The flames of war suddenly ignited three
The carriage continued its journey towards Jinzhou Prefecture.
What's suspicious is that the closer you get to the outskirts of the city, the fewer the number of migrants there are.
Something unusual must be going on. The guards driving the carriage ahead became extremely alert, and even Hongxiao gripped the short blade at her waist, assuming a defensive stance.
The carriage stopped going in circles and was no longer bumpy, which made Wang Pan'er feel much better.
The turmoil in her stomach had subsided. She touched her hair, where the hidden sword hairpin was firmly in place, and felt a little more at ease.
Suddenly, the guards reined in their horses. Wang Pan'er, caught off guard, lunged forward and heard the sound of swords being drawn.
She quickly got up and instinctively looked out the window, only to see a middle-aged man carrying weapons jogging towards them.
He was alone and not a great threat, but Wang Pan'er, like the other three, still cautiously placed her hand on the Hidden Sword Hairpin.
As the newcomer approached, the tense atmosphere subsided.
The reason was simple: they could only see the person's expression after he walked in.
The newcomer was a middle-aged man, around forty years old, with an unremarkable appearance—the kind of person you'd easily lose in a crowd. However, there was no malice in his eyes. Seeing the carriage stop, he stood in front of it, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "I don't know who is inside, but Jinzhou Prefecture has been attacked by the Northern Di and is in a dangerous situation. Please change your route."
The voice sounded somewhat familiar, but the face was too generic; Wang Pan'er racked her brains but couldn't recall ever having met this person before.
However, he meant no harm, so Wang Pan'er lifted the curtain with peace of mind, thanked the person who came, and had Hongxiao hand over a portion of food: "Thank you for reminding me, but I'm here to find someone."
When Wang Pan'er showed her face, the man blocking her way changed his expression from serious to pleasantly surprised.
He refused Hongxiao's offer of food and asked Wang Pan'er with delight, "Is this Miss Wang?"
Is it really someone I know?
Wang Pan'er was completely confused and asked, "Do I know you?"
"Tch!" The middle-aged man ruffled his fairly neatly combed hair, then hunched over slightly, and said again, "Do you still remember me now?"
"It's you!" Wang Pan'er exclaimed with delight.
She recognized the middle-aged man in front of her as the uncle who had worked for her in the dungeon in exchange for food and had also worked at the Su residence.
The older man peered into the carriage again: "Your sweetheart isn't here, so you broke up with her?"
"No, we got married in the capital!"
"Wow!" the uncle exclaimed in astonishment. "The capital is really something else! Women can even get married here."
Hongxiao: "?"
She patted Wang Pan'er, looking completely bewildered. Her own princess consort was marrying a woman?
Wang Pan'er couldn't help but chuckle when she thought of Mu Chuan dressed in a dress. She laughed for a while before she composed herself and said, "It's a misunderstanding. My husband was being watched, so he dressed as a woman to avoid being seen."
The uncle and Hongxiao simultaneously patted their chests.
The uncle said, "I knew it! No wonder he's so tall. I thought he was some kind of alien."
Wang Pan'er smiled and began to observe the unusually energetic-looking middle-aged man.
While everyone else was fleeing, he had the leisure to persuade them not to approach Jinzhou Prefecture and even refused his own food rations. In addition, there were not many refugees around anymore, so Wang Pan'er guessed that they probably already had a camp to save themselves.
She asked the man, "Do you have any grassroots organizations now?"
The uncle readily replied, "Yes, after I left, I went to work for Xinglong Escort Agency as a runner, and now I'm considered a member of the Xinglong Gang."
"Oh?" Wang Pan'er became interested. "What a coincidence, I'm also a member of the Xinglong Gang."
The middle-aged man looked her up and down, then down: "I didn't realize you were so capable, young lady. Our leader has brought us into the sect leader's camp, and we're now exchanging rations according to the sect leader's assigned tasks. I'm patrolling here to rescue any stray refugees and bring them back to the camp."
