Chapter 25 Going Out
At lunchtime, Gu Xiyue stood by the roadside waiting for Xiao Heng. The men and women who had finished their work walked into the yard, talking and laughing, and lined up to get their meals.
Under the wall and under the big tree outside, people were everywhere eating with bowls in their hands. They gathered together to eat, and the sound of their slurping was delicious.
Gu Xiyue was getting impatient. Every villager passing by her would respectfully call her "Miss Gu". In the end, she felt a little embarrassed and just stood facing the wall, trying not to look at others.
When Xiao Heng came over, the crowd was shocked. He was tall and slender, with a handsome face. He was so pleasing to the eye, and his every move was very dignified.
The villagers watched him slowly walk to Gu Xiyue and pat her on the back of the shoulder. They all held their bowls and looked at the two of them with smiles, thinking that the two of them were really a good match and pleasing to the eyes.
Gu Xiyue turned around abruptly. Seeing that it was Xiao Heng, she felt relieved but also a little inexplicably angry. "Why are you here just now?"
"Are you impatient?"
Xiao Heng spoke in a gentle tone, and looking at the vivid color on her face, his expression was relaxed.
Seeing that no one moved, he turned around to look at the villagers watching them, leaned over and said with a low laugh, "Are you sure you don't want to go in yet? They're all looking at us."
Gu Xiyue subconsciously turned her head and found that everyone had stopped eating and was looking at her and Xiao Heng with their bowls in hand. She quickly smiled and patted Xiao Heng on the arm.
"Let's go in and eat."
The villagers found it pleasing to the eyes to see the two of them together, and they felt happy to see them eating with them.
When they saw people coming in, they all buried their heads in eating.
Gu Xiyue took Xiao Heng to prepare the meal. Today was still stewed noodles with steamed buns. When she picked up the bowl, she found that he was staring at the bowl with his eyebrows slightly raised.
There were people eating next to them, and the sounds of laughter and eating came at the same time. He slowly brought the bowl to his mouth and took a bite. His brows relaxed instantly. He looked up at Gu Xiyue and found that she was looking at him with a questioning expression.
"not bad!"
Gu Xiyue grinned and began to stir the chili in the bowl, "It's true that food tastes better when there are more people around!"
Xiao Heng's expression froze for a moment, "Compared to the food I cook..."
He stopped talking and started stirring the bowl with chopsticks.
"The food your highness cooks is delicious." Afraid of being heard, Gu Xiyue lowered her voice so that only Xiao Heng could hear it. "Very delicious."
Eating with many people is a completely different experience.”
Xiao Heng looked around to make sure no one heard them, and whispered, "Don't yell like that next time. Be careful!"
Gu Xiyue smiled and nodded, picked up the bowl and started eating.
When others saw the two people's little actions, they thought they had a really good relationship and they even whispered to each other while eating together.
After dinner, Zhao Yancheng called Wang Hu and Zhang Tieliang to meet up with Gu Xiyue. Gu Xiyue discovered that Zhang Tieliang was the tall man who had loudly agreed with her in the big field before.
Zhao Yancheng should have briefly told them about Miss Gu's shipbuilding. When they came over, both of them looked a little excited.
When Gu Xiyue heard that the dry wood was still there, he felt much relieved.
"It's been two or three years now, I don't know if the bugs have gotten through it."
After Zhang Tieliang finished speaking, Gu Xiyue's heart began to lift again.
Several people looked solemn as they went to Zhao Yancheng's house first.
When they arrived at Zhao Yancheng's house, Gu Xiyue was waiting in the yard. Zhao Yancheng carried a ladder in, and several men climbed onto the beams to take a look.
Gu Xiyue crossed his hands on his chest and prayed silently in his heart.
But then he heard Wang Hu's voice coming from inside the house, "Strange! It's really strange!"
Gu Xiyue knew that there was no hope at all, and she threw her hands behind her back in frustration.
After the four people came out of the house, she waved her hand dejectedly and said, "Go back and have some rest. It's too hot."
"Wait a moment."
Xiao Heng called him with a smile.
Gu Xiyue looked up and found that the four people had smiles on their faces.
