Chapter 195 Chapter 195 Entering Beijing (1)
Li Xiaoxiao's outburst completely offended the village chief's family. The day after the village chief's wife returned home, the village chief came over and personally ordered her to leave.
They accused her of having no travel permit or identity, suspecting she was a runaway slave, and told her not to implicate the people in their village, urging her to leave immediately.
She had been rescued without an identity for over a month, and now they were using this excuse to send her away. Li Xiaoxiao wasn't angry: "Give me seven more days, and I'll leave once my injuries have healed a bit more."
The village chief had expected her to burst into tears and beg for mercy, but when he saw that she actually agreed to leave, he was speechless, as if he had been hit over the head with a club, and went home with some trepidation.
His real intention in coming here wasn't to drive her away, but simply to remind her that she had nothing right now and should hurry up and find someone to marry while someone still wanted her so she would have a place to stay.
His wife's nephew hasn't given up yet. He says he's never seen anyone prettier than her and doesn't mind if she says crazy things when she's pushed to the limit. He says she's a good worker and has two sons of her own, so even if she doesn't have children after marrying into the family, they can still make a living.
But she agreed to leave so readily. How is he going to explain this to his wife when he gets home? Also, what if something happens to her on the way?
Although the village chief was just an ordinary citizen and inevitably had some minor flaws, he couldn't bring himself to drive a desperate woman to her death. He had no choice but to go back and discuss with his wife what to do about the matter.
He said with a stern face, "They would rather leave than agree to your nephew's request, so let it go. Don't really push them to the brink. I think Tian Qing and his wife are willing to keep her here. After some time, when she has recovered a bit, they might be able to find a son-in-law to live with them in their old age."
The village chief's wife cursed, "With Tian Qing's family's conditions, who would want to marry into their family? They don't even have an extra thatched hut. My nephew's family has a full ten acres of fertile land. She's unwilling now, but she'll regret it later."
But Li Xiaoxiao would rather leave than agree to the marriage. Even if she was angry, there was nothing she could do. She couldn't really force her to her death, could she?
In the days that followed, she gave Tian Qing and Xu a cold shoulder whenever she saw them. Although she didn't say anything harsh, her eyes were like knives, scrutinizing them over and over again, scaring the couple so much that they would stay far away from her whenever they saw her.
Li Xiaoxiao didn't care about any of this. She went fishing in the lake every day as usual, but instead of eating all the fish she caught, she started trading them for food with her neighbors.
A fish weighing about two pounds was exchanged for a pound of flour mixed with wheat bran. After receiving the flour, Xu was asked to help bake it into dry cakes for easy storage.
Xu couldn't help but advise her: "Just pretend you didn't hear what the village chief said that day. I heard it from Aunt Zhou next door. He didn't mean to drive you away. You don't have to leave."
But Li Xiaoxiao was adamant: "I'm definitely leaving; I want to go home."
Madam Xu sighed: "You don't have a travel permit or a household registration. You'll be arrested as a vagrant, and you might not even be able to leave the county town."
Li smiled and said, "If we can't get into the city, we'll take the mountain road. Once I get to the prefecture, someone will recognize me."
She was really well prepared. These days she had been exchanging fish for flour every day, making enough pancakes to last her for ten or eight days, as if she was about to leave when the time came.
That night, Xu couldn't sleep and whispered to Tian Qing, "Honey, Li Xiaoxiao said she's leaving tomorrow."
Tian Qing had been busy with spring plowing these past few days and was very tired, already dozing off. When his wife brought up the topic, he mumbled an "uh-huh" in his sleep.
Mrs. Xu said, "What should we do if what she said is true?"
Tian Qing half-opened her eyes: "Is everything true?"
Madam Xu said, "She said she was a general."
Tian Qing was fully awake: "You believe her?"
Madam Xu said, "I don't think she's joking at all. And if what she said before was just nonsense she was spouting when she was crazy, how come she can say the exact same thing every time?"