Wang Pan'er asked curiously, "Sect Master, is he the person in charge of your affairs?"
"Yes, that's the young female owner of Qianji Wanying Pavilion. All the women under her call her that, so everyone else just follows suit."
The young female owner of Qianji Wanying Pavilion?
Wang Pan'er's eyes widened, and she turned to look at Hongxiao. Seeing that Hongxiao also looked incredulous, she realized that she hadn't misheard.
Wang Pan'er tentatively asked, "Wang Xiaoyao?"
"Yes, that's the name of the Pavilion Master."
Wang Pan'er felt a huge weight lifted from her heart. She clicked her tongue twice, thinking to herself that her second younger sister had done something truly extraordinary.
Upon learning that her younger sister Anrang was unharmed, she felt much relieved. Her motion sickness and headache had subsided, and she cheerfully invited the uncle and guards to sit in a row at the front of the carriage: "Quickly, take me to your camp!"
With the uncle's directions, the carriage easily bypassed a long canyon, traveled to the valley between several mountains, and passed through a dense forest, arriving at a secluded place.
Emerging from the dense forest, one finds a small river about twenty or thirty meters wide. Walking along the river for about half an incense stick's time, one can see smoke rising from chimneys.
That's incredible!
Wang Pan'er was amazed that Wang Xiaoyao had actually found such a treasure trove amidst the chaos of war!
The guards drove a carriage and stopped in front of the camp.
In times of war, the arrival of such a luxurious two-horse carriage was quite a rare sight.
However, it would be difficult to find another hidden camp like this. With the war raging, everyone was unsure how long they would have to survive in this place. They had to be wary of enemies and spies. Even with Uncle, one of their own, there, the two guards dared not let their guard down.
One of the guards stepped forward and stopped them, while the other quickly went to the camp to report.
Wang Pan'er stopped the guard who was announcing the arrival: "Tell your master that Wang Pan'er has arrived." Then, while he was announcing the arrival, she began to look around the camp.
If she hadn't known that the camp was inhabited by refugees, Wang Pan'er would have preferred to describe this place as a bandit stronghold.
This was a small plain, but it varied in elevation. The higher ground bordered the valley, while the lower ground served as the gate, guarded by sentries. The tallest structure in the entire camp was a simple watchtower, about three or four meters high, built from tree trunks. In the very center of the camp stood a very large haystack made of mud. Wang Pan'er rationally deduced that this haystack was where they stored their food. After all, food was the most crucial survival resource during wartime, and it was only natural that it was placed in the center of the camp and protected by everyone. Around it were some simple shacks or thatched huts, providing the residents with basic living and shelter.
Wang Pan'er marveled at how her sister had managed to build such a large-scale structure from a vacant lot in such a short time, speculating that she must have recruited some outstanding talents for her use.
A short while later, Wang Xiaoyao and Wang Chengxi came running out, panting.
Wang Xiaoyao rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn't mistaken, and that it was indeed her sister standing next to the carriage. With a burst of tears, she threw herself into her sister's arms and cried loudly. Wang Chengxi also had tears in her eyes, wiping them away with her sleeve.
Wang Pan'er hugged her two younger sisters and coaxed them, "Why are you crying? You're the sect leader now. Aren't you afraid people will laugh at you if they see you crying?"
"I don't care, I thought I was going to never see you again!" Wang Xiaoyao sniffed, then changed the subject and questioned, "With the war raging in the prefecture, why did you come back from the capital? It's so dangerous here."
"I can't bear to leave you two." Wang Pan'er patted her two younger sisters' heads. "You even brought a whole truckload of supplies. I didn't expect you sisters to be so capable. It seems we won't need them."
“Who says we don’t need it!” Wang Xiaoyao got up from her sister’s arms, wiping away her tears. “Sister brought it here for us.”
She scurried into the carriage like a monkey and began rummaging through the chests and cabinets.