Wang Hu jumped in first, exclaiming in amazement, "Ms. Gu, I never thought these timbers could be left on the beams for so long without being eaten by insects! We used to keep all the timber in a separate room, and yet, within a year, it was eaten by insects. It's truly bizarre!"
"real?"
Gu Xiyue became very excited.
Seeing several people nodding affirmatively, her gaze finally fell on Xiao Heng's face. Seeing the look he gave her, her heart immediately relaxed.
Their hands quickly came back from behind their backs and clapped each other, "That's great!"
The group went to Zhang Tieliang's house again. On the way, Wang Hu was still wondering why the wood hadn't been eaten by insects. Xiao Heng said, "That's because when Brother Zhao cooks, the smoke from the cooking will get into the wood. Have you noticed that when people live in a house, the wood on the beams won't rot, but in houses where people aren't often living, the beams on the roof will rot very easily."
After hearing this, everyone suddenly understood.
So that's what's happening.
Gu Xiyue turned her head to look at Xiao Heng, somewhat doubting whether he was once the noble prince in the imperial palace.
He even knows this, and I don’t know where he learned this.
After a round of inspection, Gu Xiyue found that the wood from Wang Hu and Zhang Tieliang's homes was in good condition, and she had no other concerns.
During the lunch break, Gu Xiyue discussed with a few people and asked Xiao Heng to follow up on this matter, while Zhao Yancheng, Wang Hu and Zhang Tieliang took the lead in handling it.
Zhao Yancheng had to select a few skilled craftsmen from the four groups so as not to delay the progress of salt flat excavation or shipbuilding.
After several people discussed it, Gu Xiyue drew a sketch first, drawing the shape of the ship he wanted, and Zhao Yancheng, Wang Hu and Zhang Tieliang refined and detailed it.
After this matter was finalized, in the evening, she asked someone to call Liu Niangzi, Zhao Yancheng and ten other people to a meeting.
"From yesterday to today, in just two days, we've collected nearly 4,000 kilograms of salt. This is just the amount the women collected from the thatched grass on the beach. Once the salt flats are dug and the salt is dried, there will be even more. But the current reality is that we only have enough food to feed all of us for a little over 30 days, and that's even with careful budgeting. Furthermore, it will take another 30 days to see any results from the eastern entrance."
As soon as Gu Xiyue posed the question, everyone in the room fell silent. When they came in just now, they all had smiles on their faces, but now they were silent, and their faces returned to their previous dejected look.
Seeing that everyone's morale was low, Gu Xiyue smiled and said, "Don't be discouraged, I'm telling the truth. I called the brothers and sisters here today to solve our problems."
Everyone turned to look at her.
Meixiang and Wei Lin sat behind her, taking in everyone's expressions.
Xiao Heng was out on night watch at this time and was not in the room.
"Miss Gu, if you have any good ideas, please share them with me."
Zhao Yancheng looked at Gu Xiyue with approval.
Madam Liu agreed, "Yes, my sister asked us to come here, she must have something to tell us. If there is anything we can do, just tell me."
"Yes, yes, I will definitely support Miss Gu."
Wang Hu's voice was also very loud.
The other people also nodded in agreement and waited for Gu Xiyue to speak.
"Yeah." Gu Xiyue nodded and looked at everyone, trust in her eyes, "Because the brothers and sisters are basically the backbone of the Southern Wilderness, we must cooperate well on these matters."
"Tomorrow, I plan to quietly leave here and go out to help us find a market for sea salt..."
"Sister, are you going out alone?"
Before Gu Xiyue finished speaking, Madam Liu stood up excitedly, her face full of worry.
Everyone looked worried and shook their heads.
"Ms. Gu, you're a young woman, and you're so beautiful. It would be too dangerous if you went out. If anything happened, we wouldn't be able to help you. You'd be worried sick!"
Everyone opposed Gu Xiyue going out alone.
Not only would she be recognized if she went out, but her appearance alone would attract the attention of passers-by. If she happened to encounter hooligans or bandits, the consequences would be unimaginable.
How could they feel at peace if Miss Gu met with an accident while helping them?
Seeing that everyone was a little excited and worried about her, Gu Xiyue felt warm in her heart. She patted the table lightly, smiled and raised her voice, "Brothers and sisters, don't panic, listen to me finish what I have to say."
