Have you ever met Ah Chou from Zhangjia Village?
The sky was just beginning to lighten, birds and animals were singing, and the temperature in the mountains and forests was cool and pleasant, a stark contrast to the hidden dangers of the previous night, and a vibrant energy unique to life.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside. A slightly high-pitched voice was full of flattering words. When Jiang Yan heard Pan Qiu tell her to shut up for the third time, she had no choice but to lift the carriage curtain.
Awakened by the noise, Jiang Yanhui was still very tired. Her lowered brows revealed undisguised displeasure. Her eyes swept over the woman kneeling on the ground with her hands comfortably clasped. The woman shuddered at the coldness and shut her mouth without saying a word, as if she had realized who was not someone to be trifled with.
Jiang Yan glanced sideways into the carriage, then walked a few steps forward before asking, "What happened?"
Pan Qiu looked helpless and scratched his head, saying, "Your Majesty, the soldiers on patrol caught this person hiding in the bushes in the middle of the night. She said she was a villager from the neighborhood, but when asked anything, her answers were all nonsensical."
The implication is that someone who appeared in the mountains in the middle of the night and behaved strangely near their camp, behaving evasively in their conversations, is indeed a suspicious person.
Jiang Yan glanced at the face of the woman in coarse cloth. The woman didn't dare to look directly at her, lowered her head guiltily, and nervously clasped her hands.
This is the person who was spying in the woods last night.
"Where did you come from?" Jiang Yan asked.
The woman's eyes darted around, and she had already prepared her speech: "There is a Zhangjia Village about thirty miles ahead. I am from Zhangjia Village. I am not fast enough to get back to the village. I am always afraid to spend the night alone in the mountains. When I saw your fire, I came closer, thinking I could borrow a fire to spend the night."
Pan Qiu hesitated to make a decision because of the woman's explanation. She couldn't produce any compelling documents to prove her identity, yet her words sounded very plausible.
Maps don't usually show the exact locations of villages and hamlets. If ordinary people were wrongly accused of being bandits or villains, that would be a grave offense.
Pan Qiu looked to Jiang Yan Hui for help. The decision-making power of the situation had shifted to Jiang Yan Hui, and he waited anxiously for her to come up with a decision.
“Thirty li…” Jiang Yanhui lazily lowered his eyes to look at the kneeling woman, the smile on his lips carrying a faint mockery that seemed to see through everything, and he was too lazy to expose her low-class lie. “Since she is a citizen of our dynasty, how can we leave her alone in the wilderness? I have to send her back in person to put my mind at ease.”
The kneeling woman immediately waved her hand, her smiling expression concealing a hint of guilt, and made an excuse to decline, saying, "No! No! How could I trouble you ladies? I know the way, I can go back by myself!"
He was about to get up when he said that.
A hand lightly pressed down on her shoulder, causing her to kneel back down.
Jiang Yan looked towards the east where light was emerging, "It's because I'm worried. Keep an eye on them, don't let them get lost along the way."
The second half of the sentence was addressed to Pan Qiu, who immediately understood Wang Zun's meaning.
This person's behavior was strange, and her words were evasive; she certainly didn't seem like an honest, law-abiding farmer. But we couldn't find any evidence that she was a criminal, so releasing her or arresting her wouldn't be a good idea.
Why not send her to Zhangjia Village, as she's mentioned? We'll find out if she's really there.
Jiang Yanhui gave Pan Qiu a few instructions on what to be careful of on the road and then returned to the carriage. Ah Chou, who had just woken up, had already put away the bedding. She turned around and saw Jiang Yanhui, and subconsciously smiled with her eyes crinkling. Then, memories of last night flooded back, and she blushed deeply, burying her head and only her hair whorl visible.
"We're getting ready to go," Jiang Yan replied.
Ah Chou understood that Jiang Yan Hui meant he would ride with her again today. She felt sweet inside, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel shy. She was annoyed that her body was so sensitive. Last night, she had only been a little close to him, so why was it so embarrassing?
—I went to help Young Master Dou tidy up his bed.
