.
"oh!"
As for whether Aunt Mai and her friends caught the rabbit or not, Pei Liuniang used only one word to express that she didn't care at all.
"They're all fishing by the river! There's a big river over there that's not frozen over, and there are lots of fish in it. Liu Niang, do you want to go and take a look?"
"I don't catch fish." Pei Liuniang raised the rabbit in her hand. "I caught the rabbit, that's enough!"
Pei Liuniang's two rabbits became the last rabbits they caught during their exile.
That night, both the officials and the prisoners drank fish soup and ate grilled fish.
The camp was filled with the aroma of rabbit meat and then the strong smell of fish.
Everyone was laughing and talking, and the atmosphere was more harmonious than ever before, sweeping away the gloom of the previous avalanche that caused heavy casualties.
In addition to the prisoners whose relatives and family members died in the avalanche, these prisoners naturally included the Qin family.
The Qin family, who had just attended the funeral, felt so heavy-hearted that they could hardly swallow the fish meal they had.
But human joys and sorrows have never been shared.
On the second day, the officials shouted at the prisoners to set off. The unfortunate exiles, including the injured prisoners and officials, had to set off on time.
In addition to the donkey carts used to transport food and heavy luggage, all the donkey carts that had been bought by their families were called out for the wounded to ride.
The Qin family originally had two donkey carts, which were used for their female family members to ride.
Now that most of the Qin family members were gone, one donkey cart was already full, and the other one was naturally used by the officials to carry the wounded.
The Qin family was angry but dared not say anything about this.
Almost all the wounded sat in donkey carts, and no one dared to lag behind. Once they set out on the journey, they traveled day and night. Except for two times when the officials went to the county town to buy more rations, they never stopped. They almost walked fifty miles every day. Sometimes, if the journey was smooth, it was common to walk ten or twenty miles more.
In this way, we crossed mountains and rivers at a very fast pace.
As time goes by, the climate warms up little by little.
The ice and snow slowly melted, and the originally thick layer of ice and snow gradually became thinner without anyone noticing. Tiny green shoots of wild grass emerged from the melted holes, which was the first bit of green heralding the arrival of spring.
Gradually, the green went from being almost invisible to becoming more and more abundant and denser, until it completely covered all traces of the winter snow.
The further south you go, the greener it gets. There are even wild flowers that don't want to be lonely, red and yellow, popping up in patches.
When walking in the mountains and jungles, you can always hear the gurgling of rivers and streams with increasing water volume, flowing lively and joyful.
As green grass spread all over the fields, the trees that had been dry for a winter gradually revived, sprouting leaves and new buds that attracted people's attention. In this lush spring scenery, they arrived at Damao City, the second largest capital of the Dasheng Dynasty.
It was already mid-February.
The government office that received this group of prisoners was the Nanfeng County Office, which was located on the border of the northern part of the outer city of Damao City.
At this time, Gu Ran had returned to the team of exiled prisoners under the supervision of Chen Jieguan, and was queuing, waiting for Chen Jieguan to bring official documents to the county government office to explain the situation and report the identities and number of the prisoners before he could be placed in the prisoner detention area of the county government office.
After completing the formalities, Chen Jieguan took Gu Ran and others into the government office first. However, Li Jieguan, who was still with Pei Liuniang and Aunt Mai's family, had not returned yet.
She had now heard that this trip by Li Jieguan was a short one, and after the government office took over, all the officials under Li Jieguan could return to Zhengzhou.
Gu Ran, who had gotten along well with Li Jieguan and other officials on the road of exile, couldn't help but feel a little reluctant to leave Li Jieguan and others when he thought about the officials with bad attitudes he might encounter in the future.
Once he entered the government prison where the exiled criminals were held, the reluctance he felt was replaced by shock.
The prison used by the Nanfeng County Government to house these exiled criminals was very large, and there were already many prisoners in it who were wearing prison uniforms like them.
It is said that these are criminals who were exiled to southern Xinjiang from all over the country.
It was at this time that Gu Ran realized that the Nanfeng County Government Office was equivalent to a gathering place for exiles.
All prisoners exiled to the southern border during the Dasheng Dynasty would stop at the Nanfeng County Government Office, where their numbers and identities would be verified and recorded. Then, officials would be reassigned to escort these prisoners on their journey according to their destinations of exile: Qiongzhou in the southern border, Lingnan, Fujian, and even Ryukyu.
For example, prisoners brought by Li Jieguan and other short-term exiles would be incorporated into other exile teams heading to Fujian and escorted by officials. Several teams of prisoners exiled to Ryukyu or Qiongzhou would also be gathered together and sent by ferry.
As for officials like Chen Jieguan who were in charge of long-term exile, in addition to continuing to escort prisoners, they would either accept prisoners who were in the same place of exile but had a shorter exile time, or merge with other teams with the same long exile time to form a large team and set off together.
Not long after Gu Ran and others were imprisoned in the designated prison, they saw Aunt Mai and others being imprisoned as well, and in the same prison as them. That is to say, the exiles who arrived in Nanfeng County today and a few days ago were to be exiled to Fujian, and they were all gathered into a large group.