The room fell silent, and everyone looked at her with concern, wanting to hear what she had to say.
"I know my brothers and sisters are worried about my safety. We've already discussed this. I'll be disguised when I go out, and I'll also bring my husband's guard with me. He's skilled in martial arts, so we won't cause any trouble when we go out, and no one will notice us. Don't worry, brothers and sisters. I'm more worried about you."
Gu Xiyue changed the subject, "After I leave, the burden here will fall on you. Not only will you have to manage everyone's salt mining and drying, but Brother Zhao will also have to build ships. If anything happens in the village, you will have to deal with it, so..."
"Sister, what should we do with what you said?"
Lady Li stood up excitedly this time. Her face was filled with emotion as she said, "Sister, you risked your life to go out and help all of us find a way out. How could this place become a burden? There's so little we can do to help you!"
As she spoke, tears were about to come out. Several women pulled her to sit down and looked at Gu Xiyue with tears in their eyes.
Zhao Yancheng pondered for a moment and said solemnly: "Miss Gu, we promise you here that if you must go out, you must protect yourself. We are guarding here in Nanhuang, so you can go without worry. No matter what the result is outside, you must come back intact, even if we end up..." and die here together.
Zhao Yancheng didn't say the rest of the words, but everyone knew what it meant, and everyone's expression was very tragic.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became solemn.
"Miss Gu, don't worry. I, Wang Hu, will definitely help Brother Zhao and the others manage the Southern Wasteland and will definitely not stand in your way."
Wang Hu also stood up.
Zhang Tieliang said from the side: "Do you have four legs?"
This sentence instantly broke the defenses of everyone in the room and everyone burst into laughter.
But despite the laughter, everyone was still worried. Many people sighed and couldn't let go of their worries.
The door was suddenly pushed open at this moment, and Xiao Heng came in with a smile on his face. "I heard everyone's worries when I just arrived at the door. Don't worry, Gu Xiyue is my wife. I am willing to let her go, which means I am confident in her heart. Let's let her relax. I will guard Nanhuang with everyone else and wait for her to come back together."
Xiao Heng's state was completely different from the one in the room. As soon as he arrived, everyone's mood changed instantly.
Yes, Miss Gu’s husband is not worried, so what are they worried about here?
Miss Gu went out to find a way out for them.
And she said that what she was most worried about was what would happen to the Southern Wilderness after she left.
"Miss Gu, you can go without any worries. We are here to protect the Southern Wasteland!"
As soon as the Yin hour arrived, Gu Xiyue set out from the house. Meixiang supported Gu Xiyue and carried a few sets of clothes. Wei Lin carried two bags, one with dry food and the other with sea salt, and followed behind them with a sword in his hand.
The sky was dark and the waves were roaring. Although Gu Xiyue repeatedly prepared himself mentally, he still felt a little panicked when walking in such a dark southern wilderness.
As she stepped out of the yard, a dark shadow came towards her. Before Gu Xiyue could say anything, the dark shadow reached out and grabbed her hand.
"It's me."
It was Xiao Heng's voice.
Gu Xiyue felt a little relieved, and she clasped his fingers tightly, and involuntarily leaned closer to him.
"I'll take you out of the East Gate. You only have less than ten days this time, so be careful on the road and don't force yourself..."
Xiao Heng was like an older brother, holding her hand and giving her instructions all the way, taking into account everything he could consider and saying everything he needed to say.
They talked all the way to the east, and when they walked out of that door, everything outside was unknown. Xiao Heng held her hand a little harder and said solemnly, "Did you hear that?"
"Mr. Li Jun went to Xifeng Town yesterday and bought a carriage there. He's parked at the Tongfu Inn. When you get there, tell the innkeeper your name and you can pick up the carriage. And here's this."
As Xiao Heng spoke, he took out a small box from his sleeve and pressed it into her hand. "This contains the pass that General Xu had the government issue to Ganzhou. Keep it with you in case of any emergency. If the government wants to check your identity, give this to them. Don't bother with the rest of the people; Wei Lin will handle it."
"Don't reveal that you're from the Southern Wilderness. Use your real names, so they're easier to remember. This place is thousands of miles away from the capital, and no one knows your true identities. From now on, you're from Dongfeng Town's Gu family. Remember that?"
