"What kind of place is Ningguta? It's a barren land where criminals are exiled! There are bones everywhere, and you can't see a living person for hundreds of miles! It's bitterly cold all year round, with no grass or crops growing. Even mice don't want to build nests there, let alone people! I heard that most people who were exiled to Ningguta couldn't stand it and committed suicide before they even arrived there! Even those who arrived there, few could survive a year!"
"Alas!" Ah Chou sighed softly, thinking to himself how unlucky he was.
The third day of the third month in the thirty-second year of Jiasheng
The capital.
On March 3rd, we worship our ancestors. It was such a good day. Miss Duan Rulan of the Duan family got on the carriage to Ningguta crying. There was no ready-made wedding dress to wear. Fortunately, Mrs. Duan's wedding dress was still there. She put it on. Ah Chou also changed into a new dress, although it was still made of coarse linen. But at least it was much better than before.
The two guards of the Imperial Guards escorted Duan Rulan to Ningguta. One had a darker face, and the other had a lighter face. Duan Feihong scraped together ten taels of silver and gave them to the two men. He repeatedly told them to take good care of his daughter along the way.
The white-faced guard accepted the silver and gave Duan Feihong a neutral grin. Then he and the black-faced guard got on the carriage and whipped the horse. The carriage sped towards the city gate.
Duan Rulan was crying in the carriage, but Ah Chou was not good at coaxing people. He silently took out a handkerchief from his bosom and stuffed it into Duan Rulan's hand, and then Duan Rulan cried even louder. The guards outside might have been impatient. He yelled and cursed at the carriage, and Duan Rulan trembled all over, then suddenly covered her mouth, and her crying became softer, but the tears could not stop, like pearls that had broken off the string.
Amid Duan Rulan's sobbing, Ah Chou drew aside the curtains and looked out the window. There were rows of wine shops and restaurants, glittering signs and strings of festive red lanterns. This was a prosperous and splendid scene that Ah Chou had never seen before. From the age of four to sixteen, she had been a slave for twelve years. A palace wall had cut off her connection with the world. Now that she had finally left the palace wall, she had to go to that terrible place where no grass grew.
Achou looked at a roadside candied haws stall, which was filled with all kinds of candied haws. The bright red haws and the unique sweetness of the syrup were so tempting. It was a taste that Achou had never tasted before.
Ah Chou looked at the little kid who was picking candied haws with a pouting face in front of the stall, his eyes full of envy.
She stared at the little baby without blinking until the carriage turned a corner and the baby could no longer be seen. Only then did Achou lower the curtain.
Duan Rulan was still crying, and the cramped carriage was filled with her sadness and despair, which was so depressing that Achou could hardly breathe. Achou thought to himself, it would take at least two months to get from the capital to Ningguta, how could he endure this journey?
April 5, the 32nd year of Jiasheng
Tongliao.
Achou and his party had been on the journey for a month. They arrived in Tongliao on the Qingming Festival. It was spring when they left Beijing, but when they arrived in Tongliao, it was a little colder than Beijing. Achou took out a cloak from his package and put it on Duan Rulan, and he picked up a torn blanket and put it on himself.
The group stayed in the inn and requested three rooms. One room for the two guards, and one for Duan Rulan and one for Achou. Miss Duan was a lady from a wealthy and noble family. She had been used to living in a big house since she was a child. Although her family had fallen on hard times now, she had become more ambitious. There was absolutely no reason for her to share a room with anyone, let alone a lowly maid like Achou.
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