Tian Qing also felt conflicted: "But if she is a great general, how could she suddenly appear in our village? Doesn't she have any servants with her? Not to mention other places, even the young lady of the Li family in our town has two servants with her when she goes to town. If she really is a great general, where are the people around her?"
This is another point that doesn't make sense.
Madam Xu sighed, "That's right. Who knows, she might come back after she leaves tomorrow. Our village is so remote, it takes two days just to walk to the county town. How can a woman like her travel alone?"
Tian Qing also thought it made sense: "It's really hard to say. They might get scared when it gets dark, and they might have to turn back."
The couple became more and more certain as they talked, feeling that Li Xiaoxiao's stunt would definitely not last past tomorrow night, and she would probably have to come back as soon as it got dark.
So the next day, when Li Xiaoxiao brought half a bag of pancakes to say goodbye, they didn't say anything, just smiled and waved goodbye to her.
They were certain she would be back by the afternoon.
Holding a stick carved from a tree branch as a walking stick, Li Xiaoxiao left Niutou'ao Village with firm steps.
Before leaving, she visited the sinkhole lake one last time, taking one last look at the calm lake surface as a final farewell to the past.
As the villagers of Niutou'ao Village watched her go, she did not look back and walked onto the mountain road leading to the county town.
She had walked this road once when she first arrived, and six years later, the road to the county town was still just as far away.
She needs to spend the night in the mountains before she can reach the county town the next day.
She once led a silver wolf for six hundred miles through the mountains and forests for three whole months, so she didn't care about something as trivial as spending a night in the wild.
She walked halfway there, and as darkness fell, she found a rocky spot, gathered some firewood, and started a fire, intending to sleep there for the night.
Although it was already late April, the nights in the mountains were still a bit cold. She was wearing thin clothes covered in patches, and a small fire was just the right amount of warmth.
A campfire can drive away snakes, insects, and rodents, but it can also attract other things, such as other people who are also camping in the mountains.
Li Xiaoxiao had just heated up a pancake when she heard footsteps approaching her.
She looked up and saw two men, one tall and one short, carrying baskets on their backs, walking towards her. When they saw her alone by a fire, the two men were immediately surprised and suspicious: "What, what's this? It's a woman?"
Li Xiaoxiao looked at them coldly: "Is there something you need?"
The two men exchanged a glance, and one of them said with a fawning smile, "Young lady, we were planning to go to the county town to sell our mountain products first thing tomorrow morning. We didn't expect to run into you here. Could we borrow a fire to warm ourselves up?"
Li Xiaoxiao said, "No, if you want to make a fire, find a place to start one yourself."
She's all alone in the wilderness now, and she's injured. She doesn't want to cause trouble for herself, so these people would better stay away from her.
The man's face stiffened for a moment, not expecting her to refuse. He was about to step forward to argue when the other woman's eyes flickered, and she shook her head. The two of them then went to a spot a few feet away to start a fire.
Li Xiaoxiao ignored them, finished her dinner by herself, and leaned against the rock to rest with her eyes closed.
With outsiders around, she certainly couldn't sleep peacefully.
She drifted in and out of consciousness for the first half of the night, then suddenly opened her eyes, a cold glint in them.
She closed her eyes as the two men approached her.
A cold sickle was pressed against her neck, and the half-bag of pancakes beside her was snatched away. She opened her eyes again and saw the two men who wanted to sell their goods.
Seeing that she was awake, the tall man sneered, "Awake? Do you have any money on you? Hand it all over."
Li Xiaoxiao said coldly, "I have no money, but you can take my life."
The tall man was stunned that she didn't panic or beg for mercy, nor did she scream. He was completely incredulous and brought the sickle closer to her neck: "You'd risk your life for money? Dog, open that bag and see if there's a money pouch?"
The short man opened the food bag: "Damn, there are only a few dozen pancakes. This woman must be selling pancakes."