Afraid that Jiang Yan would be unhappy if it was late, Ah Chou quickly wrote down the words.
Jiang Yan frowned, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and left, presumably to fetch the horse.
Not daring to waste any time, Ah Chou put on his shoes and jumped out of the carriage, nearly bumping into Pan Qiu who was passing by.
"Hey, young man, slow down," Pan Qiu said with a smile.
Those who walked away weren't stupid; they could see that Jiang Yan Hui treated her personal servant differently, and it was even more obvious when they rode the Black Cloud together yesterday.
Although this person is mute, he has a likable personality, and his big eyes look at people with a surprisingly sincere expression.
Ah Chou blushed slightly and nodded.
The woman next to Pan Qiu, who had her head tucked in, glanced at the carriage, then at the handsome young man emerging from it, and blurted out, "I heard some noises coming from your carriage last night, it must have been you."
Her rosy cheeks turned as red as an autumn apple in the blink of an eye, and Ah Chou's wide eyes were brimming with tears, as if she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
The person's face was unfamiliar, and their attire didn't belong to the caravan, but Ah Chou had no time to think about who they were. He just felt his face burning and throbbing, wishing he could disappear into a crack.
"What are you talking about! He was eavesdropping all night, he's definitely not a good person!"
Pan Qiu slapped the woman on the back of the head, offering no words of comfort or empathy for Ah Chou, even if he missed her, he wouldn't.
The soldier carrying the stool rushed past and said, "Go get a rope and tie this guy up, oh, and gag him too."
Turning to Ah Chou with a cheerful smile, he said, "We're about to set off, I need to keep an eye on things."
Ah Chou tugged at his clothes and nodded repeatedly. If he could close his ears, he would want to right now and not dare to listen to anyone.
With a bright red face, he ran to Dou Yu's carriage, rubbed his cheeks vigorously to make himself look normal, and then knocked on the carriage with a little trepidation.
There were two clanging sounds from inside, followed by a muffled thud like someone tripping. After a short while, the curtain was finally lifted from the inside.
Dou Yu ruffled her slightly messy hair and looked at Ah Chou with the same excitement she would give a savior, exclaiming, "You're finally here! I've been battling with the bedding for ages, and I just can't get it folded properly!"
Ah Chou smiled faintly, rolled up her sleeves, climbed onto the carriage, and began tidying up with great skill.
Afraid of getting in the way of others, Dou Yu sat in the front room of the carriage and chatted with Ah Chou instead of idly doing so.
"The wind was blowing so hard last night, it scared me so much I didn't get a good night's sleep." As she spoke, she even yawned in perfect coordination. Dou Yu casually asked, "You have to ride a horse today, did you sleep well?"
Unintentionally, she asked a question that touched on a sensitive topic. Fortunately, she had her back to Dou Yu, so she wasn't afraid of her blushing cheeks being seen. Ah Chou nodded and quickened her pace in packing.
Dou Yu's presence ensured the atmosphere would never be dull. Ah Chou was preoccupied with his own thoughts and didn't pay much attention to what was being said, while Dou Yu didn't need anyone to agree with him and could chat on his own.
It wasn't until Dou Yu called out "Cousin" that A Chou raised her head and casually folded the last corner of the bedding inside.
Where are they?
As soon as Jiang Yanhui finished speaking, A Chou couldn't wait to jump out of the carriage, not caring whether the blush on his face had faded or not, afraid that Jiang Yanhui wouldn't be able to find him.
Dou Yu opened her mouth to say something, but seeing Ah Chou's flushed face, she asked in surprise, "Is it hot inside?"
He doesn't seem to feel hot at all; the temperature in the mountains is just so comfortable!
Ah Chou didn't know how to explain that she had blushed far too many times that morning.
"Come up."
Jiang Yan bent down and grabbed Ah Chou's hand, using his strength to push himself onto the horse.
While Ah Chou was still struggling with how to explain to Dou Yu why she was blushing, the horse's hooves clattered, and Jiang Yan Hui had already steered away.
Ah Chou breathed a small sigh of relief. Sometimes he felt that Jiang Yan Hui's behavior was unreasonable, but now he realized that it could avoid a lot of trouble.