Gu Xiyue nodded at him in the dark. Although she had not been with him for a few days, he was the closest person to her in this era besides Meixiang. She felt a little reluctant to leave him for a while.
"I've made note of that. Take care of yourself too!"
"Keep an eye on the shipbuilding! And..."
"Okay, okay, just go ahead and don't worry. I'll keep an eye on her." Xiao Heng couldn't help but reach out and stroke the back of her head twice to reassure her.
At first, I felt warm in my heart because she was about to leave and still cared about me, but when she changed the subject and started to worry about Nanhuang and shipbuilding, I couldn't help laughing.
Seeing that it was getting late, Xiao Heng let them go out.
Hu Mazi stood at the door with full vigilance, observing the movements outside. When several people went out, he reached out and patted Wei Lin.
In a bad tone, he said, "The young lady is in your hands. Protect her well!"
Wei Lin glanced at him with a grin and patted him, "Of course. If you lose even a hair when I get back, I'll feed you my stinky socks!"
This sentence made Hu Mazi angry, but he couldn't beat Wei Lin, so he could only turn away with a cold face and ignore him.
Whenever these two people get together, they will spy on each other. Meixiang is used to it. After holding Gu Xiyue's arm and saying goodbye to Xiao Heng, she walked out.
Xiao Heng called Wei Lin from behind. Wei Lin ran over and Xiao Heng whispered a few words to him. Wei Lin nodded repeatedly. After Xiao Heng finished speaking, he jogged quickly to catch up with Gu Xiyue.
Several people quickly disappeared into the darkness and their whereabouts could not be seen clearly.
Xiao Heng stood there for a long time without moving. Later, Hu Mazi couldn't stand it anymore and leaned over to whisper, "Master, don't worry. I just went out to check. There's no movement outside tonight."
Xiao Heng nodded, walked aside expressionlessly, feeling empty inside.
She thought that it would be dawn in half an hour, and she didn't know if she had enough money on her, let alone what would happen this time.
Gu Xiyue and the other two went out of the east gate. They all walked quietly on their way without making any sound. Wei Lin was on guard all the way, paying attention to the movements around him.
Gu Xiyue's heart was in turmoil. Before coming out this time, she made a pledge to herself in her heart that she must find a sales channel and establish a cooperative relationship. Only in this way could the Southern Wilderness behind her survive.
Moreover, she also brought Xiao Heng's personal bodyguard with her. After leaving the east gate, she felt a little regretful. After all, Xiao Heng was of noble status and had no trusted guards around him. What if something happened?
But it definitely wouldn't work if she only brought Meixiang with her. She was a little scared herself. Since Xiao Heng personally asked her to bring Wei Lin with her, it meant that he knew what was going on. If he couldn't even protect himself, then he was no match for her.
Just relax.
Gu Xiyue was very touched by Xiao Heng's performance today. She planned to let him be free again after the people in Southern Wilderness regained their freedom.
The three of them kept on walking. After about an incense stick of time, Wei Lin breathed a sigh of relief behind them. "Miss, we are safe now. We can walk a little slower."
For convenience, Wei Lin and Meixiang both called Gu Xiyue Miss.
It was already past the hour of Yin, and the sky was already beginning to brighten. Although it was still hazy in the night, daybreak was about to begin.
Gu Xiyue breathed a sigh of relief, and Meixiang whispered beside her, "Miss, my palms are sweating."
Gu Xiyue smiled and patted her hands, "Me too."
There was a fork in the road ahead, and Gu Xiyue led them to the left. She spent a long time looking at the drawings that Xiao Heng left for her last night before she understood them.
"Miss, we should go to the right. This is the way to West Wind Town."
Wei Lin stood at the fork in the road and said anxiously.
"That's fine. Let's go to Jingquan Village next to Xifeng Town first."
Gu Xiyue walked forward without hesitation. Wei Lin was watching her back. Meixiang followed her quickly, but when she saw that Wei Lin didn't catch up, she turned around and glared at him.
Seeing that Gu Xiyue was determined to do so, Wei Lin had no choice but to follow. Before leaving, His Highness had told him that his mission was to protect them. As for other matters, he just had to follow Gu Xiyue's instructions.
