Song Liyun took out a thick rope and had someone reinforce the prefabricated house.
Xiao An and Wu Dan ran to a nearby spot to gather the scattered horses that were grazing.
Yun Niangzi brought the freshly washed clothes back into the room and busied herself gathering some dry grass to start a fire.
The wind picked up, and dark, heavy clouds were visible to the naked eye rapidly approaching, hanging low overhead, making it hard to breathe.
Many hands make light work; the prefabricated houses have been reinforced, and even the horses have been tethered in the stables.
As darkness fell completely, a clap of thunder boomed overhead, followed by a torrential downpour.
The rain was torrential, lashing the ground with the wind and creating a layer of gray mist.
Amidst the thunder, the horses in the stable neighed anxiously, trying to break free and escape.
In the strong wind, the houses with paper core and wooden plank walls swayed slightly, as if they were about to take off, but they were tied with reinforced ropes and could only make a creaking sound that made your teeth ache.
The sound of the heavy rain hitting the wooden planks was even louder, almost deafening.
However, it was this dilapidated wooden house that housed everyone. People sheltered from the rain inside the house, ate some dry food to fill their stomachs, and waited for the heavy rain and strong winds to end.
Song Liyun frowned: "I don't know if Abu and the others can get shelter from the rain in time. Lightning strikes like this are very dangerous in the open!"
Being exposed to the elements in a thunderstorm is dangerous.
There were no temporary houses for the convoy behind.
With seven or eight large carts, people could not only rest inside the carts, but also build sheds between them using tarpaulins and felt, providing ample shelter for everyone.
Since they are all for temporary use, it will be difficult for them to withstand strong winds and heavy rain.
Like Song Liyun, Elder Shan did not sit down to rest, but instead looked up and listened to the almost incessant thunder outside.
"Fortunately, this is a minefield. As long as Abu and the others are alert, they'll be fine!"
This place is hundreds of miles away from Abu and his group. As long as Abu and his group can set up camp as soon as they see dark clouds, at most there will be a rain shower, but they won't encounter thunder.
Abu and his group are indeed safe, but Abu himself is not.
The wind was blowing hard in the evening, and everyone hurriedly parked the carriage and tied it with tarpaulin.
They had only traveled fifty li in a day when they encountered a strong wind and had to set up camp early.
Granny Xu hurried through the chaotic crowd and found Abu.
"Brother Abu, could I do you a favor?"
After spending two days together on the road, Granny Xu would come to Abu for anything, finding the ever-smiling Di boy quite approachable.
Facing the wind, Abu got a mouthful of grass and sand. He spat out the sand, his hands still busy tying the rope: "Granny Xu, just tell me what's on your mind!"
Granny Xu stepped forward and pulled him aside, whispering, "Abu, there's a girl in the carriage who wants to change her clothes. Could you help me find a place?"
Changing clothes?
Abu looked up at the sky in confusion. Everyone was so busy that their feet barely touched the ground; who would want to change clothes?
Besides, if those girls want to change, they can change; why should I help them?
These women are already moving so slowly it's unsettling; do women in the Wu Dynasty even have difficulty changing their clothes?
Fortunately, Granny Xu noticed his confusion and quickly explained, "You need to use the chamber pot, you need to go to the toilet! In the past few days, everyone has waited until evening to go to the toilet, but Miss Wan is not feeling well today..."
Although Song Liyun said that there are no outhouses on the grassland, people follow the laws of nature and use horse-drawn carriages as a boundary to separate men and women when they need to use the toilet.
They still weren't used to it.
These past two days, they've only been able to relieve themselves in the early morning or late evening before dawn; at other times, they eat and drink less and try to hold it in.
But now Wan Youyou needs to relieve herself, and it's a busy time for everyone, so she has to ask someone for help.
This time Abu finally understood, and immediately blushed with embarrassment, his voice trembling as he said, "Make that Miss Wan come out..."
He was about to say that it would be fine to go to a place far from the camp, but he stopped himself. If that were the case, Granny Xu wouldn't have come looking for him.
Everyone was busy at the moment, and the camp was surrounded by people, so it was probably impossible for a girl to use the outhouse nearby.
Abu pointed into the distance: "There's a hill over there, Granny can accompany Miss Wan there!"
Granny Xu looked up and immediately shook her head: "It's too far, young man, could you take us there?"
That hill is about a mile away; it's safe, but it's too far.
Wan Youyou had been suffering from diarrhea for a long time and couldn't hold it in any longer. When she got to…
Sigh! If there weren't so many people here, I wouldn't have come to find Abu.
Abu: "...Okay!"
Soon, a woman whose head and face were covered and whose face was obscured was helped out of the carriage by Granny Xu.
Abu gave a long whistle, and two horses galloped over from a distance.
"Granny Xu, please mount your horses. I'll lead them over for you!"
He rode one horse and helped lead the other, so it didn't take up much time.
Granny Xu looked at Wan Youyou, who was already unable to hold on any longer, and then at her own old arms and legs, and shook her head repeatedly.
Neither she nor Wan Youyou can ride horses, and if they keep messing around, who knows what might happen.
"Forget it, let's have the young man ride the horse to take Wanyou there. She... can't hold on much longer!"
Granny Xu stopped worrying about the strict separation between men and women; if Wan You were to make a fool of himself, she would probably feel like dying.
Beside her, Wan Youyou herself began to climb onto the horse's back using both her hands and feet, eager to get to the back of the hill as quickly as possible.
But she was in unbearable abdominal pain at the time, and since she couldn't ride a horse, she couldn't even put her feet on the stirrups.
Seeing her disheveled state, Abu no longer hesitated and said, "I'm sorry for the offense!"
He grabbed Wan Youyou by the waist and helped her onto the horse, then flipped himself over and sat behind her. With a shout, the horse galloped away.
These few simple words went unnoticed by anyone else; only Granny Xu let out a soft sigh.
Wan Youyou is the granddaughter of the former Minister of Rites. She is a talented woman in the capital who is skilled in composing poems and essays, and she has just come of age.
If it weren't for her grandfather fabricating charges against the Empress Dowager and framing the Crown Prince for filial impiety, resulting in his family being among the first to be raided and exterminated after the new emperor ascended the throne, Wan Youyou would probably already be choosing a husband from among the noble young men of the capital.
Arriving at the Di tribe meant survival, but for these noble ladies who had grown up in luxury, it was almost worse than death.
A situation like today would have been unimaginable for the Wan family in the past.
Inside the carriage, the noble ladies were also pale-faced and looked distressed.
Fortunately, I didn't insist on eating milk tablets like Wan Youyou.
They made a secret resolution that they would never eat those dried meats and cheeses again, no matter how hungry they were.
When Wan Youyou was sent back by Abu, the three noble ladies deliberately kept their distance from her, as if Wan Youyou had been defiled.
Although Wan Youyou's face was still pale, her expression was noticeably more relaxed.
The female healer took out a pill and handed it over: "Miss Wan, this medicine is for regulating your stomach and intestines. You can use some for now, but you should stop eating those dried foods from the grasslands in the future."
Wan Youyou shook her head and said, "I'm already better, I don't need any medicine."
After she finished speaking, she didn't answer anyone else, but went into her carriage and quietly put a bottle of medicine into her trunk.
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