Since she was going to the county town to do business, there was no reason why she wouldn't have a single copper coin on her. The tall man didn't believe it. He threatened Li Xiaoxiao with a sickle in one hand and reached for her waist with the other, only to find nothing.
The tall man, having missed his chance to get money, turned his gaze to Li Xiaoxiao's face. The fire was still burning, illuminating Li Xiaoxiao's delicate features.
A lewd smile appeared on the tall man's face: "Since you don't have money, it's not impossible to use something else as collateral..." His hand began to wander upwards restlessly.
Li Xiaoxiao pressed down on his hand and said coldly, "I originally let you off the hook because it wasn't easy for you to sleep in the mountains in the middle of the night to sell some mountain products. I didn't expect that you would be the ones to have bad intentions first. So don't blame me for being impolite."
With a sharp crack, the tall man screamed like a pig being slaughtered. Li Xiaoxiao snatched the sickle from his hand and punched him in the face. The tall man's screams stopped immediately, and he was knocked unconscious.
The short man dropped the bag from his hand and lunged at Li Xiaoxiao. In a moment, she lifted him up and slammed him against a rock before he fell to the ground. His internal organs felt like they were about to dislocate; he couldn't even groan, only beg for mercy: "Spare me, spare me, young lady, spare me..."
Li Xiaoxiao walked coldly in front of him: "Now you know to beg for mercy? Do you think women are easy to bully? You tried to rob me but failed, so you're now trying to rob me of my virtue? You're unlucky to have met me."
The short man was so frightened that he couldn't even beg for mercy.
Li Xiaoxiao was penniless when she came out of Niutou'ao Village, and these two men seemed to have come to her rescue, so she felt no guilt in robbing them back.
She stole the two men's purses. The two men were very poor; the two purses together contained only a little over two hundred coins, not a single piece of silver. That was far too little...
She was not satisfied, so she went to where the two of them were sleeping and looked at what was in their baskets. One of them had some dried mushrooms and fungus, as well as two dead wild rabbits and two tied-up roosters. The other person was probably a herbalist, and his basket contained some herbs.
Although the two had no money, the things they brought were not bad.
Li Xiaoxiao was very satisfied. She punched each of them again, tied them to the tree, and then skinned and roasted the two rabbits on the spot, eating them as her breakfast.
After finishing the rabbit, as dawn broke, she extinguished the fire, emptied the contents of the two baskets together, carried them on her back, and strode towards the county town.
It was nearly evening when she arrived in the county town. She sold the contents of her basket cheaply for a little over three taels of silver and then headed towards the county government office.
The county government must have horses, right? I wonder if the magistrate would agree to let her borrow one after she reveals her identity to ride back to the capital.
Before she even reached the county government office, she saw the notice outside the bulletin board. Curious, she went up to take a look and immediately stopped in her tracks. What did it say?!
The emperor actually offered a thousand taels of gold to find her whereabouts?! And this notice has been posted for more than four months and it is still valid.
She was immediately moved. Emperor Hongxing was still very sentimental. She had been missing for so long and was even chased by a wolf. Wouldn't a normal person have thought she was dead by now? She never expected that he would go to such lengths to issue a missing person notice to the whole world to find her. It was worth it for her to risk her life for him!
She wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes from her emotions, and her gaze inadvertently glanced down. Her eyes widened instantly. What was this? A notice issued by Meng Guanqi?
Meng Guanqi actually followed up the imperial edict with another reward—20,000 taels of silver?!
Twenty thousand taels of silver? He offered more than Emperor Hongxing?! What is he doing?!
Li Xiaoxiao was so angry that she almost cursed on the spot. Twenty thousand taels of silver was almost all of her family's wealth, and she earned it! He only made three to five taels of silver a month, and he dared to spend twenty thousand taels of silver to come to her.
You spendthrift!
Why does he have the right to spend money so recklessly?!
Li Xiaoxiao was on the verge of tears. She truly didn't know the value of money until she was in charge of the household! He had casually promised her 20,000 taels of silver; what if someone found out she was here? Wouldn't she be bankrupt when she returned to the capital?!