The carriage was filled with boxes and boxes of dried meat. Naan bread and rice were nothing special; they were quite common in their camp. The rarest items were the medicinal herbs. Wang Chengxi stepped forward and examined them, gesturing to Wang Xiaoyao: "These are all for treating colds and flu, as well as reducing inflammation and stopping bleeding."
Right now, the village is in dire need of medicinal herbs, and Wang Pan'er's arrival with this cartload has solved everyone's urgent problem.
Wang Xiaoyao shouted, summoning seven or eight people. Then, pointing at the carriage, he instructed, "There is a lot of dried meat and medicinal herbs here. Take them to the warehouse. Chengxi, stay here and keep an eye on the count."
Bringing medicinal herbs is like bringing hope from a deity, and the people present became eager, surrounding Wang Pan'er to kowtow in gratitude.
"Get up, get up, this is my sister, we're all family." Wang Xiaoyao stopped them, then pulled Wang Pan'er and walked into the village, instructing as they went, "My sister is here, quickly make room for her in the best house in the camp!"
Wang Xiaoyao had someone bring hot soup and rice from the stove to greet his sister, Hongxiao, and the two guards who were escorting her.
They brought a large quantity of medicinal herbs and countless dried meats, and the people in the camp naturally lined the streets to welcome them, specially selecting the best dishes to cook. Among the welcoming crowd were many familiar faces—women from the village and the medicinal cuisine restaurant.
Su Lingya and her daughter were also at the camp.
Su Lingya seemed to be Wang Xiaoyao's right-hand woman. Upon seeing Wang Pan'er, she immediately knelt down and earnestly apologized: "I apologize to Sister Pan'er for my father and brother's behavior. I also thank Young Master Mu for forgiving my mother and me. I have no way to repay your life-saving grace."
Wang Pan'er quickly helped her up: "Don't take the blame on yourself. You and Xiaoyao are good sisters, so naturally you are not like them."
Su Lingya nodded gratefully: "Pan'er's room has been vacated, I'll go help tidy it up."
Wang Pan'er smiled and said, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness."
Wang Xiaoyao said that Tao Shuo had taken the students to the mountains to search for medicinal herbs and would probably not be back until the afternoon. The girls at the medicinal cuisine restaurant were all busy at the stove.
She took charge of the camp's survival supplies. Apart from the elderly, children, and the sick and disabled, everyone in the camp needed to work to earn food, so meals were cooked in large pots. She simply arranged for the girls from the medicinal cuisine restaurant to work at the stove, as they were familiar with the work, making them easy to use and reliable.
Wang Pan'er and the others had been eating dry rations for several days, and they were extremely tempted when they saw hot dishes and rice being served. They ate a large bowl before they could catch their breath, slowed down their eating, and began exchanging messages with Wang Xiaoyao.
She shared everything she had met and experienced in the capital with Wang Xiaoyao.
On Wang Xiaoyao's side, because the Thousand Machines Pavilion kept several thousand women and was well-informed, he received the news that the advisor was preparing to abandon the city and surrender as soon as the Northern Di invaded and the whole city was under martial law.
Rather than surrendering and feeding the people's food to the wolves, she reasoned that it would be better to transport the grain out of the city, set up a camp, and try to secure a chance of survival. She gathered the women working at the Qianji Wanying Pavilion, grabbed kitchen knives, axes, and shovels from their homes, and lay in ambush around the government office's granary. As soon as the main gate opened, they would raid the granary. As they fled, they spread the word along the way, leading those who believed them to escape the city with them.
No one expected that such a large, organized and disciplined group could emerge when foreign enemies invaded. The ladies of the Thousand-Machine Pavilion miraculously and successfully emptied the granary.
With food in hand, Wang Xiaoyao remained calm and began directing the women to set up camp on the outskirts of the city to carry out self-rescue.
Because their organization was stable and had a large following, and because the women also had relatives among the refugees, many people came to join them.
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