Seeing that Mei Xiangyou was about to glare at him, he immediately said with a smile: "Listen to the young lady, whatever the young lady says is what I will do."
Meixiang then smiled and nodded at him.
After walking for another incense stick of time, houses began to appear on the roadside. To Gu Xiyue's surprise, the houses here were not much better than those in the Southern Wilderness, and some were even worse than those in the Southern Wilderness.
Looking at the houses in Nanhuang, they all have three rooms and a yard. Although they have thatched roofs and adobe walls, they look quite neat, unlike those in Jingquan, where some even have only one room.
There was wheat straw spread out in their yards, and the smell of straw mixed with mold could be smelled all the way there.
Gu Xiyue stopped for a while beside a family's yard, squatted down and picked up a few sprouted wheat grains from under the wheat stalks.
He put it to his nose and sniffed it, frowning slightly.
It seems that Jingquan Village was not much better off after the heavy rain a while ago. They were probably worried about not having enough food, so they harvested the sprouted wheat.
If the wheat does not become moldy after sprouting, it may be fine to eat it, but this is wheat that has sprouted and become moldy, and eating it will definitely have an impact on the human body.
Gu Xiyue clapped his hands, threw away the wheat in his hand, and continued forward.
Jingquan Village runs east-west, and the three of them walked through the middle road. It took them a short while to finish the journey, less than half an hour. In the entire village, there were only two shops and an inn where houses were concentrated in the middle. Except for these three decent rooms, which were two-story buildings, the rest were adobe houses with thatched roofs of three or two rooms.
By this time, the sky was already bright, and the people in Jingquan Village had started to get busy. The inn was also open for business. Gu Xiyue took Meixiang and Wei Lin into the inn.
The innkeeper was quite surprised to see someone coming in early in the morning and hurried to greet him personally.
"My three guests, would you like to have a meal or...stay in the hotel?"
Gu Xiyue looked up at the deserted upstairs and guessed that there were probably few people staying here, so she smiled and said, "Eat, what's for breakfast?"
The shopkeeper smiled easily and said quickly, "There are buns, porridge, and pickled radish in the morning."
"That'll be six buns, three bowls of porridge, and a plate of dried radish."
"Okay!" After agreeing, the shopkeeper hesitated and said, "However, can the three guests wait a moment? The buns will take another cup of tea to be ready!"
"It's okay, we'll just wait."
Gu Xiyue finished speaking readily, turned around and sat down at the table against the wall, from where he could see what was happening in the inn as well as what was happening outside the window.
The shopkeeper agreed with a smile, turned around and hurried to the kitchen, urging the chef to hurry up, his voice so loud that it could be heard in the front hall.
It seemed that there was no waiter in the store, and only the owner was in the front hall.
"Miss, you look pretty good dressed like this. Although you're not dressed as a man, you look like a decent woman."
After Meixiang finished speaking, she realized that she had said something wrong and covered her mouth with her hand, looking regretful for having said the wrong thing.
"Really?"
Gu Xiyue smiled and touched her hair.
She didn't dress up as a man because her body didn't look like one. She was less than 1.65 meters tall, and her figure was too attractive. It would be too uncomfortable to dress like a man in such hot weather. So she simply dressed herself in a simple way, made her face a little yellower, made her eyebrows a little rougher, and put two moles on her face.
After dressing up, her facial features still looked delicate, but her skin color concealed her beauty, and there were two unsightly moles on her face. In addition, there was a sense of chivalry in her every move, so naturally no one associated her with the identity of Miss Jiao.
At least it's not noticeable.
Meixiang and Wei Lin were also dressed casually, and the three of them looked like pedestrians on the road.
"That's the effect we want."
Gu Xiyue's words made Meixiang relax.
After a while, the shopkeeper came with a tray of breakfast. There were six big buns on the big plate. Although they were not white enough, they were steaming hot. Three bowls of porridge and a plate of dried radish were also served soon.
"Sir, please enjoy your meal!"
After the shopkeeper's greeting, he immediately left.
Gu Xiyue picked up a bun, blew on it, took a small bite, but didn't get the filling. He took another bite and this time finally got the filling.
However, the moment she tasted the pit, she frowned.
Meixiang also took a bite, and the expression on her face was similar to Gu Xiyue's.
"Boss, come here!"
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