Absolutely, absolutely no one can know that she is still alive, because it says there is a reward of one thousand taels of silver for any information about her or for finding her belongings. She only got three taels of silver from robbing two villagers this morning, and she knows how hard it is to make money. How can she let others take advantage of her like this?
She immediately stopped looking for the county magistrate and had to find a way to hide so that she wouldn't be seen and dragged back to the capital, in which case she would have to pay the money!
She hurriedly tried to leave, but as soon as she turned around, she saw a constable staring at her.
She was immediately terrified. Had he discovered her? Was it too late to leave?
She forced a smile at the bailiff, who walked over to her and asked, "What are you looking at there?"
Li Xiaoxiao chuckled awkwardly, "I... let me see what's written here?"
The constable pointed to the two notices and said, "This is a reward from the imperial court for the search of the missing General Li Xiaoxiao. Do you have any information about her? Even hearsay is fine, and we will investigate."
It seems the constables have been eyeing this juicy target for a long time. Li Xiaoxiao shook her head vigorously, "No, no, no, I've never seen her."
The constable couldn't hide his disappointment: "That's right, we've been searching for so long. If we could really find it, we would have canceled the order long ago. It's a pity that so much money is unclaimed. If only I could have found it."
Li Xiaoxiao chuckled dryly, "Yeah, that's a lot of money. I've never seen a spendthrift spend so much money to find someone."
The constable's face darkened: "What are you saying? General Li is a great hero. If you dare to talk nonsense, believe me, I'll lock you up in jail!"
Wouldn't that mean we might meet the county magistrate? Li Xiaoxiao was terrified and immediately ran away: "I was just talking nonsense, I'm leaving now."
Fortunately, the constables did not suspect anything and let her leave.
Li Xiaoxiao was still shaken. What a close call! It seems she'll have to disguise herself before going to the capital, otherwise she'll be in big trouble if she's discovered.
She didn't have much money to begin with, and she also had to buy clothes to disguise herself. Li Xiaoxiao felt this was too tragic. She thought that she had found the organization and could return to Beijing safely.
She walked toward a commoner's cloth shop in the county town, but the yamen runner who had just spoken to her somehow got past her and entered the shop first.
He had come to pick up his newly made uniforms: "Boss, are all the new uniforms for our office ready?"
The shopkeeper smiled broadly: "Almost done, almost done. Just one more item is needed. It will be ready tomorrow. I will personally deliver it to the government office tomorrow. I won't let you make another trip."
The constable replied, "Then don't miscount, there are ten sets in total."
The shopkeeper said, "It's definitely right, definitely right..." He pointed to several bundles in the corner of the counter: "The finished products are all placed there."
The constable turned and left.
As Li Xiaoxiao watched his retreating figure, a plan suddenly came to her mind.
When she left the cloth shop, she had an extra bundle in her hand. Even the shopkeeper didn't know that she had another bundle inside her bundle.
Night fell quickly. Li Xiaoxiao changed into the stolen yamen runner's uniform and sneaked to the county yamen's stable. While the guard on duty went out to relieve himself, she quickly slipped in, grabbed a horse, and headed out.
Although it was her first time stealing, she calmly led her horse onto the main street. When she turned into the next alley, she immediately mounted her horse and galloped out of the city under the moonlight.
As she approached the city gate, she quietly dismounted and ambushed the guard. She opened the small door on the right, led her horse out, and turned back to look apologetically at the guard who had fainted on the ground: "Sorry, brother, I'll close the door for you after I leave."
After successfully escaping from the county town, she rode her horse and thought to herself with pride, "I'm so clever. Who would have thought that I would disguise myself as a yamen runner and go to the capital?"
With this uniform, even though she had no travel permit or official documents, it was enough to intimidate people.
Jizhou is 600 li away from the capital. With the uniform of a yamen runner and a horse as her mount, she returned to the capital in seven days.