After walking for a short while, I spotted the landmark on the map. It was a neglected, overgrown area, completely obscured by thigh-high weeds. If I had been traveling in the dark last night, I might have taken a wrong turn and wasted a whole day.
Thirty miles was nothing to the caravan. Following the woman's directions, they arrived at a village with the words "Zhangjia Village" standing at the entrance.
Upon entering the village, the woman was extremely nervous, keeping her head down as if afraid of being recognized. Jiang Yanhui had a general idea of what was going on and, not wanting to waste any more time on unimportant people, left the task of finding out to Pan Qiu.
When the villagers of Zhangjia Village learned that a convoy was stopping at the village entrance and that someone was going to buy their grain, they were all incredibly excited. They hurriedly brought their food and rushed to the village entrance, afraid that if they were too late, the villagers would have already bought enough or left.
Zhangjia Village is the farthest village from the town among the nearby villages. If villagers want to sell some of the crops they grow in the fields, they have to cross the mountain road overnight and rush into the town before dawn when the gates open. They might be able to sell their goods during the bustling morning market, and then carry their empty baskets back to the village.
The villagers are eager for more convoys to come so that the young people in the village won't have to work so hard.
Dou Yu was very curious and wanted to see what the villagers had brought, but he was a little scared to be alone by himself, so he pulled Ah Chou along to accompany him.
Ah Chou thought Dou Yu was a good person. Even though he would rather stay by Jiang Yan Hui's side, he couldn't bear to see the disappointment in Dou Yu's eyes, so he nodded and agreed to go with her.
The villagers who came brought all sorts of things, but they didn't seem to care much for vegetables. Dou Yu looked at the villagers holding chickens, ducks, and geese, examining them with a mixture of awe and fear, as she had never seen such things before.
"Young master, let me show you closely. It's a pet we raise at home, and it's very fat!"
Seeing that Dou Yu was dressed in fine clothes, the villager assumed he was the son of a powerful person in the caravan and eagerly tried to sell his own chickens, taking them with him as he walked toward Dou Yu.
The live poultry struggled and flapped its wings, frightening Dou Yuhua so much that she turned pale and retreated behind A Chou.
"Oh! Young man, are you scared?" The villager scratched his head in annoyance and smiled sheepishly, saying, "I'll take it away right now."
He called his husband, who grabbed the chicken wing and carried it away.
Seeing the long queue, the villagers thought they could strike up a conversation with Dou Yu and get him to buy their goods first, so they wouldn't have come all this way for nothing.
Instead of trying to get closer to him, he noticed Ah Chou, who was protecting Dou Yu behind him.
Staring intently at Ah Chou's face, Dou Yu clearly noticed something was wrong. Feeling annoyed, she pulled Ah Chou behind her, unusually putting on airs, and impatiently raised her chin, saying, "What are you looking at! I'll tell your husband!"
Realizing their rudeness, the villager immediately apologized, explaining, "It's a misunderstanding! It's a misunderstanding! I just thought this young man looked familiar; I must have seen him somewhere before."
"Have you met Ah Chou?" Dou Yu asked Ah Chou with some doubt.
Ah Chou shook his head; he didn't remember this person.
Dou Yu's attitude remained unfriendly. In his view, this person was merely making excuses. He asked, "You say you've seen him, you should at least tell me where!"
The villager scratched his head, "Where have I seen this before...? Oh, that's it!!!"
He clapped his hands and said, "I used to be a镖师 (bodyguard/escort) when I was young, but my health has deteriorated in recent years, so I returned to the village. Five years ago, my镖队 (escort team) was transporting a shipment into the You tribe, and I saw you there! There's no mistake! I remember your eyes!"
"What nonsense are you spouting! Ah Chou is from the Jiangbei Prince's Mansion, not some Youbu! Be careful not to get yourself killed by talking nonsense." Dou Yu retorted without thinking.
Grabbing Ah Chou's wrist, who was stunned, he said angrily, "Come on, this isn't fun, let's go back to the carriage."
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