"Sister Gu, it seems that we will go to Fujian together in the future." Not long after they parted, they came together again. Mai Xiang was very happy.
"Me too. I feel more at ease knowing that there are acquaintances around and we can take care of each other." Gu Ran said honestly.
When the women of the Qin family behind him heard what Gu Ran said, someone sneered. Gu Ran pretended not to hear. Instead, it was Pei Liuniang who glanced back at them coldly and silenced the women of the Qin family.
Along the way, the prisoners from the two exile teams got to know each other a lot because they camped at the same place.
The Qin family also knew that Pei Liuniang was the culprit behind the Pei family massacre in Zhengzhou, and they were very wary of her.
On the way, no one came to pick a fight with Gu Ran. One reason was that the police were watching him closely, and the other was that they thought Gu Ran was in cahoots with Pei Liuniang, so they were afraid of him.
In this way, they arrived at Damao City safely.
The prison in Nanfeng County Government Office was packed with prisoners. After Aunt Mai and the others came in, two more groups of female prisoners came in. All of them were exiled to Minzhou.
It was still early spring, but the weather was cold. At night, when Gu Ran could only sleep sitting cross-legged in the prison, he still broke into a sweat.
Amid the noise of yelling and crying, she didn't sleep for a single moment the whole night.
At dawn the next day, officials outside were beating gongs and shouting for people to get up and gather.
The cell where Gu Ran and others were imprisoned was slammed loudly by the jailer.
"Get up, get up, all of you prisoners, get up!"
Gu Ran yawned and followed the other female prisoners in the same cell out in a line.
After arriving at the designated area as ordered by the officers, they saw Liu Jie Guan and a group of adjutants and officers escorting them standing in front, and Li Jie Guan and Li Si were still there.
There were also some unfamiliar officers that I had never seen before. Judging from their attire, they were probably also officials.
After the prisoners stood still, Gu Ran noticed that their group of prisoners - who should all be sent to exile in Minzhou - had doubled in number compared to the original number, about three hundred people or so.
In order to facilitate escort and travel on the road, the male and female prisoners were still divided into teams. The exiles with donkey carts followed behind, and the donkey carts carrying the prisoners' food and luggage followed in order. In addition, there were four officials who brought up the rear.
After the respective officers had counted the number of prisoners under their charge accurately, the huge exile team slowly set off from the prison of Nanfeng Government Office, preparing to leave Damao City and head for their destination.
When Gu Ran saw the capital of the Great Sheng Dynasty for the first time, he looked at the neatly organized streets, the endless stream of carriages and horses, the people huddled together, and the pavilions and towers that stood like layers of mountains, and he couldn't help but be surprised by the prosperity of this city.
Last night, when Gu Ran closed her eyes but couldn't fall asleep, she overheard what other female prisoners were saying about Damao City.
It is said that the Han family, the royal family of the Dasheng Kingdom, originally established their capital in Damao City.
More than a hundred years ago, when Emperor Gaozu of the Great Sheng Dynasty was alive, the Great Sheng Dynasty, which is now so large, had not yet been established. Emperor Gaozu was not yet Emperor Gaozu, but was still Marquis Dingsheng. The Great Sheng Kingdom he established was a small country among many vassal states, but it was rich and powerful, laying a solid economic and military foundation for the later Emperor Wu to dominate. Afterwards, Emperor Wu led his army to fight in the eight wildernesses, and finally achieved the great cause of unification, and moved the capital to the present imperial city, which led to the current Great Sheng Dynasty.
After the first emperor of the Dasheng Dynasty, Wuzong, ascended the throne, he posthumously conferred the title of Emperor Gaozu on his mother, Marquis Dingsheng, and the title of Emperor Gaozu Huangfu on his father.
From then on, a branch of the royal family of the Dasheng Dynasty became the hereditary Marquis Dingsheng, specifically responsible for managing Damao City for successive emperors, and using Damao City as an important fortress to govern the southern territory.
Unfortunately, after traveling through time, I was exiled to a desolate land and forced to serve as a criminal, and I had no chance to live in such a prosperous city.
After a quick glance, Gu Ran walked out of the city gate and set foot in the wilderness again with a group of prisoners.
Because each escort officer is still responsible for his own prisoners, in addition to the chief escort officer and runners sent by the Nanfeng County Court - considering the loss of officers and runners during the escort journey, the Nanfeng County Court will add escort officers and runners as needed.
More than half of the officers in Chen Jieguan's escort team were killed in an avalanche, so when he requested the Nanfeng government to send more officers, he also left Li Jieguan and Li Si behind - this was the reason why Li Jieguan and Li Si stayed to escort the prisoners even though they had already completed their mission and could go back.
It was also because of this that the prisoners before and after Gu Ran were all people he was familiar with: Aunt Mai, Mai Xiang, and Pei Liuniang.
Of course, this also includes the women of the Qin family.
In addition, there were also some female prisoners who had to go with the group but had ill intentions towards them.
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