When the three large characters "Ding'anmen" appeared, Li Xiaoxiao could no longer hold back her tears.
She kept wiping, but the tears kept flowing out. She clearly remembered that she was cold-hearted and indifferent in the apocalypse and would never cry like this. She hadn't even seen the person she wanted to see the most, or even stepped into the city gate, but just seeing those three words made her cry uncontrollably.
The journey, filled with hardship and lack of proper food and sleep, left her physically and mentally exhausted. Her still-healing wounds seemed to have worsened due to her tireless work. Now, she was emaciated and covered in dust; if she were to fight, she could probably be easily knocked off her horse by a single blow.
But she came back; she used all her strength and finally made it back.
She dismounted and led her horse to join the procession heading into the city.
The imperial guards stopped her: "Wait, where are your place of origin and travel permit?"
Li Xiaoxiao forced back her tears and said in a trembling voice, "I didn't bring it."
The imperial guard frowned: "You can't enter the capital without a travel permit. Don't you even know this basic rule?"
Li smiled and said, "I know. Could you please go to my house and tell them to come and pick me up?"
The Imperial Guard's brows furrowed even more: "Go to your house and tell them? Who do you think you are?"
Li Xiaoxiao said, "I am Li Xiaoxiao."
The imperial guard said, "I don't care who you are—" But before he could finish the sentence, he froze, staring intently at her: "What, what did you just say?"
Tears streamed down Li Xiaoxiao's face: "I am Li Xiaoxiao."
The imperial guard dropped the book in his hand, let out a scream, and immediately ran into the city gate. A short while later, a group of people followed him, running quickly. Leading the way was Guan Yue, the city commandant and former guard of the Eastern Palace.
Guan Yue, his face flushed with excitement and disbelief, ran up to Li Xiaoxiao, his eyes red, and grabbed her arms tightly, his voice trembling as he asked, "General Li, is it really you?"
Li Xiaoxiao's eyes were blurry with tears: "It's me, I'm back."
Guan Yue looked at her, who was so thin and pale, and knew that she must have been seriously injured and had not yet recovered. He immediately helped her to his duty room and said excitedly as they walked, "Are you feeling unwell? It's alright, you can rest here for a while. I will go to the palace to report to His Majesty immediately... Someone, someone, go to the Li residence and tell Madam Meng that General Li has returned."
Immediately, city guards rushed to the Li residence.
He helped Li Xiaoxiao to her seat in the duty room, poured her a glass of water, and said excitedly, "His Majesty and General Pang will be overjoyed to know that you have returned to the capital safely. Please wait here, I will go to the palace immediately!"
He quickly made the arrangements and immediately called out, "Someone, serve General Li well. I'm going to the palace. You wait here. His Majesty will surely have an order!"
The city guards were both excited and nervous, and immediately responded loudly. Guan Yue hurriedly mounted his horse and headed to the palace. A clever city guard brought over some snacks and fruit, but found Li Xiaoxiao asleep on the table.
The city guards dared not disturb her, so they gently draped a coat over her shoulders and carefully withdrew to stand guard at the door.
Guan Yue rode his horse swiftly, and the city gate that sent the message to Li Mansion was not slow either. The two arrived at the imperial city almost one after the other, but the gate of Li Mansion was much easier to enter than the palace gate.
Upon hearing the city guard's excited report that Li Xiaoxiao had returned, the first gatekeeper to hear the news tripped and fell. Ignoring his bruised knee, he immediately led the city guard inside to report to Steward Zhao.
Steward Zhao and his son Zhao Jian were stunned. They both grabbed the city guard's hands in disbelief: "Who did you say? Say it again?"
The city guard exclaimed excitedly, "It's General Li! General Li is back! She's at the city gate! You must send someone to fetch her back right away!" His urging voice trailed off as tears streamed down the faces of the Zhao father and son.
The city guards couldn't help but feel a lump in their throats as they looked at him: "General Li must have suffered a lot; he's lost a lot of weight..."
Zhao Jian had already taken off running towards the inner courtyard.
Upon hearing the news, Liu felt dizzy and almost lost her balance. Looking at her family members inside who were crying because they knew Li Xiaoxiao was coming back, she hurriedly walked out while crying, saying, "Quick, quick, prepare the car. I want to go and pick Xiaoxiao up myself."
Granny Qi, Liu Zhi, Xiu Mei, Xing Ge, and Mei Xiang all wanted to go with her, but Mama Mao wiped away her tears as she walked into the kitchen. A menu of more than a dozen dishes flashed through her mind. She couldn't go; she had to make thorough preparations, preparing a table full of dishes for her to eat when she returned...
When she reached the corner of the kitchen, she finally couldn't hold back anymore and burst into tears, slapping her thigh: "Xiaoxiao, you're finally back! It hurts so much, it hurts so much..."
Both of the family's carriages were brought out, and Zhao Jian and Steward Zhao personally drove them, carrying their family members, and hurriedly headed towards the city gate.
Meanwhile, Guan Yue entered the palace gates and immediately rushed towards the Taiji Hall. The morning court session had already ended, and Emperor Hongxing was discussing matters with several trusted ministers when he suddenly heard Guan Yue's urgent and excited voice coming from afar: "Report!"
Such a loud report must have been urgent. The ministers all turned to look outside. Wan Quan opened the study door, and Guan Yue strode in, knelt on one knee, and exclaimed excitedly, "Your Majesty, great news! General Li has returned!"
Emperor Hongxing stood up uncontrollably: "What did you say?"
Guan Yue's face turned bright red: "General Li has returned and is resting in the guardhouse at the city gate."
Emperor Hongxing was overjoyed: "She's still alive? Li Xiaoxiao is still alive?"
He couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Great! Heaven blesses our Great Wu! She's still alive?!"
The ministers in the study were all astonished. After they came to their senses, they congratulated Emperor Hongxing: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, on the return of such a fine general."
Emperor Hongxing, beaming with pride, waved his hand and said, "Summon her to an audience immediately. I want to ask her where she has been these past few months!"
A hint of worry flashed across Guan Yue's face: "Your Majesty, I saw that General Li was emaciated and pale, as if she had not yet recovered from her serious injuries. I dared not let her move, so I came to the palace first to report the good news."
Emperor Hongxing's smile vanished instantly, and he immediately ordered, "Wan Quan, summon the imperial physician and bring Li Xiaoxiao to the palace for treatment..." At this point, he couldn't wait any longer and hurriedly walked out of the study: "Prepare a sedan chair for me, no, prepare a horse. I want to personally go to the city gate to bring her back."
Wan Quan hurriedly followed behind him: "Your Majesty, shall the imperial physician come along?"
As Emperor Hongxing walked out, he said, "Follow me, and have Chief Physician Xiao come."
The officials in the study watched in astonishment as Emperor Hongxing left for the stables without even saying goodbye to the meeting. They couldn't help but sigh, "General Li's favor is truly unmatched."
Yang Shimin said, "His Majesty must be too preoccupied with state affairs today, so let's all disperse."
He glanced back at Xie Shangwen: "News from the palace is definitely faster than from the Imperial Academy. When you go back, tell Meng Siye a little something, so he can be happy too."
Meng Siye is Meng Ying, Li Xiaoxiao's father-in-law.
Xie Shangwen quickly agreed, and then left the matter unmentioned after returning to the Imperial Academy.
Emperor Hongxing personally went to fetch the horse, and the news that Li Xiaoxiao had returned quickly spread throughout the palace, naturally reaching Pang Shi's ears soon afterward.
He was drinking tea when he heard the news, and he crushed the teacup in his hand, his hand bleeding profusely.
Ignoring the cries of his personal guards, he turned and headed towards the stables. He wanted to go with Emperor Hongxing to personally welcome the hero who had saved the entire Great Wu.
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